Owen William Derrevere,
The night you were born was
April 18th, 2012 at 11:36pm weighing a healthy 8lbs 7 oz and measuring
20" long. That morning I woke up at 5:00am because my blood sugar was
low. I did my usual routine trying not to wake up your dad and ran out
to the fridge for something sugary to drink. While standing at the door
my water broke much to my surprise and I had absolutely no idea what to
do. Your daddy and I drove to the hospital. I was there nearly all day
in labor. I was very nervous but mainly because I wanted to make sure
you would be okay. Finally close to midnight after pushing and pushing
my doctor and I decided that you were not in the right position and
possibly too big for a normal delivery, so we had to cut you out of my
belly...I know, gross! You were born at 11:36pm at 36 weeks and 6 days.
You just didn't want to officially be term and you didn't want to be
born during regular business hours! But your daddy and I were so so
happy! This was the beginning of our fight!
Dr. Rao
was the baby doctor on call that night and was right there every step of
the way after you blessed us with your presence. He came to give us an
update which was very hard for us to hear. He let us know that what we
had suspected before was a small hernia was much more serious. He said
your liver was taking up a lot of the space where your lungs should have
been and that they would not be able to simply use a ventilator to help
you breath. I was absolutely devastated. This news was completely
shocking to us! We at that time knew that we would have a very large
fight ahead of us. The doctors had decided it was safest for you to go
on a bypass machine called ECMO that puts oxygen into your blood without
having to use your lungs. This is very complicated and comes with a lot
of risk but it was to only option to keep you alive.
Dr.
Camps was the pediatric surgeon on that night and put the tubes in that
would take the blood from your heart and bypass your lungs. It was
successful and they worked all night long to improve the oxygenation of
your blood. You were very very sick! Your dad and I had a very hard time
with all that was going on. It was very emotional knowing that this was
the best day of our lives to get to meet you but we couldn't because
you were so fragile and sick.
The next day I got to
see your beautiful face! You had the most attention on you out of all of
the babies in the NICU. You had every machine available around your
bedside and underneath it all was this miracle called Owen! So beautiful
and handsome with light red hair. Beautiful skin, perfect fingers and
toes. Little bitty hands and little bitty feet, and oh, so long! 20". I
couldn't believe I was lugging you around for 8 months! No wonder I had
so much back pain!
I stayed in the hospital 4 days so I
could recover from my surgery and be close to you. I was in a lot of
pain but your dad wheeled me up to the NICU to see you. I immediately
started pumping so that when you would finally come home I would have
plenty of milk. You just look like you are going to be a big eater :) We
had a lot of visitors and a lot of people who really care about our
family. Your aunt Hailey took care of your mom and arranged for people
to come by and visit. Your uncle Spencer also brought snacks and visited
with your dad. Both sets of grandparents the May's and the Derrevere's
came all the way from Oklahoma to meet you and support your parents.
During
the first 2 weeks of your life which is where we are now we have been
in the fight of our lives. You are beautiful, strong and brave! We have
had our ups and downs on ECMO and the ventilator. You started to get
very puffy from all of the medicines and blood products you were
requiring. But its the little things that you give me everyday that keep
us going. You have done an amazing job peeing trying to get rid of all
of the extra fluid and you have done a great job keeping up your blood
pressure. We are just waiting to see if we can increase your vent
settings to expand your lungs and hopefully wean the ECMO to get you
ready for surgery. We need a miracle.
But we keep telling each other that our love for each other will get us
home together, for me to hold you and never put you down. I will never
leave your side. I can't wait to feed you, change your diaper and rock
you to sleep. We have been reading to you and really appreciate all of
the books everyone has brought us. Everyday I walk in to visit you I
have the biggest smile on my face and you bring me so much happiness.
Every minute I spend with you is amazing. I give you a lot of kisses and
love on you the entire time I am at your bedside. You are my Owen bear!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE you!
- Mom