This evening’s update is highlighted by an unexpected and very welcome move to a private room. We were in a space that, for lack of better terms, is like a cubicle – walls that don’t go all the way to the ceiling, no door, etc. We were on the waitlist for a room and as recently as this afternoon were told that it could be 2-3 days. However, when we returned from a quick dinner in the cafeteria, the nurses told us that a room opened up and we were off! 6 people, 5 machines, 1 Liam, 1000 cords, and 30 hallway feet later we were in our new digs. The new room is 3 times the space that we had before and features a good place to sleep for me and a bathroom (so I don’t have to walk the hallway anymore). Yea!

Now to the more specific Liam-based update. Today was a good day. He pretty much maintained the status quo – which is exactly what everyone is looking for. Late last night he experienced some possible small seizures, so he was put on some anti-seizure meds today. Today also brought the very first step in weening off of the blood pressure medicine, a small decrease in the amount. He tolerated it well, and will likely get a little more off of it tomorrow. His temperature continues to sit well, as do all of his other vital signs.

Ahna continues to improve and I continue to be impressed by her. It’s been really hard to be at a different hospital, and she has done really well in focusing on her recovery as well as getting things going for Liam. She is pumping and getting a good supply happening, which will be really great to have as soon as Liam is ready to start eating. We continue to be hopeful that she will be discharged in the morning, and we can be together up here by the afternoon.

One last thing before the pictures…I gotta brag for a second. We have had a lot of love and support over the past near-two days, so much in fact that I would never be able to acknowledge everyone in the ways that they should be acknowledged. But I am going to publicly call out the Deputy Chief of my department. Chief Croom took time away from his family and visited Ahna and I this afternoon, then continued up the road all the way to Children’s and visited with my Dad and Liam. It’s a gesture that not only tells me a lot about Chief Croom individually, but about the tone that our department has set and the priorities that they see at the top (one of the on-duty ambulance crews even stopped by late last night after transporting a patient here). I have never felt more confident that I am working in the best fire department in the country. The family of the fire service is strong, alive and well – and everyone else should be jealous of it.

Not much news to report this morning, other than Liam did pretty well through the night. He did have a small period of time when his temperature got a little below the target range; but after working through that, and between Liam and the staff, they have found the perfect balance of everything to keep the temp exactly where they want it to be. He was also awake quite a bit through the night, which has been fun to see and has made some of our interaction a little more personal.

Ahna continues to recover well and is looking to get out of bed and moving around a lot more today. We are still hopeful that she will be able to join us tomorrow.

More updates later today.

We are very excited to announce the arrival of Liam Andreas Bersagel-Briese! He was born this morning (Dec 19) at 0042, weighing in at 8lbs 10oz and measuring 21.25″ long.

Our excitement is slightly tempered by the fact that Liam is facing a big uphill climb right now. After our arrival at the hospital, Ahna progressed from 5cm dilated to 10cm in less than 45 minutes. During delivery, there was a sudden placenta abrubption, resulting in a decreased oxygenated blood flow to the baby for at least several minutes. The delivery quickly turned into a full-blown emergency c-section. Ahna did amazing throughout the entire labor process and especially during the emergency part of the delivery and she is recovering at the hospital as we speak.

Liam has had some major difficulties early with his respiratory drive, and later with concerns for long-term neurologic complications. These bring lots of other issues to play, but the focus is on the long term neurologic outcome. I transferred hospitals with him just a few hours after birth, and we are now at Children’s Hospital in the NICU. They are aggressively addressing the situation using a head-cooling method that will keep him under wraps for 72 hours before we will know much about the future. Currently, his vital signs are good and he is showing good movement. Ahna will hopefully be discharged soon and will then join us at Children’s. We are anticipating being here for a while before all of us can go home.

We are asking for your continued prayers for Liam and for Ahna; as well as all of the love and support that we have come to rely so heavily on.

We also must express our sincere thanks to the staff at Parker, the Flight for Life team, and the staff at the NICU here at Children’s. We are lucky to have these resources available to us.

Updates will be posted to the blog.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. I made it through 48 hours at work without ‘the’ phone call, but the house is now sick. Ezra didn’t last the day yesterday at daycare, Ahna actually had called out on Monday already, and now I’m not feeling the greatest. Luckily my parents live close by and my Mom has been able to sneak to the house each of the last two nights to help out while I was at work. If you follow Murphy’s prophecies, tonight or tomorrow might be it…after several weeks of warm weather and a record breaking dry spell to start the winter; we are expecting 4-8 inches of snow. Couple that with a routine visit to the doctor’s office later this afternoon, and you might have the makings of something. Or probably not. The blog will tell.

Today’s prep work was the building of the swing. We were fortunate enough to have borrowed one for Ezra, but the opportunity to buy one for this kid presented itself about two months ago. It was living in it’s original box in the basement since then, and today made the journey upstairs and smack into the middle of the house.

Today’s activity? An exercise in patience. We wait. We anticipate. We wonder. I remember from Ezra that this was the hardest part…and it still is, but this time we actually have something to focus on instead of simply always waiting. Still, that doesn’t ease the nerves or settle the mind. Every time my phone rings, I think “is this the call?” Every time that we plan on doing something, I wonder “will we make it through?” Every time we go somewhere, I think “what’s the quickest way to get Ezra to Saba and Savta’s house, get our bag, and get to the hospital?” Every night that comes, I prepare for being woken up. But it hasn’t come yet, and I suppose that all of the mental games that you play with yourself will pay off when the actual event occurs. Till then, we just wait.

The photo is of the day-by-day journal of a baby’s development from inception to birth. It always strikes me at the beginning  (how many pages are still to turn) and at the end (holy cow, we turned all those pages).

The guest bedroom…it’s to be occupied by visitors and family that is going to help. That means that it was on the priority list of things to get ready prior to the hospital. This might have been the easiest thing to do…make sure that the sheets are good and add some towels to the bed; but it had to get done. One more item closer to a baby.