Carson Joseph Cysewski

May 30, 2012

4 pounds, 2 ounces

18-1/4 inches long

Born at 7:35 p.m. at Deaconess Medical Center.

I started having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions at about 1:30 – 2:00.   They started getting more and more intense right around 3:00, so I stopped work early and took a bath.  I had had diarrhea for the past 3 days, so I thought that what I was feeling was these.  Well, we went to our manager’s house and by the time we came back, I had taken a turn for the worst.  They started hurting worse and coming  every 2 to 3 minutes.  I called the doctor on call and he said to get into the hospital.  Nick was at work and I had to call and get him out of his case.  Neighbor Jessica brought me to the hospital and stayed with me until Nick got there.  She was a huge help!  Anyway, I got dressed in my gown and then laid down on the bed.  The contractions kept coming and there was a constant sharp pain in my lower abdomen, right where my previous surgical scar was.  They said I looked really pale and the on-call doctor thought that I had placental abruption and that I had lost blood from internal bleeding.  Carson’s heart beat was kindof low and that really concerned the doctors.  We elected to proceed with the emergency c-section.  Because of the urgency, they at first wanted to do general anesthesia.  If they would have done that, Nick would not have been able to be in the room with me.  TENDER MERCY.  Also, the doctor was worried about not having enough beds because they were really, really busy.  Once the nurses and doctor realized how serious my condition was, I had 5 or 6 nurses all around me helping to get me ready to go into surgery.  They were all busy, but they all had a break of some sorts, so they were all able to come help.  TENDER MERCY. 

Once I was back into the room, things went even faster.  From the first incision until Carson was actually born was 3 minutes.   A lot of the nurses said that was the fastest they’ve ever seen a C-section done.  TENDER MERCY. 

Once they were in, sure enough, Dr. Richards was right; I had lost a lot of blood internally, about 1 liter’s worth of blood.  They got Carson out and  started to stitch me up.  He hardly made a sound, he didn’t really cry at all.  The pediatric nurses took really good care of him, and Nick got to cut the cord.  They then rushed him off to the NICU  and Nick went with them while I was being put back together.  I only got to see just a glimpse of him before the took him away. 

There were so many small miracles that happened and I am SO grateful to my Heavenly Father for getting us through this.  I know the fight is not over yet and that we have a lot of work to do, but my Savior will be there with both of us, all of us really, through this trial. 

It’s been really neat to watch Carson grow these past couple days.  He’s doing better with his breathing and he doesn’t have to have the Cpap on, he’s breathing on his own now which is great.  He’s starting to learn to feed with a bottle, but until he is pro at it, he still has the feeding tube in through his nose.  He still has an IV in his tiny little hand and they’re giving him basically preemie Gatorade.  It has been really neat to see him with his daddy, he always calms right down and is so happy and content when he’s holding him.  Its really sweet to watch.

I was holding him the other day and I started telling him about his big brother and big sister.  I guess he’s excited to meet them because he smiled really big.  TENDER MERCY.  He’s such a special little boy, I can already feel his giant spirit.  He is going to do some great things in this world and be so important to so many people. 

It’s definitely going to be hard to leave him here tomorrow, and I’ll probably cry the whole way home, but I know he’s in good hands.  I’ve been really blessed to be able to feel all the prayers from all our family and friends from all over and I’m so grateful for everyone who has sent a prayer in our behalf.  It really does help!  I will keep everyone updated on his progress and hopefully he can come home soon!