BEN'S STORY: Episode 1 - A Difficult Entry Into the World

Send us Fan Mail A baby can arrive and split your life into a before and after. When Steve Wellings and his wife Marie move to Seattle for a military posting, they imagine a simple path: work, a home in the burbs, footy, and a couple of kids. Their first daughter Elizabeth is born by planned caesarean and that first year feels like bliss. Then Ben’s birth turns into a crisis that still echoes decades later. Steve takes us through the harrowing detail of a VBAC attempt that should have escalated sooner, an induction that drags on, a ripping sensation that’s later understood as uterine rupture, and a fetal heart rate that plunges into danger territory. Ben is born in severe distress, rushed to Seattle Children’s, and the family is suddenly learning a new language of neonatal ICU care. We unpack HIE (hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy), what it means when the brain is starved of oxygen, and the gut-punch uncertainty of hearing “we don’t know” even from top paediatric neurologists reading an EEG. We also talk about what happens after the diagnosis: feeding and medication support, nasogastric and jejunal tubes, the practical skills parents are expected to master, and the way trauma can create lifelong hypervigilance. Steve shares why they considered legal action, what the real barriers look like in medical malpractice, and why returning home to Australia mattered for support and services. If you’re a parent navigating disability, cerebral palsy risk, HIE, or birth trauma, this conversation gives you language, context, and permission to trust your instincts. Subscribe, share this with another parent who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find these stories. danabaltutis.com,  mytherapyhouse.com.au, https://mytherapyhouse.com.au/your-childs-therapy-journey/ https://www.danabaltutis.com/services