Braxton Dewey

Braxton Dewey Beazley! Our son surprised us with an early arrival on February 4, 2011 at 3:14pm. Braxton was 7 weeks early, as he was due March 25th!  Pushing down the scale at 2lbs 11oz and was 15 1/4 inches long.

It’s been nearly6 months since Braxton was born and many people have asked “what happened”? Here is our “Baby Story” (reminds me of the TLC show)!

The day before Braxton was born, I started to experience stomach pressure/pain. Originally I thought I had the flu and hung out with my trusty 1st trimester friends – Ginger Ale and saltine crackers! Once I discovered I could keep food down, I did eat a couple meals. I spent the day sleeping on the couch and in bed, I took a bath and 2 showers, and took Tylenol faithfully. I was supposed to go to my Prenatal Aquafit class that night, but when we were headed I told John that he was welcome to still go work out but I didn’t feel up to swimming. We returned home and watched a movie. I couldn’t get comfortable and I couldn’t sleep once we went to bed (not uncommon for pregnant women).

I assumed I was just having an “off” day that comes with pregnancy. At 1:30am I called HealthLink (a service in Alberta where you can call & talk to an RN), simply to see if they could suggest ideas to reduce my pressure or a stiffer pain medication because all pregnant women are allowed is Tylenol. The nurse took my symptoms and suggested I go to the hospital and get checked out.

I woke up John and by 2:00am Friday morning, we arrived at the Lethbridge hospital. I thought our middle of the night trip was simply to get more potent pain medication and was shocked to be diagnosed with HELLP syndrome (high blood pressure & my liver was shutting down – more details on this diagnosis). Reading about the other symptoms of my diagnosis after having Braxton, I looked back and discovered that I started to experience a few of them a week before he was born. Including bloody nose, dizziness and headaches – however, I had just brushed them off.

The nurses told me after, that I had no idea just how sick I was! Still in shock and disbelief that my Dr informed me Braxton would be born that day – I had an emergency c-section. My recovery went fabulous and I was grateful that my blood pressure returned to normal a couple weeks after my sons arrival.

We didn’t really comprehend the extent of my symptoms the morning Braxton was born! My Dr came in and said something like, “Well the 2nd round of tests didn’t improve.” He shared a few different things my body was experiencing into the discussion – high blood pressure, high platelet count, liver shutting down, you’re really sick…etc. I’m sure I was a deer in the headlights – we literally thought we were going to the hospital for stiffer pain medication because all pregnant women are allowed is Tylenol. When the Dr said, “I’ve booked an operating room & we’ll be having this baby ASAP.” We were both in absolute shock! When I questioned whether I could be induced to have a natural labor, he informed us that would take about 48 hrs for my cervix to soften, to completely dilate, etc AND…I didn’t have that long! “Oh REALLY?” I thought?

It all happened really quick. I remember just before being rolled to the OR, I asked John what he thought our son was going to weigh. I believe we both guessed 4lbs and something. Clearly Braxton was going to be small even if he went to term! The Dr wasn’t sure what baby or Mom would need during or after delivery – from ventilators to blood transfusions – whether we’d be sent to Calgary for more specialized care. We had NO idea how severe the situation was! Thankfully the health care professionals were in charge and took care of all of us.

Braxton never required oxygen, which was remarkable for an “itty bity” like him. The Dr wasn’t sure what Braxton or I would need during or after delivery – from ventilators to blood transfusions – whether we’d be sent to Calgary for more specialized care. Thankfully we were both healthy and we had amazing health care professionals taking care of of us.

For the first couple weeks in the NICU, we were only able to hold our son two times a day for about an hour. His main focus was to gain weight and being out of his warm isolette, required him to spend energy staying warm, etc. At about two weeks old, Braxton learned to eat from a bottle and loved it. Amazingly he also caught on to nursing a bit too! He started on 2 hour feeds and graduated to every 3 hours. During the first couple weeks, when he was awake, he was fed by bottle and when he was asleep, his stomach was filled by feeding him by gavage (tube through his nose) – so he focused on growing instead of being woke up. I like to think his determination and strength is genetic!

I pumped the entire time Braxton was in the NICU and continued until he was 4 1/2 months old. We learned when Braxton was about 10 days old that he was lactose intolerant, so I eliminated dairy from my diet so he could continue on breast milk. I nicknamed myself “Betsy” as I pumped away for him. My friend Carole told me that “cows with names produce more milk” – perfect news for the ranch girl in me! Braxton gained weight and is an amazingly happy baby. John’s baby pictures and Braxton are a spitting image of each other – so it looks like we’ll have a cotton topped, blue eyed boy on our hands!

Braxton came home 2 days before his due date, after being in the NICU for 47 days. Thanks for all of your thoughts & prayers during this experience.

I made a video about how I thrived emotionally through our NICU experience. I hope our story can be an inspiration to you or someone you know going through a similar experience or simply going through a challenge.

Everything happens for a reason. We’re so grateful that God took care of Braxton and myself. He is a real miracle and gift from heaven!

“Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” – Anon

Hugs,
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