Friday, May 22, 2009

My New Buddy


I've been a bit distracted from blogging for the past several weeks. Some important things have been happening and now I think I should get back to work and document some of them.
The biggest new change in life is the arrival of my son Lee!
Lee Charles was born May 14th 7:26 am, weighing 7 lb 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long. He and Pam are both doing very well. We are thrilled to have him be part of our family.
A little background on Lee's journey here: at about 5 months pregnant, Pam learned from her doctor that she was producing antibodies to Lee's opposite blood type. In the past a simple shot has prevented this from being a problem. This time however it appeared that the shot was not working.
This meant that if at any time over the next four months Pam's production of antibodies rose too high, Lee would run out of sufficient red blood cells to continue carrying oxygen and nutrients through his body. Well, Pam was checked regularly since that time and in a truly wonderful answer to prayer, her antibody production remained extremely low (in stark contrast to our anxiety and worry).
After Lee was born his jaundice levels were a bit elevated (remaining antibodies from Pam's immune system could lead to higher breakdown of his blood cells and consequently higher bilirubin buildup), but even these stayed within normal limits and declined quickly.
We feel extremely fortunate to have him here, healthy and strong in spite of numerous opportunities for things to have gone otherwise.

3 comments:

Sarah Bogh said...

Hooray for Baby Lee! We are so glad he is here safe and healthy! congratulations Daddy!!

Christopher Taylor said...

Hey there little buddy! Congrats Al!

Jason said...

Congrats! Glad both mom and baby are doing well.