XP: Seamus has arrived...

carmanb · September 2010

Oh my goodness. I don't even know where to begin. Everything's going 100 miles per hour right now, and I feel so helpless.

My water broke on Sunday morning, right after I finished making omelettes for my brother and my son's father. I called my doctor, rushed to the hospital, and was told I was 4cm dialated and 90% effaced, so there was no stopping Seamus from coming. I was 22w 6d. I was given the choice between staying at the hospital I was at, delivering, and receiving "comfort care" or being transferred to the hospital with the best NICU in the area, so that they could evaluate him when he was born and see how things went. I decided to be transferred.

At 9:55pm, 13 hours and 10 minutes after my water broke, Seamus was born. He took breaths on his own, so they were able to get him on a ventilator. I was able to hear one small cry. He was 1 pound, 3 ounces (or 550 grams), and he's still hanging in there. It's going to be a long road, and an especially rough couple of weeks coming up.

They've determined that the most likely reason for my water breaking is that I tested positive for Group B Strep, and it most likely infected my membranes. They don't normally test for it until later in pregnancy, but because I was in labor so early, they gave me antibiotics immediately to help prevent the Strep from having any additional negative effects.

For now, I pump, sleep, eat, and spend as much time with my precious little boy as I can. He truly is amazing, and he's such a fighter.