Welcome to the World Canon Joy

Welcome to the World Canon Joy Still

One June 16, 2012 at 8:11AM our beautiful Canon Joy entered the world kicking and screaming! I do not say that figuratively! I ended up having a C-Section at 34 weeks because Canon had been diagnosed with severe intrauterine growth restriction, she was the size of a 26 week old baby. I was surprised by how quickly the whole C-Section process goes down! One minute I was on the table sitting up, getting the epidural and literally 5 minutes later I was flat on my back and the doctor was saying......"Oh, she's just gonna jump right out of here!" The NICU team and neonatologist had met with us the night before Canon's birth and told us they would have a crash cart set up outside the delivery room. They said, "now don't expect her to cry or move, don't get nervous if you don't hear anything, we're going to take her right outside and work on her and if she is stable we'll bring her in for a picture. She's really little so sometimes it takes us a couple of minutes to get the baby going." 


The night before Canon was born I don't think Kevin or I slept more than an hour. I prayed constantly the whole time that my daughter would come out screaming. When the doctor popped her over the curtain after he pulled her out, her mouth was wide open, she spit some junk up on my face and let out a tiny little cry. It was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard and I hope I never forget it! In that moment I knew that God had answered the prayers of the many that have prayed for Canon's safe arrival over these long months. The long hospital stay prior to her birth, all of the scary doctor visits, all the moments of uncertainty and worry culminated in the sound of that little lady entering the world. The neonatologist came in a couple of minutes after Canon was born shaking his head with a huge grin on his face. He said, "Wow, sometimes you prepare for everything and nothing happens! Your baby is doing great! She's breathing room air and has an Apgar score of 9! We're going to bring her in in just a moment and you can  see her." 


Our tiny Canon weighed 2 pounds 8 ounces and was 14.75 long. She is tiny but MIGHTY as my mom would say. When the nurse brought her in and put her next to my face I could not believe there could be a face so small! She was just perfect! Perfect little button nose, we call it the Moritz nose because everyone in my family has it and we get it from my dad. Everything else on Canon so far looks like her dad! She is Kevin's little mini me from the red hair to the little bow lips, even the same chin! I could see she looked just like him from the 3D ultrasounds but to see it up close and personal is awesome! She has these super long fingers, long arms and long legs. She really just looks like a perfect baby but a micro version! 


Canon was moved to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles when she was five days old. When she was born the pediatric cardiologist discovered that her aorta was narrow, to narrow to pump blood to the rest of the body on it's own. Amazingly, the hole that is in every baby's heart, called the PDA that closes at birth was still open allowing the aorta to the pump the blood it needs to the rest of the body. Her PDA has thus far remained large, normally they wouldn't feed a baby that has an open PDA but rather close it up prior to feeding. In Canon's case we need her to eat so she can get larger because the surgery on her aorta will be an open chest surgery. The doctors have been walking a fine line, increasing her feeds every other day, slowly, so she can gain weight while not compromising other systems. It is a complex process. CHLA is an amazing hospital, Canon is getting great care. 


Canon is a miracle, our own little slice of heaven on earth. Despite all of the miracles that have already been granted, I want more. I want to bring my baby home, not visit her in the hospital every day. I want to be able to nurse her myself, not pump milk every two hours for a nurse to put into a tube inserted in her nose that goes into her stomach. I want to be able to dress my baby in little clothes and put her to sleep at night and I want to know that when she's awake, we are the faces she sees, not strangers. It's not easy being a "Stay at Hospital Mom" and sometimes I feel like I've had just about enough of all of the character building experiences life has thrown my way. But the bottom line is, Canon is in God's hands. He has put her in the care of wonderful doctors and nurses that are making sure she comes home to Kevin and I, and she will. Eventually, this stay in the NICU will be like my stay at the hospital before I had her, just a distant memory. I know things could always be worse and Canon is really doing amazingly well, God gives us each what we can handle. My sister in law compiled all of the pictures and videos from Canon's first week of life and made us the beautiful video of Canon I posted. We are immeasurable blessed to have this little one in our lives and we are incredibly grateful for all for all of the love, support and especially all of the prayers we have received and continue to receive!