All in God's Timing

It is somewhat ironic that I just a few days ago posted that we were expecting the arrival of our second son on August 11. He surprised us by showing up just yesterday morning, June 13, 2o11.

I found out last week at my regular doctor's appointment that I had failed my one-hour glucose tolerance test. I went in on Saturday morning for the three-hour test. This baby has always been a mover, and so adding a high concentration of sugar to that, he was having a party in my belly Saturday afternoon. Later that evening, I didn't feel him moving which was odd because that is typically his active time. I thought perhaps he was just calmer because of the all the sugar and activity earlier...this was his crash.

The next morning, I still wasn't feeling him move, and I told David that I was concerned. We went to church, had lunch, then came home...still no movement. I drank a tall glass of ice cold water and lay on my left side for a half hour. After I felt no movement, I called my doctor. He told me to immediately report to the emergency room. Once I was escorted to labor and delivery triage, the nurse hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor, and we heard his heart beating right away...major sign of relief. They had me drink tons of ice water, some milk, and I ate peanut butter toast. Still no movement. My doctor told them to screen with an ultrasound. During this, they are basically looking for five things: my fluid levels, the baby's heartbeat, the baby's lungs, small fetal movement, and large fetal movement. Each portion is a pass/fail, receiving either a 0 or a 2. During the first screen, the baby scored a 4 (fluids, heart); second screen, baby scored a 6 (same as before plus small movement); third screen, a 4 again...the doctor was very concerned and called for an emergency c-section. At 31 weeks pregnant, I was scared!

Aaron Joseph Bunts was born at 4:32 am on June 13, 2011, weighing 4 lbs, 11 oz. The problem was immediate: he was not breathing, nor was his heart beating. Toledo Hospital had sent a team from their NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) to take care of him immediately upon delivery. Thank God they were able to get his heart beating and to get him breathing. I couldn't see him, couldn't hear him...nothing!

Very shortly after his birth, I was told he was very sick. He has a virus which was causing major concerns, and this was probably why he had stopped moving in utero. The outlook was extremely dismal. Honestly, I was prepared to lose my baby. My OB told me that he was very sick, and the neo-natologist told us that it was very possible that he would die. Not what I wanted to hear, but at least the truth.

I saw him for about five minutes before he was taken to Toledo's NICU. He was bundled up in his incubator on a ventilator among other things. When he arrived at the NICU, the doctor called me to say they were there. His infection was being treated with antibiotics, and he would remain on the ventilator. His liver was enlarged, and he was extremely bruised, due to low blood platelets. He was being given blood transfusions. He also had some swelling around his soft spot, and they were going to do an ultrasound to see if he had bleeding. Again, the tone was very concerned.

We got another call a few hours later. Aaron was being put on a different ventilator, and they were going to place him in a paralytic state to keep him still. At this point, the doctor was extremely concerned, and he said that someone needed to be there with the baby; David was on his way. Here is our beautiful Aaron Joseph...please pray for him!