Benson was born on October 22, 2010, 7 1/2 weeks early. Needless to say, it was a surprise! I went into the hospital at about 2 AM the night before, to see if my water broke...I wasn't even sure. After getting there and confirming that my water had broken, I was told that they would try to delay labor for a week or two, and that I would be staying in the hospital until I went into labor. Once I went into labor, the plan was to do a c section immediately, because the baby was breech (upside down- or right-side up, because he's suppose to be upside down:) .
The c section was horrible news to me. I'd been taking a of these hypnobabies class and wasn't even going to get an epidural, let alone get a c section. The doctors told me that there was no way that they could get the baby flipped over after the water was broken though, so the cesearan was the only option- period.
Following the horrible news of the c sec, there was a bunch of tests, IVs, steriods, and pain. It was a waiting game all night. After I started dilating, they would start the surgery. During this time, my contractions were getting worse and worse. After checking my dilation 5 times throughout the night and finding that I hadn't started dilating at all, I stopped asking them to check, because it hurt so bad. Finally after 9 the next morning, I couldn't handle the contractions anymore, and told James to get the doctor to give me an epidural. The doctor came in and realized quickly that Benson's bottom was on its way out. After a quick shove back in, all of the emergency lights started flashing, and I was rushed into surgery to get the c section started.
At that point I had such mixed emotions. I was so scared for me and for the baby because no one knew what was going on or explaining anything to me. At the same time though, it was great news, because they were going to put me under and get me out of the pain.
I woke up about 4 or 5 hours after the c section and felt more comfortable than I have ever felt in my life. I remember hearing people talking about what happened but I wasn't coherent enough to understand everything. I do remember my mom's voice talking to the doctors and discussion going back and forth between them. Once I woke up they wheeled me into the NICU, and I was able to hold Benson for the first time. I was laying down in my bed still, and Benson was screaming. I remember noticing that his nose was so bent to the side, but he was still so cute.
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| It looks like my rib cage wasn't the only thing getting squished during the pregnancy! |
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| James's first time seeing Benson |
After I woke up completely, I learned that the reason that Benson almost came without any of the doctors or nurses realizing that I was in labor was because I have a uterine anomaly which made it difficult to realize that I was dilating. My diagnosis is uterine didelphys, and they figured that most likely my grandma (Melba) took a drug (DES) while she was pregnant with my mom. They now realize that DES causes anomalies in the reproductive organs, and that many times it skips generations. So most likely my mom didn't have any uterine problems, but I do, and Katie had a septum, and we later found out that Ali has a bicornuate uterus. We also found out that I have a weird thing going on with my blood- some protein or antigen in it that would cause problems if I were ever to need a blood transfusion...something along those lines. It was a very informative day!
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| My first time holding Benson |
Luckily, I recovered from the delivery very quickly. I was pretty excited to not be pregnant any more, and bounced back to normal after a short time. Benson, however, didn't make progress as quickly as we'd hoped. After a few weeks after his birth, James was changing his diaper and noticed blood in it. He had gotten an infection in his intestines called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). It was bacteria building up on the wall of his small intestines, which had almost caused the wall to perferate, or break through to the abdominal cavity. It the was perferated, then Benson would have been transferred to Primary Children's hospital and would have had a very invasive surgery. The family fasted for him though, so he miraculously didn't have to have surgery like the doctors anticipated. He did have a tube down his throat, IV's instead of food, three different antibiotics, and x rays every six hours. He couldn't have any food for like two weeks. It was not a fun experience. I was really emotional during the whole time, and we couldn't even hold him to comfort him. I hated it!
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| Benson being treated for his infection |
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| My first time holding Benson after his infection |
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The NICU's Halloween costume for Benson |
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Benson came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day! It was one of the best days of our life. Me and James were soooooo excited and grateful to have our baby coming home with us! We were so happy for us and so sorry for the rest of the NICU families who didn't get their baby home over the holiday.
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| Benson 4 months |
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