He Came In With a Bang...

... well maybe more like a splash!

Brighton Noel Pratt was born Monday, May 20, 2013 at 1:13 p.m. He was 33 weeks and 6 days making him 6 weeks early.  He is a big boy weighing in at 6 lbs. 2 oz. (currently 5 1/2 lbs.) and 18.5 inches.  Here's the story...

At about 3:00 a.m. on Monday morning I woke up with contractions. They were painful/bothersome, but not too regular and I didn't think too much of them as I was only 33 weeks 6 days pregnant. The contractions persisted throughout the next few hours and so at 5:00 I decided I would probably need to stay home from work. I went in to work to write my sub plans. While driving there, working on my plans, and driving back home I noticed that the contractions were getting stronger and more regular, about every 4 minutes or so. When I got home around 8:00 I told my husband we should probably go to the hospital. Lila, my first child, had tried to come at 34 weeks as well, but they were able to stop it so I thought that would be what would happen again. Well, when they checked me at about 8:30 they said I was already dilated to 5 cm and fully effaced so the likelihood of stopping this labor was not very good. I couldn't believe it. I went from thinking that they were just a few bad braxton hicks to realizing I was going to have a premature baby. They tried slowing the labor down and stopping it altogether, but were unable to. At 1:11 p.m. they asked me to start pushing and by 1:13 p.m. Brighton was out. That's right! It took less than 3 minutes total and only a few pushes to get him out. I was grateful. Being only 33 weeks 6 days they normally would transfer him to UV, but they left the decision up to my pediatrician who wanted to observe him first. 

Although he was less than 34 weeks, he was a big boy at 6 lbs. 2 oz. and pretty strong. He was observed throughout Monday night and was on oxygen as his lungs weren't quite strong enough on their own. In the middle of Monday night they took him off oxygen and he is breathing perfectly fine on his own. He now can also maintain his own body temperature. He is doing amazingly well and progressing beautifully. We are so blessed to have this little miracle in our lives. It's going to be a LONG couple of weeks, but he's healthy. I just hope I can survive the next few weeks at the hospital and being there for feedings every 3 hours (when it gets to that point). I really look forward to just having him home. Lila hasn't yet been able to formally meet him as she is under two and hasn't had all of her immunizations. It's okay though, she has loved looking at him through the window. She still doesn't fully understand everything that is going on. 

He basically only has the "feeder/grower" stage left to make it through. He just needs to learn how to eat on his own. While this is all that he has left, it's a slow stage because they have to be careful pushing him too hard. It's still a few weeks in the hospital for us, but he is a healthy little man. 

It's been an amazing experience already with Brighton and we couldn't be happier! He is a wonderful little boy and a great addition to our family. We love you baby Brighton.

Oh... and to explain the "splash" part... it was just my amniotic fluid going everywhere when he came out. Sorry for the mental picture. ;)