Benjamin Isaac Stoklosa was born at 3:36pm on May 2nd, 2006....He was 5 weeks early, and weighed in at 3 lbs 1 ounce and he was born in a hospital...gasp :) Benjamin's pregnancy was somewhat difficult, but it is amazing how Heavenly Father prepares you. I have always been felt somewhat apprehensive during the first trimester, but with Benjamin it was even worse. I just knew that something wasn't right. I had a blessing by Joel and Grampa Burnfield. It said that we would have a healthy baby, but I knew that didn't mean that there might not be other problems. During my 18 week Ultrasound, the technican kept asking me about my dates, she kept going over and over them. They thought that I was a month less than I thought...but I knew my dates. When my midwife (Maysoon) went over the results with me, she told me that the ultrasound showed that the baby was small and that there were some calcified spots in the bladder. She explained this could be nothing (i.e. underdeveloped bladder, blood in bladder) or it could mean something more serious (i.e. down syndrome or cystic fybrosis). The hospital called us and asked us to have some genetic testing done, but we declined. I decided I would rather have a happy pregnancy and deal with any problems when the baby was born, then worry my whole pregnancy. We also talked this over with a friend (Paul Whitsitt) who felt the same way. He suggested we have an additional ultrasound in a few weeks to see if the calcified spots still showed. I had another ultrasound a month or so later, and the baby was still measuring small (between 3-5 weeks small for gestation). At that point there wasn't much to be done. I continued to have more frequent ultrasounds to check for the size of the baby. Everything else seemed to be fine (i.e heartbeat and movement). At 30 weeks I was transfered to an obstetrician....I had always said I would deliver in a hospital if I had to, but I guess I never thought it would come to that. I really liked Dr. Peters. She was very down to earth. She sent me for weekly ultrasounds and non-stress tests over the next month. She also felt it was important to get a second opinion from Mount Sinai (they specialize in high risk pregnancies). I went to see Dr. Ryan at Mount Sinai on a Friday. He did a ultrasound while I watched (there was a screen in front of me). After the ultrasound (and a very lengthy wait) he explained that it looked like baby was doing okay, for now. He said that he could see that the placenta was starting to break down and was concerned that if we waited for the baby to tell us that it was ready to be born, then it might be too late. He felt that baby could handle delivery at this point and suggested that I be induced as soon as possible. I took his report to Dr. Peters that afternoon and she scheduled me for an induction on the following Tuesday (May 2nd)....See what I mean about his pregnancy....I never got very big, and because he was so small I hardly ever felt him move. When he was born, he was healthy (just like the blessing said). He breathed on his own from the start. The big problem with Benjamin was that we had to wait for him to gain weight. It was hard to not be able to hold him as much as we wanted, but we knew that he wouldn't grow if he was stimulated too much. One of the nurses put it like this "our incubator is better than yours". I knew she meant well...but you still wonder what you did wrong. My placenta was sent away and the only answer of sorts that we got was that the umbilical cord was hypercoiled...and perhaps this lead to Benjamin being IUGR (Intra uterine growth restriction). Benjamin was in the hospital for 28 days. I would go to the hospital every day for 3 of his feedings. Usually I would go for the 9am and stay for the 12pm feed, go home and then come back after Hannah and Jonathan were in bed.
Benjamin is our "little peanut" or "Benjamini". Even after he came home it took him a very long time to grow. He was nursing, but not gaining...so his pediatrician told us he had to be supplemented on formula. At 6 months Benjamin gave up nursing....the bottle is much easier than the breast :( He looked like a new born for the first 6 months. I would try and hide him when we went to the store b/c I got tired of people asking how old he was and then having to give some kind of explanation for his size. I figured that he would crawl at 12 months and walk at 18 months...pretty good guess. He started crawling just before he turned one and he started walking when he was 17 months (he took his first steps at Valerie and Glen's cottage). He wasn't doing much talking before christmas (he would say a few words), but since christmas his vocabuarly has really increased.
Benjamin was a very calm and laid back baby. I thought he might stay that way, but lately he has started to be a bit of a "rascal". He used to wander all around the house, but never got into anything...now he wanders, but definitely gets into whatever he can (he made a mess with the flour on Saturday morning). Benjamin loves balls, he runs around at Jonathan's soccer and kicks the soccer balls. He wants to get on the field and play with the other kids. He also loves hockey. We have these mini hockey sticks that he loves to play with and shoot the puck. When ever there is music on he starts to dance. He also runs everwhere.....he hardly ever walks, perhaps that is why he is still small. He is burning a ton of extra calories b/c he runs everywhere. I love that Benjamin will still come and give me kisses, just because. He loves his baby sister (he can say Eden, but sometimes he gets confused and calls her Emma). He uses a high tone of voice when he is talking to her. It is adorable. He loves Jonathan (even though Jonathan sometimes uses him as his own personal punching bag) and has even started trying instigate the wrestling with Jonathan.
Benjamin is our "little peanut" or "Benjamini". Even after he came home it took him a very long time to grow. He was nursing, but not gaining...so his pediatrician told us he had to be supplemented on formula. At 6 months Benjamin gave up nursing....the bottle is much easier than the breast :( He looked like a new born for the first 6 months. I would try and hide him when we went to the store b/c I got tired of people asking how old he was and then having to give some kind of explanation for his size. I figured that he would crawl at 12 months and walk at 18 months...pretty good guess. He started crawling just before he turned one and he started walking when he was 17 months (he took his first steps at Valerie and Glen's cottage). He wasn't doing much talking before christmas (he would say a few words), but since christmas his vocabuarly has really increased.
Benjamin was a very calm and laid back baby. I thought he might stay that way, but lately he has started to be a bit of a "rascal". He used to wander all around the house, but never got into anything...now he wanders, but definitely gets into whatever he can (he made a mess with the flour on Saturday morning). Benjamin loves balls, he runs around at Jonathan's soccer and kicks the soccer balls. He wants to get on the field and play with the other kids. He also loves hockey. We have these mini hockey sticks that he loves to play with and shoot the puck. When ever there is music on he starts to dance. He also runs everwhere.....he hardly ever walks, perhaps that is why he is still small. He is burning a ton of extra calories b/c he runs everywhere. I love that Benjamin will still come and give me kisses, just because. He loves his baby sister (he can say Eden, but sometimes he gets confused and calls her Emma). He uses a high tone of voice when he is talking to her. It is adorable. He loves Jonathan (even though Jonathan sometimes uses him as his own personal punching bag) and has even started trying instigate the wrestling with Jonathan.
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