My Dad graciously had come up the Friday before Easter and was staying at a hotel/our house to be on call for when it was go time. Which relieved so much stress for me because I didn't have to worry about where Brayden would need to go - my Dad would come to him and he'd be in good hands while we were at the hospital.
Pruitt seemed healthy and strong, he didn't let out that big wailing cry when he was born and I remember feeling a little concerned as to why he didn't do that, but they kept reassuring me that he was fine. Finally they put my sweet boy on my chest and it was bliss. Finally, my baby was in my arms and I started to try and get him to nurse and that's when I noticed that Pruitt had those sweet almond shaped eyes. I remember looking up at Geoff immediately and asking him...'Do you think he has Down Syndrome?' (Let me back up...when I had polyhyramanos - that can be a sign of down syndrome - the specialist told us that he really didn't think it was DS, twice he told us that at 2 different appointments, but that his long bones (another sign of DS) were measuring short and that he'd probably just be a short baby) After that golden hour and the nurse, Pam (I'll never forget her) took Pruitt to start measuring, weighing, etc Geoff asked her, do you think he has DS. And I'll never forget the look on her face and she said, 'I'm not a doctor so I can't make any diagnosis, however based on a few things that I'm seeing...almond shaped eyes, lower muscle tone and sandal toe, I would guess yes.' I would be a complete liar if I told you I was jumping for joy at this point...I was deflated and a little angry, angry because I'm a planner and I wish someone would have told me so I could have better prepared because I had known that there were health issues we needed to be aware of and if the staff is better prepared, the better. Geoff and I weren't shocked...because DS had been tossed around so much during the pregnancy that we weren't surprised, however we were surprised if that makes sense.
We got transferred over to Women and Children and again we were greeted with the most amazing group of nurses ever. Our delivery team was amazing and the after care was through the roof. Everyone took amazing care of us and they were amazing with Pruitt as well, always reassuring us that Pruitt was the sweetest baby and gently letting us know what we should expect with a baby with DS. However, so many nurses and even the neonatal nurse that came in to check on him were on the fence because he wasn't showing a lot of the DS markers. The neonatal nurse encouraged us to do the blood work so we could get a definite answer, so we took our less than 24hr old baby to the NICU to get blood drawn. Can I tell you again how amazing the staff at Littleton Hospital is again? The NICU nurse spent a good 10 minutes looking for the right vein and in one swift try she got everything she needed. Pruitt was a sleepy baby and nursing wasn't going as well as I had hoped and that's when the amazing Mary, the lactation consultant walked in to guide us. She was amazing! Not only did she encourage me to never give up, because of Pruitt's diagnosis, but she reassured me that it was okay to pump and bottle feed - to do whatever I had to to feed Pruitt. She was also the most open about talking about Pruitt's DS and really encouraged us to make sure we reached out to a list of resources she passed on. I'll never forget her - that's for sure.
We cannot explain in words how thankful we are for the staff at Littleton Hospital - they were top notch. We had heard amazing things about them, but they surpassed our wildest dreams.
We got discharged on Tuesday afternoon and during dinner on Tuesday evening our pediatrician called us to let us know that indeed Pruitt's blood work came back and it was showing a third chromosome which meant Trisomy 21 or Down Syndrome. That was it - the moment and as much as Geoff and I were pretty certain, there is something else that happens when someone makes it official. Of course I cried, I questioned, I guessed, I was angry, but most of all I'm still left with this feeling of uncertainty. The feeling of the unknown, I know with any child you don't know what their future is going to bring, but I feel like with a child with a special need that unknown is even more unknown. But for right now, I've been told a million times, just to love on my baby because before you know it he'll be 3 and then 6 and then 9 and I'll look back saying - where has the time gone. So where can you find me...snuggling my sweet babies!!
Pruitt has been nothing short of amazing! He's the sweetest boy, melts your heart and just started smiling which makes my hear explode into pieces. This was by no means what 'we had planned' but sometimes God laughs and says, 'but this was what I had planned'. So we're trusting him and asking for strength when times might get though, but for now we're feeling extremely blessed with two happy, healthy boys.
