Rowan John Shoemaker

The Events leading up to and surrounding the birth of our son, Rowan John Shoemaker.

On Tuesday night, June 1st, Amanda watched me play my men’s softball game and afterward, we joined some guys from the team at a bar down the street called The Silver Eagle. Amanda sang two songs karaoke, “Just Like the White Winged Dove” by Stevie Nicks and “I’m Just a Girl” by No Doubt.

On Wednesday morning around 5:30am Amanda woke up to a slightly damp bed and thought to herself, “Oh great, I peed the bed. I guess this is the next fun thing I have to look forward to during pregnancy.” But after using the bathroom, it became clear to her that she had not peed the bed… her water had broken! I heard a surprised voice call out from the bathroom, “Um…. John, I think my water broke.” Let me tell you, that works a LOT better than an alarm clock! A phone call to our doula, Jess Carrano, and a phone call to St. Mary’s hospital confirmed our suspicions: Our baby was on his way… 6 weeks early!

I looked at Amanda and said with a bit of a chuckle, “Well, I guess we should pack a bag or something.” For the next half hour, Amanda and I wandered around the house, not really accomplishing anything. I don’t think we were feeling very anxious, I think we were just so stinkin’ surprised that we couldn’t think. We ate some breakfast, grabbed our stuff, and headed out the door. The Birth Plan…. well, we decided to leave that at home. Ha!

On the way to the hospital, we talked about how crazy all of this was. We were filled with excitement, surprise, curiosity…. but thankfully, very little anxiety. We remembered as we drove, that just one day prior, I had been consumed in an inexplicable anxiety. For some reason on Tuesday, everything was bothering me – work, the house, air conditioning, prayer, vacations, etc. – but Amanda and I prayed that evening that God would remove that worry from our lives and that He would bring calmness and peace into our hearts and minds…. and as crazy as that Wednesday morning may sound, that is what we felt, calmness and peacefulness.

At the hospital, they checked Amanda, gave us the official confirmation that we were headed for labor, and got us settled into our room. It didn’t seem like we had to wait very long before contractions began.

As the contractions picked up and the labor progressed, two things became invaluable, our good friend and doula, Jess, and our trust in God. Amanda and I each wear a ring on our right hand that has the phrase “Trust in Me” written in Hebrew, but it is not every day that we really internalize that. I suppose some of these details would be better left for Amanda to describe but the theme of the day was really about surrendering and there is no better example than Jesus carrying the cross. It was so great having Jess there to remind us of that!

Let It All Out – Relient K (One of the songs on Amanda’s playlist in the delivery room. I have to admit, the fist couple words sound kind of funny… or graphic, really… when thinking about labor, but this song came up just at the right time and was a great comfort to Amanda)

Amanda did such a great job relaxing and moving through labor that by the end of the day on Wednesday, she was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. The strength she showed in those last couple hours was truly remarkable.

Finally, at 11:49pm on June 2nd, this little guy was born…

He weighed 5lbs 3.2oz and was 17 inches long. He turned pink and cried right away after birth and then Amanda got to hold him briefly before they took him to the NICU. We would have loved to hold him longer, but we were happy to leave him in the hands of the NICU doctors to make sure he was stabilized. Because he was born at 34 weeks, he had an increased chance of having difficulty breathing and eating.

Since being admitted to the NICU, however, he has progressed quickly and is getting stronger every day. They were able turn off the CPAP (device to aid in breathing) and the oxygen after only a few hours.

Rowan has also been doing a great job eating on his own. His appetite increases every day as he get’s more and more energy. One thing that is still being monitored is his bilirubin level. Because he is so young, his liver is not quite as good at processing this excrement (created from the turnover of red blood cells). Bilirubin is the substance that causes jaundice in many newborns and is much more likely to cause it in premature babies. In order to help him metabolize the bilirubin, the nurses put him under a photo therapy light. We think he looks like a little beach baby.

He has also had some visitors…

Amanda and I are very proud parents and we can’t wait to bring Rowan home. We thank all of you for your prayers and support. We will do our best to keep updating this blog with pictures, video, audio, etc… of Rowan and our family. We hope you enjoy!

Behind Rowan’s Eyes from Johnathan Shoemaker on Vimeo.