Benjamin Andrew's birth day

For those that remember all the difficulty, Liam had at birth, you know we were hoping for a smoother delivery this time. Thankfully, Ben arrived safely but we still couldn't avoid the NICU.

We were told to arrive at the hospital at 5:45am for our scheduled c-section at 7:30am. I was almost too nervous to sleep so I had no problem waking early to shower and finish up some last minute chores around the house. By 6:15am or so, I was getting hooked up to monitors to wait for the anesthesiologist. Ben was being active in utero so the nurse had a hard time getting his heart rate on the monitor. Soon after she left, I began having strong contractions, which had been happening on and off for weeks. I had several contractions very close together and my alarm started going off and Dave said Ben's heart rate was below 60 beats per minute. We both actually thought maybe he had just moved and was hiding from the monitor. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and I got a mask of oxygen and changed to my side. His heart rate came back up, but dipped again with a contraction. The nurse got Bretherine to stop my contractions, but I was wheeled into the operating room before they needed to use it.

I got my spinal and the OB didn't even wait for Dave to get into the room before he started operating--he wanted Ben out ASAP. Dave said he got an eyeful as he entered the room before he got up by my head. The OB warned us that Ben wouldn't cry until he was all the way out and suctioned, but Dave said he started wailing before his second shoulder was even pulled out. We never heard Liam cry in the OR so hearing Ben's wail was the best sound in the entire world. Both Dave and I were in tears as they cleaned Ben off. Unfortunately, as they were cleaning him, they discovered he had a large raw spot on his head where he had no skin. While they were still operating on me, we learned that for the 2nd time, our baby would be transported to the NICU. Dave followed Liam while I was getting sewed back up.

By the time Dave arrived at the NICU, he was told that Ben was already discharged to the well baby nursery. The NICU doctor determined that Ben was too healthy to be there and he just needed some diagnostics that could be done by the well baby nursery. Before we left the hospital, he had an ultrasound and a MRI, and both determined that his skull is normal, but he was just born with a raw spot that will need to heal. At this point, we have been told that the biggest danger is infection and as long as his skin heals without infection, the only lasting effect will be a permanent bald spot. We are just so grateful that he is healthy.

Benjamin Andrew Routhier arrived at 7:56am and had APGARs of 9 and 9 (much healthier than Liam's 1 and 7). He was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long. He took right to nursing and immediately recognized both my voice and Dave's voice. He even was able to lift his head the day he was born. He looks much like Liam did at birth andd seems to be a laid back baby....so far.... :-)