Brock was born on June 11, 2005. He came two and a half weeks early and weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces. My pregnancy
was normal...puking, exhaustion, emotional, bloating, etc. My water broke at 2 am and we were off to the hospital. After some
major back labor, I pushed him out in about five minutes! Him and I slept away the rest of the day and night! Bright and early
the next morning, our pediatrician came for Brock's first check in. After asking some questions, Dr. Jerry Rubin did an exam.
After feeling his head and checking him out he handed my baby boy back to me. Then he wrote down a word, craniosynostosis.
Hearing this word and hearing what it meant for Brock was devastating. I didn't know how to handle it. Dr. Rubin told me that
his son had this same condition 25 years ago, and that he was a bright, handsome medical student right now. Even with his
insistance that everything would be fine, I was in shock and disbelief that something was wrong with my baby that I wouldn't
be able to fix.
After he left, I called Ken. He didn't really grasp what I was telling him. I then called my mom. She probably couldn't
understand a thing I was saying as I was crying so hard.
Hearing that your baby was not as perfect as you had imagined sends lots of feelings through you. Was it my fault? Could
I have done something different? Was it the water I drank, or the food I ate? Was it because I really stink at taking prenatal
vitamins? Most likely, none of these things caused Brock's birth defect, but, as a mom, you tend to overthink things and put
blame on your self and the things that are out of your control.
The diagnosis started the three months of worry that I would embark on. Although scary, I am so glad that the diagnosis
was early. Thank goodness it was Dr. Rubin on call that morning!
