Our Little Miracle

Childbirth is such a miracle. That’s almost an understatement given how another human being grows inside of you and at the end of 9 months you give birth to a living, breathing, screaming baby with a personality and a soul. If I didn’t already believe in God there’s no way I could have come out the other side of this experience believing any differently.

Before going into the OR

Our little man was born via C-section (which is its own miracle and surreal experience) on August 25th, 2014 at 11:09 am. He weighed 8lbs 9oz and measured 20.75” long. He came out of the womb crying, which marked the end of life as we know it and the beginning of the the most amazing journey we'll ever take. I will never forget the sound of our son's first cry; it's etched into the deepest part of my heart. He was whisked away to get cleaned up and checked out by the NICU team and Tim was able to be part of the entire process while I got sewn up in the OR. The first picture I saw of my son was via Tim's IPhone; with all of that black hair I wondered for a second who's kid this was. Back in the recovery room I finally got to hold him, and we were able to spend time as a little family before Sam got admitted to the NICU. Nothing existed except for Tim and I and Samuel's perfect little face.

Samuel Alan Browning 8lbs 9oz 20.75" 

Proud Papa

  

Grandma and Grandpa Hazard

Grandpa Browning- 3 Generations of Browning men

Fortunately, Sam’s vitals were amazing; we had been concerned that due to his condition that he’d have some trouble breathing and adjusting outside the womb (not to mention the fact that this is already a risk with C-section babies). His AP GAR score was an 8-9 and all of our doctors had huge smiles on their faces because he started thriving immediately, better than expected.  The head doctor of the NICU was there to evaluate him right out of the womb and immediately checked the ventricles in his head to help him determine if Sam was going to need the shunt surgery. He was surprised and glad to find that Sam's head felt like a typical newborn with no obvious pressure on his soft spot. He was tentatively optimistic that we wouldn't need to operate. 

Grandpa holding Sam in the NICU

 So in love!

Me and Sam in the NICU

The next few days progressed as normally as possible after having a baby via C-section, except that my room was in the Family Birth Center and Tim stayed with little Sam in the NICU at Emanuel. Although I had had major surgery, nothing was going to keep me from my baby so I had the nurse wheel me up to the NICU at 6 am the day after he was born. I wanted to increase my mobility each day to heal as quickly as possible. Words cannot express the overwhelming love, joy and excitement I felt at seeing my son's face each day, holding him and learning to nurse him. It's crazy how one isolated event changes everything about yourself and everything you've ever been and everything you've ever known in one second. We'll never be the same and we couldn't be happier about it! 

My 6am-day after surgery visit; totally exhausted and sore but couldn't stay away!

Little peanut who stole my heart

Grandma holding Sam in the NICU

Hearing test in the NICU-he passed with flying colors!

Sam went through his MRI and didn't have to be sedated; turns out that they use a swaddle system where the babies are wrapped up tight so they fall asleep inside the machine. Another blessing to be thankful for. We met with the neurosurgeon the next day and got another blessing: the MRI revealed that Sam does NOT have hydrocephalus (which is a "syndrome" and usually ensures shunt surgery is quick to follow) but just a slightly large head with extra large ventricles in his brain. Tim and I had a good laugh about that one; he's definitely OUR son. :) We have to go back in a month to have a followup ultrasound with the neurosurgeon to make sure that the fluid isn't starting to put pressure on his brain, but we're praying that the current diagnosis stays the same.

The "bad" news was that the agenesis of the corpus collosum was confirmed; the little bundle of nerves connecting the hemispheres of the brain is not there at all. However, the neurosurgeon told us that given how the rest of his brain is operating, his AP GAR score and that he's behaving as normally as any other newborn, that we should take him and run away from the hospital as quickly as possible. And that we should treat him like a normal newborn because that's exactly what he is. 

On our way home 

Time will tell what the effects of the missing piece of the brain brings as he gets older and starts approaching key milestones, but for now (and of course we will be no matter what the outcome) we are enjoying our little boy at home. To be able to escape sending him to surgery for the fluid in his brain was nothing short of a miracle. We were told that Sam would absolutely have to have surgery immediately after birth by two separate specialists. God showed up in a big way thanks to all of YOUR prayers for him and we couldn't be more thankful. We give all glory to God for His healing and for a huge answer to our prayers. We'll be sure to keep you posted with Sam's development and thank you all again for your support and love you've poured out on our family! We are trusting in His plan for our little Sam's life and moving forward in peace that He's holding Sam in His more than capable hands. 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-8 

Love, 

Tim and Shanna