Happy Birthday Sophia !

Alli and I are sitting in our hospital room talking about what we want to say to start this entry.  What can you say to describe this day.  A day that we thought would never come, that we thought could be overwhelming, sad, unnerving, joyful, and of course tearful.  Twelve hours ago it began and it has been all those things and more.  But now as Alli and I actually get to spend some time together and settle down, we can only express what a joy it is to be at the end of this day.  We have a long road ahead of us. However, as Sophia has proven in utero and as she so amazingly proved today, she is going to put up a great fight.

After a restless night we were up early to get ready for the day.  Alli was prepped and ready to go to the OR at 8am.  There she met Dr. Hoekstra who was going to be our neonatal lead for the day.  I followed her in shortly after, and around 8:45 Sophia was here weighing in at 2 pounds, 9 ounces and is 14 1/2 inches long! In the OR we were only able to see her for a split second as she was taken to an adjacent room so the neonatal team could begin their work.  It was a little unnerving for us looking through the window not knowing what was happening. Was she ok? What are they doing?  Once they were done with the c-section Alli was taken to recovery and I went into the ante room where Sophia was.  Dr. Hoekstra and his team were working on her, and he assured me that she was doing well and we were ready to head to Childrens after a brief stop to see Mom.  What a relief Dr. Hoekstra was there.  Dr. Hoekstra is a family friend of my sister in law Krista, and we were put in touch with him a few weeks ago.  He was amazing to Alli, and the level of comfort she felt knowing he was on the other side of the door waiting for our baby is hard to describe. It brought tears to her eyes and helped put us at ease.

Once we arrived in the NICU at Childrens their team took over and began to work diligently to stabilize Sophia and make sure she was ready for her first surgery, an external pacemaker.  As we waited our family was able to come in and meet her, and Alli made it over to see her prior to heading to surgery, which was such a blessing.  At this time we were also able to have Sophia baptized, a beautiful moment with a lot of her family watching over her.  Alli needed to head back to Abbott as I waited with Sophia to prep for surgery.  After some scary conversations with the anesthesiologists and some reassurance from Dr Hoekstra, I was on my way down to the OR to meet with Dr Overman and say goodbye before surgery.  I had a great conversation with the surgeon, and we had a good laugh that we had hoped not to see each other again so soon.  I was blessed that my dad and brother found me in the waiting room and were able to sit with me during her surgery.  25 minutes later the room called to say that they had started and everything was fine. 15 minutes after that they called and were closing her back up and the surgery had gone very well!  What a relief. Every time the waiting room attendant handed me the phone, I was absolutely petrified.

I spoke with he surgeon after the case, he was very pleased with the result. This was also his first actual examination at her heart.  He was very reassuring to me. He said that if she could overcome the issues of the premature birth her heart has a very good chance.  That was exactly what my mentally anguished mind needed to hear. I could not wait to call Alli and meet Sophia in recovery.

160 beats per minute! It is surreal to say and now its a reality and my god does Sophie like it! Within an hour of this change her liver had decreased in size by 50% (a great thing), and her stats and labs improved wonderfully. Seriously. 160 beats per minute. That's 4 times as fast as yesterday. Truly the  best thing I heard all day.  It has been 12 hours and I cannot even find the words to describe this day. We feel so blessed to have finally met our beautiful baby girl and are so overjoyed that surgery went well and that she is safely resting and in the hands of the people at Children's.  We will try and rest well tonight knowing some great obstacles have been overcome.  This journey is just beginning and we know many bumps and turns lay ahead. But honestly, what a wonderful day.

Love,

Alli, Dan, Jack, & Rufus.