Braxton Leray Hallsted

After a long two days, Braxton was born at 9:54pm Saturday, March 10th. At 4 weeks pre-mature he still weighed in at a healthy 6 lbs 1 ounce and was 19 inches long.
The proud daddy
The exhausted parents
The first time grandpa!

It appeared that we were going to miss the birth of our first grandchild as we said our goodbyes at 5 pm Saturday night at the hospital. We came home and packed for our cruise and got ready to head to my daughter's new house to put the crib together and try to get as much ready for her as we could. Just as we walked out the door, my son in law called to say they were going to do an emergency c-section. We raced to the hospital to learn that Amanda needed two blood transfusions before they could proceed, due to her low platelets. Evidently the preeclampcia had evolved into HELLP syndrome- very dangerous for mom and baby. We're happy to report that all went well and Braxton and mom are home and healthy. Braxton was on an IV for a few days because his glucose levels were low, but his lungs were developed and he's back up to birth weight and eating well. Doctors said it was a blessing that Amanda was admitted and induced because the cord was wrapped around the babies neck and had a knot in it- a vaginal delivery or longer pregnancy could have been fatal. We were able to leave on our cruise knowing all was well with our daughter and grandson. We didn't get the crib together or any un-packing done, but thanks to some amazing friends, Amanda returned to her new home with everything ready. So many blessings. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and service! We will be posting some more recent photos of Braxton as well as our cruise adventures very soon. Love, Kelly.