Are Babies supposed to turn Purple?

The first few days of Sloan Violet Beeman’s life have been quite harrowing.  As a parent you feel helpless sometimes.  Sloan was just a little over 12 hours old when Jennifer was feeding her in the hospital room.  Suddenly she started spitting up.  Jennifer quickly grabbed the aspirator and tried to clear it but it didn’t work.  Then Sloan started choking.  We quickly called the nurse.  The nurse took one look at her, had a panicked expression and whisked her out of the room.  Jennifer and I just looked at each other not knowing how to react.  What do you do in that situation?  After a few anxious minutes of trying to console a near hysterical wife we both tried to calm down.  I (by experience) have learned no not stress about much.  God has proven to me time and time again that he is in control and I trust him implicitly.  But there was just something about this that was different.  In an instant it showed my absolutely helplessness and dependence upon him to take care of a baby which I certainly cannot do myself nor can Jennifer.  After a few minutes of prayer with Jennifer I went to the nursery.  Sloan was breathing fine and resting.  The nurse smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up.  I returned to the room to give Jennifer the good news.  Thank God this happened while we were still at the hospital.  The nurse came into explain what happened.  Sloan’s lungs were still filled with amniotic fluid.  She hadn’t had a chance to expel all of that yet.  Normally babies expel all the fluid while they wait in the birth canal.  But it only took Jennifer four pushes or 10 minutes or so to push her out.  Sloan didn’t have enough time in the canal to express all of the fluid.  This is also quite common in C-sections as well.  So I thought I knew a lot about “birthing babies” being a veteran of three already.  But this one was new to me and scary. 

The first day was very magical to me besides the fright.  Sloan just held onto my finger as she slept.  It was obvious that she was dreaming as her eyes were rolling under eyelids and her body would shudder with her arms periodically squirming.  What do babies dream about anyway?  Going through the shoot? Im told they dream in the womb as well which is even more of a mystery to me.  Since God speaks to people through their dreams sometimes, maybe that is his way of talking to them before they make the transition into the world.  There is something magical about the faith of children.  They just accept and believe without needing logical evidence to back it up.  Perhaps that is why Christ loved children so much. I think we all need to have the faith of a child sometimes.  I know through my hell I have developed it.  I don’t know how, often I don’t know why but whatever predicament I find myself in, I know I am going to come out on top.  I have the faith of a child.  But as my baby was turning purple, that faith was shaken. 

When I held Sloan that first day her eyes were mainly shut.  Even though she was full term, she was just barely full term by a couple of days.  Perhaps her development is a little behind because of that.  As I would talk to her I could see her struggle to try to open up her eyes so she could see what that strange soothing sound was all about.  We had eye contact for a few moments then she just relaxed and kept her eyes closed. 

Jennifer was sent home from the hospital three days after her birth.  I enjoyed my time there spending the night each night Jennifer was admitted.  The hospital food was actually quite good and they had a chair that made out into a bed.  I thoroughly enjoyed my first few days of being a dad all over again.  I’m almost old enough to be a grandfather as some of the people in my graduating class of FCS already are.  But here I am a father again at the ripe age of 42.  I actually think Im just about to enter my prime.  I am motivated to do whatever it takes to make sure that I live a long full life so I can be the best father I can to Sloan and our ensuing (God willing) children.  Jennifer even has me eating broccoli and spinach.  It’s not a parting of the Red Sea thing, but in my mind its close.  I have a feeling the second time around I am going to enjoy and savor each and every moment.  I already have. 

Today was another nerve racking day.  Jennifer as a first time mom is naturally nervous.  But she is a real trooper.  She is so conscientious and is so knowledgeable about babies.  But until you experience it, its all different.   I know everything is going to work out.  I don’t know how but babies grow (most of the time) but God takes care of them.  But Sloan wasn’t gaining enough weight and her Bilirubin levels were down which means Sloan had jaundice.  This is quite normal the first week, I’m told.  So the doctor prescribed this strange blanket to wrap around Sloan.  This is like a UV blanket similar I think to what you would see in tanning beds.  She seems quite comfortable and snug in it.  Since she has had this blanket on her energy levels have seemed to have gone up.  The doctors are wanting to keep a close eye on Sloan so we have had to take her into the hospital for tests nearly every day since we’ve been home.  Another big concern is Sloan’s weight.  Its normal for a baby to lose 10% of their body weight after birth.  Sloan was born at 7 lb. 9 oz, but then when we checked her Billrubin levels she was down to 6 lb 13 oz. yesterday.    So today when we went into the hospital to weigh her she was shockingly down to 6 lb 6 oz.  This was scary for us.  Jennifer is trying so hard to feed Sloan and take care of her, we just didn’t know what to do.  Jennifer was really scared and burst into tears.  You sure feel helpless as parents.  I put on a semi-false bravado and told her everything was going to be fine.  Again, I didn’t know how but God was going to do it.  He has saw us through so much worse.  It was hard to believe that Sloan wasn’t thriving or gaining weight.  All she does really is eat, sleep, and poop.  Im very anxious to have her turn two.  But Jennifer and Moms in general seem to like the newborn phase more than dads.   Then before Jennifer and I could jump to even more scary conclusions the nurse came back in and suggested we try another scale.  This scale had Sloan at 6 lb. 15 oz. so she had just gained 2 oz.  So the other scale was broken.   The nurse later came in and told us her Billrubin levels were down or up, whatever the good one is.  So she’ll only need the lab coat for another day. 

I know there is a precious gift of life in our possession.  But now we find ourselves more dependent on God than we ever have been.  We are pretty helpless in the big scheme of things.  But as always God is in control…no matter what.