Well, we're still in the hospital after a very restless night. We were woken up at 1:00 AM with the nurse in a slight panic because Liam's heart rate had dropped for an extended period of time. They had been seeing periodic drops every hour or so, but it would rebound within 30 seconds. This one lasted for several minutes and Allison had to be put back on an IV and oxygen to get Liam to stabilize. Luckily, he recovered fairly quickly but they continued to see periodic drops for the remainder of the night, but nothing serious enough for them to wake us.
Neither one of us got much sleep after that. We were fortunate that the doctor on duty last night was a very calming presence. Allison had gotten worked up and was shaking uncontrollably from nerves and the doctor put us both at ease. She said that they'd have to see a lot worse to rush us to the OR for a C-section. We both slept a little after that, but not much.
This morning, we met with the doctor again as she was going off duty. She wants us to stay in the hospital and Allison hasn't been allowed to eat or drink anything in case they need to deliver. The doctor continued to see small drops in Liam's heart rate, and if they continue they may have to consider early delivery. For almost all of the decreases, Liam has recovered right away. But there have been two periods that required intervention and there might come a time when delivery is a better option. They don't want to wait it out unnecessarily and risk his heart rate dropping for several minutes and never rebounding. For that reason, we're now on standby for a possible delivery.
The doctor from last night is now off duty and a new doctor is coming on board. Things could change once we speak with the new doctor, so there's still a lot of uncertainty. For now, we're settling in to another day in the hospital. Allison's parents and sister are coming up later today so we'll have some support in case things change.
Hopefully the next update will be with us still in the hospital, or even better in a hotel or Ronald McDonald House. However, it's in God's hands if Liam needs to enter this world early. We've put our trust in Him and all we can do is pray and wait.
P.S. The hospital room is freezing. Allison is having some sort of reaction that's making her skin hot and flushed. As a result, I've been wrapped up in three blankets and a sweatshirt and taking delight in the warmth given off by the laptop.
The new doctor just came in as well. So far, Liam has been looking good. However, if there's one more significant drop in his heart rate, they're not taking any chances and he'll be delivered. They'd like to give the NICU a healthy, albeit early, baby than one that's compromised.
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