Thanksgiving 1999 was rapidly
approaching and my husband and I were
looking forward to visiting my parents
in Atlanta from our home in Houston. I
was pregnant with our first child, a
little girl, due January 9, 2000, and
we were looking forward to showing off
my growing tummy...
my parents' first grandchild!
The Monday before Thanksgiving I went
into work and mid morning felt my pants
soak, all of a sudden. Every time I
moved I leaked more, and I knew my
water had broken. I made a call to my
OB, they said Come on in--NOW", and
headed home to let my husband drive. We
were remarkably calm ---I was 32 weeks
pregnant.
The OB confirmed that my water had
broken --he could see ferning in the
fluid --and sent me immediately over to
the hospital. They were so nice, hooked
me up to a monitor, gave me a shot to
develop the baby's lungs, shots to
stop contractions, started me on
antiobiotics, and then sent in the
neonatologists who started telling us
about all of the problems our daughter
would have if she was born, as they
expected, in the next 48 hours. They
scared us to death and I started to cry.
My husband started calling family and
we started to focus on the small goals -
--let's get ONE day more to let the
steroids take effect, ONE day without
contractions.
Five days later, we were the success
story of the L&D ward, no baby, no
infection, no elevated temps or
decreased activity of the baby. They
started talking about us lasting
longer... our next goal: 34 weeks. My
husband and I were without insurance
and we asked that we be allowed to go
home ---he is a stay-at-home and would
be there to take care of me.
Reluctantly, my OB agreed as long as we
had a visiting nurse come every day to
do an hour monitor on the baby and take
my stats, so off we went.
I sat in bed for 28 days, leaking
amniotic fluid, unable to wear pants or
really move at all, but somehow I never
developed an infection and my body
replensihed enough of the lost fluid to
keep our daughter safe. I took my temp
every four hours, took a mild tocolytic
every four hours, saw the nurse every
day, and went in every four days or so
for a biophysical profile and an u/s
check of the fluid level. Our goal
became 36 weeks, and at 36 weeks they
took me off the tocolytic. Twenty hours
later we were in the hospital.
The night before we went to the
hospital I couldn't sleep well,
couldn't feel the baby move as much.
At 5:30 am I decided we just couldn't
wait for the nurse's opinion (she was
due at 8 am) and off we went. At the
hospital they did a check under the
hood, and saw I was still at 0/0. The
monitor confirmed I was having mild
contractions, and my doctor decided to
deliver. They started me on pitocin at
about 8 am, no drugs. The next five
hours were quite unpleasant ---they
wanted me to progress some before
giving me the epidural, and it hurt
like hell. I was only at 2 cm at 1 pm
when we sent for the anesthesiologist.
AHHHH, after my epidural we got to
relax some. What a miracle!
At 11 pm I was at 10 cm and it was tie
to push, and at 11:40pm on 12-12-99 our
daughter was born. She weighed 5 lbs. 9
oz, had an inital apgar of only 6,
second of 9. She just wouldn't give a
yell when she arrived, and was a little
dusky; they were concerned about her
lungs and whisked her off to the NICU.
And she was fine!
24 hours later, just before midnite
(when the fee for another NICU day
wopuld rack up) they let us take her
home. It was windy and cold, a barren
December night, but when we arrived
home it felt like the warmest most
comfy place in the universe.... we
stayed up all night watching her sleep,
marvelling at how small she was. We had
to feed her every 2 hours for about a
month, and keep track of every cc she
ate--but she moved along great and is
perfect! We just celebrated her one
year birthday, and our next child,
another girl, is due April 25, 2001.
My doctor has put me on preventative
bedrest at 22 weeks, and I hope to
carry my second daughter "all the
way" this time. Ultimately, they have
no idea why I ruptured...but his time
we're going to takje some extra
precautions! (and this time we have
insurance)
Courtney
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