Our Miracle Baby

  

He's Here...
Ian Strong Miller joined our family on January 9th, 24 days early, weighing in at 5 lbs 8 ozs. He is our little miracle baby.  Here is his story...

   It started as a usual Sunday morning.  I went to church as normal, but Primary did me in.  I came home having contractions that were far apart and irregular.  As the day wore on the contractions got closer and closer.   I wasn't in a heavy labor but the last we knew Ian was still breech and I wanted to make sure he turned before it turned into an emergency.  So, when Alan came home from his church meetings we headed to the hospital and checked in around 8:30 pm.  They did an ultrasound almost immediately and found he was still breech.  Next thing to try, stopping labor enough to try to turn him.  Not my first choice but my doctor would not proceed with a cesarean delivery so early until he had tried other means like turning the baby and/or stopping my labor.  It took 12 more hours for my contractions to become smaller and less often to where my doctor felt all right trying to turn him.    All of my other labors had progressed fairly quickly so this was very frustrating for me.  The problem was that there was nothing pushing on my cervix so the contractions hadn't done anything in all that time except wear me out and dilate my cervix another cm.  My doctor tried to turn the baby three times, nothing but pain, and Ian kept sliding back into the position he had been in.  The doctor finally gave up and gave me the choice to go ahead with a cesarean delivery or go home try to make it a few days closer to my due date.  Alan and I both felt impressed that Ian needed to be born then.  We told the doctor we needed to go ahead with the delivery.    By this point I was exhausted having been awake since the previous morning, over 24 hours without sleep.
     Five hours later they wheeled me into the operating room.   Ian is my fifth child, but my first cesarean.  I didn't know what to expect.  A few few minutes into the procedure I heard a lot of talk and snippets of phrases like, "oh my, he's transverse" and "I can't move him"  and "look at that, the cord is wrapped around twice."  Finally there was a big commotion and the doctor swung Ian over the screen long enough to turn around and whisk him away, less than a second.  The only thought I had was that he was completely blue, limp, and silent.  That was one of the scariest moments I have ever had as a mother.  I felt nearly hysterical and kept crying that I couldn't hear him.  Alan just kept telling me that he was fine and kept squeezing my hand to assure me.  Finally after about 5 long minutes I heard a most beautiful sound, it was a little infant whimper.  He hadn't cried yet but I could hear him and he was breathing. 
     Later I was told the whole story.  The cord had been wrapped around his neck a couple of times which we suspect was tightened when they tried to turn him around.   Ian had been breech, as we already knew, but he had also been transverse with his hips twisted. This added together to make the delivery difficult and longer than it should have been.  His 1 minute Apgar rating was 2 out of 10.  In my mind he was literally very close to death.   Alan later told me that a respiratory therapist was forcing oxygen in his lungs with a machine while a nurse was massaging his body to try to get him to move.  Finally at the next apgar test he was at a 7 out of 10 and trying to breath on his own.
     I truly believe that had the doctor been successful in turning him or had sent me home to labor a few more days that Ian wouldn't be with us today.  He is truly a miracle.  Alan and I both felt the Spirit of the Lord  with us that day in knowing that he needed to be delivered as soon as possible.  Alan also testified to me that in the operating room he felt a strong reassurance that everything would be all right and that Ian would survive and be a healthy infant despite the rough beginning.   That has truly happened.   Now, two weeks later, he is healthy and strong.  He's still a little guy but I have no doubt that he will grow quickly.  I thank my Heavenly Father for miracles today.