She's here!!

Elliana Grace Dauphin

The Lord Has Heard

7 lbs, 4 oz 19 inches

Born at 8:20 am

We woke up bright and early and headed into the hospital. I immediately recognized the nurse that had attended Caleb's birth and who I LOVED. She basically got me through labor. I had written her a thank you note and so when she saw my name, she remembered me and asked to help prep my c-section. What a blessing from the Lord! I felt at ease almost at once.

After all of the prep work was done, I walked down to the OR carrying my own IV and hopped up to the table to get my spinal. That went much better this time as well. Elliana was born 20 minutes later. She immediately started crying and I asked Steve to make sure she was a girl. She was. But a few minutes later, the NICU nurse brought her close to my face let me see her for a brief second and then whisked her away. Evidently, she was working too hard to breathe and so they needed to get her stabilized.

I was sewn back up and headed to our room to recover. Elliana still was in the NICU and I began to understand that she would be there for quite some time. The nurses there and doctor were fairly certain she just had too much fluid in her lungs (and because she was a c-section, she hadn't had the benefit of it getting squeezed out while going through the birth canal). But they couldn't be certain. After a chest x-ray, they determined she did have fluid and started antibiotics to insure quick action if she was developing a pneumonia. Evidently, a pneumonia and too much fluid in the lungs from birth, look exactly the same on a chest x-ray. She started off with 50% oxygen saturation.

Around 1:30 pm the nurses wheeled my entire hospital bed into the NICU so I could hold my little girl for the first time. It was a wonderful moment. She and I stayed skin-to-skin for about an hour. By 3:30 they had weaned her off of all of the oxygen and she was breathing calmly on her own. She's been doing really well ever since. We still cannot have her stay with us until at the earliest, tomorrow morning but she is really doing so much better. And tonight I got her to latch on for the first time all day! She actually ate pretty decently on one side. I was so encouraged. It seems that she is pulling through and getting better as the hours go on.

I'm doing all right. I'm fairly comfortable and am thankful for the great care of the nurses and hospital staff. God is so faithful to carry us regardless the circumstances. I'm greatly encouraged by that fact and feel able to rest in His comfort and grace.

So...the name Elliana has been an absolute favorite of ours for over four years; we just kept having boys!! And the meaning seemed so appropriate. The Lord Has Heard. He has heard and has given us a daughter. We couldn't be more blessed.