The arrival of Lydia Susanne Edwards

Before I start telling the story of Lydia's birth, let me just say that this may be the last time I pre-schedule blog posts since it looks like I was blogging about my shower the day Lydia was born - ha!

Miss Lydia arrived 11 weeks before her due date on February 20, 2011 at 6:25pm weighing 2lbs 5 oz and 15.2 in. long.

We were not expecting Lydia to arrive early at all as my pregnancy was progessing normally and besides the typical morning/all day sickness, I was sailing through without any problems. I had just recently passed my gluclose test and was feeling pretty good as I entered by 3rd trimester.

The weekend before we had visited the Edwards in FL and had our first shower. The week after we got back I started having back pain in the middle of my back that wouldn't go away. After calling the Dr. in the middle of the week, they gave me a perscription for a muscle relaxer since I thought I had pinched a nerve,  but nothing seemed to help and I couldn't sleep at all because of the pain.

On Sunday my parents came over since I was still not feeling well. We decided to call the emergency line to see what else I could do because I really couldn't handle the pain any longer. When the Dr. called me back she told me to come in because it could be kidney stones and she wanted to see me in person to rule it out.

I took more Tylenol before we left and had a few moments of relief by the time we got to the hospital. Once I started feeling better, I was feeling a little silly and Kyle and I joked that they'd probably be sending us home soon.

They ran a few tests and felt like the nurses were working at warp speed. Before too long the nurses came in and dropped a bomb on us that I wasn't expecting. I had pre-eclampsia. I was floored and didn't quite understand what this meant at first. I was hoping there would be a quick fix that would allow me to continue on like normal. They explained to me that the only way to cure the pre-eclampsia was to deliver the baby. The back pain I was experiencing was coming from my liver and my platelet level was extremely low. If I didn't deliver now, I would be at risk for full on eclampsia; which can lead to seizures.

Needless to say, we were in a bit of shock and I did not want to have my little girl enter the world before she was ready, but the nurses kept reassuring me that 29 week old babies do great -- especially little girls!

Kyle was amazing through all of this and was my rock. He kept reassuring me everything was going to be okay and helped keep me calm as I headed into emergency surgery. I last looked at the clock on the OR wall at 6pm and 25 mins later Lydia Susanne was born!

Lydia has been doing quite well in the NICU for the  past 12 days. The NICU has its own language and terms that can seem overwhelming, but Kyle and I already feel like preemie experts as the nurses and doctors patiently explain what every test, wire and machine is used for. Lydia has started gaining weight and has now surpassed her birth weight. :)

Each day is filled with another victory and we can see her getting stronger and chubbier. We have experienced such an outpouring of love and support from our friends and family near and far. It has been so uplifting to read everyone's encouraging and prayerful notes. Through this experience, we've also been hearing more stories of other families with preemies that have gone on to have perfectly healthy children; which is so encouraging and helps me remember that these short months in NICU will one day be a distant memory as our little girl grows.

We'll continue to update the blog with Lydia's progress in the coming days/weeks until she gets to come home.