Our little bundle of joy!

Alessia Evelyn
August 18th, 2011 at 6:42pm
(32 weeks and 3 days)
3lbs 11oz and 17in long

So after being in the hospital for a week with a leak in my amniotic sac, on my 8th day there (Wednesday) I started to feel contractions come and go, off and on sporadically around 5pm. As the night progressed, they were starting to become a bit more frequent and uncomfortable so around 11pm or so I was put on the NST to monitor them. Everything looked fine, but around 1am I was put back on, and they started showing up every 5 minutes or so. An hour later, the resident OB on came down to look at my NST and they decided to do a speculum exam on me. It showed that my cervix was still closed and I was only 1cm, not dilating. So they decided to give me a shot of gravol + morphine together in the bum, so that the pain of the contractions would go away and so that I could also get some sleep, trying to keep baby in there as long as was possible. Woke up the next morning (Thursday), barely feeling any contractions and tried to still sleep through the morning to catch up on rest. Once 1pm hit, the contractions were coming back a lot more quickly, and by 4pm I was having them every 3 minutes, and they were definitely intense. The resident OB came down and told me that with them being so close and intense they were just going to bring me straight up to triage. Once there, I was hooked up to the NST, still getting them every 2-3 minutes now and they did a speculum which was only showing me at 1cm, so they decided that an internal was needed which showed that I was already 4cm dilated. Because she was breech and a preemie, they immediately started getting everything ready for a c-section. Talked to me about the procedure, got my iv's in, got me to drink the yucky drink that helps settle your stomach, got me in my gown, got Matthew all suited up and then they took me into the operating room. Once there, the anesthesiologist performed his magic, and the contractions were instantly gone, and I instantly felt the freezing and numbness as I was laid back. The entire time the c-section was happening, the anesthesiologist was talking to me the whole time, making sure that I was good and letting me know what was going on and what was about to happen. Before I knew it I was already cut open, Matthew came out to be by my side, and they had pulled her out, and I heard her little cry! She came out crying and breathing on her own at 32 weeks and 3 days, at 6:42pm. Matthew went over to be with her and they went down to NICU to get her all stabilized and weighed and all of that. Once they were done on me (yay for no staples, and only stitches!) I was sent to recovery for an hour and then to my postpartum room. Because they were still doing tests on her and because I still had no feeling, I wasn't able to see her right away, except for pictures that Matthew took for me and all of that. But he let me know that she was doing really good, and breathing really well, only needing cpap on her to make sure that her lungs were staying open as she breathed. After finally getting some feeling back in my legs, I was able to get up to the bathroom, walk down the hall a bit, and into the wheelchair to see her! As of today at 6am she was off of everything, and breathing all on her own, doing really, really well. When I went in around 1 with my mom, the head doctor there asked me if they had gotten my dates mixed up, and if my periods were regular. Because according to him and his team, she was making the progress of a 35 week old. Based upon everything she was doing herself (breathing, sucking on her soother on her own, and sucking/eating my breast milk from her soother or the bottle) and all of her scores, they classified her more as a 35 week old. He told us that if the dates were all right, then she is just coming from really strong genetics, which they have seen from time to time. It made me THRILLED to hear that and to see just how well she is doing! I've been double pumping every 3 hours, for 10 minutes each time and getting tons of colostrum for her! We were also able to do kangaroo time tonight, which was amazing, getting to hold her skin to skin for the first time! And I also got to feed through the bottle while I was there, as well as have her latch on to my nipple a couple of times. Matteo also got to see her today, saying "baby!" and "acesseea", and decided to say hello to her by banging on the glass of her incubator and making her jump! haha All in all, she is doing remarkably well and we are so happy to have her in our lives!