The Arrival

After months of waiting, the day had finally come. Michelle was scheduled to be induced on July 8th, her 39th week of pregnancy, and we were going to welcome little Owen into the world. Because this was her first pregnancy, they wanted her to come in on Monday night to start the induction with the hopes of Owen arriving during the day on Tuesday when all the doctors and teams were ready for him.

We arrived at UC hospital at 8:00 pm on Monday, July 7. The mix of emotions we were feeling are hard to describe, but we were overly excited to meet Owen for the first time. We were shown to our room and got situated. The induction process began around midnight. Despite the constant noises and checking of nurses, we were able to get a little rest to be ready for the next day.

Tuesday started smoothly as the induction process continued. Michelle showed her toughness and strength early and often. Around 11 am, there was concern about Owen's heart rate during Michelle's contractions and the doctors felt that a C section would be likely. They did not want to put too much stress on little Owen and his heart. They were monitoring it closely to see how he responded and would let us know. Owen then started to show his true colors. His heart rate steadied through the contractions and the doctors slowly started to think he would be fine for the natural birth.

Around 6pm, Michelle was complete and Owen was ready for his arrival. They had Michelle sit up in hopes of gravity helping him move down as far as possible before she started pushing. It was about this time that Michelle really started to feel the contractions and started to have some pain.

I have never felt so hopeless, and yet, so proud at the same time. Michelle was clearly in pain and getting worse, but she was so strong and so tough. A little after 7, it started to get even worse. The epidural was not doing the trick, but Owen was so close, that they didn't want to increase her dosage so she would still be able to push. She started to do some preliminary pushing and was doing so well, but she was in visible pain. I wanted so bad to help her, but there wasn't much I could do. They were able to give her a different anesthesia that helped a little, but she was at the point where she had to give it her all and push Owen out.

Michelle fought and pushed and at 9:00 PM on July 8, 2014, Owen Mark Fagel entered the world at 7 pounds 12 Ounces. The beautiful little warrior came out and was immediately stabilized by the team. It was absolutely amazing to finally see him. We knew we probably wouldn't be able to spend much time with him, but just the sight of him was enough. Then our first dream came true. He was well enough that Michelle was able to hold him.

This is a moment that we will never forget. To see my warrior wife get to hold my little warrior son, when completely unexpected was one of the greatest moments I have ever experienced. Owen was able to stay in his Mother's arms for a few sweet minutes before the took him away to the NICU to prep him for transfer to the cardiac NICU at Cincinnati Children's. That is when we got more good news. The transport team was going to bring Owen by before the left so we could see him and we were allowed to have our family back in the room to see him as well.

Our wonderful family had been waiting at the hospital for hours and hours. There was no guarantee that they would even get to see Owen, but they were all there supporting us. I can't explain how lucky we are to have such wonderful people in our lives who love and support us and were willing to sit through hours of boredom just to be there for us. The fact that they were all going to be able to see him, even if it was through a plastic transport unit, felt like the best gift we could give them.

They were all so excited to come back and see Michelle, and eventually Owen. We helped Michelle bounce back after her heroic effort anyway we could. I still can't believe her strength and determination through it all. Everybody jumped at the sound of doors opening even though people were coming in and out all the time. We just couldn't wait to see him again.

And then he was back ....

And if having him back in the room with all our family to see him wasn't enough, we were given another great surprise. The lead member of the transport team (who, if you read the first post will get the meaning, was wearing a little bee on her uniform), said that Owen was doing so well and was so stable, that they could take him out and let us hold him for a little while again. It was overwhelming.

Owen was so happy to be with his Mom and his family. He opened his eyes and looked at us and all his family. He was absolutely precious. I don't remember how long we were allowed to have him out, but every second felt like the greatest moment of our lives. We knew they would have to take him away, but the transport team allowed us all the time possible. It was tough to see him go, but we cherished the time we had with him. 

They secured him back in his transport and took him via ambulance around 10:30/11 pm. Our little warrior was already showing how brave he is.

I stayed with Michelle as she was transferred to her recovery room around 2am. Michelle showed how tough she was when she had already started walking and telling the doctors that she would be fine to get a pass the next day to go see Owen at Children's. We would be up at Children's to see him bright and early.

It was an unbelievable experience and we feel so blessed to have Owen in our lives. I can't say enough about the strength and bravery that Michelle showed through it all. Owen is definitely a mama's boy already.

We were also so lucky to have unbelievable help and support from the nurses, doctors, and staff at the UC labor and maternity center. Everyone was so helpful and made being there as comfortable and easy as can be. We couldn't have asked for better care than we received.

I am not sure Owen's first day could have gone any better given the circumstances. He is already fighting and doing better than expected. There is a long way to go, but with all the love, support and prayers that Owen has received, he will be prepared to handle it all.

- We also wanted to say thank you to everyone who read, commented, and shared our blog. It was truly overwhelming to see how many people were interested and cared about our little warrior. It meant so much to us to receive such support. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Journey Begins

This is the story of Owen, our little warrior. When my wife, Michelle, and I found out that we were having a boy in early March 2014, it was met with pure excitement. We were going to have a son! Our biggest concern turned to what we should name our baby boy. Everything was going smoothly and we didn't blink when our doctor told us everything looked good in the 20 week ultrasound, but they couldn't get a clear view of all 4 chambers of his heart yet, so we should come back in a couple weeks for a level 2 ultrasound. He wasn't that concerned, and as a result, neither were we. So, it was time to pick a name. We threw names out for about an hour and came up with 2 or 3 that we both liked. There wasn't a rush and we figured we would take our time and see if any of those names would stand out. A few days later, we talked again and both said that we had a favorite, and of course our favorites were the same. But, it was early. There was no need to decide until he was born.

Two weeks later, we returned for the follow up ultrasound. As the ultrasound went on, we both could feel something was wrong. The technician wasn't talking like normal and at one point left the room to go ask someone a question. When she returned, she was followed by two doctors who had been watching the ultrasound in another room.

The doctor quickly informed us that they were seeing a significant heart defect. The words hit like a sledgehammer.

How could this be? We were both healthy. We had done everything right. Everything had looked good on the previous ultrasounds.

Then she continued "It also appears that some of his other organs aren't in the right place."

We had no idea what any of this meant, other than it wasn't good. The doctor informed us that we would need to see the cardiologists, as well as some other surgeons, at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. We would need to work with a specialty OBGYN going forward and would need a number of tests to find out just what exactly was going on.

This was without a doubt the worst day of our lives. The next few days weren't any better. We were completely helpless. We are extremely blessed to have unbelievable support from our family and friends just to let us know they are here for us and our baby. We have truly been moved by the outpouring of love and cannot express our gratitude enough for this.

We went to Children's two days later for a fetal echo, which got an up close view of the baby's heart. They walked us back into the room and the first thing I saw brought me to tears. It did the same for Michelle. An inspirational painting was hanging in the room and the character in it had the name we had both determined to be our favorite. The painting was named "Owen with a Bee on his Nose" and read "With all the love in his heart Owen can support the world." It spoke about how love can overcome obstacles and we should not let little things like a bee on your nose distract you from what is important in life. This had to be a sign. We knew from that moment that our son would be named Owen.

Owen is said to mean "young warrior" and we knew that is exactly what he is going to be. During our appointment, the cardiologist at Children's diagnosed Owen with something called Heterotaxy Syndrome. The basics of Heterotaxy are that some organs don't form in the right place and there is a significant heart defect. Owen's heart is flipped and pointing to the right (normally points left), the liver is in the middle (usually on the right), and his stomach is behind the liver and partially herniated through the diaphragm.  The main concern is with Owen's heart. There were a number of issues that they could identify from the echo and we were told that it would likely take multiple surgeries to correct.

The chances of having a baby with Heterotaxy syndrome are 4 in 1 million. The cause is still unknown. The next week we met with a team of surgeons, doctors, and nurses to discuss the plan going forward. Michelle had an MRI to get a better look at the rest of Owen's anatomy, and the medical team went over a number of scenarios that might occur after Owen is born. They were unable to provide any definitive information until Owen comes out and they can evaluate and test him. The team informed us that Owen will need to be transferred right away to Children's after he arrives and immediately undergo an Echo on his heart and an MRI on his anatomy.

We have been making frequent trips to the doctor since late April to monitor Owen's growth and activity. He has been doing well moving around and growing. The doctors have decided that it would be best to induce at 39 weeks and the induction is scheduled for Tuesday, July 8th. We know that we have quite a journey ahead, but we can't wait for our little warrior to come and to see his face for the first time. Michelle has been an unbelievable beacon of strength dealing with these issues, being monitored twice a week, and dealing with the normal issues of pregnancy. If Owen is as brave and as strong as his mother, he will be ready for anything.

We will update this blog regularly on the happenings and progress along our journey when Owen arrives in just over two weeks. We greatly appreciate all the thoughts, supports, and prayers for us and our special baby boy, Owen the Little Warrior.