MyEvilMinion: Sinead Eve Potter - The whole story

Mark's post:

I know I have posted bits and pieces of the Sinead story so far so some of this will end up having been covered. I feel a strong need to to do the whole story start to finish in my own words. I have no doubt Mrs. Minion has posted her version earlier. I was very alert when everything started and I remember exact times, but as the hours wore on I lost some track of time so this may not be as linear as I had hoped. We spent 4 days in the hospital and a lot happened during that time so this is likely to be a long dragging read. If you don't manage to make it all the way through please know I understand and won't hold it against you, much.

Mrs. Minion woke me up at 0834 on Thursday, Feb. 10 and told me that her water had broken and it was time. I woke up with a bit of a start and began to put out plan into action. I got everything here ready for the homebirth and then started making phone calls. This all took mere minutes. I had Dave and Jan on the way to take care of the older minions while the new little minion was coming into the world and I was about to take a quick shower so I would be clean to deliver the little one. Before I could do that Mrs. Minion started screaming that the baby was coming. This was about 0900. I gave the kids a quick speech about how having babies hurt and that Mommy would be alright. We hadn't planned to have them here and I didn't want them to be worried. I retired to the bedroom to bring in the new little minion.

The little minion presented feet first. This is a rare presentation, only about 1% of all breech births present in this manner, and breech births are only about 4% of all total births. I was actually prepared for this eventuality. I had taken the time to study what could happen and how to deal with a breech delivery at home. Amanda had left us an emergency childbirth manual on top of all my preparation. What I wasn't ready for was the near uniform deep blue coloration. I let the delivery progress to just above the ankles to make sure it wasn't just the feet. It was indeed not just the feet, The birth was progressing at a mad pace already. I stopped to call 911 and get the paramedics on the way. I got Mrs. Minion on all fours. The baby delivered to just below the shoulders. I was preparing to finish the delivery and start CPR when the paramedics showed up. It had taken them less than 5 minutes. I let them take over and the baby was born within two minutes of their arrival. The total time from the water breaking to full delivery was under 1 hour.

The baby was quite blue and they immediately intubated her and started breathing for. She gained normal color quickly. The initial APGAR according to the paramedics was 3-4. Knowing the scale I think they were being generous, I would have given my poor little daughter a 2 and nothing more. While they worked on the baby I got on the phone again to get some prayer going. The ambulance was about 10 minute behind the paramedics. They worked on the baby for a bit to make sure she was stable and got the placenta delivered while I made sure the little minions were alright and that they understood I was going to go the hospital with mommy and Sinead. Little minion #1 was upset by having heard mommy scream but was easily assured.

We got into the ambulance and headed for Hermann hospital. There was some discussion about which hospital because Sinead's heartbeat hadn't quite stabilized just yet, but it quickly did and Hermann was the top choice. The ride was eventful as Sinead extubated herself, began breathing on her own, cried for the first time, and proceeded to pee on the paramedic. The paramedic was impressed with my demeanor and told me so. I let him know the truth, that I was ready to fall over onto my face but God was keeping me up and alert. He said that he has four kids has delivered hundreds if not thousands of babies as a paramedic and didn't think he would be anywhere near as composed as I was. The ride was quick and a little bumpy. I spent most of it holding Mrs. Minion's hand and reassuring her.

Upon arrival at the hospital I followed Sinead to the infant trauma section for her initial evaluation. The evaluation was mostly good and they admitted her to the neo-natal ICU for observation. At that point I went and stayed with Mrs. Minion in the regular trauma unit where she was just waiting for a room. They needed her room so they moved out into the middle of the area, which is normal for people about to be transferred. I went outside and made some calls to update everyone.

I finally got in to see Sinead and they had her on a warmer already. The doctor explained all about the Erb's palsy to me and showed me what he thought might be seizures. I wasn't convinced and they wanted to start two IVs, antibiotics, get an MRI, get an EEG, feed her via IV, and to top it off they want to do all this at once. I tell him to hold off until the neurology team he is referring her to gets to see her. He wasn't happy with me but I am the parent. I was already upset they put in the eye drops and gave her the vitamin K shot without consulting me first. I knew this would be an uphill battle so I didn't pitch a fit over that stuff.

I finally got to talk to Dr. Sadiki, the doc who would care for her the rest of her stay. She wanted to feed via IV in case the seizures made Sinead aspirate. I agreed to one IV only and she was confused as that's all she wanted to give her. I also agreed to phenobarbital for the seizures but held off on the anti-biotics when she explained the main reason for them was that she was born at home. She tried to tell me that there was greater risk of infection but I quickly corrected that with the birth stats of at home births compared to hospital births. Look it up, you will be shocked. This was the only time I asserted myself in a manner that was a little too forceful. But it did turn out for the best.

I went out and talked to Mrs. Minion about the whole thing. She didn't know anything yet and my mom was just bringing her up to the unit for the first time. We talked about antibiotics and the risks. We then spoke to the doctors and found out that one of the antibiotics was ampicillin. I am allergic to penicillin and since ampicillin is the same family there is a chance that Sinead is allergic as well. So the fact I snapped possibly saved Sinead's life. We talked about all the possibilities and agreed to a singular antibiotic treatment.

The next days run together to be quite honest. That first day she got her MRI and waiting for those results was driving me right out of my tiny little mind. Freddy came up almost every night and hung out, he loaned us his laptop and picked up my DVD case from the house so we could watch them on the laptop. Dave and Jan took care of the kids for all but one night and never once asked when it was going to be over. The support from church and friends was utterly amazing. The pastor came up and anointed her with oil and prayed over her as well. It was hectic and I wasn't getting much sleep so the details seem to run together. All of the tests came back within the norms for her age and they let her start nursing on the second or third day. I was operating on about 10 hours of sleep in 4 days at that point so my memory is a little strained.

We had a little talk with the doctors on Saturday night, I remember that well because I had actually finally had 3 whole hours of sleep in a row. They agree to let us take her off the monitors when we were in the room and to remove the IV and do the medication orally. Having more freedom with Sinead made it more comfortable to be in there with her so Mrs Minion spent even more time with her. I wasn't comfortable in there because of all the medical personnel but I made up for that when we got home.

Monday the neurologist came by and decided to send her home on a half does of the medication and we loaded up and went home.

There are some really amazing things in this story that I think bear pointing out.

1. Had we not been planning for a home birth I would not have been prepared and likely wouldn't have kept a level head.

2. Had we not been prepared and planning for a homebirth everything would have gone down on 45N in the middle of rush hour, downtown and Sinead would likely be dead right now.

3. Our family, church, and friends proved to be just another reason moving to Phoenix would have been a bad idea.

4. God is good and if anything was wrong with her he fixed it before any tests were run.

I cannot imagine a more wonderful outcome and I stand in awe of God's hand in this start to finish. I find myself humbled and even more willing to answer his call for my life. Special thanks to all those who were praying, especially those who have hated me in the past. God was with us through it all and your prayers did not go unheeded. I am sorry my account is not more detailed. Between Mrs. Minion's account (linked in the story before this) and mine you should have a good idea of just how harrowing this was. Thank you everyone for all of your support. Pics are in the gallery including some from today!

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