Your Preemie/NICU Birth Story

[motownthrowdown]

Spinnning off from the latest check in, let's share our stories. Questions for thought: how was your pregnancy? If you found out ahead of time that you would have a preemie or nicu baby, how far along were you and how did you handle it? Tell us about your birth experience. Tell us about your nicu experience. How long was baby in the nicu? Complications? If they are out of the nicu, how are they doing? Do they see specialists? Any delays or other issues? How are YOU doing? PPD? PPA? PTSD? 

I have a feeling these will be longer posts than usual, so don't disappoint me.  

[mandie]

I had an extremely uncomplicated pregnancy. When I was 33 weeks, I scheduled a last minute OB appt, because I had accidentally scheduled 3 weeks in between my appts. My pregnancy was so boring that I was just going to let it go, but due to a wicked case of poison ivy, I was taking steroids, and I wanted peace of mind. I left work quickly to pick up my kid, leaving packages labeled for delivery, but missing a few items I was going to add the next morning. Everything was fine at the appointment. I was measuring on track. HB sounded good. Nothing wrong with my urine. My H, 2 yo and old grabbed dinner. On the way home, I felt a really sharp pain. I went to the bathroom when I got home (of course Ben came with me) and I was bleeding. It wasn't gushing, but it was more than a little. And because of the poison ivy, I hadn't had sex in 3 weeks. And I didn't hadnt had an internal.

So, I put Ben to bed. I cried. I was dreading the moment that I had to say goodbye to my baby boy as my only baby my whole pregnancy and that moment was coming too early. I didn't know what the bleeding meant, but I had a feeling our lives were changing, and I wasn't ready to share Ben. I called the dr, and called some neighbors to stay with Ben until the ILs could get to the house.

When I got to the hospital, there was no obvious reason for the bleed. I was 1cm dilated and a -2. I was given the steroid shot (which really helped my poison ivy, lol) and fluids. In the morning, I was dilated to a 2 and two hours later, I was a 5. Since my first labor was very fast (6 hours from first contraction/water breaking to holding my baby), we were all preparing for a quick delivery, as 5 is usually a turning point. But midafternoon, everything stalled. That evening, I got the second steroid shot, but I was disconnected from the monitors and my IV was taken out.

The next 14 or so hours were the hardest. We didn't see a dr. We tried to sleep, but we had no idea what was going on. Would I be sent home at a 5 with a baby who may or may not be able to breathe at birth? Would I be on bed rest at the hospital? What did that mean for my 2 year old? Would I be able to see my 2 year old (women in active labor aren't allowed visitors younger than 2 at my hospital)? What would it mean if labor progressed again? I laid in bed so torn between my two kids, knowing they there was nothing I could do anyway.

Around 1, I felt like labor was picking up again. I started tracking contractions, and at 3, I asked to be checked again (they had stopped internals to try to prevent labor). I was at a 7, so the dr made the decision that they would break y water at 9:50, exactly 48 hours after the first steroid shot. He felt that it would be best to control the delivery as much as possible, and everybody agreed that once my water broke, things would move quickly. In those hours, I relaxed, my husband and I finalized the name, my husband toured the NICU, and we got to spend some time with both parents. At 9:50, they broke my water, and I was at an 8. Five minutes later I said that I thought I had to push. It took about 5 minutes to assemble to NICU, OB, etc. At 10:03, Alexandra Kate was born.

She came out screaming her little lungs out. My husband sobbed when he heard her cry. Because of the position I was in, I actually watched her come out. Not by a mirror, but I was sitting, and I could see her come out sunny side up. I could see the cord wrapped around her tiny body 3 times. I could see her first moments of life. They took her over to the corner to get her apgar score. She needed oxygen, but as a nurse was helping me get on my mesh undies, they placed a tiny body on my chest, and I started sobbing. Those 48 hours had been so emotional.

She spent 3 weeks in the NICU. She was going to be released after 14 days, but the dr wanted one more day with her and she had a bad Brady that day, so she went from an open air crib back into an isolette. That was probably the hardest. She has had no long term complications.

I had a really tough time emotionally. Particularly stemming from those hours when I felt like I was going to have to choose one child over he other, even though it was out of my control anyway. Through a little bit of meds, a little bit of therapy and helping other STMs who find themselves facing long bedrests or NICU stays in any way I can, I am doing so much better than before. Allie does get PT, but I was hyper aware of torticollis, as my son had it and was a helmet baby, so she honestly probably doesn't even need it, but she qualified, and it isn't something you ever regret doing.

Sorry it got long. My baby turned 6 months yesterday, and it has me reflecting a lot.

[motownthrowdown]

My pregnancy started off pretty normally. I went off BC in October, took a test in December, and behold: two lines, due August 6. Everything looked good, I went to every OB appointment and was so excited to hear the heartbeat and see the ultrasounds. We found out it was a girl about this time last year, and my mom took me and my sister on a trip to buy maternity clothes, since I was finally starting to show.

In April, I started to get numb hands sometimes at work. Carpal tunnel, the OB said, extra fluids can put pressure on your nerves. I started getting headaches all the time. My vision started to get blurrier (I have terrible eyesight as it is). Everything could be explained by normal pregnancy symptoms. Then at the end of April, my blood pressure was much higher than normal for me. She had me do a 24 hour urine catch and blood work. She called me at work with the results: no protein, but abnormal blood work. Go to the hospital right now. I told my boss that I needed to go to the hospital, in tears, and drove myself there. I called dh on the way to my car and he made it there five minutes after I did. His work is twice the distance. They admitted me because my labs were still coming back wrong and my BP was slightly elevated. They did all kinds of tests and determined that I had low platelets, elevated liver enzymes, and my Uric acid levels were wrong. They also suspected that preeclampsia was brewing. I was 25 weeks. They gave me steroid shots while I was admitted, in case they had to deliver the baby. After a couple of days of observation, they let me go after classifying me as high risk.

I had weekly 24 hours catches and weekly blood work, plus one appointment with maternal fetal medicine. My platelets were bouncing between ok levels and really low levels. I went back to the hospital a couple of times, but stayed in triage. On May 8, I got the call that my protein had skyrocketed and I was to stop working until further notice. That weekend, dh took me to a local botanical garden and we walked around, trying to figure out what to do if the baby came early in a couple weeks. They were hoping to get me to 37 weeks, then 34, then 32. We hadn't registered for the shower yet. We hadn't figured out the name yet. We hadn't taken a baby moon. We hadn't taken birth classes. I had registered to take a medfree birth class at 34 weeks. My OB started hinting that a c section would be the preferred method to take the baby early because my body wouldn't be ready for an induction yet. I cancelled the class and signed up for the c section class. I would be 32 weeks for that one.

I did blood work again on Tuesday, May 12. My OB called and told me that the numbers were a hair over the limit for being concerned, and to go to the hospital to get checked out by mfm, just in case. I drove myself, told dh not to worry or take off work because they had sent me to the hospital for blood work before. I arrived, my BP was much higher. They did a pee test, and I scored a plus 3. They wanted to admit me and start me on fluids because I was dehydrated and to try to get my BP under control. I called dh and told him that they were admitting me again, and to grab my overnight bag because I hadn't emptied it from the April stay. They started an IV with fluids and magnesium and gave orders that I was NPO in case I needed surgery. Dh arrived with movies and some books. The mfm came in and told me that based on my labs and BP, I was going to be here until the baby came. My OB was hopeful that I could make it another month, he thought I would be lucky to make it two weeks. I was absolutely floored. I had blood work every six hours, continuous monitoring with the belt contraption, and BP every five minutes. The next day, my BP started to respond to the mag. They stopped it and gave me the first steroid shot, just in case. I got to eat dinner, but got sick and threw it all up. My BP started to go back up, so they put me back on the mag.

The next day, Thursday, I don't really remember. It was 28 weeks on the dot. I know that my BP was through the fucking roof. They turned the monitor away so I couldn't see it, but the last one I saw was something like 190/110. The nicu team came up to talk to us and explain what was likely to happen if baby needed to be delivered soon. They talked about how the baby would probably need a ventilator, what they would do if she wasn't breathing on her own, what they could do if her heart stopped. My ultrasound the day before had put her at 1 pound, 8 ounces.

Since we would be there for the long haul, I sent dh home to get some more pajamas and stuff, since we hadn't anticipated an indefinite hospital stay. While he was gone, I tried to read a book and found out that the mag or my BP was making my eyes so unfocused that I couldn't read. I watched the line on the fetal monitor for movement and noticed that it had leveled off. I called the nurse in and she had me roll over and called the portable ultrasound team. They did a 30 minute ultrasound. Baby girl didn't move. The only thing that moved was her heart beating. For 30 minutes, I thought I was watching her die. The ultrasound techs left to consult with the team. I later found out that I was something of a celebrity, since I had so many people working on my case. About ten minutes later, the doctor came in and said that they had reviewed my blood tests and monitoring and that they would be taking me for a c section in less than an hour.

I was shaking. The room filled with people taking vitals and more blood work. I asked about my platelets, because they had been so low that my OB was afraid I'd have to have general anesthesia. They had rocketed up from 85,000 to 165,000--normal levels--in the last six hours. I could get an epidural. I asked the nurse if I could call people and she said to do whatever I needed to, they would work around me. I called dh and told him baby was coming as soon as they could prep me. I started texting family members. I announced here, on my birth month board. And all I could think was no no no no no this is too early, she's too small, no no no. They started prepping me and changed my clothes into the gown thing. They placed my epidural and my dh got there a little after that. I was shocked at how fast I lost feeling. They really pumped me full. They were waiting on my doctor to drive there, or dh would have missed it. The rest is fuzzy. I remember how bright the lights were on the ceiling as they pushed my bed down the hall. They transferred me to the operating table and I remember thinking that I hope they don't drop me because I couldn't move. My arms were shaking so badly. They started the c section, dh talked me down from a panic attack. She was out. She was alive. They took her to nearby table and worked on her, getting vitals, etc. someone brought her to my face so I could see her. She was so small. The newborn hat was bigger than she was. I kissed her, and she was gone, along with dh, to the nicu. I was in and out, then in recovery, then we went to the nicu to see her.

I have to stop now because I'm triggering myself so badly. I'll update more later.

[mandie]

@clgsquared, I can't believe they didn't catch the previa before. Did you discuss why it wasn't caught with your doctor after?

[motownthrowdown]

Mar 24, 2016 18:38:21 GMT -5 mandie said:

@clgsquared , I can't believe they didn't catch the previa before. Did you discuss why it wasn't caught with your doctor after?

+1. Isn't this something they specifically look for on ultrasounds?

[kate61487]

Holy moly this is long.

DH and I tried for 2 years to conceive before MFI pushed us to IVF. Our first transfer was unsuccessful, but FET #2 stuck and since IF patients get lots of monitoring we knew we were having twins right away.

My pregnancy was totally normal up to my A/S at 20+4. I had the scan with the MFM group, standard practice for twins at my practice, and while both babies looked totally healthy my cervix was short (2cm) and they wanted me back in a week to check again to see if it was changing.

The evening of 21+0 I noticed some different discharge and again the morning of 21+1. I started googling mucus plugs. I had back to back to back meetings that day at work so I didn't get a chance to call the MFM until around 3pm and they told me to come in for their first opening at 4. They did a vaginal US and cervical check. I had absolutely no cervical length left. The doctor spoke to me very calmly and directly and by her tone of voice I realized how dire the situation was. She explained my options (cerclage or pessary) and the risks (infection, PTL) Honestly the few hours after that are a blur. There was crying. I called DH and told him to meet me at the hospital. I drove myself from the docs office to the hospital, praying that my babies would hold on. Obviously at 21w there was zero chance of survival if they decided to come early.

As soon as I got to the hospital they wheeled me up and had me lay on an inverted bed. When the doc got there they wheeled me back to the OR, I got a spinal block, they tipped me half upside down to try and move the babies away from my cervix, and she stitched me closed. She got somewhere between 1.5-2cm cervical length back. After two days in the hospital on preventive antibiotics I was sent home on bedrest with bathroom privileges. At my first checkup back with the MFM I had her insert a pessary as well. I wanted to take every possible precaution (doc wasn't aware of any studies about doing both but said she saw no reason not to).

I spent an uneventful 5 weeks on bedrest at home. The morning of 26+4 I woke up to a gush of liquid. I quickly got up and ran to the bathroom praying that I had just lost all bladder control, but after emptying my bladder I stood and liquid continued to trickle down my thighs and I knew my water had broken. I put on a pad (that did zero good) and got in the car. I called my ob on the way to the hospital then DH telling him to meet me there. They did a swab to confirm AF, but it was pretty obvious. OB removed my pessary to prevent infection, but agreed that the cerclage should stay in for the time being. I got a steroid shot. I wasn't having any contractions and both babies were doing fine, so I was on hospital bedrest until a) babies showed any distress, b) I had a temp/ showed other signs of infection, or c) I started having contractions.

I was very optimistic since I hadn't had any contractions. I spent thanksgiving in the hospital and told the staff I would be there for Christmas and new years as well. For nine days my hospital stay was completely uneventful. No temp, no pain, no cramping, no bleeding. Babies were monitored three times a day and other than being wiggle worms who didn't like to stay on the monitor they were doing just fine.

The evening of 27+6 I started to have some discomfort that turned into a cyclical searing pain. I was wheeled down to L&D (I had been in the family care wing) and put on mag. By the time the back-up on call OB finally got to check me (on call OB was in surgery) I was dilated 6cm with the cerclage still in place. OB announced we were having babies today and I sobbed. It was too early, they weren't ready.

They wheeled me in to the OR (required for twin deliveries) and while waiting for a second neo to arrive the clock struck 12 and I was officially 28+0. The babies were head down and transverse, so a vaginal delivery wasn't out of the question. Baby B was larger, but given their prematurity and small size my OB was willing to do a breech extraction of B (pull baby out by the feet) if needed.

It took three attempts to get my epidural in, and took so long DH started to think they forgot about him. Doc then literally spent 30+minutes digging around my cervix trying to remove the cerclage (things had moved quite a bit given how dilated I was). Once it was finally removed the doc confirmed she could see baby A's head as well as the hole in A's membrane. I labored for a little while and the two OBs (the main on call doc was finally out of surgery) discussed whether we could try vaginal or should go for the C. The babies were getting a little tachycardic, and they didn't know how long it might take me to deliver. They agreed to let me do some trial pushes, but if it came to needing pit they'd do a C.

I pushed through one contraction (three pushes) and apparently there was enough progress they were confident we could continue. Two more contractions (5 pushes) and a screaming little boy popped into the world. He was immediately taken over to the neo team in the corner of the OR. They did a quick US to confirm B had flipped breech, doc reached in, got hold of his feet, and pulled him out. I had to give two pushes to get his head out. She laid him on my belly while they rubbed him down and, while it took a second, he, too, began to scream. They quickly pulled him over to the other neo team to be looked over.

DH got to go over and take pictures and then I sent him to the NICU with them while I got cleaned up. They were 2lb 8oz and 3lb 1oz. Very good sized for 28 weekers.

My baby boys were in the nicu for 72 and 80 days. My chunker, baby B, came home first. They had normal progression on breathing support (ram cannula to high flow cannula to room air). A had a small grade 1 IVH (brain bleed) that resolved on its own. He also ended up with an inguinal hernia that had to be surgically corrected. B had a small PDA /heart murmur which also resolved on its own. They both needed bili lights for a few days, but gradually moved off the lights, then out of isolets into open cribs. They had OG tubes followed by NG tubes; we started bottle feeding around 34/35 weeks and that was ultimately the last hurdle before they each came home. We spent Christmas and new years in the hospital after all, with the boys and the nicu nurses.

I went back to work immediately after giving birth (I'd been working from home all through bedrest). It was physically and emotionally exhausting. Literally all I did was go to work all day, visit the nicu at night, sleep, and pump. We ate a lot of take out and hospital food.

My boys are now 16 weeks old, 4 weeks adjusted, and have been home for 4.5 and 5.5 weeks. They are gaining weight like crazy and have been very healthy. These first few weeks have been chock full of Dr's appointments (speech, PT, opthomologist, surgeon follow up), but they've been gradually cleared from each group. We are still going to PT, they aren't exactly behind when you look at adjusted age, but I just want to stay on top of it to help them close that gap. A still has speech as well; he's not quite ready to move out of the sidelying position for feeds.

I'm doing okay. Glad to have them home. No lasting damage done, I think, other than mourning the experiences I didn't have and, given our IF and likely recurrence of short cervix, likely never will.

[mandie]

The thing that I've taken from my experience, besides my heart breaking in s million pieces anytime I hear of a kid with a sibling being in the hospital, is that I get panicky when people ask about travel during pregnancy. Everybody always says it is nbd to travel up to 36 or 37 weeks of you have had an uncomplicated pregnancy. But pregnancy can change in an instant. I mean, I was at the dr with no signs and two hours later, I was admitted. Rationally, I know that I can't project this on others. But it is hard not to.

[cosmicav]

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, since my baby is about to be one year old!! I can't believe it! Here comes my long story

My baby was due at the end of May, and I fully expected to go late, because everyone in my family talks about how they went overdue, and I thought that would be me too. I had a calm, non-complicated pregnancy, and I really enjoyed being pregnant, in spite of morning sickness, heartburn, etc. So, when my water broke at 4 am one April night (the DAY after my baby shower), I was a just in shock. I was nowhere near being mentally done, and we didn't have a crib/bassinet set up or anything. When we walked into the hospital, there were signs in the maternity ward that said something along the lines of: "your baby's brain is not fully developed at 35 weeks, try to get your baby to full-term even if you're uncomfortable" and I cried.

They checked me and told me I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced, and I would be having a baby today. I cried some more. Contractions showed up like 2 hours after my water broke (it was like 0-60 suddenly godawful pain), and I was fully dilated by 4pm. Baby was born at 8:46pm. He had a head full of SO MUCH black hair. He was 6 lb, 7 oz, so honestly he was a great size for his age.

I did not appreciate my family saying things along the lines of "thank goodness he was early with that size."

We spent the first entire week in the hospital. He was on oxygen for the first 2 days, and was on an IV for the first 3 (or 4?) days. Then the rest of the week was jaundice issues. I am actually getting teary-eyed thinking about this again, and he is 11mos old now.

I tried so hard to pump. Nothing came out. Baby would not latch. He sucked at sucking. We had to wake him up to eat. My milk did not come in, no matter what I did. It was so sad. My lack of milk production combined with his earliness and jaundice (plus the IV that decreased his appetite) made for a terrible combination for breastfeeding. So, LO was formula fed from early on. I had really wanted to breastfeed. I still think about it sometimes. Post partum hit me so hard. The first week was spent in the hospital, and I did not want people visiting me (while also simultaneously wanting someone there to talk to). I was a wreck, and I couldn't hold LO except for every now and again. I couldn't sit on a chair properly. I was so swollen everywhere. I cried over so many things in the months after he was born. Some that made sense, and some that did not. At his one month appointment as they weighed LO, I remember thinking, "Today is supposed to be his birthday. This is how big he would have been if he was born now (8lbs)." I remember putting in pictures in my pregnancy photo-book, and the last few empty picture slots because I never made it to 36 or more weeks. I knew that it could have been worse, but knowing that didn't stop me from being so sad for a long time.

So far, there have appeared to be no lasting effects from LO's sudden entrance into the world. I do still sometimes get hung up on some of the could-have-beens, but I am trying to focus on the good things.

[runningmommy519]

motownthrowdown thank you for sharing. I remember when we first started talking when all the symptoms started for you. I remember where I was when I read your update that it was time. I stood up, walked to the bathroom and started crying. Then I started our announcement thread. You are so strong! I know you know this but I had to say it anyway.

[runningmommy519]

Thank you everyone me for sharing. Considering I have two to write I'll do sometime this week

[motownthrowdown]

Mar 30, 2016 23:21:39 GMT -5 runningmommy519 said:

motownthrowdown thank you for sharing. I remember when we first started talking when all the symptoms started for you. I remember where I was when I read your update that it was time. I stood up, walked to the bathroom and started crying. Then I started our announcement thread. You are so strong! I know you know this but I had to say it anyway.

I think if it hadn't been for our conversations, I wouldn't have taken the signs so seriously. I didn't know, for example, that I would still feel fine. Even when they did the ultrasound where she didn't move, I felt fine, except for the mag side effects. I'd have tried to overlook the swollen feet, headaches, vision changes, as just being routine pregnancy symptoms. I assume my OB would have caught the BP, but probably not in April, since the nurse who took the initial one that was higher than my baseline didn't seem concerned. It was only like 125/85 or something, but that is way higher than my normal 105/70 ish. Because of you, I pushed that those numbers were not normal for me and that's when they found the abnormal bloodwork that looked like HELLP and brewing preeclampsia. Because of that, I got my first round of steroids shots and the weekly monitoring.

Saying thank you doesn't really cover it, but it's all I've got. runningmommy519. 

[runningmommy519]

motownthrowdown

[megrae12]

Can I join, ladies? This is going to be long.

After 3 years of miscarriages and an infertility dx, I got pg by some miracle in my own. From the beginning, I was nervous, because PGAL. At 6 weeks I had my first ever good u/s. We finally saw a hb. The pregnancy progressed like clockwork and I made the mistake of relaxing and getting excited.

The week of Christmas I went in for my 1 hour GTT. I had been itching on my palms and soles of my feet for about a week and i mentioned it to my doc. Little did I knowthat would set of a whirlwind of activity. My routine appointment turning into lab work, an u/s, and a long talk work my doc. I had Cholestasis of pregnancy, he would wait for labs to confirm for sure, but he was confident. I left that appointment feeling scared and alone. DH was out of town and I got this news on my own.

What this meant for us was I was now a high risk pregnancy. I had NSTs twice a week and u/s once a week and monthly bw. I was basically leaking bile acids into my blood stream. My liver function was compromised.

We had Christmas with family and I went for my first monitoring appointment the Tuesday after. My bw came back horrible. I was showing signs of impending pre eclmapsia and my doc mentioned delivery. Cue all the tears and complete panic. I was admitted and had more labs drawn, my liver enzymes went to over 200. I spent the week of New Years in the hospital with round the clock monitoring. I was 27 weeks. This marked the beginning of my terrible journey through pregnancy.

My doc and I set a goal of 30 weeks, if I made it that far we would set a goal for 32 and so on. At 31 weeks, I started having timeavle contractions and was admitted again. There was no cervical change so I was given meds to stop contractions. I spent the rest of my pregnancy having contractions.

I was sent to an MFM to have them evaluate my case. The meds I was on for the Cholestasis was not really helping and i was on a super high dose. They were a complete waste of time as they wanted me to cut back on meds and change nothing else. I was beyond miserable and frustrated.
I lived like that until 35 weeks. It was time to redo labs and the last time it was done showed that I was tracking up again. At 35w4d, I sent to triage to get labs in real time. They came back at over 900. I was having a baby. There was no talking out of it. They had tripled in just over 24 hours.

I was scheduled for a c section and at 9:32 pm, my superman was born. He weighed a whopping 6lb6oz and managed to skirt going to nicu by the skin of his teeth. The whole experience was super scary and I am still dealing with the after effects of cholestasis. Because of this, any future pregnancie give me an almost 90% chance of getting Cholestasis earlier. We are not certain that my liver did not sustain permanent damage From how high my enzymes went up.

We have to see an OT because Superman's suck, swallow, breathe reflex is not progressing. BF has been a struggle and triple feeding is the devil. Other than that, he is awesome! Full of personality and already shows a stubborn streak a mile wide. He is my miracle and no matter what I went through, it was worth it to finally have my rainbow.

[motownthrowdown]

megrae12, welcome! Glad to see that you made it so much further than when I messaged you a while back. And heck yes, superman for no nicu time.

[megrae12]

Mar 31, 2016 12:30:29 GMT -5 motownthrowdown said:

megrae12, welcome! Glad to see that you made it so much further than when I messaged you a while back. And heck yes, superman for no nicu time.

Thanks!! Me too! Two rounds of steroid shots are prolly the only reason he stayed out of nicu.

[runningmommy519]

I guess I want to start with DS1 who just turned 4. This is long.

The pregnancy was going great.  I was having no complications.  At my 27 week appointment i scheduled my next appointment for 31 weeks. The doctor said the pregnancy was going so well he didn't need to see me until then. At 28 weeks I started to notice some swelling in my legs and feet.  One of my coworkers suggested I call but it was the weekend so I had to call the L&D and spoke with a nurse there who assured me swelling was normal.  So I put it out of my mind.  I continued my light workouts.  

I was excited for my 31 week appointment because it was a friday and I was off work the next week for H and me's babymoon. It was the late afternoon, and the nurse called me back.  She asked me how things were going and I told her i had some swelling and she said, "already?  at 31 weeks?"  She took my blood pressure and it was high. I don't remember what it was but it was high.  High enough for her to freak out, tell me to lie down and run out of the room to see if i had protein in my urine.  There wasn't any protein and the blood pressure came down when they took it once i had be laying down. 

The doctor came in and explained that my blood pressure was high and that he wanted me to do a blood test.  They always do ultrasounds at my OB office at every appointment to check on things so he said that was next.  He said that sometimes things like this can make baby stop growing.  When he measured the baby it was measuring around 3 pounds.  I remember at the last growth check at 27 weeks he told me baby would double in size. Doubling would mean baby would measure at 4 pounds or more. At this point he was still within the normal range but he went from high percentiles to low.  he told me that we'd do another growth scan in a month and if there was no growth we'd probably have to do an early delivery.  He sent me for blood work and if everything came back ok then i was allowed to go on my babymoon provided i took my bp at a fire station or hospital while there.  I was also to stay off my feet (no long walks).  Blood work came back fine, blood pressure seemed to be good while on vacation but shot back up when i went back to work.  So he put me on blood pressure meds and said i could keep working. 

At 33 weeks, i had some protein in my urine and they ordered a 24 hour catch. I took the next day off of work because who wants to do that at work?  While I was doing the collection i kept taking my glasses off to clean them because i thought they were dirty.  Then i realized i was having blurry vision.  I called the doctor and they told me that i wasn't going back to work until i had the results from the collection i was doing. That came and i had high levels of protein in my urine but could keep the baby cooking. 

At 34 weeks my doctor was on vacation and it sucked.  By this point i was having appointments 2 a week (I did the previous week too) and NST's, (Non-stress tests) at those appointments.  I hated that he wasn't there because i trusted him.  Movement slowed and i was rarely feeling baby.  I called so many times that week but the NST's all came back fine.  Doc had okayed my baby shower before he left as long as I didn't travel and as long as i tried to stay off my feet. 

I went into my appointment at 35+1.  I kissed my husband goodbye and took my mom with me. My husband was commuting 1.5 hours to work. (stupid. He should have stayed).  It started with an NST.  Which DS1 failed miserably. Nothing woke him up.  They decided to to the ultrasound and then they could try the NST again.  When they did the measurements he hadn't grown. It was time. 

I was admitted. My mom called my H. he had just gotten to work and had to make the 1.5 hour drive home.  The plan was to give me a drug to prepare my body for labor then induce me the next day.  However, DS1 started showing signs of distress. His heart rate was dropping and staying low and then going back up. The doctor came and and told me that the options were to be induced now that day or to do a c-section. He knew my plan was to deliver as naturally as possible.  I told him that i trusted him and asked him what he thought.  As i'm speaking DS1's heartrate was dropping. almost like he was telling us what we should.  My doctor said, I think we should do a c-section. 

Because of his size he would be taken away to be seen my the pediatrician on call, the one that works in the special care nursery. So that pedi came in and talked to us.  They asked us where we'd want to send him if he needed a NICU. (not one at the hospital i was at) When DS1 was born he cried and it was the most amazing sound.  they shouted "IT'S A BOY" (i was team green) and i kissed him.

The pedi took him away and checked him out.  They came back and said he was having trouble breathing on his own and needed to be airlifted to the NICU.  I got to see him for about 15 min before he left. We were reunited 3 days later. A lot of time is missing or i remember bits and pieces because I was on mag.  

DS1 had IUGR (growth restriction) and when he was born the cord was wrapped around his neck. My doctor said that we probably would have ended up with a c-section had we tried for the vaginal birth because of this. 

He spent 21 days in the NICU as a feeder grower and came home weighing 4 pounds.  Currently he's 4 and super smart and amazing.  He has certainly caught up and sits at 99 percentile for his height and 91 for his weight. 

Phew that got long.  I'll do DS2 later today.  Oh and i'm sorry if there are typos. Don't want to re-read and fix.  

[motownthrowdown]

Here goes with my nicu story: see birth story above.

After DD was born, I got bits and pieces of what was going on. Dh went over to her little incubator table thing and was just standing there in shock until the nurses told him to take pictures if he wanted. He had never seen a baby that small before. They weighed her, one pound fourteen ounces, and measured her length, 13.5 inches. They intubated her, gave her surfactant, and took her off the vent because she was breathing over it. She went on to nasal cannula. They brought her over to me, I kissed her, and they took her down to the nicu with dh in tow.

The next couple days were a blur because I was still on mag and all kinds of pain meds and BP meds. I got to hold her the day after she was born. Dh got to hold her the day after that. We were both in shock. We had to learn new rules for how to be preemie parents. No lights on in the room. No talking above a whisper. No touching her. No picking her up. When you get to hold her, she can't have any desats or Bradys. No stroking her skin. No talking to her, no singing. You can hold her, but don't move. Don't rock.

A couple weeks into our stay, she got sick. Turned out to be GBS. Then that turned into sepsis, which turned into meningitis. They put her on antibiotics, she needed a ventilator for a couple of days. I was a wreck, I was convinced that she would crash at any moment. Around this time was my incision check, and my OB and I decided that I needed lexapro. She started to get better, and soon we moved into the feeder grower wing of the nicu.

When she was about 7 weeks old, they repeated an ultrasound of her brain to make sure there was no bleeding. They found that she had enlarged ventricles. We had a consult with neurosurgery that afternoon and he explained that she had something called hydrocephalus. The brain creates "brain Gatorade", called cerebrospinal fluid. If there is a blockage or an absorption problem, or if the brain makes too much, hydro occurs. They needed to do surgery to insert a shunt to drain the extra fluid, and they needed to do it soon. It was scheduled for two days later. She came from the surgery on a ventilator, since they had to put her out during the surgery. She came out of anesthesia and the vent three horrible long days later.

After 84 days in the nicu, we were discharged three days before her due date. I took her to the pediatrician for her first ever appointment and someone in the waiting room said I looked amazing for just having a baby. At another follow up with her neurologist, someone asked me how old she was and I told the chronological age. She looked very uncomfortable when I asked about her baby and they were the same age. DD was about four month old, but only weighed about 7 pounds.

Since discharge, she's had a shunt revision, an etv procedure, and a second shunt insertion. We've been in rsv isolation since she came home and we are going to start breaking it in May, when she turns one. We've fought with relatives, mostly my mom, about the need for her to stay healthy and away from the public and sick people. We've explained about her immune system being underdeveloped since she missed out on the entire third trimester, about how her lungs will be weaker for several years. Deaf ears.

She gets her last Synagis shot next Tuesday, so I'll have an official weigh then, but her weigh in last month was 15 pounds, 1.2 ounces. She'll be 8 months adjusted next Wednesday, and 11 months old on the 14th.

[runningmommy519]

DS2. Currently 8.5 months old.

Because DS1 was a preemie I was kind of nervous to get pregnant again. But we knew we wanted another. And my doctor told me that the chances of having the same thing happen was pretty slim although not impossible.

When i got my BFP i was excited and nervous. I prayed every night that I would have a full term baby born in August when he/she was due. But I was still afraid I would. I even counted ahead to when the little one would be born if he/she came on the same day (gestation) as DS1. That date was 7/16. DS2 was on 7/15 at 35 weeks. His big brother lasted one day longer inside of me than him.

I woke up on the morning of 35 weeks with relief. It was a wednesday and my appointment was at 8:30am. The pregnancy had gone well so far and this was the last "milestone" appointment i had to get through. I was finally starting to except that I was going to go full term. That I wasn't going to have another preemie. It was also a busy week. DS1 started at a new daycare on monday and we were closing on a new house on friday. We had decided to hold off on moving until baby was born because i didn't want to leave my doctor. I went to my 35 week appointment and started asking my doctor questions about delivery (I was doing a RCS) and what to do if i went into labor. Then came the ultrasound...... the ultrasounds they do at every appointment to make sure things are ok.

As the doctor put the gooey stuff on he said, "we just did measurements two weeks ago. So I want you to know we won't be doing those today" He knew the significance of this appointment but didn't want me to get scared if growth wasn't a lot because that can happen sometimes. Sometimes grow will be slow a few weeks and then pick up. As he did the ultrasound he said, "Fluid is low and it has be slightly concerned. I want to do a NST to see if its affecting baby and I want to do blood work. I know i said i wasn't going to but I want to take measurements" measurements looked good. thankfully. Baby was measuring at about 4 pounds. He told me to do the blood work and then come back for the NST. I managed to make it to the bathroom before bursting into tears. I felt like my chest was going to explode. I took a few deep breaths and said the same words I said though the entire pregnancy so far, "You will have a healthy full term baby born in August. this baby is not going to be born today" I took a few deep breaths and got the blood work. Then went for an NST.

I was hooked up to the NST for over an hour and DS2 was failing. There was no increase in heart rate no matter what they tried. I started to have flashbacks. THis was the same damn appointment that this happened to last time. Same damn one. I started texting my husband who luckily decided to work from home this day... My BMB was also keeping me entertained.

My doctor came in and said that he was admitting me for observation. He wanted to monitor me and give me fluids. He said that sometimes that can get baby moving and increase fluids. He also wanted to do a BBP (Biophysical profile) ultrasound. I asked him if there was a possibility that the baby would come and he said he didn't know but that i wasn't working that day.

H came. I had told him to check with our mortage guy to see what would happen if the baby came that day and how would we close two days later. The house we were buying was over an hour away. When he got there we figured all that out and then it was time for the ultrasound. The monitor was facing away from me and i couldn't see anything. My doctor came in while it was being done. I will never forget the look on his face. He looked terrified. Really really scared. Almost like he wasn't breathing. He told me that he wanted to consult with another doctor but that I was probably having a baby that day. I lately learned that DS2 scored a 2/8. He wasn't practice breathing, he wasn't moving, fluid was really low. The only thing he passed was growth.

The pedi on call came in to tell us what would happen if baby came. Ironically it was the same pedi that checked out DS1. The thing about this hospital is that the pedi on call changes every couple of days. Many come in from all over sometimes. There are a handful that route in and are more regular. I find it so weird that it was the same doctor. My doctor came back in said that after consulting with another doctor that it was time. Something was wrong and we had to get baby out. He told me that my c-section was in 30 minutes. It was 2pm... Only 5.5 hours since i walked into my routine check up appointment. Suddenly instead of praying for a full term baby i was praying for one that wouldn't need a NICU. I didn't want to be separated again.

As I sat in the OR and they prepped the room I was so scared. I kept repeating in my head "soon you'll know if its a boy or girl" It was another boy and there were no breathing issues like big brother. So DS2 could stay in the special care nursery. He had issues stabilizing his blood sugars.... it took him 8 days. it took him forever to learn to eat. He came home after 36 days.... 1 day after his due date.

DS2 had a knot in his cord. He had whats called a true knot. True knots effect about 1% of pregnancies and most of the time they don't do anything. Baby is born and docs go "oh look a knot" but in about 1% of those pregnancies with true knots... they do impact them and many times they result in stillbirths. DS2 was dying and if I didn't have an appointment that day.. he probably wouldn't be here.

After DS2 was born my doctor came in to see how i was doing and I thanked him. I feel like neither one of my boys would be here if it were not for him. Especially DS2. He told me that he didn't think he was the only one to have saved DS2. That we also needed "to thank the powers in the sky" this isn't a religious hospital. So it showed me how serious it was.

The significance of closing on our house is the hardest thing for me to process right now. I remember when i was making the rest of my appointments and we got to this week. I wanted all my appointments to be on Fridays because during the summer I wasn't working on Fridays. So Friday appointments meant i didn't miss work. But that week we were closing on our house and I didn't know what time.It hadn't been decided. I sat with the appointments lady and thought about just making my appointment for Friday.. in the morning and hoping that the closing would be later. I thought that i could always change the appointment if the times clashed. But then i thought... why hassle with that and made it for wednesday. Do you know how may times i thought about changing that appointment when i did know the closing time? I thought about calling and changing it so many times so I wouldn't miss work. But I didn't... I didn't because I figured I wouldn't be able to anyway. My doctor is hard to get an appointment unless you schedule in advance. So i kept it... and it probably saved his life. I keep thinking about the what if's.

[minae01]

My first pregnancy was uneventful (besides mysterious spotting at the beginning) until 26 weeks when I was admitted to the hospital with a kidney stone. I'd never had one before or since. It was awful! The OB on call noticed in the hospital that my cervix was short for 26 weeks and that the baby's head was very low. After a negative fFN, I was allowed to go home. I was never checked again even though I speeded concern to the OB.

I woke up at 330am at 32w3d with what I thought was watery discharge. I shrugged it off and went back to sleep. When I woke up at 6am for work, there was still fluid leaking out. I called the OB on call and she said to come in right away. As we were getting ready to go ink started feeling contractions. I was concerned but I wasn't freaking out. I thought I'd go in and they'd stop whatever was happening and I'd go home, nbd. In the car on the way there, I noticed my contractions were about 2 min apart. When I got to the hospital, they confirmed that I was leaking amniotic fluid and was about 4cm dilated. They gave me a pill to stop contractions, and I got the first steroid shot. An ultrasound showed that I had enough fluid to stay pregnant for a little while longer. The plan was that if my contractions stopped, I would be on hospital be bed rest until 34 weeks.

My contractions didn't slow. They got longer and more painful. I was checked again about an hour later and I was around 6. There was no stopping this baby. I promptly got an epidural. 4 hours after I arrived at the hospital, I was complete and ready to push. The doctor commented that my pelvis was small and that I would have a lot of trouble delivering a full term baby. After pushing for 45 min, team green turned to team blue and my son was born. I got to hold him briefly and take a couple of pictures before they wished him off to the NICU.

He was pretty healthy - 4 lbs 6 oz and 17" long. We were so fortunate that he didn't have any major problems. He hung out under the bili lights for a few days. His biggest issue was feeding. It was a frustrating process. After 24 days in the NICU, we went home. The birth was not particularly traumatic, but I mourned the loss of the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. I was jealous of women who were pregnant and who had full term babies. I felt robbed of the entire experience, but was thankful that I had a baby in my arms.

I got pregnant again 10 months later. I was on the p17 shot from weeks 17-35 and had my cervical length measured frequently. When I went in for my 36 week appointment, I was dilated 4-5 and OB sent me over to L&D for observation overnight. I was a 5-6. In the morning without timetable contractions. Doctor wasn't going to let me leave without having a baby. I delivered my 2nd son at 36w0d. He didn't need any NICU time and I was able to leave the hospital with my baby. That was an awesome feeling and very healing after ds1's surprise entrance.