Proud Parents of Benjamin Wallace Owenby

Here is Grandpa Schubert, Aunt Nancy, Courtney (my sister), April, and Grandpa Owenby looking at benjamin for the first time!

Benjamin wearing the VMI hat my grandmother made me when I was born.

Chris and I are pleased and proud to announce the birth of Benjamin Wallace Owenby.  He was born on March 25, 2009 (during the 39th week of pregnancy) at 7:37 p.m.  He weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces and measured at 20 inches.  We are so happy and excited that Benjamin is here and that he is healthy.  The birth was hard and very scary, but oh so worth it!

I was admitted into the hospital on Monday night to prepare for the birth and for the doctor to monitor the health of both me and the baby.  I did have high blood pressure and a lot of swelling so they wanted to be on the safe side.  The nurses started the pitocin on Tuesday morning with the contractions progressing throughout the day at about every 5-7 minutes.  By the end of the day I still hadn't dilated!  So the doctor took me off the pitocin so I could get a good night's rest before Wednesday; however, I did continue to have contractions every 10 minutes during the night.  The doctor told us there would be a baby delivered on Wednesday due to my high blood pressure and she ordered an epidural for me to progress the labor faster for the next day.  So on Wednesday morning I got an epidural and the doctor broke my water.  I am so glad I got the epidural!  By noon I was 6 cm dilated and the contractions were every 2 minutes, but I had started throwing up consistently 2-3 times per hour.  By 1 p.m. I was 8 cm dilated and excited that Benjamin would be here soon... or so we thought.  I stayed at 8.5 cm from 1:30 to 6 p.m.  When Dr. O'Connell finally showed up at 6:45 she examined me and gave me the option of c-section or try to push at 9.5 cm.  We decided to start pushing and if I wasn't progressing I was going to have a c-section.  After 25 minutes of pushing Benjamin was almost here and we were making progress; however, I didn't feel "right".  I looked over at Chris and I started to throw up again and that's when things started to go down hill.  I heard alarms start to go off and the flat line sound.  They couldn't find a heart beat on the baby, my blood pressure went crazy, and I spiked a fever.  They put me on oxygen and the doctor announced emergency c-section.  My mom went with me to the operating room while Chris put on scrubs.  Chris and I were both scared, nervous and wondering why this was happening.  Thankfully Benjamin was born at 7:37 p.m., but had to be worked on before we could hear a cry or see him.  After a few minutes we both got to see him... he was so little and perfect!  I can't describe the feeling of knowing he had a heart beat and was crying!  I went to recovery still wondering what exactly just happened and I was exhausted.  Chris got to visit with Benjamin to make sure he was okay and came back to give me an update.  Benjamin had to be put on oxygen and needed to be observed before I could hold him.  When the nurses wheeled us to our new room, they let me stop by the nursery to see Benjamin.  He was so beautiful and looked like he was starting to turn pink which was much better than a blueish- gray!  I couldn't hold him but I got a chance to touch him.  Chris and I then came up with his name after we got a chance to see him together- Benjamin Wallace Owenby.  We both loved the name Benjamin and Wallace is my dad's middle name and it's a family name.  Benjamin is perfect and we love him so much!  We can't thank you enough for all of the text and phone messages, visits and most importantly the prayers during the past week!  We needed them and everything turned out okay.  I will post pictures of Benjamin coming home soon and we are looking forward to introducing all of you to our new son!