Jackson Carter Helland

Jackson was born December 7th at 11:28pm weighing a whopping 1 lb 14 oz.  His original due date was March 22nd, so he is considered a Micro-Premie at 25 weeks.  He's wonerful and perfect in everyway, and are so excited about this addition to our family.  He IS a miricle from God, and we are so thankful that not only has He decided to bless us with a son, but that we are in great hands at the Mercy NICU.  *just a forewarning this post will be longer than most, due to the amount of information we have to catch everyone up on - Please subscribe to this blog (on right hand side) if you would like to get emails about our updates.*

So, Here is a little backstory on how we got here...

I had my 24 week appointment and talked to  the doctor  about feeling some contractions earlier in the week.  He told me to keep an eye on them, and to call if I began noticing them again.   Saturday, I was not feeling the greatest, and noticed contractions that seemed more "regular" than what I thought they were supposed to be.  I called the OB dept in Pella; I went in and was monitored for a few hours and given medicine to stop the contractions - which it did.
Sunday I woke up to feeling a few more contractions but tried to keep my mind off them because they were not what I tought were normal contactions.  Early Monday I woke up and called the OB dept. again becuase of some bleeding.  I was again monitored, and my Dr. was called in to check me out and it was determined that I was dialated to 2cm and needed to be sent to Mercy in Des Moines.  I was given medication to stop contractions as well as a steroid shot that was to help develop our little guys lungs.
When we arrived to Mercy I was checked out again, and I had already dialated to 4cm - this pretty much shocked all of us. 
I was put on strick bedrest - laying on my side and at an inverted angle (feet above my head) and given more medication to help stop the contactions.  We were able to stop contactions, and we were told that we could deliver that day, next week or in a month, and it all depended on what my body did. 
We were given the 2nd dose of the steriod shot to help his lungs and an ultrasound to make sure we didn't have any major problems that had to be addressed.  We found out he was head down, which meant a C-section would not be nessesary, as long as he stayed that way, and as long as he was stable.
Tuesday we had a good day, contactions had stopped, and my medication was lowered.  The hope was that I would be able to stay like that for a while.  We knew every day counted (nurses said 1 day inside me was like 3 days in the NICU)  so I stayed inverted and on my side all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 
Wednesday night rolled around and my contractions had started to get a little more noticeable and frequent.  My nurse contiuned to monitor me pretty closely, and after some time called the Dr. to update him on my situation.   The medication to stop contactions was increased (around 8pm), and after no change in contactions, was increased again, and then again.  They then decided to check me and I was told that we were moving over to the Labor and Delivery side of the unit (ben found out later that I was at 8cm - this was around 11pm)- at this point we were still a little unsure of what was happening becuase this all happened so fast - when I got to the new room, I even asked about pain meds - the nurse said I was a little to far along for that.  They checked me again and I was at 10cm.   They rushed us over to the C-section unit just in case we had any problems, and also because it was close to the NICU warming room.  With what seemed to be minutes (and I think it was literly minutes but my concept of time was way off) Jackson arrived at 11:28pm (yes, I went from 11pm not knowing I was going to be having him to 28 minutes later to him being here = complete shock)
He was taken very quickly over to the NICU room where he was put on the respiorator and hooked up to a lot of things we're still learning about now.  We were told he cried, and was a good color for a 25 weeker.  Ben was able to go be with him right away, and they wheeled him over so I could see him quickly before they brought him up to his room.
My recovery took a little longer than normal due to some issues, but that was fixed fairly quickly and I was sent to my room to rest and "recover".  After about an hour of sleep we woke up to go see Jackson and be apart of morning rounds to hear a bit more about what exactally was being done.

All things considering, he is doing okay - and everyday we feel blessed to have him here at Mercy NICU.

Here is what we know (and kind of understand)
--He will be on a resporator until he can support his breathing on his own.  This could be a couple weeks, or longer.  They try toget them off soon so they can get stroger, but obviously it's all based on him and what he is capable of.
--He is on blood pressure meds as well as some others that are pretty standard.  We are hoping to get off the blood pressure meds Monday (Dec. 12).
--He is currenly under a bilirubin light  - basically for Jaundice - this is pretty typical for a 25 weeker.
--We won't get to hold him until he is off the current high frequency respirator he is on - we pray he gets changed to a different type soon so we can get a chance to love on him a little.  However, both of us have been able to take his temperature and change his diaper so we have at least gotten to touch him a little.
--Saturday (12-10) they discovered elevated numbers which indicated he has an infection.  The numbers weren't extremely high so the infection has been caught early but either way, they want to get rid of it as soon as possible. They expect him to be on the antibiotic for a 10-14 days.

He and we need a lot of prayers.  Typically preemies are expected to be in the NICU until their original due date - so we will be spending a lot of time up at Mercy with him.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying and being there for us.  We are in awe of the amount of love and support.

Ben, Annie & Jackson