Here is some fun news - This morning we found out that our little man was featured on the front page of our town's local paper. I had talked to a reporter a few weeks ago and he came up and took some pictures. Some facts weren't 100% correct, and there was a little exaggeration, but they did a pretty good job of keeping most of it correct. So, not only does he have his name & weight up on a sign on 99E, but now the town knows his story. Brian and I agree that he is more known than we've ever been :) Below is the article. I had to remove some content for security reasons.
Just fine, thank you - Benjamin started life a lot earlier than expected, but he’s hanging in there
By Ray H.
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| Benjamin shortly after his 15-week premature birth. He arrived March 13, weighing just 1 pound, 9.6 ounces and measuring about 12 inches. |
Benjamin Thomas, the son and first child of Bryan and Jamie, arrived March 13 as one of our home town's smallest residents.
He showed up early — by 15 weeks. He wasn't due until June 24, but arrived March 13, weighing just 1 pound, 9.6 ounces and measuring about 12 inches at birth.
He hasn't made it home yet. That might take another couple of months as he puts on pounds and builds his health and strength.
But he has been around. He was born at a nearby hospital and now is staying at the neonatal intensive care unit in a larger hospital.
And he has been through some challenges — two surgeries the first few days after he was born and a case of pneumonia when he was two weeks old.
“But he’s on the upswing now,” said his mother, Jamie. “He’s getting stronger, he’s growing.”
This past week was an eventful one for Benjamin.
“He hit the three-pound mark on Monday,” she said last week. “We’re very excited about that.”
He also came off the ventilator and is breathing on his own. “So Monday was a very big day for him. And on Friday, Benjamin marked his 7-week birthday.
Jamie and Brian have been married three years. Until the day Benjamin arrived, she worked as an account manager. Her husband is a full-time manufacturing engineering student.
Her contractions started the evening of March 12 as she attended a function at their church. When they grew stronger after she got home, she told her husband they needed to call their doctor.
But before the doctor could return their call, they knew they had to go to the hospital.
On the way to the local hospital in a nearby town, her contractions grew stronger and back-to-back. She still thought they would examine her and send her home.
When they arrived at the hospital, they learned there was no turning back Benjamin’s arrival. A neonatal care team was dispatched from a larger hospital with a special unit for transporting babies.
But Benajmin arrived before they could get there.
“It was too fast,” Jamie said. “I wasn’t even in the regular delivery room. I was in an outpatient delivery room and he was coming so quickly, they delivered him there.”
Benjamin was born at 1:17 a.m. After the medical staff stabilized him, she and her husband had only a few seconds to meet their son before he was whisked off to the neonatal ICU at the larger hospital.
“They wheeled him in in this incredible transport unit. I was able to put my finger through a portal hole for my hands. He immediately grabbed on to my finger. It was incredible. He was so tiny, so very, very tiny.”
She was released from the local hospital 14 hours later and went to the larger hospital see her son.
They chose his name that night, she said.
“We liked the name Benjamin. It means ‘son of my right hand.’ And interestingly enough, in the Bible, it’s the smallest tribe in Israel, which we thought was interesting because he was so very tiny.”
Thomas came from the middle name of his father and grandfather.
They had expected their baby to come along in June.
“You have these images of how it’s going to be and your baby ends up in neonatal ICU,” she said. “Will he make it? How will life be? Will he have disabilities? It’s a lot of emotions you go through.”
And it has also meant a lot of travel.
Since Benjamin’s birth, she travels to and from the hospital daily to be with him. Both parents stayed several nights at the hospital when he was battling the pneumonia.
“He’s a little miracle baby,” Jamie said. “Every time I look at him I can’t believe he’s here and doing as well as he’s doing. The medical staff here has been absolutely incredible. They’ve become like family.”
They’re looking forward to the day they can bring him home. That looks to be late June or early July at this point, she said.
Before he can go home, he must be able to breathe on his own, eat well and gain weight.
“He has to prove he can keep his heart rate where it needs to be and basically function in every way without the support of any medical staff.”
And do they have a room all ready for him? Not exactly.
“Our house is a disaster,” she said. “Pretty much everything in our lives stopped once this happened.”
They do have his crib. “That we’re grateful for,” she said.
As for an update on how he is doing, he is mostly ok. He wasn't really himself today and he acted really tired. He started prolapsing again by the end of the day and someone from the surgical staff that oversees the ostomy and all of his digestive system came to look at him. They had difficulty getting the prolapsed part back in and said that they likely will try to work him into Dr. Bliss' schedule to have him put back together late next week. This is not the ideal situation, but apparently the risks of waiting might out-weigh the benefits. We might not know the plan for sure until after Dr. Bliss has a chance to look at it himself, which I am hoping is tomorrow. Please continue to pray for wisdom for this team that is watching over him. I am trying not to worry, but it is difficult sometimes when you see your tiny baby going through so much.
Jamie
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