Hey Y'all! (I'm warning you... this is long, but worth the read I think :)
It’s been quite a while since I've done a post, a year to be exact. I needed
to take a little break after the rollercoaster year that I had. I lost my dad
which was very hard and think that is going to take a while to grieve. I have
never lost anyone close like that to me before. For as much sadness as I feel,
I’m also so happy for him because he is in a way better place with no more
suffering! :)
Another huge contributor to my crazy year goes back to exactly one year from
today. My water broke! Exciting right? Well not quite... I was only 21 weeks
and 5 days. I honestly didn’t even know that is for sure what had happened
until I went to the doctor because I was in the shower when it broke. We got
there and she examined me and said everything looked good to her but she was
going to do an ultrasound. Sure enough the ultrasound showed that all my
amniotic fluid was gone! I didn’t even know how bad that was till she explained;
I thought it could be replenished. I was wrong it was not good. She said you
are going to have to go to the hospital right now and you will be on bed rest
till you deliver. Since your water already broke it will probably be soon and a
baby is not viable at 21 weeks. We burst in to tears and I ran to the bathroom
to get sick because I felt like I couldn’t breath. I will never forget that
ride to the hospital and how devastated we felt. I always had a nervous feeling
because it was so hard to get pregnant and I had to go through In Vitro to make
it happen. Once I made it to 20 weeks I was really feeling good though. When we
arrived to the hospital my husband dropped me off and I waited for him to park
so we could go up to labor & delivery. I couldn’t keep the tears from
flowing. The lady checking us in asked us all kinds of questions and I told her
my water had broken and she was excited, I however was not because this is not
how it was supposed to happen. It was too early. Walking to my room I heard
them play a lullaby over the intercom, a baby had been born. I balled again.
How could they rub it in my face like that, I did not feel very much joy for
them. I got to my room and settled in. They did lots of tests and they showed
that I was not having any contractions, there was still a heart beat and I didn’t
show any infection which was all very good. We had doctor upon doctor come to
talk to us. They told us I was going to be on bed rest till the baby comes. If I
could make it past the first 48 hours that might be a good sign that I will be
able to hold out longer before she comes. They said I need to drink fluids like
crazy, stay away from caffeine, stay in bed and do whatever I could to not get
an infection. They gave us the statistics that in order for a baby to be viable
I need to make it to 24 weeks. Every week after that will help a lot though.
They said once I get to 23/24 weeks I will start getting steroid shots to help develop
the baby's lungs, because at this point they have barely started to develop. 48
hours came and I still had not delivered so we were excited! I planned that I
was going to be in bed for the long hall! They said once I got to 32 weeks they
would most likely deliver though. We had a count down on the board and each day
that passed was a victory! Every day we heard the heartbeat we were so
relieved! I have never felt closer to God than I did when I was in that bed. I
was so helpless, all I could do was pray and rely on him. I read the bible and
listened to Christian music all day long. I couldn’t do anything else; my mind wouldn’t
let me go anywhere else. We had occasional measurements taken of my amniotic
fluid and it would go up a little from all the water I was drinking and being
on bed rest, but it didn’t change much. The day I turned 23 weeks I mentioned
the steroid shots that they mentioned to see if I could go ahead and start
them? They said yes i could start them.They take 48 hours to
kick in and I had the first one Sunday Morning. Monday we had the amniotic
fluid checked and we were so excited because it had increased quite a bit. She
also had turned around and wasn’t breach anymore! We were feeling so good. That
night I got a new nurse who I hadn’t had before and to say the least I didn’t
care for her much. I didn’t like how she reacted when I told her how much pain I
was in right when I saw her at first. I had not been a complainer and I didn’t
think it was fair how she was judging me! I wanted my favorite night nurse
back! I was so upset about the nurse that my husband said he would stay the night
with me. He normally only stayed Friday & Saturday because he had to work.
I told him I just don't know how I was going to be able to keep her in much
longer because I just kept having the worst cramps. They were so bad that I was
breathing hard through the pain. I keep having them check for contractions but
nothing ever showed up. That night was rough and I barely slept. I woke up
Tuesday morning and the doctor was in early to see me. I had never met this
doctor before but he didn’t spend much time with me. He looked at old printouts where
they checked for contractions and said your fine. I shortly after that got up
to go to the bathroom. It was then I felt something I had never felt before. It
almost felt like something was coming out. I thought I just need to go back to
bed and it will go away. Well I was wrong! I called for the nurse and she wasn’t
coming very quickly so my husband had to go yell in the hallway for her. She
came quickly and said ok we are going to send you to delivery. Me being very frightened
I said they are going to make sure I am having contractions first right? I was
freaking out this can't be happening. I didn’t want it to be happening I was
only 23 weeks and 3 days, it was too early! We got there and they checked me
and sure enough what I was feeling was the head coming out: o they said we are
going to have to deliver now, no time for the epideral i had planned on and
your doctor can’t make it. So they had another random doctor come in. None of
it really fazed me though. I have never been more in the zone than I was
delivering! I just wanted an alive baby on the other end. I went to delivery at
8:30 am and at 9:00 am Miss Savannah Elaine was born, 1 lb. 6 oz & 11
3/4". I looked up quickly at her, but couldn’t look for long I was so
afraid. They quickly took her to another table in the room to check her out.
They then brought her over to me and let me quickly give her a kiss and then
the rushed her off to the Nicu. A few hours later we went to the Nicu where we
got to look at her through the window of the incubator. I had never seen
anything like what I was looking at in my life. She was SO small is an
understatement. Her legs were as skinny as my pinky. She had a little white hat
on, she was on the ventilator and had wires and lines coming out from all over
her. I was in shock that this was my baby and she was here. I knew at that point this was going to be a long stay. They kept telling us we would probably be there till some time close to my due date which was July 27th. I remember thinking i didnt know how we were ever going to make it that long in here! The first few days were so hard and i could barely keep my eyes open. I was there every single though by her bedside for 12+ hours and i wouldnt have had it any other way! We had quite the
journey in the nicu for 5 months (I’ll talk about that in another blog, because
this is already too long!) We brought her home the end of August and have been
on isolation in our home every since. Once May comes we should be able to take
her out! We have to keep her healthy this first year as her lungs are still so
premature though. She is now 13 lbs, 13 oz big girl & turns 1 in 2 weeks.
She is perfect in every way & I absolutely could not be more grateful. I can’t
believe how far she has come! I am one blessed girl.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this LONG story :) I will have
more to come if you’re interested!
The day she was born
Our first family picture
The first time i got to hold her...2 weeks after she was born
Today :)
