Sophia Lynette Prickett Has Arrived!

First things first.  I gave Jeremiah free reign to name our last baby and he came up with Sophia Lynette all by himself.  Sophia is a name that he just liked.  Plus, it's Oprah Winfrey's character in one of my favorite movies, the Color Purple.  In case you live under a rock, my first name is Gwendolynette.  So he chopped it in half and named her after me.  Since we will never have a boy, Lynette was his way of giving me a junior by naming her after me.  He is so sentimental like that.  So, that's the story of how the name Sophia Lynette came to be.  The traditionalist in me like Sophia with a "ph" and not a "f".  Anyway, here is the story of how Lynette was born.  

I started having contractions Saturday evening that went through Sunday afternoon.  At 4PM on Sunday, I finally called the after hours nurse and she told me to take some Tylenol and to get some rest.  By Monday evening I was a little better and weened myself off of the Tylenol.  My regularly scheduled ob appt was Tuesday morning and I explained to my doctor what happened over the weekend.  She examined me on the spot and told me to take it easy.  If the pain kept up or if I started spotting, bleeding, or leaking, I was to give her a call.  After I left the doctor, I went to my parents and CRASHED.  At least I felt better when I woke up.  Later that night after I got home, the contractions were unbearable and I started bleeding.  We called the doctor and thy said to come on in.      

The doctors decided to admit me for observation because of the bleeding.  Eventually, I was put on magnesium to slow the contractions and ease my discomfort.  While it worked great, it tripped my body out and I felt weird the entire time I was on it.  Then they gave me 2 steroid shots in my backside for the baby.  Apparently, the steroid was to help develop the baby lungs in the event that she came early.  When I woke up Wednesday, my personal doctor told me that she ordered a sonogram and didn't want to release me until we had that sono done.  I was fine with that.  

Well, the sonogram didn't happen until 5PM Thursday evening.  While the tech was performing my sonogram, he asked "how many c-sections have you had?"  I said "two and this baby will be number three".  He said "I'll go get the doctor and he'll be be right in."  The tech leaves and comes back with two doctors.  I knew this wasn't good.  Both doctors told Jeremiah and I that my uterus ruptured and that we needed to have an emergency c-section immediately.  That was at 5:08PM.  At 5:57PM Sophia Lynette was born at only 29 weeks.

Unfortunately, Jeremiah didn't document this birth with great pictures like he always does.  Considering how fast everything happened, I think we're lucky to have gotten these few.  

Here's my infamous sonogram.  My uterus ruptured between the cursors.  A portion of the baby's sac and the umbilical cord had worked their way out of my uterus.  

Here I am in the middle of surgery with my barf bag.  I kept feeling like I was going to vomit but I never did.  I saved that for when I got back to my room.  My doctor knows that Jeremiah is studying to be a nurse so she let him peek over the curtain for a little while.  He was stoked at that opportunity!  At one point during the surgery, my doctor told me that it is a good thing that this is our last baby.  Because my uterus ruptured so severely, I'll never be able to carry another baby full term. 

EVERYONE was pulling for me and saying things like "she has a friend upstairs", "the Lord is definitely on her side", " I can't believe she or the baby didn't bleed out", "I can't believe she's coherent", "she's one lucky lady because this could've ended very differently", "this is one of the most amazing cases that I've seen in my career".  

Lynette arrived on 2/9/12 at 5:57PM!  Here she is getting all cleaned up.  I was so relieved when I heard her cry immediately.  Everyone was so nice and worked so diligently!

Right before the nurse whisked Lynette off to NICU, she allowed me to give her a kiss and I immediately felt at peace about her condition.  Lynette looked really good!  Her color was good.  Her features were good.  My favorite part was seeing that she had blonde eyebrows and light brown/blonde hair!  We'll have to wait and see if the color changes.  

Weighing in at 3lbs and 1oz.  She's underweight but the doctors believe that she just needs to put on some weight.  They are slightly concerned about her puffy feet, excess skin on her neck, and the size of her hands.  Blood will be drawn tomorrow to test for Turners Syndrome.

She looks worse than she actually is.  The mask on her face is a CPAP to keep her lungs from collapsing.  While she's breathing on her own, the CPAP is a plan b in the event Lynette forgets to breathe.  If she forgets to breathe, the CPAP takes over.  Jeremiah and I have had many discussions on what Lynette would like.  After having a brown baby and a white baby, we now have a pink baby!  

Prince Charming getting some much deserved rest.

The NICU doctors said that she looks more like she's at 32 weeks rather than 29 weeks.  I think so, too.  In fact, I've always felt that I was three weeks ahead of every sonogram that I had.  The NICU doctors also said that we may be able to take Lynette home in about 5 weeks, yay!  I'm told that when babies are premature they are kept in NICU until their due date.  However, if missy continues to progress so well, she may not have to stay until April.

Thank you all for your prayers, well wishes, and positive thoughts!  All of us are feeling your love and we are so lucky to have supportive family and friends in our lives.  Please continue to keep our baby girl in your prayers :o)