She has arrived!

We are proud to announce the arrival of Lucy London Bryant, born June 21, 2012 at 5:13 am, weighing in at 5 lbs, 3 oz.

She's adorable (we may be slightly biased) and is already proving her strength to us and the doctors.

I'll write a quick overview of her Birth Story for those of you who are interested:

I woke up around midnight and felt my water break (impossible not to feel, considering how much fluid I had!). I called the nurse into my room and she confirmed that this was go time, so I called Jason, who had been at home and he got in the car to come up to Denver. I will spare you the details of the next few hours, but after about 5 hours, she arrived 3 1/2 weeks early!

Because of her known issues, she was quickly taken by the NICU team for evaluation so Jason didn't get to cut the cord or hold her. I got about 5 minutes with her before the took her to the NICU.

I had a bad reaction to some of the medicine that they gave me, so spent the morning trying to sleep but mostly throwing up and feeling genuinely miserable. (When people say mom and baby are doing great like an hour after birth, do they really mean it?)

We found out this afternoon that she has some unexpected complications. She has what is called Tracheo Esophageal Fistula (TEF), which means that her esophagus and trachea have formed together, so she is unable to swallow anything (explains my excess fluid) because her esophagus is not attached to her stomach. The only remedy for that is surgery, which she has been scheduled for at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Although she is on the small side for laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgery, that will be the doctors first choice so they she will not have a large incision. Other, less serious conditions that do not require immediate medical attention, but that will impact her growth and development include a small hole in her heart, a large number of mucus plugs in her large intestines and an improperly formed anus. Her heart will be monitored over the next weeks and months to determine the impact of the hole, but nothing will be done immediately, as it may close on it's own. The mucus plugs in her large intestines will be looked at during the surgery tomorrow and Jason and I will be taught how to dilate her anus (doesn't that sound awful? Poor baby).

Her hydrocephalus issues will be addressed after the more immediate medical needs are taken care of this week.

We appreciate the love, support and prayers and will definitely keep you posted on Lucy's progress!