Jesse A. Schroeder

24 hours ago, Kellye and I were enjoying dinner together at home, with absolutely no idea what the next day held in store. At her doctor's appointment earlier that afternoon, Kellye's blood pressure was a little high, so her doctor spoke with her about preclampsia. Basically, high blood pressure caused by the pregnancy can lead to many complications and therefore must be monitored closely.

So when Kellye felt some sharp abdominal pain around 8pm, she called the emergency hotline who reported the symptoms to her doctor, who in turn recommended we go to the hospital for tests and further evaluation.

At Dublin Methodist Hospital, we had a wonderful nurse who helped with blood work, and around 2am we got the news from Kellye's doctor: She was very sick, with a form of preclampsia called "helps" (not sure of spelling). The doc recommended we try to keep Kellye healthh for 48 hours before delivering the baby, but regardless, we were going to have a premie birth.

Two important facts we didn't know at the time: 1) Preclampsia is the number one cause of death in pregnant women, other than car crashes. It is VERY serious. 2) Premie babies are fully viable at 30 weeks, which is where Aleli is at in her development. The lungs are weak and underdeveloped, as is everything overall, but with good neonatal care, a 30 week old birth is no problem.

Because of the high risk we were transfered to Riverside Methodist which specializes in these type of births. The team of doctors worked closely together, and at 8am unanimously decided that it was time for a C-section. This was Kellye's first time, EVER, as a patient in a hospital, so she was nervous and frightened. But she did amazingly! The surgery was successful; things looked bad and the docs agreed the c-section was the right call; but mom and baby were safe and healthy.

Now, at 5:30pm, Kel is resting and enjoying her pain meds :) Aleli was born at 8:58am, weighing only 2 lbs. 15 ozs. But her nurses say she is just fine, and showing great signs of strength. I am receiving dozens of calls, texts and emails from loving friends and family.

And I got to touch ny daughter's hand. I watched her blow spit bubbles. I heard her cry. I saw her 10 fingers and 10 toes.

24 hours ago, I had no idea that today, I would be a dad.