Our first day in NICU.

Dax had to spend the first night he was born in the NICU. Monitoring his brain activity was recommended to rule out seizure activity. We were hopeful that the symptoms the doctors were concerned about were from the delivery; Dax had twitching/contractures, hypertonia (very tense muscles), and rocker bottom feet. Sometimes if there’s trauma during labor, babies can experience hemorrhaging around the brain (Dax was in the canal for a period of time). Hemorrhaging around the brain can cause irritability to the central nervous system, which could be the cause of the twitching and tense muscles. The first neonatologist that examined Dax also explained to us that if there was low amniotic fluid during pregnancy, that could cause the feet/limbs to appear “squished”. We were hopeful and optimistic that Dax would pass the test and we’d have our baby home with us in a couple of days.

We woke up early on February 9th and went to room 40 to see our baby. This was our first time really holding him and spending time with him since he was born. Anxiously waiting for answers, the doctor finally made his rounds and came to our room. He told us that the history shown on the EEG didn’t show any seizure activity. We were relieved for maybe 5 minutes. The doctor hit us with our first freight train and told us that he had to double check and do a second test to make sure there was absolutely no seizure activity. The doctor also wanted to send out a genetic test to rule out Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 21. We were disappointed and scared that we still weren’t out of the dark yet. That night, Dax was hooked up for 24 hour brain monitoring. Dax was thriving on his own – his heart rate, oxygen level, and respirations were all within normal limits. We were hopeful that night that Dax would pass the test. We were trying to remain optimistic, even though the fear and worry was getting stronger.

The day Dax was born.

My water broke at 1:32 AM on February 8, just a few short hours after the Super Bowl. Luckily we live close to the hospital and our drive was only 2.5 miles. We checked into triage, and due to the inclement weather, the pipes burst on the floor we were on. The nurse was trying to check me in and clean up the mess from the pipes all at the same time. After about 45 minutes, the nurse confirmed that my water did break. We got settled in our labor and delivery room, Tyson kept an eye on the clock and the monitor showing my contractions. I tried to stick it out without an epidural, but after 8 hours and only being 6 cm dilated, I caved. Once the epidural set in, I dilated 4 cm in 4 hours! I was at 10 cm and it was time to push! 2 hours later, we met our baby boy at 4:55 PM. The 15.5 hours of labor was easily worth it. We locked eyes with our baby and Tyson and I soaked in the couples of minutes of Dax on my chest. The nurses then took him over to get him cleaned up. We planned to enjoy 2 hours of alone time and FaceTime our family and friends and share the exciting news (especially since Dax was born 10 days early) – but the nurse practitioner came over to us before Dax was weighed and told us he had to go to the NICU. She was concerned about the twitching he had, it was a sign he could be having seizures. The joy and excitement quickly shifted to fear.

Tyson and I are both young and healthy and every box was checked at our mid-pregnancy ultrasound. We had a picture perfect pregnancy with no complications.