At week 14, I was laying in bed when I
had a leak. I just got up and went to
the hospital and after about a total
of 5 minutes in the ER the doctor told
me to go home. Everything was
supposed to be fine. It "couldn't
have been" my water breaking, the baby
still had a heartbeat.
Two weeks later, when I saw my OB
something funny showed in the
ultrasound, he couldn't see any
fluid. In turn, he sent me to a
specialist. I later discovered that
my baby boy was statistically not
capable of surviving since my fluid
was a low 1cm. I was advised to
induce my labor and terminate the
pregnancy. My heart was crushed. I
decided to go home on bedrest and
finish my last sememster of high
school at home. At 22 weeks, I was
admitted in the hospitals for
contractions. I thought this was the
end. Once things settled down, my
hopes were revived and they suggested
I stay in the hospital until I
delievered. The hospital bedrest
increased my fluid up to 9cm but was
more consistently at 6cm.
After 10 long weeks in the hospital,
TJ McNeely arrived at 8:35pm on March
10th weighing 3lb 12.4oz. He cried
when he came out and was immediately
rushed to the waiting Pediatric
staff. After hearing his cries, I
thought everything was going to be
okay. Half an hour later, the
Neonatologist informed me that I had
a "very sick baby" and that he may not
survive. After crying for about 5
minutes, he came back to speak to me--
my baby was doing better but still
very sick. They rushed him over to
the NICU at the local Children's
Hospital. He was on the osculator for
a day and a half. I was informed this
was a short period for any baby..which
was encouraging. He was then placed
on the ventilator, which he stayed on
for a week and half. By this time, he
was two weeks old.
He first trial on CPAP failed...and I
was devastated. I thought my baby
couldn't breathe on his own. Two days
later, he was sucessful with this.
With PROM babies, time is the big key--
that's what the doctors told me.
There is a lot of trial and error.
After a short term on the CPAP, they
alternated between nasal canula and
the CPAP. This was sucessful.
Today he is three and a half weeks old
and finally was transferred from the
NICU to the Special Care Nursery. He
is breathing room air through the
nasal canula with a flow of 1 liter.
He weighs 4lb 8.2oz and eats on his
own. He's starting to show some signs
of reflux which is common in premies.
Moms--don't get frustrated, just love
your babies. You worked hard for
them! Not every story is sad.
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