What the %#*@! just happened!!

I've got just a few minutes to get something posted here to let you all know what's been going on. I'm sorry in advance that this will be brief, a bit blunt, and not my typical storytelling-blog style. However, we feel really bad that no one really knows what's transpired over the last week and we really want to get you all filled in.

So in a (larger) nut-shell here's where we've been in the last week:

Tuesday was Ashely's due date and we were told on Monday there were some signs that she needed to be born sooner than later. We were given 1-2 days to go into labor before we'd have to have a repeat c-section so we opted for some natural "nudging" into labor with the hopes of having a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). Monday night I went into labor and we headed up to Seattle where we were planning on having Ashely. I labored fairly well for a few hours until they had a hard time tracking her heart tones and my contractions. I won't go into detail now (I want to do the story justice!) but from that moment the words and events of Ashley's birth mimicked those of Kristen. The one difference is that at when they went to do internal monitoring of her heart tones and my contractions they couldn't find her. At that same time I went into excruciating pain and was able to point to the place where I hurt so bad and they knew something was wrong. When they couldn't find her heartrate they had to do surgery to ensure she was okay. Which meant the same unlocking of the wheels and leaving Kevin and Sarah (or doula) in the room as I was rushed off to the OR - just like it was with Kristen.

It ended up that my uterus erupted (how appropriate that it "erupted" on Mt. St. Helen's Day!) and Ashely and the placenta were "born" into my abdomen. Again, I'll save the details now, but it was about 30 seconds from the time they made the first cut to when she was born since she was "right there!" There is less than a 1% chance of this ever happening in VBAC births, and apparently I pulled the short straw with that statistic. I was able to be sewn up and had very little bleeding, praise the Lord!
She was quickly put on various monitoring machines with a ventilator - which she quickly pulled out! :) And observed. The worry was that they didn't know how long she had been without her life-line and oxygen of her placenta. When they did a blood gas test on her umbilical cord (which would tell them how toxic her blood was), it wasn't looking good. Her numbers were poor which revealed possible brain damage due to the lack of oxygen. HOWEVER, when they did the same test on her body blood - her numbers were okay!! The Doc said she had no way of explaining this!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!
It was determined that she needed to have more testing to ensure her brain was okay so they opted to send her to Children's Hospital where they had the ability to do more extensive testing. I did get to see her before they took her away, since it wasn't in a rush situation.
At Children's they did a 12hr brain scan which only showed the slighted little blip. They decided to make sure that she is 110% okay so they started a 72 hour hypothermia test. This is where they lower her body temperature to about 95 degrees for 72 hours, allowing her brain and body to "reset" themselves. Think of when people have hypothermia and their bodies start to shut down - same thing - although highly controlled and it allows her to kind of recover from her traumatic birth. After the 72 hours, they will warm her up again and watch what she does - checking for seizures and seeing how she "restarts." (much like restarting your computer when it stalls and watching all the start-up programs pop up.) She was given morphine to stay comfortable and not shiver, to warm herself up. We were able to touch and talk to her, just not hold her which would transfer body heat. She has done great on this test although she doesn't like being cold! The cooling blanket she's on will fluctuate in temp and when it starts to cool you know it because she gets ticked!! :) She didn't like her electrodes on her head and kept pulling at them from all sides. She fusses when her bed is cold. She pulled her vent tube out at just hours old. They started using the word "fiesty" to describe her and I have a feeling it fits her quite well!! :)
I was able to pump some breastmilk and give it to her (it was a labor of love let me tell you!!!!) - which she devoured in a few seconds!! It was just enough to give her a taste, as she's getting nutrition through IV's. As of this morning they've upped the amount of milk she's allowed to have which is a VERY positive sign.

Everyone in the NICU just loves her and it's fun to hear fun reports of what she's doing, not just the medical stuff. :)

I feel I am totally cutting this story short, but we need to head up to Seattle and be there when she "wakes up" today. The warming started at 8am and should be complete at 2:30pm. We have a feeling we'll be meeting our baby again for the first time once she is no longer in her "hibernation" state. They are doing an MRI this afternoon - which is another MAJOR answer to prayer. Last night we were told we'd have to wait until Monday to have it done and we asked why not Friday and the doc said she'd see what she could do, but it was unlikely. We prayed on the way home that it would happened today and when I called this morning they said it was scheduled for 4pm. I just started crying and saying "thank you!!!"
They will warm her today and watch her for the next while and then it's up to the docs and Ashley as to when she goes home. We're hoping that by Saturday evening or Sunday we get to bring her home......c'mon baby girl!!

We can't say thank you enough to everyone that has been praying - without knowing any details - for us and just surrounding us with your love, words of encouragement, and prayer. I look forward to writing more on the blog and doing the story (and all of God's miracles that are happening along the way) more justice. So until then, THANK YOU!!!!

Love, The Balcom Family of FOUR!!