Devan Dean Andrus... has arrived!

We are so excited to announce that Devan is finally here. We are so grateful that things have turned out as well as they have and we're feeling very blessed at this time. Devan Dean Andrus was born at 4:13am on 10-9-8 and weighed in at 7 lbs 6 ozs. All is well but there is quite the story attached. Feel free to check out the short simple version, or the long, detailed one.

Short Version:

Brittany went into labor at 8:30 Wednesday night (October 8, 2008) and was in labor for about 8 hours, at which time, she went in for an emergency c-section. Devan was born at 4:13 am and after some work, has done very well.

Long Version:

Ron and Brittany decided to attempt a VBAC which is a Vaginal Birth after Cesarean. Brittany had her membranes stripped at about 10:00am on Wednesday (October 8, 2008) and had contractions most of the day, but they were sporatic and minor. As she was sitting on the bed, reading scriptures to Whitney at about 8:30 Wednesday night, her water broke. She called Ron, got the neighbors to come get Whitney, finished packing and headed to the hospital. Ron and Brittany arrived around 9:30 and were immediately admitted. She was in labor until about 11:30 and was progressing nicely. She got an epidural around that time and should have calmed down, maybe taken a nap, and really felt a lot of relief. Brittany was anything but calm. By 4:00am, Devans heart beat had dropped to about half of what it should have been. The doctor watched him for a few minutes, then judging by the baby's heart rate and Brittany's negative response, he informed Ron and Brittany that a VBAC was no longer an option and that they needed to go in for an immediate emergency c-section. Brittany was given some extra anesthesia, Ron was put in scrubbs and they headed in for surgery. This is about the last thing that Brittany remembers because she was so tense that they gave her some strong sedatives to get her to relax. Brittany woke up around 5:30, remember nothing, and wondering what happened. Ron filled her in on the details. Brittany's uterus had ruptured. Devan's head, fortunately and unfortunately, has acted as a cork so that it minimized the internal bleeding. Her uterus tore vertically on the inside. It was kind of an S shape as it tore up one side of the scar, across the scar, and then down on the other side. They cut through and pulled Devan out, and set him on Brittany's stomach. Ron thought he was dead. He didn't cry, he didn't move, and he didn't have good color. He scored a 1 on his Apgar score (out of 10). The only thing he had was a very weak pulse. After 2 minutes, he started crying just a little. They continued working on him and eventually he started moving his arms, then his legs, etc. The doctors determined to keep him in NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) for the day so that they could keep a close eye on him. By 8:00 that morning, he had improved so much, so fast, that they released him and little Devan was able to go see his mom and dad.

Baby and mom are both doing well right now. Brittany's been up and walking although she's MUCH more tender and sore than she was with the first c-section. This is likely due to the 8 hours of labor and tension leading up the operation. Devan is a tough little guy and has a MUCH quieter cry than his older sister, Whitney.

All in all, we are thanking our Heavenly Father for the many blessings that he has given us at this time. Life is a precious gift and right now, we're feeling humbled, and very grateful for that gift.