I walked out of a store at night when
I was 27 wks, 2 days pregnant with my
second son (my full-term son was then
8 1/2), and I felt a gush that I hoped
was urine, but I kind of knew in my
heart it wasn't. I went home and lay
down and stood up to go to the
bathroom, and my water broke
completely.
I went to the ER and was put on
magnesium sulfate and kept overnight
in l&d. The next day they put me on
the perinatal floor. I was not
allowed to sit up and was to use the
bedpan. I liked the peri who came to
see me and felt confident in him, but
I was so terrified and miserable.
They gave me two rounds of steroid
shots to mature his lungs.
One of the neonatologists from the
nearby Children's Hospital came to
talk to me, and he presented me with
some very good odds, but the
possibilities for the things that
could go wrong were very scary. I
tried not to focus on those
things.
My third full day in the hospital,
they put in a main IV line, because
they thought I would be there for
awhile, but it wasn't so. My labor
started that night, and at 3:37 am on
Saturday, July 25, 1998, my precious
son, Rory Alec was born weighing 2
pounds, 3 ounces.
I had been given pain meds in my IV
line, and kept going in and out of
conciousness. My husband was a wreck
while the team from Children's was
checking him. Finally, they brought
him out in their transport unit and
rushed him to the NICU.
I remember the nurse who took me back
to my room saying that I should sleep
because it was all I could do. She
said, "you're a brave lady,
Stacey".
I slept due to the drugs, and we went
to see him in the NICU the next day.
He was already off the vent, and I
know the steroids helped with that. He
had an ng tube, and IV, and leads from
monitors all over him. He had to go
through a round of light treatment for
Jaundace, and when he had the brain
ultrasound for possible bleeds, I was
scared to death. No brain bleeds,
thank God!
I couldn't function except to go to
the NICU in the morning, come home at
dinner time, and some kind person
would bring us a meal, and then I
would go back after dinner. I slept
from pure exhaustion and set the alarm
to pump my breast milk.
After one week, he was put on CPAP and
had that for one full month. He was
on medication to help with his bowel
movements and another medication which
was a stimulant for his lungs, I
believe.
He was in the NICU 9 full weeks. He
gained weight very slowly, had days
with apnea episodes and oxygen
desats. He was slowly weened off his
meds, and we went back and forth with
the ng tube and the amount of milk
they gave him. When he was learning
to suck, swallow and breathe, it wore
him out, and he had to have the tube
put back in for awhile.
Finally, after 9 weeks, he came home
with an apnea monitor, and he wasn't
quite 5 pounds yet. He had reflux and
was put on Pepcid for it. He could
still only eat a little at a time. I
would breast feed him some, but most
of his milk was pumped and put into a
bottle, and mixed with a special
preemie formula.
Those first months at home were hard.
I was worn out from everything, and
then he didn't sleep much. I was
still worried about him, and we
weren't allowed to take him out, and
he was going for monthly RSV
shots.
By the time we were allowed out in
public, we'd been housebound for about
6-7 months.
But, we were blessed. As hard as it
was, he only had the typical preemie
problems and nothing more severe.
He was beautiful, and healthy and
strong. He had some gross motor skill
delays and was even a little behind
his corrected age for motor skills
such as sitting, walking etc.
Physical therapy really seemed to
help. Once he walked and then ran, I
think I let out a huge sigh of relief,
and his pediatrician kept reminding me
he was a normal kid because I was
still nervous.
He talked early and is very bright.
He just turned 6 and started
kindergarten. He is 57 pounds and 46
1/2 inches and he knows all there is
to know about dinosaurs and
prehistoric creatures. He has a great
smile and sense of humor, an amazing
vocabulary, and he is the love of my
life!
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