AJ arrived 3/24 a little after 6pm

After 16 hours of labor, using cervical softeners, pitocin, and finally forceps to help get this little guy (actually big guy 8lbs 13.5oz) out, he finally made it. It was the hardest labor I've experienced but what else could I expect. This whole journey has been rough and I'd gladly suffer to bring my son into this world as safely as possible.

A.J. had a rough start from the beginning which was not a good sign. At first doctors didn't think he'd be strong enough to ventilate. After a few hours they did get him on a high frequency ventilator and Nitric Oxide. He took  a turn for the worse and they needed to give him blood. Things just kept getting worse so the doctors had spoke to me about letting him go. I had to make a decision after no sleep for 38 hours or food for 24. I told them I wanted them to put him on ECMO to buy us some time. I had really hoped these decisions wouldn't have needed to be made so quickly. The first ECMO machine they put him on had air bubbles, they caught it quickly and suctioned them out, however, it took approximately 40 minutes to get him transferred to a new machine. During this time he had to be revived with chest compressions and will likely suffer brain damage. The only good news so far is that he is on the new ECMO and all the numbers look great. However this was a temporary ECMO so sometime today they will need to transfer him to a permanent one. He is at high risk for bleeding in the brain so they will be doing ultra sounds regularly to check on that. This has been an hour by hour process with many bumps in the road. I still haven't slept much as one could imagine but I hope to have some one on one time with AJ today to connect with him spiritually. I want to do what is best for him and I still feel there is HOPE!

Here is a picture of Austin Josiah, my hero, before ECMO....

Here is our first picture together while he's hooked up to ECMO......