Welcome, sweet little boy! We would like to officially welcome the newest member of the May family:

Karsten Joseph May
Jan. 19, 2012
7:44 am
6.6 lbs, 18.5 inches I finally have a quiet moment to sit down and record this wonderful event! It has been a very long and exhausting few weeks, but that has all been worth it to have this wonderful little boy join our family. Some of you may know that I was having some pregnancy complications for which I was being closely monitored (placenta previa). After many ultrasounds and going back and forth, at last the doctors decided that I would not be able to have a normal birth and that we needed to schedule an early C-section. So we did, and the date was set for January 19th (yes, 3 1/2 weeks prior his due date of Feb. 13th). With him scheduled to arrive almost a month early, we did everything we could to get him and me ready for a safe birth. I had weekly stress tests to make sure baby was not in distress, and I was enrolled in a research study to have a 50 % chance of getting a drug that would mature his lungs. A few days prior to the scheduled C-section, I was admitted to labor and delivery for a few hours for monitoring, but luckily I was sent home a few hours later. In the night before my C-section I started having contraction 10 minutes apart (weird, I know) so we went to the hospital a few hours before I was supposed to report to make sure all was well. It was a good thing we did because my contraction were pretty regular and strong, and they didn't want me going into natural labor. So they gave me a drug to stop the contractions, which luckily worked, so I was able to wait the few hours for my scheduled time to deliver with my own doctor. Here is a picture of Andrew and I right before we left for the hospital at 4 am:

And this is me all glamored up in hospital gear about to get hooked up to every monitor imaginable!

So we waited until 7:30 am, and I was prepped for my C-section. I had such nice nurses and doctors tending to me and the baby. I wish I had a picture of them, but I will always remember their kindness. Everything went as planned and as well as was expected.Gorgeous, right? :)

Andrew joined me in the OR as soon as I was prepped and ready to go. I am so glad he was by my side, that brought me a lot of comfort. He half watched me and the surgery at the same time. It all went fairly fast, and before I knew it I heard a little tiny baby screech! I was expecting a loud cry, but his little screech was so sweet and tender. Andrew quickly rushed to his side in his little bed where they were examining him. One hard part about a C-section is that I couldn't see what was going on! It is weird not being able to hold and see your baby right away. But I was grateful at least Andrew could stand by his side. Initially our sweet baby did very well breathing on his own and received good APGAR scores. They cleaned him up and Andrew was allowed to bring him over to me for a peek, all bundled up! He had the sweetest little face.

Those were some very sweet, tender seconds I was able to spend with my little boy before they took him. Andrew went with him and the doctors for further examining in the nursery, while I finished up surgery and recovery. It would be several hours before I finally got to hold my sweet baby. I learned a lot that I did not know about premature babies. Though Karsten was a healthy weight, he did not do as well as we had hoped initially. Our OB/GYN had told us there would be a 30 % chance he would need some extra care and go to the NICU, so we were hoping to not fall into that category. But about an hour into his little life, Karsten started having some trouble breathing on his own and his blood glucose levels dropped dangerously low from expending so much energy trying to breathe. So the nurses gave him some extra oxygen and an IV. I am actually glad I was not there for that part. Andrew said because his veins were so little, they had to try 7 times to get an IV in him, and that was hard to watch. Here is a picture after he got all hooked up (I hope this picture doesn't scare anyone!)

They monitored him very closely for about an hour before making the decision that he needed some extra TLC and be admitted to the NICU until he could get his strength up. The wonderful news was that he appeared to be a healthy little boy, just really tired and premature and that he just needed to grow and gain his strength. So we submitted and were grateful he was receiving such watchful care. After recovery I was wheeled down to my room, and quickly asked to go see Karsten and Andrew in the nursery. Here I am finally getting to hold my little boy for the first time:

 

 

At this point they he was breathing on his own again. When he was stable, they cleaned him all up and prepped him for his first bath.

 removing his stickers so they could wash him

 all ready to wash!

 

 

 Hair washed, ah, feels nice!

All Clean, and tuckered out! At this point I could hardly keep my eyes open from all the pain medicine I was on (and recovering from surgery) that I went back to my room to sleep and greet all the excited family who had come to see Karsten.

  Above: Aunt Sarah (andrew's sister) who shares a birthday with Karsten! 

 

 

I spent the next 4 days in the hospital recovering and was discharged the Monday morning. My recovery went fairly well, even though my body had to adjust to losing some blood and not being pregnant any more. Little Karsten continued to get stronger and stronger each day in the NICU. He was too tired to eat, so he got a feeding tube for the first week until he was strong enough to nurse. He steadily learned to eat and gained weight.

 

 Snuggle time with mom and dad!

 

 

 the feeding tube

 

 On about the 6th day, he wasn't maintaining his oxygen levels as well as we had hoped, so got some extra help from a low, constant flow of oxygen in his nose. those of you who remember, we went through similar experiences with Ella, so this wasn't our first introduction to all the wires and tubes!

 

 I have to admit, it was difficult not having my baby in my room with me being able to share him with everyone. Only 4 other people besides Andrew and I were allowed on a visiting list in the NICU, and everyon else had to wait to hold and love this little guy. Andrew and I spent as much time as possible in the NICU with our little boy, holding and loving him. And in between we let him sleep, and sleep he did! Premies have a lot of catching up to do, and they sleep 20-22 hours in a day!

After I was discharged I went back to the hospital every day to feed and tend to Karsten. This week was very exhausting, I practically lived at the hospital for about a week. It was hard not going home with our baby and having to leave him in the hospital, but we knew it was for his good and that he was being well tended to. Finally, on Friday 27th he was able to come home with us! Happy day. He had to pass an hour and a half car seat trial test and was sent home with 2 monitors and oxygen. I tried not to complain about all the wires and be grateful that he was coming home :)
(these pictures are backwards for some reason :)

 Our wonderful nurse Analisa

 Look at all the wires we went home with!

 So little!

 Gaining weight, yeah!

 

 

 Getting dressed for his first day outside!

 His car seat trial

 We brought him home to Andrew's parents house in Orem first where my sister was watching our other 2 children until we got there. They were all so thrilled to see Karsten!

We then took him home to Salt Lake and introduced him to his real home for the first time! I will have to do another post with pictures/stories from him being home, but he is doing well, growing and gaining weight. He is such a wonderful little boy and we are so grateful that he has joined our family. We are mostly grateful to the Lord for bringing him here safely and for all the angels that tended to him and our other children when we as parents could not.