Big Foot Has Arrived!

Baby Ben7 lbs 6 oz

18 inches

Born at 8:19 a.m.

Baby Ben joined our family "in person" this morning - and yes, he has big feet with long toes (WOW). So much so that his toes even grasp hold of my finger. We thought initially that he had red hair, but after a bath it appears more of a brown color.

All seemed well until about 2 hours after being born, as he continued to "grunt". This is usually what babies do when they are struggling to breath. The short story is that he had to be taken to the NICU and placed on a hi-flow oxygen setup with a diagnosis of TTN (Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn). What is this? My Respiratory NICU friends could probably do a better job with this, but from what I remember, this is a transient phase that can occur with babies (especially with C-Section babies) having fliud left over from the womb that hasnt absorbed into the system yet. I think that the normal vaginal delivery takes care of this. Again, it is supposed to be "transient" --- meaning temporary and should resolve rather quickly. At present, they have weaned some of the oxygen and he appears more comfortable. The nurse said that he eats very well. (That's my little man.....)

Wendy is ok. Very tired, but ok. She has our room feeling like a meat locker.----- You know those hormones. I had to bring an insulated sleeping bag! She even had the engineering guy inspecting the AC thermostat to make sure it was truly working right. : )

Pray for speedy recovery of our baby and for Wendy. Pray for peace in this as we learn to continue trusting God, even in the little "hiccups" of life.

Daryl

Wendy's Turn

Enough with the Daryl stuff. (this is Daryl attempting to do the blogging thing : ) )

Well, Wendy is geared up for the big day tomorrow. The C-Section is planned for 8 am. We have to be there by 6:30am. They tell us the our surgeon is very particular with detail and thus is slow with the surgery (this is a good thing !). Therefore, we are told not to expect Wendy in her room until 11 am. Of course, I will be in the OR with her with the video cam as before, hoping that I dont drop the cam from all of the excitement. She is doing Ok, yet with abit lethargy and occasional pains. Needless to say, she is ready to get baby "B" out.

You can check back here for pictures. Of course, I will have to wait until Wendy is awake enough as I am rather "computer/cam challenged" to do such things.

In the meantime-- please pray that all goes well and smoothly. We are abit anxious given all that we recently went through. But, we are confident that the Lord is not only with us in all of this but that He will see it through smoothly.

I want to thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers and for all of the prior encouraging blog notes. You have no idea what that meant to us during some rather dark hours. Maybe later I can expand on things we learned through it all once the dust settles with our next big event. This next one should be a more "happy" time in comparison.

Daryl

PS: Little Miss "C" is very excited about being a big sister. : )

Celebrating 93 Years

Daryl's Great Aunt Gladys turned 93 yesterday! We took her out to lunch and were fortunate to have gotten this picture of everyone.

Daryl worked his first shifts over the past weekend and did well - now he's just recouperating from night shifts, which is a little harder in his condition. But he's back to work!!!

"The Whipple Pain"

So we're still here - taking each day as it comes. Here's a little Daryl update, then news about our soon-to-be-born Son to follow.

"The Whipple Pain" is talked about on many message boards by various whipple procedure patients, yet Surgeons don't seem to acknowledge it or know much about it. But Daryl sure does!!! Researching this phenomenon and getting solid answers is kind of like dealing with the Bermuda Triangle, I've decided.

The Whipple Pain has hit Daryl about 6 times since surgery, with a few other more minor incidents. The good think is that it lasts only 1-2 minutes. The bad thing is that "you think you're going to die" before those minutes pass. Daryl describes it as "someone grabbing your heart and squeezing it so tightly that you can't catch your breath." Many times it causes a cold sweat and clammy hands, etc. And the really bad ones make Daryl almost pass out (we don't think he's passed out yet, though). The most scary part of "The Whipple Pain" is that it's unpredictable, so he could be driving down the highway and have it hit....and be unable to make it to the shoulder and stop the car.

Most days Daryl is very aware of food as it processes through his GI tract and when/if he starts feeling gas bubbles creeping up toward his stomach, he has to take immediate action to ward off this "Whipple Pain." So it seems to be a constant struggle and unknown part of recovery....not everyone claims to experience it, nobody seems to know what causes it....and it's terribly frustrating!

So I'd like to ask those of you who are praying for Daryl to ask that he be healed from this phenomenon of "Whipple Pain". The Lord can do it - he's the Great Physician, our Creator and Healer. I'm in....hope you are too!

Daryl will begin working again this coming weekend, so keep him in mind as he starts the overnight shifts again.

Okay, now with some HAPPY news!! "Baby Ben" has two weeks left to enjoy the quiet tranquility of my belly. If he chooses to stay there until then, we have a c-section scheduled at Kennestone Hospital the morning of June 30th (one week before my actual due date). This will enable Daryl to spend the week with me in the hospital before working the following weekend shifts. We go tomorrow to have a sonogram to check out how much Ben weighs, etc. so if anything changes we'll let you know. And we'll post photos here as soon as he arrives!