Surprise! Lillian Claire Armstrong is here!

We have had a very rough week this week.  We kept this very quiet this past week, other than informing immediate family.  It all started Monday (Jan. 30) when I went to the doctor for my 38 week check up.  A normal start the the day with the girls and a normal day in the life of a teacher.  I first off noticed that Lillian was not moving very much throughout the day.  I just thought it was because she has run out of room to move.  When my nurse, Tracy, called me back to her station I went through the normal routine:  Went to the restroom, got on the scale (FUN!), checked my bp, and answered the normal questions. 

• Are you having any problems?
• Any contractions?
• Bleeding?
• Are you feeling the baby move?

I answered all of the questions and passed my check-up with flying colors.  I told Tracy about the decrease in movement and she told Dr. G.  I moved back to the room and waited for Dr. G.  When he came in, we chatted like we normally do and he asked me about the decrease in her movement.  I laid back and he got out the Doppler to check her heart beat.  He had trouble finding her heart beat at first.  He told me that it could be the fluid that was "obstructing" the sound.  He moved it all around.  He could hear something but it was not consistent enough or clear enough.  Dr. G and I think on the same page all the time, so when I watched him as he listened for her heartbeat, it bothered me.  Though, he was trying to keep me calm and assured, I was still not satisfied.  I got up and went with him to his office.  He told me that he wanted me to go over to maternity eval and get hooked up to the monitor for them to get a better reading of her heart rate and beat.  He is amazing.  He not only made all of the arrangements personally (which his nurse normally does), but he called over there into my room and checked in on me after his shift was over.  I am so lucky to have him as a friend and doctor. 

Anyway, after I got there, I called Justin to meet me there.  He left the girls in the care of our wonderful nanny, Mary Ann, and rushed to my side.  A long enough story later, the doctor on call did not do what Dr. G thought she should have done.  Dr. G called me at home that night to tell me that.  What doctor does that?  Like I said, I am so lucky to have him as a friend and doctor.  He told me that she has an arrhythmia and wants to get a better look at her heart rate, beat, chambers, etc.  This is the first we have ever heard of anything like this with her.  So, the next day my nurse calls me to tell me we are scheduled to go to the Sacred Heart Hospital Perinatal Unit in Destin asap.  We got the closest appointment which was yesterday at 9:30 this morning. 

After they did the ultrasound and found everything to be normal, the doctor informed us of the good news. Then came the shocker. He told us that my amniotic fluid was too low to go any longer and we were to deliver TODAY! Luckily Dr. g was on call and we rushed back to Dothan, grabbed our things, and headed to the hospital.

Lillian Claire Armstrong was born at 3:33 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs, 4 oz, and 20 inches long. She is doing great and is healthy as can be. She has 100 percent oxygen saturation, scored 9 and 10 on her Apgar scales, and her murmur is slowing going away. She is nursing like a champ and has not wanted to stop eating yet. We are so very blessed and want to thank our families for rushing down here without even skipping a beat.

Also, I want to thank our very special nurse, Andrea. She stuck my my side when I called her to tell her we were coming in today. Andrea was our child birth teacher with the girls ans has remained a close friend ever since.

Needless to say, it has been a rough week of waiting, praying, and not knowing what to expect.  Please pray that everything continues to go smoothly.

Pictures coming soon! Stay tuned..................