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The newest member of the Castle
Prince Charming, to be exact. [This is Martha's husband -- "King" of this Castle and proud papa of 3 fine, young princes now, thank you very much!] And for all of you out there in Martha's cyberspace "kingdom" wondering what in the world is going on, I'll give you the abridged, abbreviated, discreet, and quite sanitized version:
After a roller-coaster ride of a week, Martha's body decided it was time for her to have the baby today (Thursday). It just said, "Enough is enough!" in its own inimitable mommy-needs-to-have-this-baby sort of way. So, after an ambulance ride to the hospital (a story I'll let her tell you about later), Martha was "rushed" into a relatively emergency-like C-section at about 9:30 (EDT) this morning. And, you guessed it, Silas Reagan (7 lb. 4 oz. -- at 4 weeks early!) arrived at 9:41 -- with no complications, praise the Lord!
DURING the C-section (yes, I did say "during"; pardon the puke pan -- it was never used)Now, I know you're wondering about the lung development after the disheartening test results from earlier in the week. Yes, Silas is indeed suffering from a shortage of surfactant, the material that helps the lungs "do their work" properly. He can breathe on his own (the lungs themselves are fully developed anatomically), but he just needs a little extra help along the way for these first few days. So he is in the NICU, where he received a dose of surfactant to help "jump-start" those weak little lungs; he is also currently on a ventilator that is helping him not have to work so hard to breathe on his own. (When I left the hospital this evening, his breaths-per-minute dosage had been cut from 25 to 22, so that's a good sign.) And thankfully, he has as of yet had to receive no oxygen. His blood is absorbing the oxygen he gets just fine -- he's just having to work a bit too hard on his own to actually get that oxygen at this point -- hence the ventilator. Other than these rather expected developments (due to his premature arrival of about 4 weeks), the little guy seems to be doing great. (I must admit, it will be great to hear him "holla" with one of those blood-curdling, "yes-my-lungs-are-doing-just-fine-and-thank-you-very-much-for-asking" screams.) The toughest part for me was watching him cry but not being able to hear him at all due to the ventilator tubes being between his vocal folds, hence prohibiting his glottis from being able to completely close in a full phonatory cycle. (Yup, I've had the class...)
Aunt Joanna with the "Fine, Young Prince"
Mommy (a.k.a. "Superwoman") is doing SPECTACULARLY. The placenta was posterior, so it posed much less of a problem than it would have had it been in the front of the uterus. So Martha was able to keep all of the, um, "plumbing" intact. (Hey, I told you I was going to be discreet...) She is recovering so well that they were talking about starting to give her solid foods before the night is even over. She hasn't been able to hold Prince #3 yet, so that's been a bit rough. (She has seen him and touched him, though.) She is coping absolutely wonderfully. My hope is that baby improves enough to be able to leave the NICU sometime tomorrow so Martha can hold (and feed) him. This is probably wishful thinking on my part...but sooner would be much better than later.
Special thanks to Martha's parents [Rev. James and Chris Sampson] and sisters [Joanna and Sarah] who are here from Pennsylvania and have been such a huge help and blessing. Not sure how we'd have made it without them...
Thanks to everyone for your prayers -- past and present. Keep them up if you don't mind as you think of us, and I'll try to keep you posted over the next few days.
Isn't he"Charming" indeed? He's all of about 10 minutes "old" here.
"Castle, party of 5, please." (Y-chromosomes and all)
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The newest member of the Castle 
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40 Comments:
What a cutie! Congratulations! I'm so happy that everything went so well for you. Wow - he's a biggie for being so early! Will pray for him!
Congrats!
So grateful that the Queen and the new Prince of the castle are both doing so well -- considering all the stressful happenings over the last several weeks. (I must admit my heart was in my throat when my voice caller ID was announcing your number at 7:45 this morning!) Praise the Lord -- INDEED! Much love to all of you.
Congratulations! So glad things went as well as they did! Silas is a cutie! Can't wait till we get to see all of you sometime!Christopher is excited that he has a new boy cousin to play sports with! ;-)
Congrats one an all!!! I am so excited for you! No questions as to his family line! I have been praying for you all, and we miss you like crazy!
Heather C.
Congratulations! I haven't blogged in a few days, so I wasn't up to date with the "happenings" out your way. I'm so glad things went well for you. We are so close...it's getting scary, and I too can't wait to see what the baby is. That makes it such fun! For now I'm just happy to be able to remotely enjoy a good night's sleep before the fun begins!
Welcome, Silas! Oh Martha, he is darling! Praise the Lord both you and he are doing so well. I will be praying for you all throughout the next few days especially.
Congratulations, on the beautiful baby boy! We are so thankful that everything went well and mommy and baby are doing so good.
He is darling! Congrats!
King of the castle, you have filled in for the queen quite nicely. Thanks for the update. What a treasure you have there in baby Silas. He looks beautiful! I hope the queen gets to hold him soon.
He's beautiful! Please give Martha our love and tell her the entire blogger kingdom is praying for her.
Been there, done that with the NICU experience. Hoping Silas won't have to stay in there very long. Give Martha my love! So glad she is doing well.
Gwen
It is so wonderful to see the picture of your beautiful baby boy right above the post "disheartening news". God is so good, and I am so glad for how well you all are doing.
Does a 7 lb baby seem small to you? Congratulations!! Lisa
So glad to see pics of Silas! I told Scott last night I want to rush to S.C. to see you all! Maybe when things settle down I'll need to take a weekend get-away! Troy you did an excellent job on this post! Love and prayers to/for all of you!
Congrats, Martha!! I'm glad you came thru ok....we'll be praying for little Silas to get out of the NICU soon!
Janice
I checked the blog probably ten times yesterday to see if you'd posted a picture of baby Silas. :-) We were so glad to get the call that he was here and all was well!!! We're still praying for you all, but we can relax a little now since the "worst is over." Blessings!
Congratulations!! So thankful to "hear" that everything went as well as it did!!
Congrats to the Castle family! He is such a beautiful baby boy!
Congrats on your bundle of boy!! Will be praying that things continue to improve with his lungs. I know the fear of NICU all too well (but less than some, I'll admit). I was sure this would be a girl with the severe nausea. Love the name :)
Troy, you did a GREAT job filling in and letting us know most of the details. We were howling laughing at all the LONG lung names, knowing full well that you must've taken a class to know all of that stuff. =D
When I signed Martha's blog yesterday, I knew about baby Silas, but didn't want to spoil any surprises, so just signed about praying for baby and Mommy. =) (Mom D. told us the news from your Mom!)
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Silas Reagan is adorable! I'm soooo glad that he arrived here safely and that Martha is doing as well as expected after such an ordeal. We are praying for Mommy and Baby. So sorry she hasn't been able to hold her adorable bundle yet, how tough!!!
We're all proud of her and all she has endured. So glad that you have 3 prince charmings, they are all cute.
We love ya'll, and are praying for a quick recovery. So glad Martha's family can be there to help.
Heather in Colombia! =)
Congratulations! He is such a beautiful baby. Glad that things are going well. Jennifer Glick
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!! What exciting news! I am thrilled that some great parents have received another wonderful inheritance from God! Martha, you have done a great job especially seeing all that you have gone through. Troy, I know that you are a great husband and dad too -- and great writer too; enjoyed your post. That is just another thing that you and your Martha have in common. I will run. Keep busy! (smile)
Congrats on the little prince! He is not really so little being 4 weeks early!! Wow!! I have been praying and still will be praying for Martha and Silas!
Congratulations! What a beautiful baby!
Sending my congratulations on a job well done - with the delivery AND baby! Sooo glad the delivery is over for you.
Troy did an outstanding job of filling us in. Don't worry about the puke pan. I wasn't so fortunate - mine had to be utilized right in the middle of delivery. Isn't it crazy to be "awake", but not be able to feel a good portion of your body. I remember them lifting my legs at the end, thinking, those are not mine! Too weird!! Hope things continue to go well for you and Silas!
This is your second mom, Troy. Your mom forwarded this to me. I'm so glad your new young 'n is healthy and that Martha is doing well. Give all a hug for me!
Judy
Wow... if it weren't for those lungs, you wouldn't even know he was early! What a beautiful little guy! Congratulations!
Congratulations!!!! Glad everything went well. Hope he can come home soon!!! Hope your doing well. Will say a prayer for you and your family!!!!!
Congratulations! You don't know me, but I'm a faithful reader of your blog. I linked your blog from someone else's. I attend the Bloomington, IL Pilgrim Holiness Church. Have been praying for Mommy and Baby since reading the disheartening news and SO thankful to read that all is well. Congrats on baby being a boy too. I think boys are fun. I just had boy #3 seven weeks ago. Crystal Gray
Congratulations! I'm so happy to hear that things went well with the delivery. I'm glad Martha is doing so good and didn't have to have any further surgery. Silas is a little doll - love the name you picked! I'm sure Seth and Ethan are proud big brothers. I know they will be a huge help in the days to come. I will continue to pray for Mommy and the new prince!
Congratulations!!! Such a handsome little guy! Martha, I love reading your blogs. My computer has been on blink. Just got a new one and back on line to get caught up and hear the news about Silas. Glad everythings went well.Pray that
Silas will be out of NICU quickly. I know from a nurses perspective that it can be mighty scary. Violet
Congratulations!!! I'm so glad that Silas arrived safe and will pray that he will heal and be able to leave the NICU soon! Troy, you did a great job filling in for Martha here. And I can just "feel" how proud you are of those 3 BOYS!!
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Congrats on the safe delivery of a bouncing baby boy... So glad all went well. What an Awesome God we serve
Jackie Thompson
Wow! What an adorable baby...and I love the name. Congratulations and so glad all went as well as it did for Martha and Silas.
congratulations!
Congratulations from another 3-boy Family - Silas is adorable!
Congratulations, Troy and Martha! You know, I just realized that he's bigger than BOTH my little guys at FULL TERM! :)
What a cutie! We'll be praying for his speedy release from the hospital!
Congratulations! I guess it's been "drama, sheer drama" the whole way, Martha. LOL! Hope he gets to go home to the castle soon!
Congratulations!
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