Welcome to the World, Adeline!

Adeline Virginia Banta was born at 2:47pm on Sunday, May 15th.  She weighed 3 lbs, 10 oz and was 17 inches long.  She is beautiful.  She has blonde hair and looks just like her daddy. 

I'm not quite sure where to start in telling you the story of Adeline's arrival, but I will try to start at the beginning...
Shortly after writing the last blog post on Saturday, I began to experience some back pain.  Initially, I thought it was just muscle soreness from so much time spent in bed.  By midnight, the pain was severe and spread to my entire back and upper abdomen.  Within a few hours, it was determined that my liver and kidneys were failing and I was given morphine to control the pain. On Sunday morning, they decided to transfer me to the labor and delivery unit for closer monitoring.  Until this point, my blood pressure remained normal, which was somewhat confusing to the doctors and made it difficult to diagnose the problem.
Although my organs were shutting down, Adeline was doing well.  She was still moving well and showing good responses and good heart rate on the monitors.  Because of how quickly my medical status declined, it was determined that an emergency c-section would need to be done.  Because of the multiple medical issues going on, I was prepped quickly and put under general anesthesia for the operation.
Because I was under general anesthesia, I can't tell you much about Adeline's birth.  What I do know is that Rob was able to see her soon after delivery and we had an army of people supporting and praying for us.  My mom, Rob's parents, Tyler, and Kristen were all at the hospital at some point on Sunday.  I can't even begin to name and thank the many nurses who were instrumental in my care and were so sweet to my family.  I don't think Rob and my mom could have gotten through this without their help.

After surgery, I was taken to the ICU for continued monitoring.  It was determined that I had developed HELLP Syndrome, which is a rare life-threatening complication of pregnancy.  Typically, it is associated with high blood pressure, which I did not have until I was already in organ failure. The only treatment for HELLP is to deliver the baby.  In the ICU, they were able to give me lots of medications via IV to try and stabilize my liver, kidneys, and platelets.  Due to the anesthesia and morphine pump, Sunday and Monday are pretty clouded in my memory.  I was told that Adeline was doing well and I was able to watch her live on webcam in the NICU, so I was content.

Today, I was finally transferred to the Post-Partum Unit, where I am able to walk around and function on my own, with some monitoring from the nurses. Most of my organ function has returned to normal, but I will continue to be monitored over the next few days. I am also very close to the NICU, and can visit Adeline often. 

I know you all want to see pictures of Adeline, and I will post some as soon as I can.  We havent taken many pictures because the flash of the camera startles her, but we do have a few.  She has had some minor breathing problems due to the immaturity of her lungs, but otherwise is doing well.  Today she had some chest xrays and they decided to keep her on 100% oxygen for the next 24 hours and will continue to monitor her lung tissue and function.

I'm sure many of you have more questions, so please post them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.  Most of all, I want to thank all of you for prayers, support, and countless other ways you have been there for us over the past few days.  We will never be able to thank all of you adequately, but we are truly overwhelmed by your generosity.