My journal that I have started is about, and for, my daughter.
I gave birth to a baby girl a little more than 3 weeks ago, on June 16, 2012. On June 17th, my boyfriend, Jason, and I decided to name her Adalyn; after finding out that she was a girl a month prior, Adalyn had become my favorite out of the few choices that we had come up with.
I wasn't sure what was happening, all it was was a slight tightening of the abdominal muscles. I had been bleeding for about 10 days before this happened, however, so I called the doctor just to be sure I was fine. When I had called them a week before about the bleeding, I went in and everything checked out okay. They said it was fine, as long as I didn't start cramping. This abdominal tightening wasn't exactly what I would've called cramping, but it was accompanied by lower back pain, and that couldn't have been a good sign. As soon as I called, they told me to come in and get checked out to be sure that my water wasn't broken....
"Water broken, at 24 weeks? But no "water" is coming out of me, how can it be broken, I thought that was a pretty obvious occurrence?"
At the hospital, I had a lab test done to reveal if my water had broken, which came back negative- "thank you!" Then the doctor came in, and decided to do it herself.. and it came back positive. My water was broken at 24, almost 25 weeks. They informed me that I needed to be sent to a different hospital (Maine Medical Center) which had more capabilities of helping a 25 week old premature baby survive. The only way that they would allow me out of the hospital was by ambulance, in case I went into full-blown labor. Yes, this hospital's nurses definitely knew how to scare somebody! My contractions were about 2 minutes apart, but weren't very strong; at least, they couldn't be strong, because these didn't hurt at all! "Is this the 'pain' that women complain about? Can't be, this doesn't hurt!" (I later found out, on June 16, that it wasn't!).
I was given steroids to help my baby's lungs, and a medicine that would slow my contractions. By the time my ambulance ride had started, they were about 5 minutes apart, and by the time it ended, they had stopped altogether.
As soon as I found out my water broke, I called Jason, who drove down from an hour away immediately! I also thought that the ambulance would be there quicker than it was, so while I waited an hour for him, I called my mom to ride in the ambulance with me. However, I didn't leave for another hour and a half, so Jason was able to ride with me while my mom picked up my dad and headed to MMC in their own vehicle. My brother also met me down at the hospital when I arrived, what a nice surprise for a 19 year old boy to leave his girlfriend's house and come to the hospital for his older sister!
I could tell that Jason was freaking out; his eyes were all red, and he called me several times while he was on the road- "PLEASE drive safe, she needs a dad when she's born!"
When we arrived at Maine Medical Center, the nurses did more tests to be sure my water had broken, started me on antibiotics for fighting infections, and ordered me to bed rest for 10 weeks! "10 weeks? The nurses at the other hospital basically told me I was going into labor!" No, Maine Med assured me that I could very well go in to labor at any point, but that they hope to keep me pregnant until 34 weeks gestation. The possibility of continuing with the pregnancy, and not going into labor this minute, was definitely a relief for myself and Jason to hear!
For 4 days, I was on bed rest, with an hour of wheelchair time a day. I was allowed to get up and go to the bathroom, and take a shower. Jason stayed with me the whole time, only leaving to get his lunches and suppers from the cafeteria. My parents came down a couple of times, took me on a tour of the hospital wing that I was on, brought me clothes, etc.. Other family members, such as cousins, aunts, and uncles, came to visit. I learned that the March of Dimes donates supplies such as premie and newborn onesies, so that moms and dads could make their own, and keep busy a little bit out of the room if their nurses allowed it.
 |
| Newborn on the left, Premie on the right |
When I was moved to labor and delivery, the nurses were saying how they hoped my contractions would stop so that I could come back to the premature labor area still pregnant! They were moving me just in case I went into labor however, so that I would be closer.
On June 16, I started having contractions around 4pm, that were about 5-2 minutes apart. For a few hours, this was how it continued. Until the last hour, around 8pm, when they were around 1 minute-30 seconds apart and I felt the pain that people talk about! Jason said he could tell when I was having a contraction just because I would basically curl up in a ball on the bed. After a little while of this, a nurse said I was about 1 cm dilated, and that my baby wasn't handling the contractions well so they needed to deliver me. Within 30 seconds, there were about 5 people in my room including a few doctors and the anesthesiologist.
They needed to put me completely under, and Jason wasn't allowed in the room! They didn't have time for any other way of delivery- "would I wake up, and what are the complications of having a regular surgery versus a c-section?". When I woke up, I learned that our baby was doing fine and that Jason had been freaking out sitting in the room all by himself for an hour after they rushed me out. He had called my parents and his parents when the doctors said they needed to deliver; they came down, along with my brother, and 2 of my aunts.
Adalyn was born at 9:51pm on June 16, 2012 weighing 1lb 13oz, and measuring 13.3" long. They actually said she was big for her size (Jason and I are both over 6 feet tall, so it makes sense that she would be!). I just met a mother the other day who gave birth 5 months ago, also at 25 weeks gestation, whose son was 1lb 5oz.
No comments:
Post a Comment