Lincoln Tyler is born!

Marie is unable to update this (she is very weak) so I as the aunt am going to try to include as many details as I can. :)

Lincoln Tyler Rempel was born July 6th at 12:56am. Weighing in at 3 lbs. 6.8oz and 15 3/4 inches! He was 31 1/2 weeks along!

Sunday evening was a total shocker! Marie had had a very high blood pressure all day (which had been kind of typical) but it was abnormally high (189/118). So around 10pm Her, Tyler and I were all just sitting around in her room and Dr. Mroz came in all serious and said "well we have just decided your son's birth date" (if the blood pressure would have been any higher the baby would be at risk and wouldn't be getting as much blood. The doctor said she wanted the best circumstance for both a healthy mom and healthy baby.) Marie said "what sometime this next week?" "Nope, it's going to be tonight" Marie was shocked and didn't know what to do, given such little notice. So they started prepping her for her C-section then realized that Marie had eaten supper around 6:30pm and in order to get the full 8 hours without eating before surgery, they were going to wait until 2:30am to deliver. They started her on magnesium to help the blood pressure, which made her sick. But around 11:45pm they decided that her blood pressure was still really risky so they did an emergency c-section around 12:30am. I'm told that they c-section went as well as it could, but she got nauseous during (because she still had food in her system) and had to throw up while they were trying to sew her back up, causing gas bubbles in her system that she is still feeling in her stomach, chest, shoulder etc.

Lincoln cried right away after being delivered (they had told her to not expect any crying because of the circumstances). She was able to see Lincoln for about 20 seconds after they washed him up before taking him to the NICU.

Marie went into recovery which was supposed to be for about 2 hours, which ended up being 4-5 hours because she was having sharp pains in her chest and back (caused from the manipulation of her organs during surgery when she got sick).

Because Marie was on the magnesium still (which still was making her sick) she wasn't able to move to postpartum and since Lincoln was doing so well, they were able to bring Lincoln to Marie in her room around 10am! This is unheard of when a baby is in NICU! She was able to hold him for a short while until she started getting sick again.

Lincoln is doing fantastic! They had to put him on oxygen for a very little time right after birth. He is now without any oxygen, he has a feeding tube through his nose but has been able to suck 3 bottles so far! The sucking motion isn't usually learned until 33-34 weeks along and he is only 31! The nurses are calling him a wild man because he is so active and fights the nurses when they are tending to him. The doctors and nurses are all so amazed at how well he is doing, they say Lincoln thinks that he is 34 weeks along instead of 31! Marie has been able to see Lincoln 3 times now, he was able to come to her room all of these.

Marie is still in her labor and delivery room, being watched closely. All day on Monday she was sick and drowsy from the magnesium (they had to do a round of over 24 hours of the magnesium, which helps keep the blood pressure down, reducing the cause of seizures) then another of the meds she got made her really loopy. Family was all here all day on Monday and we just sat with her while she would get sick and then fall right asleep, which happened continuously all day. Monday evening is when she started getting loopy from the medicine and it was kind of interesting the things she would say and such. (Tyler and I were entertained) I think she was replaying Sunday in her head and she didn't even realize she had had Lincoln already. She thought she still had to go into surgery and her nurse D.D. was going to be with her etc. We have lots of stories to tell if anyone asks :) Anyways, so she would be talking then one second later be fast asleep.

Today they took her off of her magnesium (which has been really good for her) her blood pressure is looking a little better but is still a little on the high side. Her platelet count is high which is good, liver and enzyme level is lowering, which is good and they were worried about her kidneys but they ran some tests and they are both back to normal. She is REALLY weak and tired right now. It was hard for her to suck out of a straw and to chew earlier today. She cannot stand or walk on her own from weakness. They have been taking her blood every 4 hours to check the platelets and they started out at 24,000, then 29,000, back to 24,000 and then tonight it rose to 31,000, which hopefully means she is on the downside of the hill and is getting better. The doctor said that if it got down to 20,000, she would need a blood transfusion, so any rising is good!

So that pretty much sums of the past 48 hours or so in a nut shell. Please keep praying for both Marie and Lincoln as they get through these next couple of days.