She has arrived (New Baby Alert)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I had told everyone some time ago that my wife and I were expecting our second child due in early July.

Well, she came a bit early. The math majors will realize that this is more than a bit early. For the mathematically challenged, she is 14 weeks early. For the baby knowledge challenged, that is quite early.

She weighed 1lb 8oz and was 12" long. When you average her with her sisters birth weight (11 lbs 15oz) you get about two normal size babys (almost 7 lbs each).

She is doing much better than expected. She is breathing on her own and is doing well all things considered.

My wife is also doing well.

For those of you who believe in God, my wife and I still need your prayers and Kimberly (oh yeah, her name is Kimberly Elizabeth) needs your prayers that she would continue to grow stronger and would be able to join us at home soon.

Jeffery

2

Jeffery,

My prayers are with you and your wife over this.

My step-mom was a pre-me in the 50’s, actually 1950, she wieghed less than 3 pounds and is a wonderful being.

With all the medical advances since then, I am sure your new shining star will be happy and healthy. 'Sides you have all of us on the SD boards to collectively give your baby strength.

God Bless You…I am hoping and praying in my non-Christian, non-religious way that your baby is strong and will flourish to be the apple of Daddy’s eye.

Thinking of you,

Liz

3

I suddenly have tears in my eyes after rereading his post.

4

My heartfelt best wishes to all of your family. Your daughter may be a bantamweight, but they’re the toughest, pound for pound.

I hold your daughter in my thoughts, and I’m sending megapositive waves your way.

Be well and happy, Kimberly.

5

Jeffrey,
My prayers will be with you and your wife. Congratulations on the new addition.

Winner, SDMB’s Biggest FEMALE Chat Addict (Happy, Jophiel?)

“Only two things that’ll soothe my soul - cold beer and remote control.”

6

Please, dearest Lord Jesus, I pray that you watch over this family, especially the newest member, dear Kimberly, and her mother. Touch them with Your healing hands, breathe on them the Breath of Life that only You can bestow, dear Father. Guide and comfort Dad as he watches and worries over his family. Give him the Peace that only You can give, and the assurance that all is going according to Your wonderous plan for their lives. Thank you for listening to your humble servant, Lord.

By His Grace, Amen.

You sing in my consciousness like a counterpoint to my life.
L.L.

7

Congratulations on your newest and tiniest arrival StrTrkr!!!

We’ll be praying for all of you and especially the lil bantam weight, that she is just starting out early, 'cause she has so much to do in this life!

“Um, according to who? Nothing more than a high brow troll, though occasionally the bi polar personality swung in a constructive direction on innocuous topics.” Omniscient

8

A friend of mine has a son who was born even more prematurely than that; I believe he was sixteen weeks early. But other than several weeks of worry, everything went fine and his son has long since gone home and is perfectly healthy.

9

So your little firecracker wanted to be a spring bunny instead? My prayers are with you. May the Lord hold all of you in the palm of His hand and grant you His peace and comfort. May he strengthen your faith and bring growth and strength and health to little Kimberly.
Keep us posted. We’ll be watching with you.

10

Wow… congratulations, and I hope that everything goes well for Kimberly. I know it will be a very long year for you while we all hope for the best. Our thoughts are with you.

11

StrTrkr- Congratulations. And rest asured you Do have my thoughts and prayers with you.

Cecil said it. I believe it. That settles it.

12

Jeffery, my prayers are with you and your daughter and wife. May she grow stronger and be able to go home with you soon is my hope and prayer.

13

All our hopes and prayers go with you. She’ll be all right, just wanted to get a head start in this world. Can’t fault that :slight_smile:

…send lawyers, guns, and money…

       Warren Zevon
14

Congratulations, and we are holding you and your family in our thoughts, StrTrkr.
techchick is right, medical science is doing wonderful things for preemies these days.

If you don’t mind discussing it, why did your little one make her appearance so early?

15

Jeffery, I’ll keep you and your family in my prayers.

I’m so happy to hear that she’s breathing on her own; That’s a very, very positive sign! I know two preemies (twins!) that weighed just a tad more than Kimberly Elizabeth, and they are both happy, healthy children today.

Good luck and I hope you learn to enjoy the hospital cuisine. Remember, just because Kimberly is on a weight gaining program doesn’t mean the rest of the family has to join in. :slight_smile:

Seriously, keep us posted please.

16

Positive vibes going your way, Jeff.

so, when are you going out to wet the babies head?

“I’m a rebel, soul rebel. I’m a capturer, soul adventurer”
~Bob Marley
wanna see me?
Last picture. Thats me on the left. Blue shirt. I dont have the hair colour anymore.

17

Thanks everyone for you thoughts, your prayers, and your well wishes.

It’s funny, this group has become my online friends and I know most of you that posted and I know that you meant every word you said.

I wanted to share in my joy with you guys and gals because of all that we do share. Thanks again.

Someone asked earlier about the details of why she was born so pre-mature. I will give them and hopefully it will not get too graphic.
Honestly, they are not completely sure what happened. They are testing the placenta to see if they can find the real cause.

On Christmas eve, on the way to my parents my wife had an episode of vaginal bleeding. We went to her doctor and they checked her out even did an ultrasound and could find no problem. Then she had no more episodes for a while. Then, at 20 weeks my wife had an ultra-sound and Kimberly was fine (They thought then she was a girl, but were not positive, so neither were we until yesterday). But they did not get a view of the heart that they wanted due to her being so small. They scheduled another ultrasound for 23 weeks to get the fetal echo of the heart. Right after the 20 week ultrasound, my wife had another bleeding episode, but this time it looked like old blood, so they checked her out and could not find anything wrong. At the 23 week ultrasound, the ultrasound tech found that she had no amniotic fluid in the sack. The doctor put her on complete bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. She then had weekly visits to the doctor with ultrasounds to monitor her. The next week she had some fluid, the next week a bit less, but she was still very low fluid wise. However, Kimberly had a good heart beat and was growing and was moving fine. Then Friday 12:30 am my wife woke up with another bleeding episode and we went to the emergency room, they sent us to a hospital that was equiped to handle very pre-mature babies.

Her doctor came in and said that my wife was going to be in the hospital until the baby came. On Friday night, my wife had another bleeding episode and her doctors decided that the baby was better off outside of mommy than inside. So they decided based on the available information that Kimberly should be born on Sunday morning.

Based on what the doctors found when they delievered Kimberly, the placenta seems to have been dying and not doing its job and not giving Kimberly all the nutrients she needed. So, leaving her inside the womb was indeed a bad idea. Delivering her where she could be cared for was the best idea.

Again, she is doing as well as can be expected for such a pre-mature baby.

The Neonatal unit at the hospital is one of the best in the State and we have some pretty darn good children and Neonatal units in GA. They encourage the parents to visit, to hold, to feed, etc, the babies. They feel the human contact, especially from the parents helps the baby to grow stronger and give a better chance of survival.

I am feeling really good. I was not prepared for this yet, but God has watched over us. And I believe that Kimberly will do well.

Again, thanks for all your prayers and well wishes.

I know that we do not all agree on everything on this board and I know that a number of you do not believe in God and that is fine. Thanks for your well wishing and thoughts.

Jeffery

18

I shall keep your little one in my thoughts and prayers.

19

Jeffery and family:

My older sister’s name is Kymberly (it was the 70s, the “y” was new and different then…) and if I know Kimberlys as well as I think I do, yours will be a fighter. They are grand people, Kimberlys.

Hold her as much as you can, your hospital is entirely correct in the bonding process aiding in pre-me health. Hell, hold your wife, too, it might help her health. Hold on to each other tight, and I will send you loads of good thoughts. This world could use another Kimberly.

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Congrats and prayers for you all.
And when you can, get us a picture! :slight_smile: