Happy Birthday, Levi!

Today is my youngest son’s 14^th birthday. I’ve been thinking about the events that led up to this day, and I realized that I’ve never really written about it, like I have Zane’s birthday. Levi was my second 3lb preemie. 

A little backstory…

After I had so many critical complications with Zane, I was told that the likelihood of repeating such circumstances was very small. I was very nervous about becoming pregnant again. I waited a while, but then I felt that I was finally open to the idea. After a few months, I became pregnant with Carson, and had a generally uneventful pregnancy. I still had to have a planned c-section 2 weeks before my due date, but she was considered full-term and there were no complications with her at birth. She was born 3 years and 11 days after Zane.

Well, now, I should be fine, right? 

I found out I was pregnant with baby #3 when Carson was 18 months old. I thought for sure that everything would be fine this time, too. The first few months were fine, but around 25-26 weeks, I began to notice extra swelling and some of the same hard-to-explain symptoms that I remembered experiencing during my pregnancy with Zane. I had a different doctor this time, and I immediately told him of my concerns. My blood pressure was monitored very closely, and I was given a different dosage of blood pressure medicine. (After delivering Zane, my blood pressure never normalized, so I was already on medication.)  My blood pressure continued to climb. I was then put on bed rest at home. It’s hard to be on bed rest with 2 small children. We continued to check my blood pressure constantly, and it was not improving. I knew in my heart what was coming…this was still earlier than when Zane was born. I had an appointment to see my doctor, and I just knew what was going to happen. Zane was at kindergarten, and we dropped Carson off at a friend’s house. After visiting the doctor, it was determined that I would be admitted to the hospital for bed rest there. The goal was to get me as close to our due date as possible. I was now at about 28 weeks, and my due date was November 28. 

It’s pretty much a whirlwind in my mind. I spent several days in semi-darkness with no TV, on several meds…nothing was stopping that blood pressure from increasing. Friends and family pitched in to take care of Zane and Carson. I felt so helpless. I was given shots to help the baby’s lungs mature. It was becoming obvious that I would be delivering a baby sooner rather than later. After days of constant monitoring and no improvement, we were told, “tomorrow’s the day”. We couldn’t believe we were about to go through all of “that” all over again. This time was different, though. This time was more like slow-motion. (We had no time to prepare for Zane’s birth.)  I was put on magnesium sulfate again, so I was confined to the bed. As Matt sat next to me, we discussed the fact that our baby had no name. We chose to not know the gender ahead of time with all three of our babies, but we had had not settled on names at all. Before we went to sleep that night, we knew that if we had a boy, he would be Levi Tanner. If it was a girl...well, we would just have to figure something out.  Thankfully, that wasn’t necessary. 

The next morning, I was taken to the OR for my 3^rd c-section. I was very nervous because of all that had happened when I had Zane. Although I was nervous, I was also at peace, because I knew God was with me. There was nothing that I could do to change my circumstances. Levi was born weighing 3 lbs.—just like Zane! This was amazing because Levi was born at 29 weeks and Zane at 31 weeks. Of course, it was a couple of days before I was allowed to see him and hold him. I was on magnesium sulfate for another 2 days. Again, my blood pressure never normalized on its own. I’ve been on blood pressure medicine since. 

Levi would be in the NICU for 6 weeks. It was interesting having to go visit him with Zane and Carson in tow. They were not allowed to see him, so Matt and I would have to take turns going back while the other stayed in the waiting room with the older two. Occasionally, someone would come with us, so that we could go back together. The nurses were so kind. They gave Carson a preemie diaper and baby hat for her baby doll to wear. 

After about 4 weeks, the nurses said that we could take Zane and Carson back to a room with a window looking in to the NICU, and they brought Levi’s bed to the window on the other side, so that they could actually see him. It had been hard to explain that they really did have a baby brother, they just couldn’t see him yet. Finally, on October 30 (a Sunday morning), we got a phone call from the NICU that said we could plan on bringing him home that afternoon. We made arrangements for someone to stay with the kids, so that we could go get him. He came home that day weighing 5lb 12oz. We were so happy to finally have everyone under one roof!

Thankfully, there have never been any long-term complications. Our experiences, while not what we would have planned, have given us many opportunities to encourage other parents of preemies over the past few years…including my own sweet sister, who has two amazing preemie baby stories of her own. We are now praying fervently for her baby #3 due on November 28, just like Levi!