Cohen's birth...

After weeks of procrastination, I've decided to take care of business and finally document Cohen's birth. I apologize to all of our friends and family members who have been waiting patiently to hear more about Cohen and delivery; believe it or not, but I've been slightly busy; any free time I've had these last 7 weeks, I usually end up crashing on the couch. I'm a bit baffled as to how Brad and Angelina (the Pitts) manage to jet around the world with 6 little kids... surely they must have LOTS of hired help... how else could they continue to globe trot and look that fabulous caring for so many kids- she'd literally have to be a superhero to do it all on her own! I hardly have a moment to myself, without being interrupted, to use the bathroom! I'm not a superhero, and unfortunately, I'm too poor to hire out help- fact is, I'm just a suburban housewife and mother to a toddler, who's currently sick with the "terrible two's", a baby, and a newborn.

OK, so let me start at the beginning since so many people have asked how my delivery went.


I made the mistake of staying up way too late (2a.m.) the night before my induction, when knowingly I had to wake up at 5:30a.m. in order to shower, dress and get to the hospital all before 6:30a.m.. Truth is, even though the hospital is just a couple of blocks from our house, we failed to make it there on time; however, amidst the rush to get out of the house, I tried to be thoughtful by calling the hospital to inform the nurses and let them know that we would be late- "no problem" they'd said, so... since they seemed to be in no hurry for us to arrive, I convinced Spencer he needed to swing by Mickey D's to pick up a breakfast burrito for himself so he wouldn't have to starve at the hospital all day long while he sat by my bedside.

I checked in around 7 and after settling into my room and answering a few routine questions for my nurses, I was prepped and ready by 9 to get my first dosage of petocin. Almost immediately afterwards I asked to have my epidural- I hadn't had any strong contractions at that point yet, but I wanted the epidural before the pain kicked in so I could remain comfortable during the whole birthing process and enjoy my delivery . (Seriously, it baffles me as to why so many women these days pride themselves in giving birth completely natural by choice. Why suffer when modern medicine can ease the pain??? I'll never understand I guess.)

Disregarding the 3 or 4 times I vomited, I don't remember any pain or discomfort during labor... yes folks, I'm one of those women who vomit their whole pregnancy, even in the delivery room. Pukings no fun at all, but after 9 months, I grow used to it; so yes, aside from throwing up a few times, I managed to remain calm and comfortable.

There was one scary moment in which my doctor and the nurses hurried into my room because they'd seen on the monitor that my baby's heart rate was dropping and he appeared to be under stress. I don't remember exactly what they did to correct the problem, but after a few minutes the matter was fixed.

When it actually came time to deliver the baby, I only needed to push twice before he was born; pretty good considering he was 9 pounds! It's kinda crazy but I delivered a baby that weighed nearly the same size as a butterball turkey!

Cohen Phoenix Campbell was born on Thursday June 19th, at 12:40 in the afternoon.

I didn't get a chance to see him immediately, (although I did get a quick look at the head of hair he had- it was jet black!); he was swept away by a crew of doctors and nurses to be cleaned off, weighed and have his lungs suctioned out. Apparently, he was born with his umbilical cord wrapped tightly around his neck and he still had quite a bit of fluid trapped in his lungs, it's a condition called Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn or TTN. He was taken and placed in the NICU to be treated, monitored and observed. Noah had had the same problem when he was born- apparently it's not all that common among newborns- 1% to 2% of newborns develop the condition- but apparently it is a common condition for our children.

I didn't feel so hot post delivery. I actually continued to throw up for another 3 hours. Once I started to feel better, Spencer and I visited the NICU to see how Cohen was doing. He'd been under an oxygen tent the entire time and had a few tubes down his nose to help get him sufficient oxygen. He looked A LOT like Ian had when Ian was born- but Cohen's face was slightly bruised and swollen- the poor thing got banged up from my tailbone during delivery.

After several hours (7 hours later) the nurses informed me that Cohen was finally ready to come out from the NICU and visit me in my room. There had been family members and friends of ours who had anxiously been waiting for their chance at meeting him. Noah and Ian were amongst the first to meet him. My mom had flown up the day before to be with the boys and watch them while I was in the hospital.

It was SO CUTE to watch both the boys meet and interact with Cohen for the first time. Noah new immediately that it was a new baby and picked up pretty quickly the fact that Cohen was another brother of his. Don't you love the chubby cheeks on both the boys???

The very first thing Noah said as he approached Cohen was "Ohhhh, so CUTE...big nose."

BIG NOSE?!

What did Noah see that obviously the rest of us hadn't?! I don't think Cohen had a big nose- yes, it was slightly swollen, but it wasn't big. I guess Noah's a bit more critical than the rest of us; hopefully he doesn't grow up wanting to be a plastic surgeon like Dr. 90210! (please note: since that first comment about Cohen's nose has been made, Noah has since said that Cohen's hair also needs CUT!)

Ian was also pretty excited about meeting his new brother. I can hardly believe that the two are only 13 months apart in age from one another because Ian's just so much BIGGER than Cohen! He's a giant! I'm sure Cohen will catch up in size with Ian and hopefully all three of the boys will be great friends.

Speaking of size... I guess babies that are born weighing as much as Cohen did at birth need to be closely watched at first to make sure that their blood sugar doesn't drop too low. From my understanding, babies that are Cohen's size, generally, are hearty eaters, and Cohen was no exception to this fact. While some babies prefer to maybe fast for the first day, or dibble on maybe an ounce of food, Cohen was quickly scarfing down 3 ounces! He wasn't having a problem with his blood sugar, however, one of the nurses noticed he was breathing REALLY fast. She immediately took him back into the NICU to be monitored and after being carefully examined by some on site doctors and getting an x-ray done on his chest they discovered that Cohen had Pneumothorax or basically a collapsed lung because a pocket of air was trapped between his chest plate and on top of his lung causing pressure to collapse it. This condition was causing him to breathe much faster than a newborn typically would; generally infants don't breath any faster than 70 breaths per minute or less than 50 breaths per minute. Cohen's breath counts would fluctuate from 19 breaths per minute, and then suddenly catapult up to 98 breaths per minute! Doctors immediately had him placed on oxygen again with tubes down his mouth and nose. The doctors also suspected he had a respiratory infection, so they started him on antibiotics and drew multiple samples of his blood for testing. He wasn't going to be able to be nursed or bottle fed because of his condition so he was fed formula by a tube place into his stomach.

Meanwhile, I had been feeling great and was prepared and hoping to leave as soon as my doctor gave me the "go", but with the news of Cohen's condition, I knew not to expect to leave the hospital anytime soon. Spencer and I took turns visiting with him the NICU. By Friday morning we were informed that along with the other problems we were already aware of, he also had jaundice and needed to stay under the biliruben lights for a while till his levels dropped.

Our boys pediatrician, along with the other doctors and nurses who had treated and cared for Cohen, had all seen other babies before with similar conditions, so they guessed that with proper treatment, Cohen would be ready to leave the hospital by Saturday evening. I was discharged earlier that afternoon on Saturday. With the anticipation that Cohen would come home later that evening, I hurried home and tried to tidy up what little mess was made around the house while I'd been in the hospital. Later that afternoon though, I got a call and the doctor told me that Cohen's condition hadn't improved; he still had jaundice and some sort of infection as well as that pocket of air that was compressing on his lungs that caused him to breath inconsistently. The doctor also mentioned that along with all the previous problems we were aware of, he hadn't been able to find Cohen's left testicle during his exam. It raises concern because A. it could possibly mean that the testicle hasn't dropped, which is commonly the case, but usually it can be still be felt up towards the abdomen, which was not the case for Cohen; if a baby boys testee or testees don't drop with in the first 2 years of their life, their chance of getting testicular cancer is dramatically increased; B. it could mean that Cohen was only born with one testicle; it's important information to know, but it wouldn't be the end of the world for him, just look at Lance Armstrong, the man who conquered the world on his bicycle! Cohen and Noah would have a lot more in common if that were case. Anyhow, the doctor said he'd send me at a later point to Children's Primary Medical Center to meet with an urologist to discuss the matter. (just a side note: eventually I took Cohen to meet with an urologist at Children's Primary once he was a month old. They still couldn't locate the left testicle, but the doctor couldn't do much to discern whether it's there or not because Cohen's still too little to tell. I'll have to take Cohen back when he's 6 months old to have an ultrasound done).

Okay, so, you're probably imagining that by this point Spencer and I were loosing our cool but surprisingly we weren't. We managed to stay composed and remain optimistic through out all the uncertainty. We'd been through similar circumstances with Noah when he was first born and hospitalized in the NICU for 5 days. Spencer and I had total confidence in the doctors and nurses who were treating and caring for Cohen. They were fabulous! We hoped and prayed with each day that he would be better and ready for us to bring home. By Saturday evening, once we had learned that Cohen would still have to remain in the hospital, Spencer chose to give him a fathers blessing.

My mom was scheduled to fly back home on Sunday. I asked her to stay a little longer, in which case she did, ultimately deciding not leave until Cohen was out of the hospital. Thankfully my oldest sister Celeste works for Jet Blue Airlines and was conveniently able to rebook my mom's flight, making it one less matter for either of us to deal with during that unpredictable time.

It seemed sort of strange being home from the hospital without Cohen. I managed to occupy my time though and keep my mind busy by chasing after or cleaning up after the boys, doing household chores and running errands. I made a trip or two to the mall to get a few more baby supplies or pieces of clothing. A couple of evenings we dined out together as a family; it helped distract us from the concern over Cohen's condition. Every day Cohen remained in the hospital, I would visit him in the NICU 2 or 3 times a day for 1 or 2 hours at a time. Spencer normally visited him every evening for an hour or so after he was done with work.

Originally I imagined that I'd get a lot of rest while Cohen was still in the hospital, but truth is I didn't. I was substituting time I would have been napping for trips to the hospital to visit with Cohen. I was literally "on the run" almost the entire time I was apart from him.

By Sunday, it looked like the Pneumothorax condition that Cohen had was no longer a threat or concern, but the doctor wanted to still keep him overnight until Monday to make sure that the infection he'd had was cured and his jaundice was gone. Cohen was still breathing pretty inconsistently too, so that was still a concern to keep an eye on.

Monday morning, we received an alarming phone call. Earlier that morning, Cohen's heart rate had been racing at 240 beats per minute for over an hour; Cohen was at risk for heart failure if his heart rate didn't return to normal between 100-160 beats per minute. The doctors and the nurses considered transporting Cohen to Utah Valley Medical Center's NICU, but chose not to move him once they saw his heart rate begin to slow down. Once it was stable, they took another x-ray of his chest cavity and found that he had another condition called pneumomediastinum ; when his lung collapsed from the pocket of air that had leaked from it, the pressure was so great it shifted both sets of lungs off to one side creating an air pocket above his heart, forcing intense pressure on his heart and causing it to beat much faster than usual. Fortunately in Cohen's case, the problem corrected itself and the pocket of air dissipated. It was with that phone call that I had finally reached my BREAKING POINT, and for about 30 minutes in the shower I was a HUGE mess of tears and snot. I cried and cried until I felt a sudden calmness come over me. I suddenly felt reassured that everything would be okay. I can't explain it as being anything other than but the Spirit that had comforted me. I got dressed in a hurry that morning and rushed off to visit Cohen in the hospital, leaving the boys behind with my mom.

Cohen had been doing much better by the time I arrived, but the nurses told me that they had to switch his formula overnight- apparently he had bloody mucus in his stools and he started to get really irritable and fuss a lot so they suctioned out curdled milk his stomach. The doctor determined that he was allergic to the regular Enfamil baby formula they'd been feeding him. They started to feed him a soy based baby formula; and meanwhile they continued to test all of his stools to make sure they weren't still bloody (once we finally were able to bring Cohen home from the hospital, I had the gross responsibility of testing his poop for the next 2 weeks to make sure blood didn't show up anymore- I'm happy to report none of his messy diapers ever tested positive for blood when I tested them so I was relived from that chore immediately thereafter).

Things started to look a little brighter after that. His heart rate never seemed to exceed the norm, his jaundice was gone, he was happier eating Soy based formula, the pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum were no long problems, he didn't have an infection any longer, and he didn't have TTN, but he was still breathing really FAST and really SLOW.

Cohen stayed in the hospital for a couple more days; the doctors wanted the nurses to keep a close watch and continue to monitor his breathing. It was still very inconsistent and it never seemed to reach a medium. Spencer and I continued to visit him in the NICU as often as possible, and because he was no longer under the biliruben lights, or have tubes shoved down his nose and throat, or have an IV in, we were actually able to hold and cuddle him.

By Tuesday, we were allowed to take him out of the NICU and into a side room to have guests come and meet him for the first time. My sister Trish came on two occasions, once just she and Victor came and the other time, all of Tricia's kids came for a visit. My mom visited Cohen a couple of times in the hospital, along with the boys, Noah and Ian. Both Spencer's parents came for visits,
along with his sisters Megan and Laura; and even one of my old college roommates, Sheena, along with her son and husband, swept by for a visit on their way out to Ohio. Cohen had a large crowd of people, consisting of family and friends, who were cheering him on, with hopes he'd get better and be released soon from the hospital.

By Thursday morning, June 26Th, a week after his birth, I received a call from Cohen's doctor stating that it finally looked like he would be discharged. Relief! We were so excited- but both Spencer and I were a bit nervous, because... he was going to discharged from the hospital, but... he'd have to come home wearing an apnea monitor, one that monitored his heart rate and his breathing. It would sound if his heart rate ever got too high or too low and it would also alarm if he ever stopped breathing, even if only for a short time, like he'd been doing, or if he ever started breathing way too fast! We actually had to receive instruction on how to use and operate the monitor that evening before we could bring him home from the hospital and we had to also receive instruction, pass and certify that same night in INFANT CPR. DID I MENTION THE 26th was also our 4 year wedding anniversary??? So romantic huh, watching CPR videos and breathing into dummies performing CPR... We never saw it coming, but in all honesty, it was a bit of treat getting to bring our son home the very same day we celebrated the start of our union in marriage.

The nurses were really quite sad to see Cohen leave. They'd really grown close to him- especially since he was the only baby that some of them had cared for in that week (babies that are in the NICU are cared for by just one nurse each shift-that one nurse is only responsible for one baby). We really liked all of the nurses who helped care for Cohen.

It was late once we got home from the hospital with Cohen, but the boys were still up waiting for his arrival. They smothered him with kisses before leaving his side to go to bed.

Cohen's alarm sounded twice that night- one time because he was breathing too slow, and once incidentally because one of the wires became unplugged. It really freaked me out when it sounded during the middle of the night- it's as high pitched as a fire alarm! He's worn the alarm for the past month and a half; the first few weeks he had to be plugged into the monitor ALL THE TIME, but more recently it's only in use for while he sleeps. He has to continue wearing it for another 2 weeks, and hopefully by after that we'll be able to take it off. It's strange sometimes to think to remember to plug him in at night before going to bed, but at the same time, I find it sort of comforting knowing he's being monitored, especially since, as with all infants, he's at risk for SIDS.

For the first month that Cohen was home, I had to take him into the doctors office to see his pediatrician every week! He's still been breathing fast, and breathes inconsistently , but otherwise he's healthy. At 5 weeks old, just two weeks ago, he weighed 9 pounds 13 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long.

He's a great sleeper and cries really only when his diaper is messy or when he's hungry.

Just over 10 years ago, I received my patriarchal blessing (for those people who don't know what one is, click here) and in it the patriarch commented a number of times about the children I would bear and how "special" they were and the "special challenges in life" they would be confronted with. I counted the number of times the patriarch used the word "special" in reference to my children and it was a total of 17 times! I figured either the patriarch just liked the word and had nothing better come to mind, or maybe he was suggesting my children would be born with special needs, possibly Downs, or something to that extent, but now in the short time that I've been a mother to my three boys, Noah, Ian & Cohen, I feel as if I understand better what he meant by using the phrase "special needs", possibly suggesting that they might require medical intervention at different points through out their life's to help them carry on- as has been the case with all my boys. My gratitude for the nurses and the doctors that have cared for our sons is tremendous. I'm thankful for their skill and their practice. Ever so more, I'm truly thankful to my Heavenly Father who has given mankind the knowledge to care for and heal the sick. I wish I could contribute to the medical world, for instance devote my life to finding a cure for cancer, but I'm afraid it isn't my field of expertise- I'm just a suburban housewife, remember?... maybe though, one day, with enough prompting and encouragement, one of my boys will decide to pursue an education in the medical field and become a doctor or a medical scientist... I can only hope so, so that he can repay my debt to the world of medicine.