Along comes Logan…

So, I’ve not updated in some time, its been really busy around here.  I did want to let you guys in on a little story.  It’s the story of my son, Logan.  He’s 4 days old right now, but has already left a permanent impression on many people.

My wife and I have been married for 8 years.  All 8 trying to have a baby.  We’ve been through fertility treatments for years now and after 1 attempt at IVF, Jessi got pregnant with Logan.  The realm of fertility is a roller coaster.  For those that have experienced it, you know what I mean.  If you have a child and didn’t go through any treatments, consider yourself lucky.  Jessi’s been pregnant before (at least the tests said so), but was never able to hold on to the pregnancy.  This one was different, although in the beginning it didn’t look like it was going to be any different than the numerous other disappointments. 

In the first few weeks, she was pregnant, then one day, her numbers really dropped off.  We’d seen that before and knew the next time back at the doctor’s office, we would get the news that she was pregnant no longer.  I grabbed her around her belly, pulled it up to my mouth and told whoever was in there to “fight”.  I was very stern and emotional.  It even tear’ed up my wife.

The next time back at the doctor’s office, she was still pregnant, sort of.  That puzzled me.  Over the next few weeks her numbers began to go up again, and at 7 weeks, we got our first ultrasound of Logan.  He looked like a grain of rice.

Many weeks passed and we had the gender ultrasound at week 16.  After our gender reveal party, we found out, “It’s a boy!” and Logan was named.  He’s due August 19th, 2013.

So let’s fast forward to Saturday night (July 6, 2013).   I get a call from Delta saying my Sunday @6am flight to New Jersey is cancelled.  I rebook myself on a 4pm flight.  At 2am on Sunday morning, Jessi is complaining that she can’t stop urinating.  We skip church and go to the hospital.  After hours of tests, its found its nothing, the “labor” is stopped, to go home, and for me to go on my trip to New Jersey (for 5 days).   So I leave.

At 9am on Monday, Jessi calls me complaining about pain again.  She has a doctor’s appointment so she’ll get it checked out.  At noon, they admit her to the hospital, she’s 3cm dilated.

I tell my boss, who was very understanding, ask the secretary to rebook me ASAP, and I literally ran onto a plane.  My flight left at 3:10 and is to arrive in Mobile at 8:01pm.  When I get to Chicago, my flight to Mobile gets delayed.  We don’t even leave until 8:20pm!  During this layover, I got to learn of Logan’s birth at 6:37pm.  6lbs 14 oz.  Huge kid for 6 weeks early.

At 10:30pm, I finally arrive at the hospital, ironically my wife is in the same room as she was on Sunday when we visited.  I kiss and hug her, she tells me we have a little boy, and to have a seat.  My heart dropped.

I can’t remember the details, but it went something like this: Logan can’t breath on his own, is very lethargic and very possibly has Down’s Syndrome.  All parents wish for a healthy child, and I’m no exception.  I didn’t take the news well, at all.  Everyone leaves the room except for me and Jessi and we cry together.  She asks me to go see Logan as he’s been transported to the NICU at another hospital and she can’t go.

My dad and my brother take me to see him.  He’s beautiful, but has wiring hanging all over him.  A breathing tube, tube in his throat, monitors everywhere and an IV running into his right hand.  I love this boy and I re-iterated to him what I told him many months ago…to fight.

I talk to the Nurse Practitioner and she tells me that the machines are breathing for him, but she’s not seen any of the physical markers for Down’s on him (the first good bit of news on his health).  She wants to let the tests come back to tell for sure…in 7 days!

I leave, in love with my new baby boy, and spend the rest of the night with my wife in the “other” hospital.  On Tuesday, she gets out at noon.  Before we leave, the OB that delivered Logan was “shocked” to hear of the Down’s possibility.   So that makes us feel a bit better. So, we head out to Logan’s hospital.  Heckuva woman that 18 hours after birth can walk out of a hospital.  I’m lucky to have her.

We get to the hospital and Logan is breathing own his own!  He only has a CPAP machine on.  His O2 levels are great and he’s doing ok.  The doctor tells us that his left ventricle is not working as it should and they are going to give him some medicine to help…but it could be up to 10 days to see if it works.  He gives us some other good news that he says this is a different baby than what he saw yesterday and is less concerned about Down’s.

The next day, Logan is 2 days old, the medicine has kicked his left ventricle into gear and he comes off those meds!  Wow!  But he may have a touch of Jaundice, so they may put him under the lights tomorrow.

Day 3 comes and sure enough, Logan has on his sunglasses and is under the lights.  Later in the day we come in and his CPAP machine is gone…he’s completely breathing own his own, no aid!  Wait, his tube in his throat is gone too, but has been replaced by a tube in his nostril, a feeding tube.  The nurse directs Jessi to a rocking chair, takes Logan out of his bed and lets her hold our baby boy for the first time.  Then she hooks up a bottle to the tube in his nose and Logan gets his first meal, Jessi is holding the bottle up letting it go into his stomach.  Then after about 30 minutes she asks for us to swap and I get to hold him.  Unbelievable.  The doctor comes in and says the preliminary chromosomal tests have come back as negative for Down’s, and the heart function is right where it should be.

As day 4 comes, Jessi and I have our routine for getting to the hospital.  We see Logan still has the tube in his nose and the nurse says she may have to put him back under the lights.  She also wants to move him to a crib, but they can’t do that with him under the lights, and they need his current bed for more critical babies.  We know that feedings occur at 8, 11, 2 and 5, and we are in time for the 11am feeding.  The nurse directs Jessi to a chair and hands her a bottle of formula!  After playing with it for a second or two, he goes to feeding on it.  How cool is that?  He takes over half of it, and the rest is put in him by the feeding tube.  At the 2pm feeding they’ll let him rest and just do the tube.  By 5pm, he’s back under the lights, in a new “house” and we get him out for the bottle feeding.  He doesn’t want it.  The nurse asks one of the other nurse’s to get her a bottle of newborn formula instead of the preemie formula she has now.  He gulps it down!  Apparently he didn’t like the smell/taste of the other formula.  He took all but 2ml of it.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is day 5, but let’s sum it up:  When he was born, he couldn’t breathe own his own, had some heart issues, and possibly had Down’s Syndrome.  Now, all of that is gone, and he’s eating as he should from a bottle.  He’s still 6 weeks early and his breathing is a bit erratic (but ok), and still has a touch of Jaundice.

Our boy Logan is a fighter and will soon be home with us.  We’ve not been able to get to this point without our wonderful families, friends, and church family visiting, praying, and being there for us.  We can’t thank them enough.

So for the principal 6 years from now, we’re sorry, but cut the kid some slack.  He had a hard 8 months even before we got to take him to his own bed.

And did I mention…Logan is my hero.