The Short Version

I started having painful contractions.  We rushed to the hospital.  Owen was born minutes later.

The Longer Version

I woke up the morning of my due date expecting an ordinary day.  With our other children, I went into labor in the middle of the night or the early morning hours.  My assumption was that I have morning babies.  And my intuition was that Owen was going to arrive after my due date.

Around lunch time I took a due date photo and posted it on Facebook, having no idea that Owen would arrive just six hours later.

We had lunch, followed by reading time and nap time.  I slept great and woke up feeling refreshed.

Of all the things I wanted to accomplish before Owen’s birth, only one remained:  stocking the freezer with a few batches of protein pancakes.

Around 3:45 or 4:00, I noticed I was having extremely mild contractions about five minutes apart.  I kept making pancakes, because I was pretty sure it was false labor.  Labor contractions five minutes apart should be more painful, right?

At 4:17 a friend texted saying, “Happy ‘baby due date’ day.”  She texted again at 4:31 asking if I had any signs of labor.  At 5:05 I responded that I might be in early labor.

It was around that time when things really started picking up.  I told Aaron we should start timing contractions.  Using an app on his iPhone, we started timing contractions at 5:11.  They were four minutes apart and lasted close to a minute.

I was in the middle of a project—making the pancakes—and I wanted to finish.  But I knew we still had some last minute things to pack for the hospital. I decided not to start the last batch.

Aaron had gone to the gym that afternoon, so he wanted to shower before heading downtown.  He and I packed our last things (with the help of Kayla and Madeline) and were ready to leave around 6:15.  We said good-bye to the kids and headed out.

It was snowing as we drove.  The roads were pretty slippery, and we weren’t sure we could make it up the hill on Michigan Avenue.  We made it, barely, and pulled up to the hospital entrance.  We walked inside, told them I was in labor, and walked to triage.  For those who know me well, it’s probably no surprise that I turned down two offers to ride in a wheelchair.  Looking back, I’m wondering what I was thinking.  When you’re as far along in labor as I was, the last thing you want to do is move!

The memories that comes next are a little blurry in my mind.  I know Aaron left to park the van and a couple nurses asked me questions (which I could barely answer) and took my weight.  The nurses were ready to take me to a room to determine if I was really in labor when a powerful contraction came on.  Aaron wasn’t there for me to squeeze his hand, and the nurses didn’t volunteer to let me hold their hands.  The contraction was the worst one yet.  I grabbed the arm of the chair, and at the end of the contraction my water broke.  The nurses moved me to a wheelchair and took me straight to the delivery room, with Aaron joining us on the way.

I don’t know how many nurses were there.  I don’t know when the doctor arrived.  I don’t know when the neonatologist arrived.  A nurse listened to Owen’s heartbeat once and checked that I was fully dilated.  The doctor introduced herself to me, and with the next contraction, Owen was born.

There was no time for the birth plan.  No time to give the nurses the cookies I had made for them.  No time to meet the nurses or even count them.

But my boy was here!  Right away his little lungs filled with air, and he cried and cried and cried.  The doctor placed him on my chest, and he lifted his head and looked at me.

Owen was born at 6:45 p.m.  He was born so quickly that his color wasn’t great at birth, but by ten minutes he looked wonderful.  The neonatologist determined he was healthy and doing fine. There was no need to visit the NICU.  Owen weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces, and was 19 3/4 inches long.

And that’s the story of Owen’s birth.  From the time I knew I was in labor until he was born was about 1 hour and 45 minutes.  God watched over every detail, and we thank Him for the wonderful gift of our son, Owen Daniel Kerr.

The Future

Many have asked if Owen will need surgery in the future.  Unless the mass in his lung disappears, Owen will have surgery when he’s about 6 months old. While he is breathing and doing fine now, cystic portions of the lung can easily become infected, and babies with CPAMs can be more prone to pneumonia.  There’s also some belief these masses could become cancerous later in life if not removed.  The surgery would be a lobectomy, the removal of the lower lobe of Owen’s left lung.  The good news is that lungs continue growing until a child is about eight, so Owen’s lung should have plenty of time to grow to a normal size.

We praise God for protecting Owen while he was in my womb, for protecting his heart as the CPAM pushed it and moved it out of place.  We’re thankful for Owen’s smooth birth, and we trust God will get us through the last phase—his surgery.

Owen’s due date is now just 38 days away. We had a break from medical appointments around the holidays but got to check on him again in an ultrasound last week. I’m sorry it’s taken me a few days to get an update written. Between working, homeschooling, spending time with our kids, and making preparations for a baby, our days are pretty full.

Spectrum performed a very thorough ultrasound on Owen last week which included an echocardiogram. Careful measurements were done on his heart to make sure it is functioning normally and hasn’t been affected by the mass on his lung. The results were great; Owen’s heart looks extremely healthy.

His heart is still shifted toward the right side of his body. The cardiologist assured us this isn’t a cause for alarm. As long as the heart is working well, the positioning isn’t crucial. The body adapts. If and when the mass is removed from Owen’s lung, his heart will gradually shift back into position.

Owen’s lung mass measured slightly larger than at our last ultrasound, but our doctor wasn’t overly concerned by this. It is getting more challenging to get precise measurements on a very wiggly baby. He is now over five pounds and moves all the time.

Our schedule at Spectrum last week also included preparations for the “what if” scenarios.

The ideal path for Owen goes something like this: Jen goes into labor on her own and delivers naturally; Owen shows no signs of breathing difficulties or other distress and is able to stay with us in the hospital birthing center; his CPAM is evaluated, with surgery likely once he’s between three and six months.

If Owen faces struggles at birth and it’s determined surgery is needed right away, a pediatric surgeon will be ready. To prepare for this possibility we met with a surgeon and got more information about how that decision would be made and what the surgery process is like. Urgent surgery seems unlikely for Owen, but it’s good to know what to expect should we face it.

If Owen has other medical challenges short of surgery, he will spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit. We are blessed that the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital has a level 4 NICU, offering the highest level of care for newborns. We received a tour of the facility and met with a doctor who explained how the process would work.

After the simplicity of delivering our last two babies at home, it can be overwhelming to wade into the medical world. There is a lot to figure out and many decisions to be made. But we’re doing our best to enjoy this pregnancy, take our worries to God, and be patient as we look forward to holding Owen.

Overall, Owen is on a great path. His progress since the initial diagnosis back in November has been outstanding. But as we’re learning, CPAM babies can be unpredictable. His long-term prognosis is very good. Still, there are many potential challenges along the way. We look forward to seeing God work through all of them.

Thank you for praying for us and supporting us.

Aaron

 

We had our first visit to Spectrum’s Maternal Fetal Medicine office in Grand Rapids on Friday. It had been two weeks since our last ultrasound; we were anxious to check on Owen again. It was a great visit with lots of good news. Here are the highlights.

Owen continues to show no sign of further complications from the mass on his lung. He’s now a healthy three pounds. His heart is stable, and there were no fluid buildups in his chest or head indicating heart stress. Our doctor considers him out of danger for this condition.

Owen’s CVR – a ratio of the lung mass to his head size – started in the high-risk zone at 1.6 and had decreased to 1.4 by our last visit. It’s getting a little more difficult to do a precise measurement of the mass. As he develops, the bones in his rib cage become more dense, decreasing the clarity of ultrasound imaging. So the size measurements for the mass become a range.

Even using the highest possible measurements in this range, Owen’s CVR is around 1.2 at this point. Our doctor feels his actual number is probably closer to 1.0. It seems clear the growth of the mass has stopped while he continues to grow rapidly around it.

The path is now clear for us to have all remaining care for Jen and Owen done here in Grand Rapids. The staff and facilities at Mott in Ann Arbor were fantastic. But with winter weather coming on, we’re glad to avoid the 4-hour round trip for every visit.

We plan to deliver Owen at Spectrum downtown. They have a midwife on staff, which was a nice surprise. We’ll be meeting with her in the next few weeks. We will also have the chance to meet with a pediatric surgeon as a precaution. Our doctor does not believe Owen will need immediate surgery. She expects he will be asymptomatic and able to stay in the room with us after birth.

One small concern: Jen’s levels of amniotic fluid are measuring a bit high. This isn’t a huge worry but will be monitored as it can be a risk factor for preterm labor. We’re praying this stabilizes and that Owen is able to go full term.

Overall, we want to say Thank You: thanks to God for blessing us with Owen’s health and continued development, and thanks to all of you who have prayed, reached out with support, and shown you care for our family. We’ll continue to post occasional updates as we progress through these final three months of pregnancy.

We can’t wait to share pictures of a beautiful and healthy newborn baby boy!

Aaron

Each time we travel to Ann Arbor for an appointment, we see answered prayers. The CPAM (congenital pulmonary airway malformation) is not growing, but Owen is. His CVR moved from 1.6 to 1.5 and now to 1.4. This means Owen needs less monitoring and our appointments will now be every other week.

The professionals at Mott are convinced DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids could give us the same quality of care at a much more convenient location for us. We are still waiting for our referral to be processed and hope to see progress on that this week.

We’ve been so blessed by all the comments, text messages, emails, and cards we’ve received and for those who have offered practical help. From watching our kids to cleaning our house and helping with the cost of gas, you’ve made our lives easier! Thank you to all of you who have reached out in one way or another.

Our continued prayer requests are for Owen’s mass to shrink and for his heart to stay strong and move back into place. The journey ahead is full of unknowns. While some CPAM babies are born asymptomatic (meaning they can breathe fine but need surgery later), babies with very large masses (like Owen’s) are at greater risk of having breathing problems at birth. We’re praying this is not the case for our young warrior—we know God can answer that prayer. Our greatest hope is the CPAM would disappear altogether and Owen would never need surgery.

Though we don’t know the rest of the chapters of Owen’s story, we put our hope completely in the One who does. God is not only the Author of Owen’s story, but the Hero. While we can’t see the bigger picture, we trust God will use all this for good.

“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”

Psalm 139:13-16

And so we wait, and we pray. We place all the unknowns into the hands of the One who knows and loves Owen best.

Jen