New Arrival

I have decided to try out the whole blogging thing since I enjoy reading about other peoples' lives via their own blogs.  Now that I have something worth writing about, baby Peytin, I decided to take the plunge and start my own blog so here goes...

Little Peytin Louis Ballard was born at 8:42 a.m. on April 4th.  He was 5 lbs 14 oz and 19.25 in.  Luckily, the labor and delivery was pretty easy considering how yucky the rest of the pregnancy was.  My water broke at 2:30 a.m.  I woke Landin up to verify it definitely broke just to be sure I wasn't crazy haha.  We arrived at the hospital just after 3:00 a.m.  When the nurse went to get a fluid sample she had to take a second look because she was in disbelief.  I was already dilated to a 5 and I wasn't even having contractions yet!  Needless to say, I was pretty shocked and elated!  I thought I would try and do the birthing process without any drugs because I was already halfway there but once the contractions started it made me start throwing up and I thought to myself, why would I just endure this when I could get the epidural and possibly enjoy having this baby.  So, I opted for the epidural and I am so glad I did. I was calling and talking to people right up to him coming out with no problem. The only draw back was I had no idea what I was doing when they told me to push.  I couldn't feel very much other than a lot of pressure.  The doctor ended up having to use a vacuum to help get Peytin out and doing an episiotomy because I started bleeding more than I was supposed to.  Landin did not enjoy watching the birth...he said it looked really painful. I was drugged so it wasn't so bad :-)

After delivery, the real journey began.  I knew something was wrong when they didn't let me hold him right away.  Come to find out he had a blister like sack on his lower back that we were told was spina bifida.  Spina Bifida occurs in 1 out of every 5,000.  It didn't show up on any ultrasounds which I believe was a blessing.  I was having a hard enough pregnancy without having more things to stress about.  I would have imagined the worst case scenarios and stressed so much that it could have made things worse.  Peytin was taken straight to the NICU with daddy by his side.  Peytin couldn't lay on his back for almost a week because of the sack and post operation healing.  He hated it!  He would put his legs straight down and try to hop out of his bed.  The surgery went well...they had to open the sack to find out what was in there.  The spinal cord had grown up which was the part protruding in the sack.  They flattened it out into his back and stitched it up.  The part nerves that may be effected are the nerves that control bowel and bladder.  We won't know if they are effected until potty training age at which time there are certain training exercises and catheters that can help manage both bowel and bladder.  If it would have been just one set of nerves up, he would likely not be able to walk so we feel very blessed!  The only scare was that Peytin is extra sensitive to Morphine.  They administered the right amount but after the third dose, Peytin had a reaction called apnea which means he stopped breathing and turned blue.  I was holding him right before it happened and was freaking out.  They say it was less than a minute but it felt like forever!  The incision was covered with a dressing that had to be changed everytime he pooped as to prevent infection.  It was quite the process taking over 30 minutes.  It was super frustrating that it took the nurses soooo long to change the dressing because Peytin would scream through the whole thing and be too worn out to eat.  Once they taught us to change it, Landin could get it done in 10 minutes.  All the nurses kept telling him he should go into the medical field...then Landin got a fortune cookie that told him he should pursue a career in medicine LOL.  He's a computer nerd through and through though :-)  We stayed in the hospital for 4 days.  On the 8th night, we got to stay in a hospital room with Peytin.  He woke up every hour that night!  We were so tired but anxious to pass the test of taking care of him well enough to go home.  We passed!!!  We finally got to go home after 9 days in the NICU.  It's amazing that he was only in for that short of a time span since we were originally told it would be two weeks at the least.  I truly believe all the people that fasted and prayed for our little guy is the reason he is doing so well despite his rough start.  It was a very trying time for us but we made it through because of all the support.  Thank you all!

Now we are home!  It is so nice not to have him hooked up to so many monitors that made it hard to hold him.  Peytin continues to be seen by several doctors and nurses.  We go to the neurosurgeon once a week because of the fluid building up in Peytin's brain, called hydrocephalus.  85% of Spina bifida patients end up getting hydrocephalus and have to get a shunt.  A shunt is a tube inserted in the head that redirects the fluid to the belly.  The fluid is transported to a general area in the belly that has lots of different kinds of fluids that get recirculated through the body.  Unfortunately, Peytin's hydrocephalus is not presenting itself like the normal kind that comes with Spina Bifida.  It may be a different rare form that is caused by the veins in the head not contracting like they should.  The blood pressure than causes the brain to become a little harder than usual which makes it more difficult to absorb the excess fluid.  I don't understand it completely...Landin is better at explaining these medical things haha.  So, now Peytin will be getting an extensive MRI to determine if he has this other kind of hydrocephalus so the doctor can determine which kind of shunt to insert.

It has been quite the journey getting Peytin here and now dealing with a lot of unforeseen problems but I know that Heavenly Father does not give us more than we can handle.  I am so incredibly grateful for all the people He has put in my path that have been the means by which we have all made it through this trial.  It's amazing how He uses other people to look after us and be the answers to our prayers.  Peytin is the most wonderful baby in the world and such an inspiration to us all already by how strong and brave he is.  The anticipation of his arrival is what pushed Landin to get the priesthood and got us to the temple to be sealed forever!  We love him more than words can say!