Baby Boy!

We would like to present Benjamin Daniel Gemmellaro Sucsy! He was born July 10, 2008 at 3:29 pm. He weighed 740 grams (1 pound, 10 ounces) and was 13 inches long. He has a little bit of dark fuzzy hair on his head, and his eyes appear to be a blue-gray so far, although we expect this to change over the next couple of months.

Backing up a bit - we went in for our scheduled ultrasound yesterday (Thursday) at 9:15. Although he hit 8/8 on the BPP, the doctors were concerned that the cord flow was reversed. Additionally, he had not gained much weight in the two weeks since the last measurement (according to the ultrasound, he was about 690 grams, or about 1 pound 7 ounces - he was 606 grams 2 weeks ago). After some debate, they decided that it was time to have a baby.

Since he was still so small, Kate had to have a c-section. We had to wait until mid-afternoon for Kate to digest her breakfast, so we waited in the labor and delivery area for a few hours. He was hooked up to a heartbeat monitor for the whole time, and showed a nice steady heartbeat throughout the waiting. Kate was taken in to the OR about 3:00, where she was prepped and given a spinal injection (not an epidural). The nurse then brought me in so I could stay with her throughout the process. At 3:29, we heard a tiny crying sound (although much stronger than we expected to hear), and they waived me over to take a look at him. I did not get to touch him then, as the pediatric team was preparing him to go to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) immediately. I did get to see that he was moving around quite a bit, had a nice pink color, was breathing on his own, and seemed to be in generally good condition considering his size. They also wheeled him by Kate's head on his way out so that she could see him as well.

After the doctors had finished, they brought Kate back into the recovery room and monitored her for a few hours. At about 5:30, the pediatric team had stabilized Ben enough so that I could go see him. Although it was of course a little unnerving to see him hooked up to all of his wires, I could tell that he was doing well. He was moving around quite a bit still, crying every once in a while, and still had good color. After the nurses walked me through all of the equipment that they have him hooked up to, I got to hold his hand while they performed some more tests. The best news is that he did not have to be intubated, but is instead only hooked up to CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) over his nose to help keep his airway open. He was on room air, which means he didn't even need any supplemental oxygen.

The other wires that you can see in pictures are:
- Orange tube in mouth: feeding tube, but for now just used to keep his stomach from filling up with air from the CPAP
- Green and white wires on upper chest: heart rate monitor
- White held down with gold sticker on upper belly: temperature monitor
- Clear tube in umbilical cord: IV
- Cuff on foot: measures blood oxygen saturation
- Cuff on arm: blood pressure cuff

Kate was able to go down to see him in a wheelchair around midnight, and he was still doing great. We have been back to see him a number of times since then, and he continues to do well. He is a little stressed out today with all of the extra tests, so he needs a little bit of extra oxygen (26% concentration, while room air is 21%), but seems to be doing very well. Of course, with any baby this size, he will seem like he is making progress and then losing ground, but that is normal and all part of the process. He is getting the best care possible, and we thank you all for your love and support.