Another Miracle Baby: Jake Oborn
After we found out that we were pregnant on Christmas Eve 2011, we were excited beyond belief. This time, however, we decided to implant 3 embryos instead of the usual 2, since 3 had survived the 5-day culture in the lab. To this point, every single embryo that has ever been "uploaded" to Debbie has taken, so we were very excited and scared when we attended the first ultrasound in February.
To our amazement, there was only one "sack" showing up on the computer monitor that attaches to the ultra-sound machine. "There must be another on in there somewhere" I quipped to the nurse. "Nope. Just one." she replied. Sure enough, we were having a singleton.
Shortly thereafter, Debbie started bleeding - AGAIN. It was like Groundhog Day with all of the stress and trauma that you experience when it appears life is going to deal you another heartbreaking setback. After much prayer and another evaluation we discovered that one of the other embryos that didn't make it needed to come out to make way for the one fetus that had implanted. The bleeding was coming from an entirely different area of the uterus and the baby was fine, for now.
A few weeks later the bleeding stopped and our little miracle began to grow and grow. Debbie was privileged to experience the major inconveniences that come with being pregnant: swollen feet, insomnia, acid reflux, nausia, and the constant feeling of being hot. Although the summer of 2012 was a very hot one, you wouldn't know it by stepping foot into the Oborn house. I had this place feeling like an icebox so that Debbie could find some level of comfort as she "rented" her body out for one last miracle baby to grow and thrive.
Month after month passed. Each utlra-sound looked great. Expectations and hope increased with each visit to IHC Hospital in Murray - our new choice for prenatal care. We were referred there to Dr. Terry personally by Dr. Richards. This time, we weren't taking any chances.
Soon, the date we planned to induce labor was set: August 28, 2012. The entire month of August Debbie labored diligently to have everything ready for the baby: the crib, stroller, clothes, changing table, etc. It was like going back in a time machine sorting through all of Darien's old stuff, plus items we'd been given from other families who no longer had any use for old baby items. At work, I lined up all of my projects to cross the finish line on or before the 28th as well. Everything was going exactly according to plan until ....
Debbie woke me up from a deep sleep at 4:14AM on August 18, 2012. "Patrick! Wake up - my water broke! We need to go!"
"But .... now? Huh!?" I was still in deep sleep mode, most likely a result of the many workouts I'd been doing to prepare myself for a triathlon race on Aug 25.
We both took real quick showers and began packing our bags. "Dang it! I just don't know what to bring!" Debbie kept saying. We were so prepared for this baby. Well, everything except that part where we actually HAVE the baby.
We called the home of Debbie's sister, Lindy, at 4:30 AM. Voicemail. One more time .... "Hello!?" said my brother-in-law Brett on the other end of the phone. "Brett. Water broke. Send Brianna to babysit." Yes, my conversation was in a sort of cryptic code that all men understand. "She's on her way" ... click.
Soon we had our babysitter and we were on our way to the hospital at the ripe old hour of 5:00 AM.
We arrived at the IHC Murray hospital around 5:30 AM, checked in, and settled in to our temporary home in the labor/delivery department. Debbie was in the care of some great nurses and doctors from that point forward. Our only problem was the she wasn't dilated at ALL! A big -0-!
"Vitamin P" as the nurse called it (Pitosin), was administered beginning at 8:00 AM to get this show moving. Hour after hour, just small progress. To pass the time we came up with a contest where we'd all try to guess the delivery time and the weight of the baby. My guess as 4:30 PM and 7 lbs., 6 oz. All of the guesses were recorded on the white board in the room so that no one could change their guesses later on. We asked our nurse, Becky, why she guesses 7:00 PM, which seemed upsurd at the time, and she responded with "well, that's when my shift ends, and I want to see that baby before I go home!"
Soon, we started to see some progress. 2 cm.... 5 cm .... 8 cm .... Things were going smoothly until Debbie wiggled around trying to get comfortable and suddenly felt light-headed. The baby's heart rate also dropped to a precarious level (62 bpm - with 115 being normal). The nurse noticed Debbie had accidentally pinched the pitosin IV line and when she turned, a bunch of backed-up pitocin raced into her IV. Becky shut the pitocin off for a few hours to give mommy and baby a chance to recover, and around 4:00 PM we started it back up.
With that minor delay thrown into the mix, we watched all of our times on the whiteboard go by the wayside, except Becky's crazy pick of 7:00 PM. Finally, at 6:35PM, things started to get exciting. The cervix was all but gone, contractions were about a minute apart, and dilation was a 10! The doctor (all I know is his first name was Steve ... SUPER nice guy) quickly gowned up and Becky converted the bed into a birthing station almost instantly. A few hard pushed (3 to be exact), and we were looking at our third miracle baby!
Jake Dyer Oborn was born at 6:57 PM - just 3 minutes before the end of nurse Becky's shift. He weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz., and measured 21 inches long.
My first impression was that he looked EXACTLY like Darien when he was born almost 7 years ago. DARK, full hair, dimples, little double-chin .... in fact, here is a comparison of the two:
By 9:00 PM we were moved to the 2nd floor (recovery rooms) where we were met by my parents! Kent and Sharyl, upon hearing the news of Debbie's water breaking, jumped in their car and drove all day to get here from La Quinta, CA. It was so great to see them here to welcome Jake into the world.
Then the twins arrived with aunt Joni. I watched with keen interest how my twins, who up to this point have been the center of our universe, would take to a new member of the family; a new person with whom to share the spotlight.
Darien went first ... "Dad, his eyes are closed. Why?" Darien asked. He looked at the baby like a scientist looks at a new chemical solution. Very inquisitive. Lots of questions. A bit hesitant to jump in with both feet.
Grace on the other had yelled out "Oh! He's SOOOOOO cute!!!" and wanted to hold him immediately.
They both did great holding their little brother for the first time and I'm sure they'll get lots of chances in the future to do so!
All in all, everything went according to script on Day 1. As I was driving the kids home that night a tear came to my eye as I took a second to reminisce on the long, hard, (and expensive) journey to get my family here from Heaven. 3 beautiful children. 4 in-vitro attempts. 2 babies lost. 1 incredible wife. It's all a bit overwhelming.
I've done a lot of incredible things in business, athletics, and in academia -- but NOTHING even comes close to the pride I feel in my family. I also know that I've had a lot of help along the way: thank you Heavenly Father for your glorious plan. Although my path to fatherhood hasn't been the easiest one, I'm grateful you gave me the strength to help me across the finish line. I felt like giving up, losing hope, and just accepting "reality" but You help me and Debbie change that reality into the one we have been 'dreaming about since the day we got married way back on June 21, 1994.
Now, it's back to the hospital to visit Debbie and Jake for Day 2 of his incredible terrestrial journey. My prayer now is that Jake doesn't turn yellow and require a light box, or get RSV in his first few weeks like his
older brother Darien. Still a lot of hurdles to clear, but I pray our miracle baby will continue to overcome them with flying colors.
To our amazement, there was only one "sack" showing up on the computer monitor that attaches to the ultra-sound machine. "There must be another on in there somewhere" I quipped to the nurse. "Nope. Just one." she replied. Sure enough, we were having a singleton.
Shortly thereafter, Debbie started bleeding - AGAIN. It was like Groundhog Day with all of the stress and trauma that you experience when it appears life is going to deal you another heartbreaking setback. After much prayer and another evaluation we discovered that one of the other embryos that didn't make it needed to come out to make way for the one fetus that had implanted. The bleeding was coming from an entirely different area of the uterus and the baby was fine, for now.
A few weeks later the bleeding stopped and our little miracle began to grow and grow. Debbie was privileged to experience the major inconveniences that come with being pregnant: swollen feet, insomnia, acid reflux, nausia, and the constant feeling of being hot. Although the summer of 2012 was a very hot one, you wouldn't know it by stepping foot into the Oborn house. I had this place feeling like an icebox so that Debbie could find some level of comfort as she "rented" her body out for one last miracle baby to grow and thrive.
Month after month passed. Each utlra-sound looked great. Expectations and hope increased with each visit to IHC Hospital in Murray - our new choice for prenatal care. We were referred there to Dr. Terry personally by Dr. Richards. This time, we weren't taking any chances.
Soon, the date we planned to induce labor was set: August 28, 2012. The entire month of August Debbie labored diligently to have everything ready for the baby: the crib, stroller, clothes, changing table, etc. It was like going back in a time machine sorting through all of Darien's old stuff, plus items we'd been given from other families who no longer had any use for old baby items. At work, I lined up all of my projects to cross the finish line on or before the 28th as well. Everything was going exactly according to plan until ....
Debbie woke me up from a deep sleep at 4:14AM on August 18, 2012. "Patrick! Wake up - my water broke! We need to go!"
"But .... now? Huh!?" I was still in deep sleep mode, most likely a result of the many workouts I'd been doing to prepare myself for a triathlon race on Aug 25.
We both took real quick showers and began packing our bags. "Dang it! I just don't know what to bring!" Debbie kept saying. We were so prepared for this baby. Well, everything except that part where we actually HAVE the baby.
We called the home of Debbie's sister, Lindy, at 4:30 AM. Voicemail. One more time .... "Hello!?" said my brother-in-law Brett on the other end of the phone. "Brett. Water broke. Send Brianna to babysit." Yes, my conversation was in a sort of cryptic code that all men understand. "She's on her way" ... click.
Soon we had our babysitter and we were on our way to the hospital at the ripe old hour of 5:00 AM.
We arrived at the IHC Murray hospital around 5:30 AM, checked in, and settled in to our temporary home in the labor/delivery department. Debbie was in the care of some great nurses and doctors from that point forward. Our only problem was the she wasn't dilated at ALL! A big -0-!
"Vitamin P" as the nurse called it (Pitosin), was administered beginning at 8:00 AM to get this show moving. Hour after hour, just small progress. To pass the time we came up with a contest where we'd all try to guess the delivery time and the weight of the baby. My guess as 4:30 PM and 7 lbs., 6 oz. All of the guesses were recorded on the white board in the room so that no one could change their guesses later on. We asked our nurse, Becky, why she guesses 7:00 PM, which seemed upsurd at the time, and she responded with "well, that's when my shift ends, and I want to see that baby before I go home!"
Soon, we started to see some progress. 2 cm.... 5 cm .... 8 cm .... Things were going smoothly until Debbie wiggled around trying to get comfortable and suddenly felt light-headed. The baby's heart rate also dropped to a precarious level (62 bpm - with 115 being normal). The nurse noticed Debbie had accidentally pinched the pitosin IV line and when she turned, a bunch of backed-up pitocin raced into her IV. Becky shut the pitocin off for a few hours to give mommy and baby a chance to recover, and around 4:00 PM we started it back up.
With that minor delay thrown into the mix, we watched all of our times on the whiteboard go by the wayside, except Becky's crazy pick of 7:00 PM. Finally, at 6:35PM, things started to get exciting. The cervix was all but gone, contractions were about a minute apart, and dilation was a 10! The doctor (all I know is his first name was Steve ... SUPER nice guy) quickly gowned up and Becky converted the bed into a birthing station almost instantly. A few hard pushed (3 to be exact), and we were looking at our third miracle baby!
Jake Dyer Oborn was born at 6:57 PM - just 3 minutes before the end of nurse Becky's shift. He weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz., and measured 21 inches long.
My first impression was that he looked EXACTLY like Darien when he was born almost 7 years ago. DARK, full hair, dimples, little double-chin .... in fact, here is a comparison of the two:
By 9:00 PM we were moved to the 2nd floor (recovery rooms) where we were met by my parents! Kent and Sharyl, upon hearing the news of Debbie's water breaking, jumped in their car and drove all day to get here from La Quinta, CA. It was so great to see them here to welcome Jake into the world.
Then the twins arrived with aunt Joni. I watched with keen interest how my twins, who up to this point have been the center of our universe, would take to a new member of the family; a new person with whom to share the spotlight.
Darien went first ... "Dad, his eyes are closed. Why?" Darien asked. He looked at the baby like a scientist looks at a new chemical solution. Very inquisitive. Lots of questions. A bit hesitant to jump in with both feet.
Grace on the other had yelled out "Oh! He's SOOOOOO cute!!!" and wanted to hold him immediately.
They both did great holding their little brother for the first time and I'm sure they'll get lots of chances in the future to do so!
All in all, everything went according to script on Day 1. As I was driving the kids home that night a tear came to my eye as I took a second to reminisce on the long, hard, (and expensive) journey to get my family here from Heaven. 3 beautiful children. 4 in-vitro attempts. 2 babies lost. 1 incredible wife. It's all a bit overwhelming.
I've done a lot of incredible things in business, athletics, and in academia -- but NOTHING even comes close to the pride I feel in my family. I also know that I've had a lot of help along the way: thank you Heavenly Father for your glorious plan. Although my path to fatherhood hasn't been the easiest one, I'm grateful you gave me the strength to help me across the finish line. I felt like giving up, losing hope, and just accepting "reality" but You help me and Debbie change that reality into the one we have been 'dreaming about since the day we got married way back on June 21, 1994.
Now, it's back to the hospital to visit Debbie and Jake for Day 2 of his incredible terrestrial journey. My prayer now is that Jake doesn't turn yellow and require a light box, or get RSV in his first few weeks like his
older brother Darien. Still a lot of hurdles to clear, but I pray our miracle baby will continue to overcome them with flying colors.
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