Ben Gibson Family

A New Way of Life

2010-11-11T08:12:00.001-08:00

July 17th, 2010 was a big day for our family and one that has changed our lives forever.

Our family was excitedly waiting for the new addition to our family. Our little boy, whom we had decided to name Owen Kimball Gibson, was going to be making his appearance that day. Emma was taken to our friends so Ben and I could enter the hospital to start the birthing process.

The day went by with my mom, Ben and our friend Brandie at the hospital all waiting for the big event. We laughed, waited, they ate lunch, I ate nothing, we talked, watched TV, I tried to breath through contraction and then finally I gave in and had my epidural.

My progression was going slow until the last check when my Dr. said I had dilated very quickly to a 10. At that point it was apparent that Owen was having troubles. As he progressed his heart rate was going down. Owen either needed to come out quick or a crash cesarean was necessary. With a push, one suction from the Dr. and another push Owen was out. What was the 4 of us, the nurse and my Dr (a total of 6 in the room) quickly turned in to what seem like 25 people. Ben got 3 sec. to cut his cord and Dr. Hardy was moving Owen to all those waiting for him. It was at the moment that I heard by baby give a small cry.

Owen was having trouble breathing. They needed to give him CPR and to quickly intubate him. There was a problem, he could not be done easily. In fact, they could not do it and had to use a tool called a LMA. As this was happening I was getting reports for Dr. Hardy, my mom, Brandie and Ben. I was left on the bed due to the epidural. I was told that Owen had a 6th toe on his left foot. I was repeated told Owen was breathing. I was also comforted by being told that he's ok There appeared to be something wrong but no one knew what. They knew that he needed to get down to Sacred Heart NICU. Because of his airway obstruction they wanted the Medstar Crew to transport him. We was taken from my room into the nursery and he was looked over there until Medstar came. A comfort for me was that my mom, friend and husband could go and see what was happening. Also, Ben and Dr. Hardy were able to go and give Owen a blessing. I knew he needed it!

Owen was finally taken to Sacred Heart and Ben followed. What started out with breathing problems, low tone, an extra toe, and a large fontanel (soft spot)turned into 10 things. 10 things then turned into 15 things. The list of Owen's problems became larger and at 1:30am I (by myself) got the call from the NICU Dr that told me I was in the ride of my life.

The start of Owen's life proved to be a mystery. Dr.'s speculated about his overall condition (Trisomy 13, 18. We were told that Owen's condition was more then likely a condition that was not compatible to life or he would be a person that we, his parents, would have to dress, feed, change his pants, etc. for the rest of his life. Tests were ran and not until we got back his full genetic test did we know that Owen has a rare chromosome deletion in the 5-Q. This has no name and no other person with a documented case.

Owen spent 53 days in the NICU. While there he had tracheostomy surgery (he has Pierre Robin sequence which caused his breathing issue), and surgery for a g-tube, fondoplication and a hernia.

Once out of the NICU we came home to a house of of "extra's". There were extra people (nurses and respiratory)and there were extra supplies. We struggled at first with all of this and Owen did for sure. After 4 days of being home Ben and I were rushing him to the ER. The was struggling and we needed help.

Taking him the ER proved to the best thing. Owen was admitted into the PICU and spent 15 days there. While in the PICU Dr.'s determined that Owen needed more support with his breathing. He could breath but he would breath very shallow. This would not help him oxygenate his blood and therefore his CO2 numbers were rising. Getting one more "thing" was necessary and so when we left the PICU a vent came too.

2 days home from the PICU and once again we experienced trauma. Owen was turing blue and it was decided to do a trach change. While changing the trach I noticed blood. 911 was called and we went to the ER. The ride to the ER was nothing and it was decided that the blood was from irritation and not from his lungs. We went home.

Owen has been home now from the hospital for 6 weeks and he has been doing well. We have minor things happen but overall the tone is good. We enjoy having him at home. We try to take him for walks (he has a lot of equipment so it takes time to get him ready), we have Dr. appointments to go to, and we have family time. We are learning what it means to have a child with special needs. Our family is still the same family we were before Owen's birth- just now we are learning what it means to be a family with Owen in it.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

Emma was not the 1st to get up this morning and in fact she had to be prompted to get out of bed to see if Santa had come. She is our late sleeper! Needless to say, when she did get up she was ready for what Santa had brought.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

It was a must to go through our check list so we did not leave anything out before Emma went to bed.

1. New PJ's on
2. Santa's cookies finished
3. Read Christmas Story
4. Reindeer food out
5. Check on Santa's progress with NORAD
6. In bed!

Emma was ready for Santa!

Let it Snow!

2008-12-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

When the song says, "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!" They really mean it here in Spokane. We have already gotten close to 2 feet of snow (feels more like 5 feet) and they are predicting another 5-9 inches by Christmas. I love to see the white pureness but driving in it is another story. Needless to say we have done fine having the 4-wheel. So many people grumbled about having a 4-wheel when the gas prices soared, now they say, "thank goodness!"

Family Pictures

2008-12-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

Our family recently had our pictures taken. Emma is almost 5 years old and we have never had family pictures taken. It was time to do so. It was so much fun! You can see she loved it!

New Swimming Lessons

2008-07-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Emma started a new week of swimming lessons- this time without mom! She is loving it! Tonight we get ready to see an old friend from Wyoming who flew in from CA to see some family in ID. We are excited to catch up and for her to meet Emma. Have a great day everyone!

Maren

Enjoying the day!

2008-06-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Just a quick note to let you know how much we are enjoying our Saturday. It's great to have a beautiful day where we can lay around, catch some sun, and enjoy the great weather. Ben is loving his day off (since we mowed yesterday). Emma is over at the neighbors playing with their water slide. Ben, remembering his childhood, decided to get out the tarp and have a go with it as a slip n' slide. The kids ran over- played for a while- and went back to the other slide. Nice try!

Anyway, gotta run!

Maren

Backyard Fun!

2008-06-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

The day was not so hot but before you knew it the kids (mine plus the neighbors) were out in the pool(you can see our above ground pool behaind Emma in the almost last picture). THEN- "grammy" from next door (that's grandma for the neighbor kids) brought home a slide pool. The kids went crazy having fun!

The guy in the pictures is not Ben but our neighbor Aaron. The little boy was not hurt in this stunt- that's Ethan and he loves to be crazy fun!

Swimming Lessons

2008-06-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have no pictures to show you because this session of swimming lessons is "parent and child". I decided to put Emma into this class because she has had this fear of the water that I can not explain. Sure enough the first couple of lessons we had "freak out" times. Today, however, was a completely different situation. There are only 2 kids in this class and the little boy was gone. Emma received a personal lesson from her life guard (whom she loves). Anyway, Alisa took her and worked with her and there were not problems. Emma listened, followed instructions, attempted the skills being taught and even put her whole head under the water!!! I said, "that's it! Mom has to come out of the class and Emma has to have goals set (it was at the end of class were I had said goal setting was important and Alisa showed Emma the skill of putting her head under water and set it as the goal for tomorrow. Emma promptly put her whole head under water). I'll get pictures up as soon as I can get out the the water to take them.

Maren

Summer is here!

2008-06-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

Summer has finally come to the great Northwest. This is my second year for a garden at our new house and once again I will be gone while Ben and any other animal gets to enjoy it. Emma loves running through the garden, climbing the fence and running around our back yard.

Summer for us also means Emma's birthday. She just turned 4! She loved her Littlest Petshop birthday cake.

Emma's last days at school

2008-06-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

Emma experienced her last days at school this year. She celebrated her birthday with all her friends and has a great time having her picture taken. She is a natural around the camera! She loved preschool and will miss all her friends that will be moving on to Kindergarten. Although Emma is not old enough to go to kindergarten (she is smart enough) she will have a great time returning to preschool.