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August 2014 Moms
mamasarahx2
member
Introducing my son, Charlie Woodrow
mamasarahx2
member
Hi all,
I was a bit late joining all you wonderful moms and wanted to follow-up and announce the birth of my son, Charlie Woodrow. He was born at exactly 30 weeks on June 14th, weighed 3 lbs, 2oz and was 15 1/2 inches long.
A short background: I was admitted to hospital bedrest at 25 weeks following pPROM. I made it to 30 weeks exactly on bedrest without going into labor or having other complications (infection, etc). Bedrest was really hard because our income was cut in half and our family (including my 2.5 y/o DS) was totally disrupted. Charlie's birth story was very exceptional and crazy but all turned out okay. *Trigger warning* - for those of you avoiding stories of emergency caesareans, worst case scenarios, etc - this is pretty much it, so you may want to skip the birth story.
In the early morning hours on June 14th, I woke up in the hospital with some very mild pains. It did wake me from my sleep and I decided I would get up to use the bathroom and then call my nurse and let her know - although the pains did not feel like true contractions. Once in the bathroom, I had the sensation of something in my vagina and immediately knew it was a cord prolapse. My doctors had warned this was very unusual but there was a small possibility it could happen - which is one of the reasons I had to stay in the hospital and not be on home bedrest. I could actually feel the cord pulsing and placed my hand down to keep it inside. I pulled on the emergency cord in the bathroom and seconds later a team of nurses helped me get into bed. One of them placed her hands inside me and was holding the cord up and assured me it was still pulsing. They quickly checked the baby's heart rate, which was fine, and things started to move very quickly. The incredible team that was with me literally ran me down the hallway to the operating room and along the way the nurse who was holding the cord up kept her eyes locked on me and was trying to be reassuring. I was shaking uncontrollably and crying and tried hard to breathe well as they advised me to do in order to get my baby good oxygen supply. Once we were in the operating room, the anesthesiologist and doctor started prepping me for emergency surgery. They apologized and told me unfortunately they were going to have to put me under general anesthesia (a huge fear of mine). I begged them to please call my husband - a half hour away in our house with our sleeping toddler - so he could come. The last thing I remember is the face of the nurse holding the cord telling me what I good job I was doing trying to keep calm and telling me she was going to do everything in her power to keep the cord up. I later learned that I pulled the emergency cord alarm at 2:55 am, was put under at 3:02am, and Charlie was born into the world at 3:07am - so this all happened in a matter of 11 minutes.
I woke up about an hour and a half later in the recovery room, hazy and disoriented and feeling as though I'd been run over by a truck. My husband was there holding my hand and immediately told me that we had a son (!) and that he was stable and okay in the NICU. He arrived about 20 minutes after the birth. I cried and then stopped because it was causing so much pain in my incision site. I was thirsty, tired, and had a hard time waking up, feeling like my whole body was very heavy and I couldn't lift my head. I also had a sore throat from being intubated. My husband went back & forth between my bed and the NICU, and brought me pictures. About two hours later I was finally feeling like I could lift my head up and eat ice chips, and they wheeled my bed in to see my son. It was hard to see him at first - nothing could have prepared me for how small he was. I got to see him a couple of times the first day, and held him later that afternoon. He was on a CPAP machine (respiratory support) in the beginning but quickly weaned down and then off of it, and since then has had typical premature issues for his age but so far is relatively stable and doing very well. He will probably be in the NICU for at least another 4 weeks before coming home. I went home from the hospital for the first time in 5 weeks, and leaving without my baby was much harder than I anticipated. Since then I've been trying to balance spending time in the NICU and at home with our toddler which is pretty exhausting. I don't really feel like I've fully processed the birth yet which was very traumatic despite having a good outcome - maybe something I'll do with a therapist down the road. For now I am working on keeping up with pumping milk, trying to rest and heal recover as best I can. I am grieving the loss of the pregnancy/birth I thought I would have, and letting go of some things (my baby shower, maternity pictures, etc) but am so grateful for my beautiful son Charlie. Words can't describe the love I feel for him and the gratitude I have for those who helped him safely come into the world.
I'll be moving over the Preemies board but wanted to wish everyone here all the very best! If any of you find yourselves on hospital bedrest or in the NICU feel free to pm me for support, info, etc.
I was a bit late joining all you wonderful moms and wanted to follow-up and announce the birth of my son, Charlie Woodrow. He was born at exactly 30 weeks on June 14th, weighed 3 lbs, 2oz and was 15 1/2 inches long.
A short background: I was admitted to hospital bedrest at 25 weeks following pPROM. I made it to 30 weeks exactly on bedrest without going into labor or having other complications (infection, etc). Bedrest was really hard because our income was cut in half and our family (including my 2.5 y/o DS) was totally disrupted. Charlie's birth story was very exceptional and crazy but all turned out okay. *Trigger warning* - for those of you avoiding stories of emergency caesareans, worst case scenarios, etc - this is pretty much it, so you may want to skip the birth story.
In the early morning hours on June 14th, I woke up in the hospital with some very mild pains. It did wake me from my sleep and I decided I would get up to use the bathroom and then call my nurse and let her know - although the pains did not feel like true contractions. Once in the bathroom, I had the sensation of something in my vagina and immediately knew it was a cord prolapse. My doctors had warned this was very unusual but there was a small possibility it could happen - which is one of the reasons I had to stay in the hospital and not be on home bedrest. I could actually feel the cord pulsing and placed my hand down to keep it inside. I pulled on the emergency cord in the bathroom and seconds later a team of nurses helped me get into bed. One of them placed her hands inside me and was holding the cord up and assured me it was still pulsing. They quickly checked the baby's heart rate, which was fine, and things started to move very quickly. The incredible team that was with me literally ran me down the hallway to the operating room and along the way the nurse who was holding the cord up kept her eyes locked on me and was trying to be reassuring. I was shaking uncontrollably and crying and tried hard to breathe well as they advised me to do in order to get my baby good oxygen supply. Once we were in the operating room, the anesthesiologist and doctor started prepping me for emergency surgery. They apologized and told me unfortunately they were going to have to put me under general anesthesia (a huge fear of mine). I begged them to please call my husband - a half hour away in our house with our sleeping toddler - so he could come. The last thing I remember is the face of the nurse holding the cord telling me what I good job I was doing trying to keep calm and telling me she was going to do everything in her power to keep the cord up. I later learned that I pulled the emergency cord alarm at 2:55 am, was put under at 3:02am, and Charlie was born into the world at 3:07am - so this all happened in a matter of 11 minutes.
I woke up about an hour and a half later in the recovery room, hazy and disoriented and feeling as though I'd been run over by a truck. My husband was there holding my hand and immediately told me that we had a son (!) and that he was stable and okay in the NICU. He arrived about 20 minutes after the birth. I cried and then stopped because it was causing so much pain in my incision site. I was thirsty, tired, and had a hard time waking up, feeling like my whole body was very heavy and I couldn't lift my head. I also had a sore throat from being intubated. My husband went back & forth between my bed and the NICU, and brought me pictures. About two hours later I was finally feeling like I could lift my head up and eat ice chips, and they wheeled my bed in to see my son. It was hard to see him at first - nothing could have prepared me for how small he was. I got to see him a couple of times the first day, and held him later that afternoon. He was on a CPAP machine (respiratory support) in the beginning but quickly weaned down and then off of it, and since then has had typical premature issues for his age but so far is relatively stable and doing very well. He will probably be in the NICU for at least another 4 weeks before coming home. I went home from the hospital for the first time in 5 weeks, and leaving without my baby was much harder than I anticipated. Since then I've been trying to balance spending time in the NICU and at home with our toddler which is pretty exhausting. I don't really feel like I've fully processed the birth yet which was very traumatic despite having a good outcome - maybe something I'll do with a therapist down the road. For now I am working on keeping up with pumping milk, trying to rest and heal recover as best I can. I am grieving the loss of the pregnancy/birth I thought I would have, and letting go of some things (my baby shower, maternity pictures, etc) but am so grateful for my beautiful son Charlie. Words can't describe the love I feel for him and the gratitude I have for those who helped him safely come into the world.
I'll be moving over the Preemies board but wanted to wish everyone here all the very best! If any of you find yourselves on hospital bedrest or in the NICU feel free to pm me for support, info, etc.
Mama, badass social worker, wife, daughter, semi-crunchy renegade chicken keeper. On hospital bedrest with babe #2 following pPROM at 25 weeks until delivery.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Introducing my son, Charlie Woodrow
4 rounds of clomid, 2 with IUI = BFN
What a story, but congratulations to you and your family! Glad to hear that you are both doing well and recovering!
DS born 8.11.14
BFP #2: 9.14.16, EDD: 5.24.17
BFP#1 6/27/13 EDD 3/5/14 MC 7/16/13
BFP#2 11/25/13 EDD 8/4/14
It's a BOY!
Baby Blog
BFP 12.13.13. Baby Girl EDD 8.21.14.
son#1 born 6/2010
son#2 born 4/2012
son#3 born 7/2014
First BFP: 12/16/13
EDD: 08/23/14
Baby BOY born: 08/29/14
Congrats momma, daddy and big brother!!
Here's hoping he gets released soon and gets to come home sometime soon!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proud Mother to 16 year old Austin (MCJROTC Sgt., Trumpet playing "Band Nerd" and hopeful Air Force Pilot!)
Proud Stepmother to 12 year old Josh (Baseball playing, Saxophone playing "Band Nerd" and hopeful Doctor!)
Proud Mother to baby Kaylee (Stuffed toy playing, Adorable smiling baby and hopeful Rodeo Princess!)
***SIGGY/TICKER WARNING***
TTC since September 2012 ~ DH(32): Non-obstructive azoospermia, Me(32): Normal
10/13 - TESE found sperm!! ~ 11/13 - IVF w/ ICSI #1 ~ ER 11/23/13 ~ 10 R, 9 M, 8 F
ET 11/29/13 ~ Transferred 2 beautiful hatching blasts, 5 frosties
12/5/13 - BFP!!! Beta #1 (12/7/13) - 189 Beta #2 (12/9/13) - 401 Beta #3 5871
12/16/13 U/S #1 - TWINS!! EDD - August 16, 2014 ~ 7/19/14 - Our beautiful baby girls joined the world!