Preston Lee Marecle

We would like to welcome and introduce you to our new little addition to our family: 

Preston Lee Marecle

Born Sunday September 30, 2012 at 11:36 pm. 

Weighed 7 lbs and was 19 1/2 inches long

Preston is such a sweet little baby and we are so blessed to have him in our family.  He actually came 3 1/2 weeks early.  I started having contractions Sunday evening, because of how fast I deliver we decided that we wouldn't take any chances, so we called our friend Chris Barrott over to stay at the house with the kids and we took off to the hospital.  We couldn't have decided to go any sooner, I was dilated to a 7 and progressing quite quickly.  The nurses called doctor Smith and the anesthesiologist to come.  I was given an intrathecal, it is similar to an epidural but only lasts about 2 hours.  They basically gave me a shot in my back like they would with an epidural, the pain was gone almost instantly.  It was fabulous!!  I pushed through about 3 contractions and our sweet Preston was born.  

 

Because he was born 3 1/2 weeks early he was considered a preemie.  They told us that he would be able to spend at least an hour with us and then they would take him over to the NICU  for observation for about 6 hrs just to make sure he was breathing ok and healthy, then he would be able to return to my room the remainder of the time we were there.  Unfortunately, Taylor and I got to hold him for only about 5 minutes each before they decided he needed to be taken away and put on oxygen.  He was struggling to breath and was needing help so they hooked him up to oxygen.  They also discovered his sugar levels were low so he was given and IV to help with that.  Because of the oxygen mask he couldn't eat so he had a tube inserted through his nose down to his stomach.  It was heartbreaking!!  Our little baby was connected to machines and we couldn't even hold him.  I was in shock I couldn't believe that something like this was happening to us and our little one.  I just kept praying that he would be strong and make it through all of this.  

They took some x-rays of his lungs and saw an unknown object, after an ultrasound they still couldn't identify what it was so they determined they needed to to a CT scan to see if they could figure out what was wrong.  They discovered that he had an air pocket in his lungs that had not been pushed out because his lungs had not developed to their copacity due to being early.  Dr. Fort reassured us that it was a problem that would be fixed on it's own as soon as Preston's lungs had expanded to push the air bubble out.  We were relieved!!  Now all we had to do was wait.  It's hard to be in a room watching your child lay there and you can't even hold him or snuggle with him.  The most we could do was let him hold our finger.

The nurses were so wonderful and helpful. Our hospital has two family rooms connected to the NICU area for people to stay in if needed.  They allowed me to stay in one of the units for free.  I got to know the nurses quite well and was grateful they were there taking care of our baby boy.  As soon as Preston could be held and not be connected to so many machines we let the kids come in and see him.  The girls instantly fell in love with him and wanted him to come home right away. 

Brayden didn't quite know what was going on.  He was confused as to why his Mom was gone and at a strange hospital let alone why I was holding the strange new baby.  He looked so big to me.  I couldn't get over how big he had grown in just a few days. 

 This was the face Brayden mostly gave...very confused and out of sorts.

Preston was still hooked up to Oxygen

 

These were the machines we got very used to looking at and reading to see the progress of little Preston

 

My Mom came and stayed with the kids so Taylor could go back to work and I could stay at the Hospital with Preston.  It was such a blessing to have her there to help us out.  One of the hardest parts was having to say good night/bye to my kids and Taylor each night.  I was quite lonely at the hospital and I wanted to be with my family.  The nurses were quite nice to lend a listening ear and a box of tissues when I needed to let out some emotions. I prayed and prayed that we would soon be able to go home and that Preston would be better.  We stayed in the Hospital for five days.  We got to come home on Friday, October 5th.  It was a big ordeal to check him out of the NICU.  But we were finally able to leave and go home around 8 pm that night.  I couldn't wait for me and my family to be all together again under one roof all happy and healthy.  

We are truly blessed and will be ever in debt and grateful to our loving Heavenly Father, who gave us strength to carry on and make it through the trial we had to endure.  In the end it made us stronger and taught us to rely on one another and our Heavenly Father and the wonderful Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.  We may not know why we were chosen to go through something like this but in the end I am grateful we did because it made us stronger and better people for it.  I am grateful for the gospel and the opportunity I have to live it everyday in my life.  I can't wait to see our little Preston grow up and become the amazing little strong boy that he is and what he has in store ahead of him.  Welcome to our family Preston we are grateful you are better and glad you get to be with us on this earth and through the rest of eternity.