We are new parents to our beautiful son Benton Robert Bertram. He surprised us by coming much earlier than we expected at just 23 weeks old weighing only 1 pound .5 ounce on November 8th. It's been a life changing experience for us and we feel blessed that Benton has already made it to his 5 day anniversary. Our little man is a fighter and we will share the story of our miracle baby here.
I had a high-risk pregnancy and was diagnosed with a condition called placenta previa so the doctors were watching me very closely since the beginning. When I went in for a routine checkup, my doctor noticed that I had lost my amniotic fluid and was in preterm labor. I was rushed to the hospital and monitored closely, hoping to keep Benton in my womb as long as possible. As soon as I was admitted to the hospital we started calling our families and they came running with people coming from Hawaii, Los Angeles, Michigan and the depths of the Kauai jungle. Having our family here with us has been such a blessing and we wouldn't have been able to survive without their help. On the second day of my hospital stay, I started to have contractions and was put on a magnesium drip to help prevent any brain bleeds, which immediately made me feel absolutely awful, with horrible flu symptoms. I was told not to eat in case we had to have an emergency C section. The next morning I was feeling better, things were looking good until I got up to use the restroom, felt something, and my cord had prolapsed. My nurse, Lindsey, caught my cord and held baby Benton inside of me. The alarms rang and up to 15 doctors/nurses/surgeons ran into my room and rushed me to surgery. Joe had to nervously wait outside. They didn't even have time to scrub up or count all of the instruments before they began my emergency classical C section. I was terrified but focused on saving my baby. The anesthesiologist was running late, the nurses were yelling for him and before he even made it to the OR, I told them - 'I know i'm still awake, but you can start.' My nurse Lindsey was my guardian angel throughout the ordeal telling me 'i'm right here with you' as she held Benton in place in my womb on the operating table. The anesthesiologist came, I was put under general anesthesia and went to sleep. A minute later at 11:41am Benton was born and rushed to the NICU. The doctors came to find Joe and he met our sweet son 15 minutes later. When I awoke an hour and a half later, I was feeling loopy on morphine but couldn't wait to meet our son. It felt incredible and surreal to see our little miracle. He was just so tiny. Please send prayers, positive thoughts, and healing energy to a healthy, long life for our little man.
I had a high-risk pregnancy and was diagnosed with a condition called placenta previa so the doctors were watching me very closely since the beginning. When I went in for a routine checkup, my doctor noticed that I had lost my amniotic fluid and was in preterm labor. I was rushed to the hospital and monitored closely, hoping to keep Benton in my womb as long as possible. As soon as I was admitted to the hospital we started calling our families and they came running with people coming from Hawaii, Los Angeles, Michigan and the depths of the Kauai jungle. Having our family here with us has been such a blessing and we wouldn't have been able to survive without their help. On the second day of my hospital stay, I started to have contractions and was put on a magnesium drip to help prevent any brain bleeds, which immediately made me feel absolutely awful, with horrible flu symptoms. I was told not to eat in case we had to have an emergency C section. The next morning I was feeling better, things were looking good until I got up to use the restroom, felt something, and my cord had prolapsed. My nurse, Lindsey, caught my cord and held baby Benton inside of me. The alarms rang and up to 15 doctors/nurses/surgeons ran into my room and rushed me to surgery. Joe had to nervously wait outside. They didn't even have time to scrub up or count all of the instruments before they began my emergency classical C section. I was terrified but focused on saving my baby. The anesthesiologist was running late, the nurses were yelling for him and before he even made it to the OR, I told them - 'I know i'm still awake, but you can start.' My nurse Lindsey was my guardian angel throughout the ordeal telling me 'i'm right here with you' as she held Benton in place in my womb on the operating table. The anesthesiologist came, I was put under general anesthesia and went to sleep. A minute later at 11:41am Benton was born and rushed to the NICU. The doctors came to find Joe and he met our sweet son 15 minutes later. When I awoke an hour and a half later, I was feeling loopy on morphine but couldn't wait to meet our son. It felt incredible and surreal to see our little miracle. He was just so tiny. Please send prayers, positive thoughts, and healing energy to a healthy, long life for our little man.
Wow Mariks thank you so much for sharing this with us. You are SO brave and clearly Benton takes after his mama!!
ReplyDeleteLove and prayers from Iowa for Baby Benton and his family, and all the wonderful caregivers fighting for him. - Charlie and Nancy
ReplyDeleteThe story of Benton's birth is an amazing one and my eyes are filled with tears as I read about your beautiful baby and your amazing strength. Praying for you and your wonderful family, please let me know if you need anything!
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