Seton Baby Talk

At 2 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2008, I was awakened by sharp pains in my belly. I was 30 weeks and 6 days pregnant, so I thought it was just Braxton-Hicks contractions – false labor.

I had no real reason to believe otherwise. Because I have Type 2 diabetes, I was being closely monitored by my obstetrician as well as a maternal-fetal specialist. And a stress test performed just four days earlier showed that all was well with my pregnancy.

However, the contractions continued and I called my OB, Dr. Natasha Ikbal. She told me to come to the hospital. And it was a good thing because I was experiencing preterm labor.

I was admitted to Seton Medical Center Austin (SMCA), where physicians and staff worked to stop my contractions. Nothing worked, however, and later that day, at 7:58 p.m., my first son was born via emergency Cesarean section.

The whole thing happened so fast. We thought we had several more weeks before the baby came, but all of sudden, here he was. I had no time to prepare.

But one of my nurses – Linda – really helped me through it. She helped make the best of a bad circumstance.

My son, Robert Castillo III, weighed 3 pounds, 13 ounces, despite being two months premature. He was admitted to SMCA’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and placed on a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine. CPAP is used when an infant can breathe on his own but not effectively enough to keep the oxygen in his blood at an adequate level.

My husband, Robert Castillo Jr., myself and our new baby rang in 2009 in the NICU. The nurses tried to make it as “normal” for all of us as possible — they counted down to midnight and everything.

My baby remained in the NICU for a month. Thankfully, he only needed breathing assistance for the first few days, but encountered feeding issues, as many premature babies do.

It was so hard to leave him there. That was the hardest part. But I knew he was in a safe place and had the best nurses helping him. He was well taken care of.

The nurses in the NICU were all so compassionate. We couldn’t have made it without their support.

Today, Robert is thriving – he’s alert and quickly outgrowing his prematurity. And I’m back at work as a customer service representative at Seton Topfer Community Health Center.

I love working at Seton Topfer. Our patients are always grateful and appreciate us for what we do. And now I understand how they feel because my son and I received the best help and support from everyone during our stay at Seton Medical Center Austin.