This will be a summary of what happened and I will post pictures later:
Sadie Rae Terry was born October 6th, 2009 at 3:18 PM. She weighed 6 pds. 10 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She had complications at birth: Apparently I would normally be wide enough through my pelvic and tailbone to have a baby but my tailbone curves in more than it should making me not wide enough to have a vaginal delivery. (We found this out a little too late.) The space baby has to wiggle through is very narrow and difficult. Sadie was stuck and despite multiple efforts to pull her out using the vaccuum, she still wouldn't budge. Finally, the doctor was able to get her out while I was pushing but she had the cord wrapped around her neck 3 times. The doctor cut the cord and immediatly handed her to two nurses who layed her on my stomach so I could briefly touch her back before they whisked her away. She was chalk white, lifeless, and wasn't crying. I looked over to see what the nurses were doing in the corner of the room and saw that they were giving her infant cpr. All of a sudden I saw maybe around 10 hospital staff (turns out they were the NICU team) in the room surrounding her, talking really fast, and using equipment on her. Something was definitely not right. Nick asked the doctor (who was stitching me up from an episiotomy he did) what he could do to help. The doctor's reply was, "Just hold your wife's hand." Nick came to my side and we held hands, cried, and prayed that Heavenly Father would allow our baby to live. It was so hard. I thought, "Maybe, we are not meant to keep this baby for some reason." I was hoping this was not the case.
It turns out Sadie had a subgaleal bleed (a head bleed) probably due to the vaccuum and being stuck in me. Her head was bulging in back from all the blood. This is very rare and the NICU nurses and doctor's told us she was lucky to be alive. If we would have delivered Sadie down the street at Mountain View Hospital, she would have died. (Mountain View doesn't have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and she would have had to be transferred to EIRMC for care.) Our doctor told us that out of the 2,000 babies he has delivered, this was the first time he had run into a subgaleal bleed. I found out that last year, a baby boy born at EIRMC had a subgaleal head bleed and died. He had 16 oz. of blood in his head and the NICU staff couldn't save him. Apparently a subgaleal bleed is so dangerous because the blood pools in one of the spaces that lies between the brain and the skull. The space is, in a sense, endless. It goes around the brain and down the spinal cord. So, if there is bleeding, the blood is not contained by connective tissue but will continue to bleed and fill up the space...it is virtually impossible to contain. Luckily, Sadie's bleeding stopped and she didn't die. She was given 2 blood transfusions after birth because of all the blood her head had absorbed from her body. She is alive due to the quick thinking and actions of the NICU team, everyone's prayers and fasting, and the fact that Heavenly Father indeed wanted her here.
We didn't get to hold her for the first 3 days of her life. She was hooked up to lots of wires and tubes in an incubator. Her head and coloring looked really bad but eventually she started to stabilize. Once Nick and I were discharged from the hospital, we rented a room from them for $30 a night so we could stay with Sadie and so I could try to nurse her once we were allowed to hold her. On Monday night, a week after her being in the NICU, we were allowed to take her home! We were so excited! We were told her recovery would be slow and that she would be in there at least a few weeks! Once again, I know with all my heart, that she has survived thanks to everyone's prayers and fasting. We love you all and although this has been the hardest trial we have ever gone through, it has also been the biggest blessing we have received thus far in our lives. Sadie is a miracle. She is our little fighter.
She is doing really good now. She is nursing a lot better and loves to be held. (Probably making up for not being held very much in the NICU.) She is so beautiful and seems to be content and happy. Her body has reabsorbed the blood that was in her head and so her head looks completely normal now. She no longer seems to have a massive headache either. She is amazing. Nick and I have grown so close to one another after having gone through this and feel that our marriage and love for one another has increased 10 fold. I will post pictures some other time, please be patient. We love you all and again thank you for putting Sadie's name in multiple temples, praying for her, and fasting for her. Your faith and love has touched our lives so much. Thank you.
