A Tale of Two Moms: February 2010

Easton John Heyer-Wilkinson entered this world 1 month early via c-section on Wednesday February 10th, 2010. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. He was born at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT. For those of you wondering "What happened?", here goes:

Easton's due date was March 9, 2010, but since Christy was having a repeat c-section she was able to schedule her surgery at "our convenience". After careful consideration, we chose March 3rd (our doctor would only do c-section 1 week before due date). Nicole had her days off from work scheduled and covered and both Christy and Nicole were prepping for a March baby. However, Easton had other plans.

At Christy's 35 week appointment the doctor measured Christy's belly and felt she was measuring 3 cm too small so she sent Christy for an ultrasound to double check Easton's growth. Nicole went to work as usual on Wed. Feb. 10th and Christy dropped off Ry at Nanny's and went in for her ultrasound that morning. Everything was great per the ultrasound report and they guessed Easton weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. Christy went grocery shopping and after getting home she felt things "weren't right". She felt like she was "wetting my pants". She called Nicole at about 11:00 a.m. and Nicole advised her to call the doctor immediately. They told her to come in at 2:15 p.m. , but after "wetting her pants" several more times she felt she should go in immediately. Luckily Ry was still with Nanny and Nicole's brother Mike was able to drive Christy to St. Mark's (where Nicole conveniently works) to see the doctor. We met with the doctor and it was obvious her water had broken, so a c-section was immediately scheduled and Voila! we had a handsome baby boy by 5:20 that night.

Easton's respiratory rate was high, anywhere from 80-120 breaths per minute (normal is less than 70 bpm). Since it was so high, it wasn't safe for him to eat by mouth so they kept him in the NICU for 1 1/2 days hooked to IV fluids to feed him. He had to prove he was able to eat and thrive before he could be moved to the well-baby nursery. He was also a little jaundice so he spent some time under the lights, hence the cool shades he's wearing in the picture below.

The first night was tough for us since we didn't know what to expect but the staff was great and made us feel so comfortable and reassured us he was safe. We had so much support from friends and family that night, and we appreciated that so much. Ryley was able to see Easton through the NICU window the next day, but I still don't think she really knew what was going on. Reality hadn't hit her, or really us yet.

Luckily Easton's respiratory rate slowed down and Easton was able to eat and eventually moved to the well-baby nursery. Ry was able to hold him for the 1st time and was even involved in feeding him a bottle. She was in heaven. Christy and Easton were able to come home on Sunday Feb. 14th. The best Valentine's Day present ever.