Hello everyone

Pietro Matteo is finally here. We welcomed him at 8:42 am, weighing in at 3.045 kg (6 lb 11 oz) and 48 cm long (18.9 in).

Thanks for all the prayers and notes. But please continue praying!

Within minutes after birth, nurses noticed he was having trouble breathing and was almost blue, so he was brought immediately to the NICU. I followed him while Mel was sutured up. I spent the next hour observing while a swarm of doctors and nurses surrounded him trying to stabilize his breathing. Once the initial (and somewhat scary) flurry subsided after a couple of hours, a team of about 4 doctors and nurses have been monitoring him and conducting various tests. Honestly, my mindset has been about 90% confident that God will bring him to full recovery with about 10% of fear.

Throughout the day I've been shuttling back and forth between being with Pietro, being with Mel in recovery, and meeting with my family and Mel's mom in the waiting room trying to relay everything that's going on in both English and Portuguese, as well as speaking with doctors and nurses at various times. So that's why I haven't been able to get an update out until now.

The latest news on Pietro is that they believe he has pulmonary hypertension, which causes the veins in the lungs to contract, restricting the amount of oxygen he gets and forcing the heart to work harder. They do say it's a completely reversible condition. They just need to find the right solution for him. Currently, he's intubated, completely sedated, and hooked up to a few machines while monitoring his intake. The hope is that the right combination will teach his body to do it correctly and slowly remove the assistance.

As far as Mel, she did well during the surgery. Afterward, she was very tired. But even in her half-sedated state, she's been able to ask all the right questions to the doctors when they explain or ask for things. I'm so thankful for her medical knowledge. Because of the C section, she's supposed to stay in the hospital for 4 days. They haven't specifically told us how long to expect Pietro to have to stay.

Neither one of us has been able to hold him yet and Mel won't even get to see him for the first time in person until tomorrow morning. So again, please pray for us, but especially for him - for God to give strength to his lungs, keep his level of oxygen high, and free from any infections or more complications, to the glory of God. Thank you all.