Wehadababy itsaboy! Handsome Frankie Michael DiFranco was born at 9:26 am this morning (9-17-2011) at the super flyweight fighting class at 5 lb 15 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Alex was at 10 minute contractions this morning when I awoke. I don't think she was planning on bothering to wake me until he was here. Buy the time we left for Barnes she was 5 minutes apart. We arrived around 7 am and she was 5 cm dilated and 3 minutes apart contractions. Quite a bit of labor for someone who is having a planned c-section. By 9:00 the doctors had arrived; she was in surgery by 9:20. Surgery ended at just before 10. Frankie was having trouble breathing on his own at first. But by the time I wrote this at 9:15 at night, he was breathing fine on his own without oxygen. The OR was ridiculous. There where 15 if not 20 people in there. Most were students which I wasn't very happy with. Communication sucked but we could hear him crying. After they got him cleaned up and checked the omphalocele to verify it was intact, we saw him for a breif second before he went to the NICU. We did not get to cut the cord or hold him before he left. And as of this point, we still haven't held him. I stayed by Alex's side because her blood pressure was super high. And as of this point, we are still high. At first she was 155/72 and at this point we flipped to 140/90. Hoping it maintains soon.
As for Frankie: he's doing pretty well. His O is very soft/sensitive right now so they are taking extra precautions to make sure nothing punctures it. It is definitely considered a giant O. He will not be having his first surgery for several months up to 1 year. They are going to do the "paint and wait" thing on him. We will be applying a burn cream on the O to toughen it up and allow for new skin to grow up over it. They are also allowing him to grow and get bigger and stronger. As of now, he's not on oxygen. He has been peeing and pooping very well, actually a lot. So, hopefully tomorrow we can start feeding the little fella and chunking him up! They will be doing a heart echo in him just to double check on his heart like they were doing while he was un eutro. They will also be doing more genetic testing on him just as a precaution, not because they think that anything is wrong. Lastly, the little guys testicles haven't dropped yet so they will be doing an ultrasound to see if they're in his abdomen and not the O.
As for me (Joe and I switched writers if you couldnt tell): I'm doing okay. Tired and sore. Still waiting for my blood pressure to maintain. I became preeclamptic while in labor. I had protein in my urine and my blood pressure was getting a little crazy! I went through a whole lot of labor for having a c section. Actually pretty much all of it, without drugs until I was in the OR. The c section went well and now it's just time for me to start healing and get some rest!
Thank you so much for all of your support and continuous prayers! We couldn't do it without all of you! We love you all and will keep everyone posted on more news tomorrow. Love to all!!!