Whitney was delivered this morning at 7:52am by c-section one day early. Whitney is doing fine in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Praise the Lord for a complication-free delivery and a healthy baby girl!
Whitney weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces and just about 20 inches long. By comparison, Fiona was 8 pounds and 20 inches long. Whitney has a full head of brown hair--don't know about the eye color yet. Pictures to follow this evening after I get home.
The Delivery
We woke up this morning at 5:00 to the realization that Susan's water had broken. By 6:00, we were on our way to the hospital. I didn't mention it to Susan, but the low fuel light was on the whole way.
We were expecting to deliver tomorrow, but God and Whitney had other plans. Because we assumed that there was no way that Whitney would come any earlier, we hadn't packed our bags or made plans for where Fiona would go. Fortunately, I was able to run around a pack a bag, and our brother and sister were able to come get Fiona.
The hospital staff got us into surgery with remarkable speed, and it seemed like just minutes later, we heard the cries of Whitney. She's got a pair of lungs. Contrary to our expectations, I had a chance to hold Whitney before she was wisked away to the NICU. Susan handled the surgery well and is sleeping comfortably.
The Spina Bifida
Although we have been praying that the Lord would completely heal Whitney, we praise Him for giving us a daughter with spina bifida. Whitney was born with a medium size lesion (myelomenengocele) on her lower back. The lesion is small than some that we have seen depicted in material on spina bifida that we have reviewed. Whitney is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday morning to repair the lesion. Please pray with us that the surgery would go well and that Whitney would heal quickly.
We have seen some positive signs--Whitney's feet respond to touch, her feet are not clubbed, and her head is not oversized because of the hydrocephalus. We haven't heard anything from the doctors yet about brain function or intracranial bleeding, but we are hopeful that Whitney's brain is well. I think we'll find out a lot more tomorrow and Wednesday.
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