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Baby John
tinkmae - 12:16am Jul 31, 2012 EST
Mommy to a healthy, thriving 30-weeker
So, my husband and I decided that we were close to ready for a baby. I went off birth control and we weren't really trying, but we weren't preventing. Then in the summer of 2010, I started getting really sick every time I got hot. I knew something was different. I took a test and, wow, I was pregnant. I didn't really expect it, but I was so excited and scared and blown away. My pregnancy wasn't really remarkable. I went to my appointments and everything seemed normal. I was really tired and nauseous for the majority of the time. I learned it was a boy, I was even more excited. I was due March 12.
Then January 2 came.. I woke up at about 430 in the morning with cramps. They kept getting worse and more frequent. I googled what to do about bad cramping at 30 weeks pregnant. I called the hospital about 630 and they said to drink lots of water, take a warm shower and if I didn't feel better in an hour to come in.
At about 730 I woke my husband up and told him we should go to the hospital. I was in a lot of pain, on the ride in I said, wow if this is fake preterm contractions I'm not looking forward to labor at all! We got to the hospital about 800. My husband came in and got me settled, then went back home to get a jacket and his phone. The nurses thought I had a bladder infection and that it would be nothing. They hooked up the monitor and I listened to my son's heartbeat, which calmed me down.
At about 815, the nurse said the doctor was on his way and that she needed to check me before he came. I watched her face change as she checked me and I knew something was wrong. I was about 9 1/2 cm dilated. The doctor came a few minutes later and by 830 they were moving me to a delivery room. I called my husband and told him to get back fast. Our son was born at 0856 that morning, 3 pounds 5 ounces.
My husband and son went to the NICU immediately, I didn't know anything for a couple hours until my husband came back. He walked in the room and said, 'He's fine, he's just small.'
My son spent 57 days in the NICU a stay which included IVs, surfactant, As&Bs, jaundice, anemia, a blood transfusion, a PDA which healed itself and lots of babies coming and going while he just stayed. He had the greatest nurses and I actually miss them sometimes. John prgressed fairle quickly, by the time he was three weeks old, I started setting goals for him. Every time I went in I told him his current goal. He started reaching the goals so quickly I didn't always have another one to give him. By 5 weeks it looked like he would be coming home soon.
The worst part of his stay was the last few weeks. John was going to be released, the doctor todl the nurse to call me to do a sleep over and he would go home with me in the morning. Before she could call, he had an A&B, which in his NICU earns you another 5 days minimum. The following weekend he was going to come home. I did the sleepover, he failed the car seat test, the doctor's switched off and the new one did not want to release him. At this point I said, just tell me when he's released, I don't want to get excited again. The wonderful nurses wrote in his chart not to discuss him coming home with me until he was actually released.
Then John started having problems eating and was having more As&Bs. That was the anemia, he had a trasnfusion and was doing much better. He was almost ready to come home again, then they foudn blood in his poop. He was on milk overdose and we changed him to a fortifier that wasn't milk based. He finally came home 3 weeks after his first release date.
John is now 18 months old, loads of fun and has been on par developmentally for his actual age all along. He's on the growth charts for his actual age, in about the 5th percentile. My husband was right, he's fine, he's just small!
I share my story so moms with babies in the NICU now will know that it will end and it can be a good ending! The NICU is rough, but every minute with him is worth all the misery of the NICU...
Mommy to a healthy, thriving 30-weeker
So, my husband and I decided that we were close to ready for a baby. I went off birth control and we weren't really trying, but we weren't preventing. Then in the summer of 2010, I started getting really sick every time I got hot. I knew something was different. I took a test and, wow, I was pregnant. I didn't really expect it, but I was so excited and scared and blown away. My pregnancy wasn't really remarkable. I went to my appointments and everything seemed normal. I was really tired and nauseous for the majority of the time. I learned it was a boy, I was even more excited. I was due March 12.
Then January 2 came.. I woke up at about 430 in the morning with cramps. They kept getting worse and more frequent. I googled what to do about bad cramping at 30 weeks pregnant. I called the hospital about 630 and they said to drink lots of water, take a warm shower and if I didn't feel better in an hour to come in.
At about 730 I woke my husband up and told him we should go to the hospital. I was in a lot of pain, on the ride in I said, wow if this is fake preterm contractions I'm not looking forward to labor at all! We got to the hospital about 800. My husband came in and got me settled, then went back home to get a jacket and his phone. The nurses thought I had a bladder infection and that it would be nothing. They hooked up the monitor and I listened to my son's heartbeat, which calmed me down.
At about 815, the nurse said the doctor was on his way and that she needed to check me before he came. I watched her face change as she checked me and I knew something was wrong. I was about 9 1/2 cm dilated. The doctor came a few minutes later and by 830 they were moving me to a delivery room. I called my husband and told him to get back fast. Our son was born at 0856 that morning, 3 pounds 5 ounces.
My husband and son went to the NICU immediately, I didn't know anything for a couple hours until my husband came back. He walked in the room and said, 'He's fine, he's just small.'
My son spent 57 days in the NICU a stay which included IVs, surfactant, As&Bs, jaundice, anemia, a blood transfusion, a PDA which healed itself and lots of babies coming and going while he just stayed. He had the greatest nurses and I actually miss them sometimes. John prgressed fairle quickly, by the time he was three weeks old, I started setting goals for him. Every time I went in I told him his current goal. He started reaching the goals so quickly I didn't always have another one to give him. By 5 weeks it looked like he would be coming home soon.
The worst part of his stay was the last few weeks. John was going to be released, the doctor todl the nurse to call me to do a sleep over and he would go home with me in the morning. Before she could call, he had an A&B, which in his NICU earns you another 5 days minimum. The following weekend he was going to come home. I did the sleepover, he failed the car seat test, the doctor's switched off and the new one did not want to release him. At this point I said, just tell me when he's released, I don't want to get excited again. The wonderful nurses wrote in his chart not to discuss him coming home with me until he was actually released.
Then John started having problems eating and was having more As&Bs. That was the anemia, he had a trasnfusion and was doing much better. He was almost ready to come home again, then they foudn blood in his poop. He was on milk overdose and we changed him to a fortifier that wasn't milk based. He finally came home 3 weeks after his first release date.
John is now 18 months old, loads of fun and has been on par developmentally for his actual age all along. He's on the growth charts for his actual age, in about the 5th percentile. My husband was right, he's fine, he's just small!
I share my story so moms with babies in the NICU now will know that it will end and it can be a good ending! The NICU is rough, but every minute with him is worth all the misery of the NICU...
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