Rowan's First 24 Hours

The wait is over.  38 weeks seemed like quite a wait but it was certainly worth it.  We were so excited to welcome Rowan Stanley Thomas to the world yesterday at 9:59 am.  He was born weighing 6 lbs, 8 oz, measuring 18 inches.  It was a big day yesterday for Stephanie and Rowan.  We woke up yesterday morning at 4am, we certainly didn't need the 5:30am alarm with the adrenalin we had pumping through the system.  At 9:30 am we rolled into the OR and he sure didn't take long to make an appearance.  "It's a Boy!" What a moment.  We heard a tiny little cry right away, certainly seemed like a rude awakening to the world pulling him from his cozy cocoon. After the delivery we had a few minutes as a family for Steph to hold him and snapped a few great pictures.  He was soon whisked away to the NICU where they stabilized his back and started to clean him up.  

Stephanie handled the surgery very well and today is doing fantastic.  She has been walking around and is very active considering just 24 hours ago she had an incision in her belly that a baby was pulled through! 

Rowan had quite the first 24 hours of life.  After birth he was perfectly healthy with the exception of the lesion on his back and the hydrocephalus.  The neurosurgeon assessed his hydrocephalus and felt that there was enough fluid to necessitate a shunt.  At 1pm he entered surgery to have his spinal lesion closed and a shunt placed.  The surgery went exceptionally well.  We saw him after surgery and he was very sleepy from the anesthesia.  Last night around midnight he was able to go off the ventilator and this morning his vital signs are all really great.  He has been moving his legs which is a great sign.  He also seems to have no problems filling up his diapers which is also encouraging.  We won't know specifics of his function for a while but we are very hopeful that he will do great. He is a very happy boy and is very content sleeping at this point.  He will be resting on his belly for a few days while his back heals and hopefully will start feeding tomorrow.

We have felt God's hands upon us through all of this and are so thankful for the support of family and friends.  We feel your prayers and know that God is certainly watching over this child.

Kyle & Steph

Sunday night, crazy he was just inside  Stephanie
(Ali Larson photo)

The family and Grandma Buck just prior to surgery

Welcome to the World! Just minutes old

First Family Photo

Morning after surgery. You can see back repair and shunt.