Carpenter's Birth Story

I love hearing birth stories! Each one is uniquely special. Carpenter's 3rd birthday is coming up soon, so I thought I wanted to share his story!

The morning of September 15th, I went by myself to have an ultrasound done to monitor Carpenter's growth. The nurse and doctors said they wanted to send me to Greenville Memorial to have him more closely monitored by some OBGYN specialist. I don't think I understood how serious the situation was until the nurse asked me where my husband was and if he could meet me at the hospital. Carpenter did not do well in his ultrasound scores, he wasn't mimicking breathing, and not very active at all. I called Jon to meet me at the hospital.

So I met my husband by the elevators, by accident. I was close to the hospital but I drove slowly so I wouldn't panic. Jon must have flew from Fountain Inn. He was working on framing a house and was there in no time.

We got admitted at the OBGYN department and were off to see the specialist. Dr. Maybe(sp?) the OBGYN specialist came in to see us. We really could not find out what was wrong with Carpenter. So they sent me back to my room and called my regular OBGYN. They decided it would be better to deliver Carpenter now, at 5 weeks early, because he was not growing in my belly well. But when they hooked me back up to all the monitors I was having contractions. I didn't even know it yet! I guess Carpenter was ready to meet the world on his own. I was in denial by this time. I just came in for an ultrasound. I made fun of my in-laws and parents heading to the hospital. I wasn't going to have a baby today!?!

Carpenter was born on September 16, at 12:16 am. He was beautiful! But everyone thinks their baby is. He weighed 4 lbs and 8 oz and 17 1/4 inches long. He was tiny!

Everything was going really well! Except he did not want to breast feed. So we were trying the cup feeding method and it did not really go well! All of the family members were coming there to visit us and hold Carpenter.

Dr. Darby, the pediatric hospital doc for CMC, came and looked at Carpenter, and said everything looked great! Later we met him in the hall and he said that he wanted to meet with us again. We really did not know what this was about. We thought it was about when he was going to schedule his circumcision. Our hospital room was full of family members and nurses when he came in. Dr. Darby told us that he thought Carpenter might have down syndrome. And showed us the characteristics that led him to believe this. The only thing I would have changed about finding out is that is just wasn't just Jon and I in the room with Darby. The instant the words came out I felt crowded, wanted it to be only Jon and I, and to get Carpenter into the room as fast as possible. Darby took Carpenter to have his blood drawn for testing for down syndrome(T-21). Honestly, we shuffled everyone out of the room. And Jon and I had a moment together that I never would forget. We cried and analyzed our situation. We did alot of praying. It took 2 hours for Carpenter to return to our room. It felt like forever! I just wanted my baby! To hold him!

Carpenter ended up going to the NICU for not eating well! It was weird not having him in my room. I heard the baby cry in the room next door and I wanted my baby. My heart ached! But at least my baby was here! Carpenter was being taken care of my wonderful nurses and doctors. He stayed in the NICU for 24 days. He really was in no danger. It just took him a while to learn how to suck on the bottle. There were a lot more babies in he NICU with life threatening situations. But I recently thought of our time in the NICU. I wasn't worried whether he was going to live or die. We had a goal to accomplish: get him to suck the bottle and finish it on his own every 3 hours. I would drop Marley off at school and go straight to the hospital. I tried to make every feeding. I wanted to be there to help him along. But while he was in the incubator it gave me time to read and learn everything I could about down syndrome. I think back and think maybe it was good that he was in the NICU. It gave me time to bond with my baby and to do research without being at home and being distracted about the house.

The first night home without Carpenter was an odd experience. I never imagined not bringing my baby home from the hospital. Some nights I would hear him cry. But after the first night it got easier to leave him with loving nurses. And I could call anytime I wanted, to check on how he was.

I want to say a special thank you to Carpenter's grandparents. Meme, PaPa, Gran, and Pop-Pop all took time out of their days to go visit him in the NICU or watch Marley. They brought us supper and helped straighten up our house. Our church, was so wonderful with construction help, food, gifts, and diapers. I have never felt soo loved! Thank you Kelly and Andy for coming to the hospital a bunch and bringing us supper! You are a great best friend. Thank you to everyone who watched Marley for me, I hated to leave her because I felt like I wasn't able to spend as much time as I wanted to with her. But I knew Carpenter had goals to accomplish. And the faster we got them done the faster we were home together as a family.

The diagnosis of down syndrome is not Carpenter. It is just a part of who he is. Not all that he can be. Finding out about Carpenter having down syndrome was a shock. I feel that any parent would handle the situation the same way. You would love your son with all of your heart no matter what. You would work on his goals to help him accomplish everything. Yes, it may take longer, but the joy of his first steps were amazingly more special than I could have imagined. His first smile, when he finally said Mama, just took my breath away. Carpenter is just such an adorable little boy, who I am happy to be his mother. God has certainly blessed our family!

Funny note: Marley thought when Sadie was born that all babies stayed at the hospital for a while after birth!

Soon I will be posting some info about our upcoming Buddy Walk. We would love to have everyone come join us!