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SWMcFarland · October 2010

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morganore · October 2010

My daughter was born Monday July 5 at 8:36 pm, 1 lb 13 oz, 12.5 in long. She was 28 weeks and 6 days gestational age. My pregnancy was a long tough road but she's one tough girl and she's here now, and will be growing much better outside of me. Here is my story:

Last year when my husband and I decided to try and get pregnant, we decided to do it casually due to the fact that it might take a while since I had PCOS. After 3 months off BC we got a pos preg test! We were ecstatic. At 13 weeks I woke up to blood everywhere and I was terrified but still optimistic that the baby was okay. Come to find out after many ultrasounds, baby was great, mommy was just bleeding a lot and the dr's could not find out why. They saw a blood clot in there and saw that I had a bicornuate uterus...and from the research I've done, getting pregnant is hard with that and miscarriages are common. So I was put on bedrest for 2 months. A week after the heavy bleeding, I had severe cramping and passing of huge clots, but the dr's couldn't do anything so we waited it out. Things got better and I got off bedrest and could do yoga and go for walks and get out and about. At 26 weeks I woke up yet again to a huge gush of blood. I went into labor and delivery and was put on magnesium due to pre-term labor. I was having contractions 4 mins apart. I also got the steroids to help baby's lungs just in case. After 3 days and 2 nights in the hospital everything was fine and I got to go home on bedrest. Baby wasn't growing as she should have been...she was 1 lb 11 oz and in the 21st percentile so my dr was getting a littler nervous about that. Two weeks later I woke up one night to severe pain in my stomach and back, and called the nurse and she wrote it off as constipation. I went to the dr the next day and everything looked fine. Two days later I was passing what I believed to be my mucus plug so I called and went into labor and deliver again. Everything looked fine except my blood pressure, it was high, so I was kept over night to be observed. In the meanwhile, contractions had started again so I was put on magnesium in the morning again. I had to do 24 hr urine test and blood work. During the day I developed a severe headache that was not curable. The next morning my tests came back saying I had Pre-eclampsia, and I was getting sicker as time went on. Dr's were concerned about the headache leading to seizures so they decided the best thing was to induce me to protect me and the baby. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. So we got prepared and started that night. Happy 4th of July to me. I labored the entire next day. It was the most painful, complicated, and scariest experience I have ever been through, but we got through it and I got to have my daughter naturally. It was such an emotional experience. She spent 60 days in the NICU and went home before her due date of Sept 21 on Sept 3 at 37 wks 4 days. She had her ups and downs while staying in the NICU, and it was an emotional rollercoaster, but thankfully she really didn't run into any severe issues. She was under the bili lights for a week and a half, had one blood transfusion, and was having a hard time growing at a steady rate and dropped a little below the lowest percentile of 3%, but she tolerated everything really well and was out of her incubator for a week, maintaining her temp and breastfeeding by the time we got to go home. We have been home for almost 2 months now and she is growing like a weed! She is exclusively breastfed and weighs almost 9 lbs at 4 mos! I couldn't be happier. Looking back at the journey she has already been through makes me so proud of her. She's a fighter! It is really tough being in the NICU, you don't really feel like a mommy and it is the hardest thing when you have to leave your baby every night, but you get through it and appreciate life that much more.

MamaLBF · October 2010

The story of Luke?s arrival. September 9th 2010. 6 weeks early. 3 lbs 9 oz 17 inches long. 3 weeks 4 days in the NICU. Now today, 7 1/2 weeks old & hes just about 7 pounds! (The follorwing was all written not long after he was born.)

It all really started Tuesday, September 7th. I went out for the day with my mother in law and started feeling really odd. After a hospital trip I found out that my blood pressure was alarmingly high. The sent me home after a while when my pressure had come down and my labs had come back negative for pre-eclampsia.

Wednesday, September 8th. After a phone call to my doctors office to explain my high BP from the night before they told me to come in for a check up. When I got there my BP was once again really high and we were sent to the hospital. I was monitored for four hours but again all seemed fine and my labs came back negative. I went home.

Thursday, September 9th. I was 34 weeks pregnant. At 1030 we arrived at our ultrasound appointment. After doing his measurements we found that after two weeks Luke had only gained 5 ounces. The doctor was really concerned about the minimal growth in addition to my really high blood pressure. He told us that he was considering delivering me early but wanted to be positive that it was the absolute right choice. He checked my blood flow in the umbilical cord and it was also flowing abnormally. He told me that if the blood flow in Luke?s tummy artery was abnormal then he would defiantly make the call to deliver. Welp, after an hour of looking and 4 ultrasound technicians trying it just wasn?t possible to measure the blood flow. Luke was kicking so much that they couldn?t get a read. So we were sent on our way and told to come back at 130.

Chuck and I were so nervous! We came home and I showered just in case. I went to pack my labor bag but then decided against it beings there was no way id have a baby today! We laid in bed to talk for a while. We just couldn?t believe it! Especially since the blood flow in Luke?s tummy artery was always great. At noon we headed to our new favorite pizza shop and grabbed a bite to eat. It was really nerve racking. What a tiny baby we would have if he came today. At the ultrasound he measured 3 lbs 12 oz!

After eating we headed back. We arrived there at 115ish and we actually had to wait an hour to be called back! It was the longest hour ever. After about 30 minutes of looking for the artery the nurse caught it. She left to consult the doctor. It seemed like forever until he came back to talk with us. When he came in the room I just new from the feeling that overcame me what he was going to say. He told me the flow was slow and all of the things adding up just didn?t sit right with him and he thought I should deliver Luke today. My heart sank. I also became so scared, nervous, and overwhelmed. I was told to head to my doctors office to have a talk wit him.

We headed straight over. My OB doctor told me he absolutely agreed with my ultrasound doctor. He checked me to see if I was dilated and I wasn?t. He said he thought it?d be safer to have a c-section then to be induced. I took his advice. We then were told to head straight to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 3. I cant explain how scared we both were. I was sent to the high risk floor and hooked up to all the monitors. Of course my blood pressure was high again. The C-Section was set up for 9pm. We called our family and let everyone know. They all arrived in the waiting room by about 4ish. I was only aloud to have one visitor in my room other then Chuck while we waited and I told my dad he could come up. We all chatted for a while. Around 830 things started happening so fast.

Everything was explained to us.. The anesthesiologist came in and went over some things. Then the doctor. Next thing I knew Chuck was getting into scrubs. They brought me back to the OR and I cried because I was so scared. Scared for Luke and whether he?d make it being so early. I was also scared to have a surgery.

It all began and ended so quickly! I got my spinal; which honestly didn?t hurt one bit! I had squeezed the nurses hand so hard expecting to feel pain but I never did. Next Chuck came in to be with me. I felt a lot of tugging and pulling but I didn?t know how long it?d be before Luke was out. Suddenly we heard the doctor say, ?He looks good.? But we hadn?t heard any cries from Luke yet. We both said at the same time, ?Is he out!?? And then Luke started wailing! Instantly tears flowed from both our eyes. It was the most amazing and overwhelming moment of my life. They took him over to the nurse. He scored a 9 on his apgar! He was doing so great! He weighed 3 pounds and 9 ounces. He was 17 inches long. He got here at 946pm. Chuck went over with Luke while they sewed me up. Chuck and I both continued to cry! Once he was cleaned up they gave him to Chuck to hold and he brought him over to me. He was gorgeous! It was the greatest moment of my life.

The C-Section at the end kind of sucked. I was shaking and it just felt so odd. When I was done they took me back to my room and took Luke to the NICU to be looked over more.

Waking up that morning I never would have guessed that we would have a baby by the end of the night! I didn?t mean to write so long so I?m going to make the last part really short! Luke went to the NICU but really did amazing for a 34 weeker. He was put on a CPAP but nothing more. On day 3 of my post partum stay I had a horrible blood pressure read again (200/130) and finally my labs tested positive for pre eclampsia. All in all I spent two nights on magnesium and11 days in the hospital. It really was hell and I never thought that would happen to me after I had Luke!

** I plan to edit back with Lukes NICU journey- just gotta go to the grocery store

Irishsapphire · October 2010

I went through two previous miscarriages. With my 3rd pregnancy, I was now on progesterone and baby aspirin due to recurrent pregnancy loss tests. I started brown spotting in my 1st trimester. I had a good first US and pap smear at my 1st appointment. But then the next day, I started red bleeding and passed a huge clot. Luckily, two US later, baby was still okay. I had a good NT scan in January, and a good big US in March. There was no spotting in my 2nd trimester.

Here is the post of Aidan's birth story.

https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/37489407.aspx

I am really glad that I applied for K01 Medicaid since baby Aidan was in the hospital 35 days. And because I had K01 Medicaid, I qualified for WIC which has helped with groceries to promote breastfeeding as well as paying for baby's Neosure formula.

After baby came home on June 30th, I stayed home for over a week to finish out the rest of my maternity leave. I went back to work on July 7th. We had our inlaws come in for two days a week to watch baby Aidan. And then we had a part-time nanny from care.com that came in for two to three days a week. And we took vacation time to offset the other days. We did this for the months of July and August.

Baby cleared the waitlist for daycare at a retirement home at the end of July. Baby started daycare at the beginning of September. He is doing really good. My FIL weighed him on the scale with him and estimated that he is at 17 lbs. He is my chunky monkey, my teddy bear. He is kinda of a flirt at daycare. There are only baby girl infants in the infant room right now. And I keep hearing how he was holding hands with the other baby girl who was also laying on her back, or I hear how the older baby girl tried to kiss him (those older baby girls are just cougars). So I lucked out again with finding a good daycare. Two months later, and he is doing good there, and he has not had to go home sick yet.

PhillyGal34 · July 2013

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