Introducing Samuel Robert Allen

Samuel Robert Allen was born at 1:19 pm on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at a whopping 8 lbs 14oz and 21 inches long.

I spoke with Kate and Steven numerous times on Tuesday and everything seemed to go very smoothly during the labor process. However, after baby Samuel was born, things took a turn for the worse for Kate. She began hemorrhaging as a piece of placenta or membrane broke off inside of her. After much clotting, they got Kate stabilized and stopped the clotting/bleeding process. Thank heavens for those wonderful doctors and nurses at St. Vincent's!

Kate became stable around 5:00 pm on Tuesday. Although exhausted, she had very high spirits. Since she had such a tramatic day, she decided to send Baby Samuel to the nursery to get some rest.

Wednesday, February 11th
In the early morning on Wednesday, the nurses brought Baby Samuel into the room and explained to Kate that his breathing was significantly fast. They wanted to draw some blood. After the blood was drawn, they decided to keep Baby Samuel in NICU until he resumed a normal breathing pattern. At one point, he was breathing as much as 110 times per minute. They also refrained him from eating so that there was no chance that he would aspirate. He was hooked up on glucose to help with his sugar levels. They determined that his white blood count is elevated. At one point, they were concerned about his heart but luckily, a cardiologist came and his heart checked out to be normal for an infant. He remained in the NICU overnight where his breathing slowed down but still remained faster than normal. Kate visited the ICU every time the doors were open.

Thursday, Feburary 12th
Samuel remains in the NICU. Today, they placed a feeding tube down his throat to provide him with some nutrients. His bilirubin count has risen so they decided to also place him on a "bili" bed. However, his breathing has become a little more stable. At this point, they are thinking that pneumonia has set in and started some antibiotics today. According to my conversation with Kate a few minutes ago, they are going to keep Samuel anywhere from 3 to 7 days to continue giving him the antibiotics. We are praying that Baby Samuel will come home on Saturday. More than likely, Kate will be released tomorrow, February 13th.

Although Kate and Samuel have had several bumps in the road, we are all VERY thankful for the support and care that they have received from the staff at St. V's and from all of Kate's friends and loved ones. Please continue to pray for this precious family and Samuel's quick recovery.

With much love,
Aunt Katie