Women's Pavilion at College Station Medical Center
College Station neonatal care unit welcomes 100th baby
By JIM BUTLER
Eagle Staff Writer
Texas State Trooper Gordon Schneider spends most of his time in a car, so he can appreciate not having to drive two hours or more to see his newborn son, Mason John.
Their baby - born to Schneider's wife, Krystal, on Sept. 14 - became the 100th infant in College Station Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which welcomed its first patient Dec. 24, 2005.
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Krystal and Gordon Schneider with their son, Mason John, at the College Station Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Mason John was born about a month early, but is doing fine. |
"There is so much stress in the first place," Gordon Schneider said. "It's such a relief not to have to drive to Houston or Dallas to be with our son."
Before the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit opened, most babies needing special care would have been shipped to Houston, Austin or Temple, said Dr. Craig Steiner, medical director of the unit.
"We're fully staffed 24 hours, and I live six minutes from here," Steiner said. "So when an obstetrician notifies us that a mother is having problems with a delivery, we're right there."
The total of 100 includes 10 babies born at St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan, Steiner said.
Krystal Schneider was scheduled to have the baby by Caesarean section in mid-October. But on Sept. 14, she started bleeding.
"I called Gordon and told him I was going to the hospital," she said. "A neighbor drove me, and by the time we got to Rock Prairie Road, we had a police escort with sirens. Gordon met me at the hospital in full uniform."
Within an hour, Mason John came into the world weighing 3 pounds, 13 ounces.
"The smallest we've had is 2 pounds," Steiner said.
Mason John probably has another three to four weeks in the unit, Steiner said.
"Normally, the earlier they are born, the longer they stay. They can usually go home around what would have been their birth date at 36 weeks," Steiner said.
The baby is doing fine, Gordon Schneider said. "I can't say enough good things about the staff. They have done everything to help us. We get to hold the baby and touch him. He is getting great care."
Oscar and Bernice Lay, Gordon's Schneider's parents, had driven the 50 miles from Lexington to see their first grandbaby.
"I'm glad we didn't have to drive to Houston or Dallas," Oscar Lay said.
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