Here Comes Baby..... Welcome Andrew Rawson Cardon

January 24, 2010
*** WARNING: Contains Images Not Suitable For Those With Weak Stomachs***
At around 1:30 this morning the baby’s heart rate dropped to the 60’s. Michelle had just fallen asleep a few minutes earlier when the nurse opened the door and flipped on the lights. They told her to lie on her side, gave her an oxygen mask, and administered IV fluids. When Michelle realized what was going on, she wanted to scream out loud. She now just wanted the baby to come out. From that moment on there wasn’t any sleep at all. His heart rate went down several other times during the night. After one episode the nurse had us sign a consent form just in case they needed to do a c-section, and when we asked the nurse when would they decided that they were doing a c-section she said that his heart rate would have to get a little lower and decrease more frequently. Since our doctor was off this weekend one of her partners would take care of Michelle. She came in to visit us and assured us that this was the right thing to do. Michelle's placenta was at its end and he wouldn't grow any more inside of her. We had hit the point where we could do more for the baby outside of the womb than inside. I think after the night's events Michelle was more than happy to let him come out. At around 10 am they removed the cervix softener and allowed Michelle to take a shower. She loved it so much. The nurse had originally told her she could have a short shower, but she took advantage of the opportunity and took her time. Before she got out of the bathroom she was sure to put on a little makeup. It made her feel so good. Around 11 am they started per Pitocin. The doctor had ordered a higher dose, but the nurse decided to start her on a smaller dose and see how the baby reacted. The nurse also suggested Michelle get her epidural early in case they had to do a c-section. That way I would be able to go in with her. Not to long after that the anesthesiologist came in and gave her the epidural. Michelle didn't think it was bad at all.



Within the first hour of administering the Pitocin, the baby wasn't handling it well. His heart rate dropped several times within a short amount of time so the doctor decided to get Michelle ready for a c-section. They cathed Michelle and I got into the hospital jump suit, cap, and mask. Before we left for the OR I asked about taking in a camera. They said it was OK to take still shots, but that I couldn't take any video of the procedure. Luckily for us our friends Matt and Vicki lent us their good camera.


At about a quarter to 1 PM we got to the OR. During the whole procedure I was taking pictures.

After a few cuts through the various layers of tissue the doctors were well on their way getting to our son. With just a little more time he would be here.

At 1:01 PM baby Drew was pulled out of his mother and I took his first picture. He gave a little cry as the doctor held him in the air. Although Michelle couldn't see him she had a sense of relief when she heard his voice. The moment didn't last long. Before I knew it they had passed Drew through a window right into the NICU.

They saw how interested I was at getting some shots that they made sure that I got a good one of Michelle's uterus.

Michelle looked tired, but not in pain. She said she could only feel the tugging, but it wasn't painful. I guess the Meds worked. We wheeled Michelle back to her room to recover for a moment.

I was then taken to see Drew (short for Andrew, we don't have a middle name yet) along with Michelle's mom Carol. They had him in an incubator with a variety of tubes and monitors coming out of him. He had a hard time breathing so they put him on CPAP, luckily the week before they were able to give Michelle steroid shots to help in Drew's lung development. We couldn't see his face because the CPAP covered it and then he had a hat on to help hold the CPAP in place. He was so small and skinny. He was born at 1:01pm, he weighed 3 lbs. 15 oz, and he was 17.25 inches long.

After about an hour Michelle was wheeled into his room before she was moved to the maternity floor. Michelle was able to put her hand through the little incubator doors to touch his little body. After all she had been through the last few days, weeks, and months, it was worth it to be able to see him.

He has a lot of hair for being so young. I hope he will be like his father and keep it as long as he can.

Michelle was then taken up to her new room and we visited with a few of her family members. Later in the afternoon I took my sister Rachael down to see Drew and the nurse wanted to talk to me privately. Some of Drew's labs showed signs of a possible infection and his gastric fluid had a pink tint to it which could be caused by ingestion of Michelle's blood during birth or he could have a bleed of some sort. To add to all of that, he was having a harder time breathing and if he didn't improve they would have to intubate him for a short time and give him a treatment of surfactant. I returned to Michelle and told her what was going on. Having medical backgrounds can be both a good and bad thing. It is nice to understand what the doctors are saying and what the labs mean, but sometimes your mind can go straight to the worst possible outcome. Later in the night Michelle was tired so I went down to the NICU by myself once again to visit little Drew. I just sat there with my hand firmly on his body through the incubator door looking at him while talking to his nurse. It is hard to believe that we are parents. I will now try and get some sleep. The couch is Michelle's room isn't the comfiest and having people come in and out throughout the night doesn't help.