Joy went into very rapid, very unexpected, very unprecedented pre-term labor on 8/4, Saturday afternoon. My parents were in town and we went to breakfast with them and then to Haymarket, where symptoms started. Her doctor recommended she get checked out immediately. A couple of hours later, we were told that she was in labor and that the labor was proceeding very rapidly. We were transported by ambulance to Beth Israel Deaconess in Longwood, where they have the capability to deal with this kind of early gestational age emergency. We were at 23 weeks and 1 day on Saturday.
When we got to BIDMC, we were told that Joy would likely deliver within the space of a couple of hours. We had a few harrowing decisions to make together about how to move forward, knowing that there was about a 90% chance of failure either way. We made the decision to proceed with as little intervention as possible, hoping that a natural delivery would be the best decision in the aggregate for both Joy and the little one. While we were doing this, Joy was given steroids and other drugs to accelerate development of the baby's lungs and brain. She was having contractions at between 3 and 7 minute increments, and the baby was definitely moving south.
Early Sunday morning, her water broke, making nearly instantaneous delivery at any moment a constant possibility. Miraculously, she didn't deliver, and we were stuck in this kind of knife's-edge limbo for a seemingly impossible 72 hours. This was critical because the steroids that she was given take at least 48 hours to take full effect, and at this critical stage in fetal development, large gains in potential viability are made between weeks 23 and 28.
On the afternoon of August 8, we were unexpectedly told that complications arose which would make any attempt at a natural delivery an almost certain failure. We had another set of really difficult choices to make, and eventually decided to go forward with an emergency C-section, an intervention which still had only a 1 in 3 chance of working.
At 3:38PM, Elisabeth Grace was born. She weighed 1lb 3oz and was 11.4" long -- she's extraordinarily small. Her vital signs were really excellent, and she's receiving really good care around the clock.
Joy is doing really well. She came through the surgical intervention with no complications, and has been, as I'm sure you can imagine, an incredible picture of grace, peace, and calm in this really stressful time. She's recovering at home now, after four days at BID.
This is only the beginning of what will be a really long and difficult journey for Ellie. Joy and I ask for your prayer in these critical next few months. We're well taken care of in physical, emotional, and spiritual terms; you have all been incredibly helpful, supportive, and faith-filled. Our hope is to use this journal to describe the work of God's grace through Ellie's tiny life.
If you can believe it, today is Ellie’s fifth birthday!
It’s been a long time since our last update. I have, over the past years, met so many of you who have prayed for Ellie since before she was born. It is a blessing and an honor each time.
Ellie is doing incredibly well: she is a clever, curious, kind, artistic, imaginative five-year-old now. She’ll be starting school next week!
I’ve included a few recent photos of Ellie. God bless!
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