Landon Christopher

I have failed to be as informative as you all probably know me to be and that’s just because of how much has taken place in the last week and how little time I’ve had to either respond to everyone or post updates. I have a few minutes now while Chris is out to eat with his parents who are visiting from Maryland just for the day.
Last Monday morning, I went to the high risk Dr. by myself since Chris had to work and it was just a routine visit. Routine visits for me involved 2-3 ultrasounds a week. After my ultrasound the high risk Dr. told me that Landon’s blood supply was decreasing and my blood pressure was increasing. He told me he was sending me right over to the hospital to have all of my levels checked and if things were not looking good, the baby needed to come out immediately- for his sake and for mine.

I drove myself to the hospital and checked into the labor and delivery ward where I had checked myself into 6 times in the past, so nothing new. I knew something was different this time though. I had gone many times in the past because of my HIGH blood pressure but this time the high risk Dr. said “I’m worried now.”
They monitored me and checked my levels and after numerous efforts to lower my blood pressure with medication and having no success, I was told that in 20 minutes I’d be prepped for my spinal tap. You can probably imagine how shocking and terrifying it was to hear this… I was only 33 weeks pregnant.
As promised, the anesthesiologist came in and explained to me what would take place and shortly after, they wheeled me into the operating room. I know this is a really brief and impersonal account of what happened- I’m just trying to get the details out so that everyone has a chance to know what has taken place. If you talk to me- you’ll understand how emotional this has all been! After the Dr. finished the spinal tap (you can ask me to go into detail about that later if you want…) they began preparation for my c-section. Oh yes, it was a c-section. I haven’t even mentioned that to some people.
I remember everything like it happened 10 minutes ago and I am not sure if I will ever forget the next 45 minutes that occurred in that operating room. Again, if you want details, just ask. I don’t mind giving you the play-by-play but it can make some people squeamish.
So after about 10 minutes of tugging and pulling at me, Chris by my head telling me everything was going great and I was doing great and watching the ENTIRE thing take place, I hear “There he is Linds!”
I can’t really help the tears now as I remember the moment that the Dr. held him above the curtain blocking my view of the surgical area and I saw our little boy for the first time- all 3.10 pounds of him. What a tiny… tiny… miracle baby. They whisked him away and then I heard him cry and I know people say it’s the most beautiful sound, but when you really don’t know if your baby is ok and you hear that sound- it’s enough to make your heart stop beating. He did not need oxygen tubes. His lungs were working! They gave me steroid shots for his lung development the week prior and I’m so glad they did. They did this in anticipation for him being delivered early, but then they sent me home on bed rest and I figured we’d b ok for quite a while. Well that lasted less than a week. They brought him over to me all wrapped up and I was able to have one more look at him before he was whisked off to the NICU. I just sobbed... and sobbed and I am not sure if I’ve stopped since to be honest.
Chris took videos of the entire process – of the first time I got to see him when they brought him to me wrapped up, of me during the procedure, of them wheeling me into the recovery room, of Landon being worked on… of everything. I know I will cherish those videos for the rest of my life.
That was last night Monday at 9:38pm. Since then, I’ve been slowly recovering from a very painful surgery and some residual back pain as well. They discharged us from the hospital on Thursday afternoon but we did not leave. We are now renting a room in the hospital so that we can be closer to our little one while he is here. I can’t imagine leaving him. He has been on a feeding tube and an IV and JUST today, his IV was taken out because he was able to regulate his own blood sugar. He also had jaundice for a couple of days but has JUST come off of those lights as well. He hasn’t gained any weight but he is eating and he’s doing so well. I feed him with a bottle as often as I can and I am pumping milk for him every 1.5 hours. I know very soon he will be strong enough to breast feed- he knows how to and he gets excited about it, but it requires way too much energy for him right now. Every time we hold him, move him, feed him- while it’s good, it’s almost a tiny setback because he’s so weak. He can’t lave the NICU so we go and see him as often as we can. I enjoy my skin to skin time with him and I’ll never… EVER get over how much I love him, how much WE love him. He has my heart wrapped about his microscopic little finger and I suspect it will stay there forever.
For now- they are saying 2-3 weeks in the NICU. I'll be here with him, cheering him on :) My little superhero.