Welcome, Levi James!

On September 21, 2016 at 3:10pm we unexpectedly welcomed Levi James Johnson into the world 6 weeks early. He was born at exactly 34 weeks but
weighed in at a nice 5lbs 3.4oz and 18.25 inches. 

The morning he was born I went to my regular weekly appointment with my doctor. I had been going weekly for check ups since I started the 3rd trimester because I was considered a high risk pregnancy. First I had my ultrasound which confirmed everything was going perfectly. Levi was measuring a week bigger, I had plenty of amniotic fluid, and the placenta looked great. Next I was onto the non stress test to monitor the baby's heart rate & movements and to see if I was having any contractions. After about a half an hour my doctor came in and said I was having some regular contractions so she sent me to the hospital for more testing and monitoring.

 When I got to the hospital they hooked me up to the machine to continue monitoring/measuring the contractions and baby's heart rate. They also did some urine and blood tests to check for preeclampsia. Everything came back normal, my blood pressure was low, and baby was great, however, the contractions continued. They said they were going to give me an injection of a medicine to try to stop the contractions. After an hour, the nurse came in and said it was not working so we were moving onto plan B, magnesium sulfate. Once they started me on this medicine, I would need to be monitored for 24-48hours and would not be able to get out of the bed. We agreed to the treatment and they also gave me a shot of some steroids to begin maturing the baby's lungs some in hopes we were going to be able to keep baby in for another few days or longer. I asked the nurse at this point, "What if this doesn't work" she replied, "it will work.". After another hour, the nurse came in to inform us that it was not working, the contractions were not stopping, the doctor was on her way to see me and would most likely be doing a c section soon. At this point, I was starting to really feel the contractions and they were about 2 minutes apart lasting 15 seconds each. I was not dilating and the doctor did not believe this was labor. She was very concerned at this point that this was another placental abruption about to happen. (This was the complication I had with Josiah's birth.) So, the doctor felt it was better to get the baby out while we were all well in case it was another abruption about to happen. After the surgery, the doctor said she was 99.9% sure it was the beginning of an abruption. I had a small pool of blood near the top of my placenta. Everything was still attached so we were able to catch it before it caused any complications or distress for the baby or me. She also told me that  I healed well and had no scar tissue from the previous c-sections which was really good to hear. 

We so clearly saw God's hand of protection over our lives. I had been praying throughout the pregnancy that if something was wrong that God would make it clear to us. It was amazing the timing of everything. I had no symptoms prior to my doctor's appointment and the contractions started while in the non stress test. We were able to stay ahead of a potentially life threatening complication. Also, I had been taking an injection of blood thinners daily since I found out I was pregnant. Because I was still on a high dose of those and had not yet switched to the half life drug, we thought I would have to be put completely out for the surgery instead of having an epidural. Because it had been well over 12 hours since the time of my last injection, the anesthesiologist cleared me to stay awake for the c-section and get the epidural. God's timing and protection were so perfect! Levi came out crying (and peeing haha) and thankfully both of us made it through the surgery safely.

Levi was transferred down to the NICU after he was born and place on a CPAP machine to help him breathe.