Benjamin Joseph Lowery

Here's how it all went down:

Wednesday morning we dropped off Phillip and Sarah at school then dropped off Ruth, Paul and Mary at our friend Christina Duran's house.  Russell and I got prepped at the hospital and Lila Nevins came to watch all the kids at the Duran's so that Christina could come watch the birth.  I remembered from Ruth's delivery that after she was born she had to go straight to the NICU, so I sent Russell with her and I was left all alone to recover from surgery with no way to know what was going on with the baby!  Same thing happened with Ben, so Christina was able to help keep me company, read me scripture, take pictures immediately after birth and pray with us before we went in.  She also got to share our excitement at that amazing moment of the birth of a new life on this earth.  A miracle - no matter which way a baby is delivered.

So then the hospital stay began.  I began pumping to start my milk supply and by Thursday morning I was up and around and eventually able to walk down to the NICU on my own.  I had an IV in the bend of my arm which made it really difficult to try nursing Ben.  I think my first attempt was Friday morning and he was able to latch on and suck for about 5 minuets.  This was very encouraging.  I tried to make it  down for as many feedings as possible, also trying to pump, eat meals, get my pain meds, and rest a little in between.  My Dr. would have discharged me Friday afternoon, but we didn't think Ben would be released to go home on Friday, so I opted to stay until Saturday.  Meanwhile, Ben was getting his platelets checked - they were 90k at birth, 97k on Thurs. and Friday, and 94k on Sat.  Healthy babies have platelet counts of at least 150k, but 90 was a lot better than Sarah's (under 10) and Ruth's (under 20).  He also got two echo-cardiograms and monitoring for biliruben -- we're following up with his Dr. tomorrow for the jaundice and the cardiologist in a month, but he didn't find anything concerning.

yes, I really looked that good! It had been a LONG night!

Daddy holding Ben in NICU on Friday

On Friday afternoon we got the go-ahead from the pediatric cardiologist and the NICU Dr. to discharge Ben!  However, I was already thinking we would stay until Sat., and I'd been moved to a private room (YES!), and I was appreciating the nurses support and assistance is trying to get Ben to nurse.  I wasn't quite ready to fly solo!

Saturday, Daddy, Ruth and Mary came to take us home.

The kids loved having Ben home!  He's a very sleepy boy and most of the time I have to wake him up to feed him.

***Breastfeeding info -- skip to the pics if you're not interested***  Right now I'm trying to get him to latch on at each feeding.  He's a good rooter and will sometimes latch on, but he doesn't do more than a couple sucks, looses interest, and goes back to sleep!  So then I feed him a bottle of what I've pumped (right now I'm just producing enough to keep up with each feeding).  Then I pump for about 30 min.  The whole process takes about 90 minuets from start to finish, which only leaves me 90 minuets to sleep, shower, eat, etc. until the whole process starts over again!  Exhausting!  So getting him breastfeeding, and quickly, is a huge priority.  I'll be contacting lactation support first thing Monday morning.  Any readers with good ideas here feel free to chime in.  ***ok, breastfeeding discussion over***

We like to name our kids after Biblical heroes of faith - men and women who are remembered for particular demonstrations of God's grace and providence.  We don't know much about the Benjamin of the Bible in this regard however, there is a Ben in our life who has been used by God.  When Russell was first made aware of his salvation the first Christian man he met was Mr. Ben Klafkee.  Ben invited Russell to a men's Bible study, took time to explain the scriptures to him and encouraged him in godliness.  Ben and his wife Trudy also took Russell to church with them every Sunday and had him over for lunch afterwards.  Ben loves God and let it overflow in word and deed in Russell's life.

We chose Joseph as a middle name because of the testimony of scripture in Genesis 50:20 where Joseph declares to his brothers: "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."  Many (most?) in the world today see Down syndrome as an evil that should be avoided or destroyed.  But we know that God rules sovereignly over all His creation, works all things for His glory and the good of those who love Him, and is not bound by our earthly views of evil, pain or disability.