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When Monica Budd learned she was pregnant in 2011, she wanted to find a well-qualified female doctor to see her through her first pregnancy. A teacher in Converse County School District, she also wanted to stay close to home for delivery. For Budd, Dr. Deanne Engle seemed like the ideal doctor and after checking out Memorial Hospital of Converse County, Budd said she was pleased with the friendliness of staff and the medical resources available.

"When I first got pregnant, I really wanted a woman doctor," Budd said. "And I didn't want to travel on winter roads in Wyoming."

Her pregnancy went smoothly and on Feb. 20, 2012, she gave birth through a Caesarean section to a healthy baby girl, Heidi, who's now a busy 4-year-old. After her positive experience with Dr. Engle at Memorial Hospital, it was an easy decision to have her second child at Memorial Hospital as well. So, in 2013 she was back in Dr. Engle's office to start her second pregnancy journey.

While everything was progressing normally, during her 20-week ultrasound, everything changed. It was discovered that the baby had a rare birth defect called gastroschisis, which causes the baby's intestines to stick outside of the baby's body through a hole beside the belly button. For Budd, it was scary learning that her new baby would be facing surgery immediately following her birth. Though it was necessary for the baby to be born at Children's Hospital in Denver where the baby would be seen by specialists, Dr. Engle was still very involved in the remainder of Budd's pregnancy.

"I thought she [informed] me very professionally," Budd said. "She was very caring and kind. It was very overwhelming. Her whole staff was very helpful."

Dr. Engle's staff contacted Children's Hospital and coordinated visits and care plans for Budd and the baby. Throughout the remainder of the pregnancy, Dr. Engle continued to monitor the baby with weekly ultrasounds and provide Budd with prenatal care, despite the plan for the baby to be delivered at Children's Hospital. However, in case an emergency situation would require the staff to deliver the baby at Memorial Hospital, the staff took several steps to be prepared.

"They were preparing for our situation in case it turned out differently," Budd said. "They did a mock practice in case they needed to deliver the baby."

Fortunately, Budd's scheduled Caesarean at Children's Hospital in Denver went according to plan on Oct. 10, 2013. The baby, named Brooklynn, successfully underwent surgery within 12 hours of her birth to correct the gastroschisis and today she's a healthy 2-year-old.

Now pregnant with her third child, Budd said she felt more than comfortable returning to Dr. Engle for another pregnancy. While this pregnancy has gone relatively smoothly, Budd said knowing that the staff guided her through a difficult pregnancy with professionalism, expertise, caring and kindness has made her feel like she had well-qualified doctors and nurses at her side.

"I like the nursing staff, the OB staff, the doctor," Budd said. "They go above and beyond."

When Budd went in for her scheduled caesarean section on February 25, she expected everything to go smoothly. And while everything went according to plan for the delivery, once her son Krieger arrived in the world, he struggled to maintain his breathing and had low blood sugar levels.

"When they had concerns after he was stabilized, Dr. Engle called Denver," Budd said. "After the doctors talked, they thought it was best to send him to Denver as a precaution."

Krieger ended up having to be flown to Children's Hospital in Denver for more specialized care later in the day. Unfortunately, that also meant Budd had to stay in the hospital for recovery while her newborn was flown to Denver.

"The doctors and nurses were very comforting and caring during this time and were very good about keeping us in the know since I couldn't be there with him," Budd said. "They kept us all informed. They did as much as they could and were very proactive with his condition."

Krieger had to be in Denver for a just a few days and is now at home with his big sisters Heidi and Brooklynn.

We wish Monica and her family all the best and are glad we could help in the delivery of her everyday miracles!