Wednesday, May 18th we had a scheduled ultrasound to check the baby's size and the position of my placenta. They originally thought my placenta was low and possibly blocking my cervix meaning I would have to have a c-section instead of deliver vaginally. Also, in past appointments the baby had been measuring slightly small so they wanted to check on that as well.
In a whirlwind we were basically told that although our baby was breathing well, looking great, his heart was strong, and he was moving a lot, he was VERY small for his age and we needed to be admitted to the hospital for further testing. They were worried that he might be under stress and need to come out immediately.
We stumbled across the street, dumbfounded at the 180 turn the appointment had taken and started immediately praying for our sweet baby boy. Jason and I were met in admitting by my great friend Jenny (who is an amazing Labor and Delivery nurse here at the hospital) who walked us through the next few crazy steps. I was given steroids to help the baby's lungs develop and put on 24 hour monitoring to find out how severe the situation was. Things started to quiet down as they discovered he was still a happy little boy camping out in my belly, but we needed to watch him closely.
We were told that the flow of nutrients from my placenta, through the umbilical cord to the baby was not the strong, steady flow it needed to be and he was suffering from IUGR. (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) We were told they were going to keep me on bed rest and monitor me frequently. As long as he was still getting some nutrients and growing, even just a tiny bit, he would stay inside me. If/When the flow reversed, they would need to take him out as he would be better fed and taken care of in the NICU than by me at that point.
We had great test results for the remainder of Wednesday and Thursday. We were scheduled for ultrasounds Fridays and Tuesdays to keep an eye on his umbilical flow, amniotic fluid, movement, etc. Fridays ultrasound was the same so we proceeded with normal monitoring and kind of settled in for what we thought would be a long few weeks of bed rest.
The weekend went well, we had lots of visitors and baby Marley continued doing well. He was kicking and moving as much as ever and we were very thankful that he was thriving so well. Sunday night they were having a hard time monitoring him because he was moving around so much so they ended up ordering an ultrasound late that night to check on him. His heart rate had dropped a little but he scored an 8 out of 8 on the ultrasound test meaning he was still doing well and we were all happy.
Monday morning Mel came to take belly pictures "just in case" and people stared as we posed throughout the hallways and staff lounges here. We also got back the results of our Amniocentesis (we had that done on Wednesday when we were admitted) and found out that we did indeed have a healthy baby boy. Jenny met us in the cafeteria to give us the great news and the three of us cried over crappy cheeseburgers, it was fantastic. We celebrated with the Hickles that night over Pei Wei in our room and felt so blessed that we were able to have such a great day in the hospital.
Tuesday morning Jenny was my nurse and came in around 7:15am to take me to my ultrasound. She decided to stay with me and hear the results first hand. Baby looked great, still moving a lot, plenty of fluid, heart and breathing looked good, he scored another 8 out of 8. Unfortunately we also found out that his umbilical flow had reversed. I think Jenny and I both knew what was coming but we headed back to my room to pray and wait for official word. I called Jason to fill him in and he was soon at the hospital.
Around 8:15am we were told that Baby Marley would be making his appearance that day. Baby Marley was no longer getting enough nutrients from the placenta and it was now better to take him out than leave him in. We prepped as much as we could and waited to find out when the surgery would happen. We were originally told 12ish, which moved to 11:30, which moved to 11am and Landon Caleb Marley was delivered by c-section Tuesday, May 24th at 11:19am.
