We found out we were pregnant on July 11, 2008! We were due March 9th, 2009. We had a high-risk pregnancy but the doctors kept saying everything is fine..the baby looks great! We found out we were having a boy on October 20th, 2008. We decided to name him Gavin Edward Gregory after my husband’s grandfather who has passed. December 10th, 2008 I fell in the bathroom and went to the hospital to find out I was having strong enough contractions to start labor. The doctor gave me three rounds of shots to stop the labor called terbutaline. A couple hours later we went home. February 14th, 2009 I was back in the hospital having contractions. The doctor said they were not active enough to start labor so they sent me home. We could already tell our baby boy was going to be stubborn! On March 3rd, 2009 we went in for a check-up. The doctor registered us to be induced on March 6th, 2009, which was cool because his birthday would be 3/6/9. As that morning came I became very nervous and scared and started wondering if I was ready for this. As we spent the entire day in the hospital I kept wondering if this was ever going to happen. The doctor finally broke my water at 6:00 pm. At 3:00 am the doctor said we were ready to start pushing. Our miracle was born at 3:41 am on March 7th, 2009. He was 8lbs 8oz and 20in long! He was perfect in everyway!

The first two weeks we had to go back and fourth to the pediatrician because Gavin wasn’t gaining weight well enough. Within the next couple of weeks my mother and my husband’s grandmother kept telling us Gavin’s head didn’t look right. All I thought was if something wasn’t right why wouldn’t the pediatrician have said something to us earlier. Well approaching Gavin’s one-month well check I started to notice the back of his head was not taking its place like it should. My husband told me to ask the pediatrician at his well check. The morning of his appointment I was ready to find out if something was wrong. When the pediatrician walked in we asked what she thought. She looked and felt his head then said she would be right back and walked out of the room. When she walked back into the room she handed us a referral for the pediatric neurosurgery at the Medical University of South Carolina to have a C.T. scan done. She told us to go straight to MUSC, that they were waiting on us. The entire drive down to the hospital I was terrified. Thought that I should have listened to our family and not waited, that this was my fault. They did a C.T scan and all I could do was cry as I watched our one-month-old baby being strapped down and there was nothing I could do. The nurse said the neurosurgeon would contact us with the results. As we waited that day and the next I finally got the call from the nurse. Her name was Christina. She told me that Gavin’s C.T. scan came back and he was diagnosed with sagittal Craniosynostosis. All I could do was cry and try to understand what it was. As I got off the phone with her I called my husband and told him. I remember sitting in the living room as our son was asleep in tears, I couldn’t do anything else. I called my mother and she came right over. We searched to find out what craniosynostosis was to try to answer our questions. We had to wait about a week for our appointment with our doctor who was Dr. Steven Glazier. That was possibly the longest week of our life. Finally the day came and we headed to the hospital. Dr. Glazier sat us down and went over what Sagittal Craniosynostosis was and how it is the fusion of the sagittal suture, which runs from the front soft spot to the back soft spot. He gave us two options, one was to have the surgery, which would involve removing a small section of bone in the skull and having coil springs put in to hold the skull open so that new bone could form and allow the skull to assume a normal shape. The other option was to not have surgery. As we sat there we knew this doctor knew what he was talking about and we should go ahead with the surgery. He said we would have to wait till Gavin was 3 months old to make sure his body could handle it and for his skull to strengthen. The nurse then took us into another room to have his head scanned.

Now the fun part was waiting two months. Finally a couple days before surgery the hospital called to give us a time and some instructions to follow. We had to be at the hospital at 6am to do paperwork and his surgery was at 8am. Dr. Glazier was doing 6 babies that day and we were the last one to go. As we waited for Gavin to be called back my husband and his dad went to get something to drink. While I should have known, this would be the time they would call us to go back. I took Gavin back waiting for my family to show up and for my husband to come back. The next 30 minutes went by slow. Doctors came in and prepped Gavin and I sat there trying not to cry, but I was terrified. My mom and sister came back and gave him a hug. Then it was time for Gavin to go back to surgery and I still had not found my husband. I had no more time and had to give our baby boy to the nurse. I stood there feeling so alone as I watched our baby leave. Then finally my husband came back. We left and headed back to the waiting room where our entire families were. The next three hours seemed like an eternity. Finally they called us back telling us Gavin was fine and in a room ready for us. As we made our way to his room the feeling of over excitement came through me. Seeing our baby with his head wrapped up scared me but he was there just smiling like he never went through surgery. Dr. Glazier came up to see us and to let us know everything went great. We had to stay in the hospital overnight while Gavin recovered and so that he could be monitored. He did great! The next day another doctor came to size and fit Gavin for a soft padded protective helmet and explained how he had to wear it for the next six months. The helmet was to be worn in a vehicle and when around other children that posed a potential for injury to his healing head. We saw a dramatic change in the shape of Gavin’s head right after surgery. We were very pleased. The next six months flew by and everyday the shape of Gavin’s head formed to what looked to be a normal-shaped head.

Six months later it was time for Gavin’s second surgery, which happened to be five days before Christmas. I guess you could say it was our Christmas present! This surgery did not require us to stay in the hospital. It only took about one hour and we could leave as soon as Gavin recovered from the anesthesia. Gavin did great with this surgery to expect for slight respiratory troubles after being extubated. After a two nebulizer treatments he was doing much better, and an hour or two later we were on our way home and ready to celebrate how thankful we were to have our son and that he was doing well!

At Gavin’s two-year post op Dr. Glazier was still pleased with his head and how it formed! He has had no set backs especially in the area of speech! We are truly blessed for finding Dr. Glazier and his team. He saved our baby boy and helped make him who he is today!