last Wednesday the 13th I walked in my front door in the evening and felt a gush. When I saw that it was blood, I freaked out. My belly had felt strange, tighter than normal and lower down, but I didn't feel any contractions. I also hadn't been feeling him move as much since the night before.
I think I would've been freaked out anyway, but being PGAL had me even more anxious. I called 911 and my doctor, who instructed me to get to the hospital as quickly as I could. The ambulance was able to get to us within about 5 minutes so we were on our way quickly.
Baby was sounding good on the monitor fortunatley. I started having contractions 2 minutes apart but not strong. My doctor said I was having a partial abruption so we needed to keep baby on the monitor.
DH and I were so scared- I was only 35w6d and we were worried about baby going into distress and needing an emergency c section.
My doctor counseled us that the best thing would be to have a quick labor and vaginal delivery. We considered going straight for the c section but ultimately decided to wait and see.
Also, our hospital has a mandatory NICU time for babies less than 36 weeks and by this point we were 2 hours away from being 36 weeks. So as long as he was ok he wouldn't have to go to the NICU.
I got an epidural for the first time since I was concerned about getting put under completely in the case of an emergency c section. It hurt so bad to have it done (but not everyone has that experience!) but once it took effect I was able to relax some and rest. I progressed quickly and eventually started feeling pressure. Baby's heart rate was dropping, which is normal at that stage of labor but with the abruption my doctor was a bit concerned. She told me to try pushing and I did, knowing that if this didn't work is most likely be whisked away for a c section.
I had been worried that I wouldn't be able to feel to push but I could feel quite a lot and I was able to push him out in about 4 minutes- just in time to avoid the vacuum.
My last baby was 6lbs 1 oz at 37w6d so I was surprised that this one was 6lbs 2 oz. No NICU time!
He started nursing almost immediately and had a good latch- woo hoo!
The only health issue is that on one hand 4 of his fingers didn't grow to the proper length. We were told its most likely amniotic band syndrome but we're meeting with a specialist in a few days to find out more info.
I'm just so happy that otherwise he has no problems and I'm so incredibly in love with him. Since losing another son a year ago I've had grief and anxiety stirred up by having another baby but there is also so much joy and peace.
Re: Baby boy arrived early!
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Baby F.......02/02/2016
Spontaneous pregnancy #1
DD1 July 31, 2011
Trying for #2 since Oct 11
Spontaneous pregnancy #2= Ectopic #2= lost left tube
Spontaneous pregnancy #3= DD2 January 29, 2016
Spontaneous pregnancy #4= Ectopic #3
Spontaneous pregnancy #5= Baby #3 is a BOY!!!