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Shane Nelson 1 day old. 6 lbs 7 oz (
2920 grams ), 19 in long. In NICU Las
Vegas NV on CPAP
This is the story of my 3rd pregnancy.
My name is Deborah, my husband's name
is Doug. I discovered after April 1,
1996 that I was pregnant. I was working
full-time and thought "oh great", how
am I going to handle a 3rd child? I was
to learn the answer only after a very
difficult pregnancy. My other 2 children
were perfect pregnancies and perfect
childbirths. This one was different from
day 1.
First, I was sick 24 hours a day. I had
trouble eating, taking vitamins,
anything. We live in Las Vegas, Nevada
where it is hot and dry. During the
summer, in my fourth month, I got
dehydrated and couldn't even keep down
Gatorade! I was given fluids and got
better. I had a feeling from the
beginning this was a boy since it was so
different from my other 2 pregnancies
(girls). I tried to take care of myself,
but it was hard since I was working.
Then, I lost my job when I was four
months pregnant. This turned out to be a
blessing in the end.
In my fifth month of pregnancy (20
weeks), I took the standard AFP blood
test to test for abnormalities. The
results came back "high". I was sent
to a specialist to do a Level III
ultrasound where they check everything.
I was a little scared. I found out it
was a boy. The specialist came in and
explained something was wrong. He said
my bag of water was low, probably
leaking. I hadn't even noticed any
water leaking. He said the bag of water
was loose around the baby, and could
break any time. He told me I couldn't
do any more activity, and no sex at all.
He scheduled me for another ultrasound
in 1 month.
I listened and did as I was told, but
with my other 2 children, I couldn't
stop everything. I still shopped and ran
errands. I rested during the day.
Everything was fine for 2 more weeks. At
22 weeks though, I was sleeping, and
woke up with water gushing out. I knew
it was my water breaking. I knew how bad
this was. I woke my husband and went to
the hospital with our 2 children. The
doctors checked me, did an ultrasound,
and gave us the bad news. They said 22
weeks is too young to survive.
There was nothing they could do. They
offered to terminate the pregnancy then.
They said if we chose to go on, that the
baby faced growth problems without water
around, and a high risk for breathing
and lung problems. I learned the baby
drinks, swallows and pees the fluid. The
fluid helps put pressure on the chest
and lungs so the baby can practice
"breathing" in the womb. They told us
even if I made it to full term, the baby
still would NOT be normal. I was also at
risk: for infection, premature labor,
placenta problems, and bleeding. We
began to plan what we would do if we
lost this baby. We also began
researching information because we felt
sure we would have preemie.
The doctors sent me home since there
wasn't much chance for the baby. I
prayed and talked and cried. I realized
how much we wanted this little boy. I
asked myself these questions, "Is the
baby really in trouble now?" "Is it
fair to make the decision to end his
life now?" "What decision can we be
comfortable with?" and "If this had
appened before there was such a thing as
termination, what option would I have?"
I knew the only answer I could live with
was to continue the pregnancy and leave
this baby in God's hands. I knew I
could handle the risks, but didn't know
if the baby could. Still, I would feel
better because a small chance is better
than no chance at all.
I saw the specialists at the local
University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
They are 2 perinatologists who are very
excellent doctors. I went twice a week
for ultrasounds, heart monitoring, and
steroid shots. I felt surely I would go
into labor before 30 weeks. If I could
make it to 28 weeks, I would feel
better.
The baby was growing and I was on total
bedrest at home. The doctors trusted me
because I was so reliable and asked them
a million questions. The thing with PROM
(premature rupture of membranes) is the
baby generates more fluid, but with the
bag of water broken, I continued to leak
constantly. As long as the baby made
more fluid than I leaked, I was ok. My
water even began to re-generate! After
it broke, it was 3cm. (Normal fluid is
10-20cm). Over the next 8 weeks, it went
from 5cm, to 7cm, then 10cm. My 28th
week came in mid-October. I then found
out, my water had re-generated to 24
cm!!!! This was the good news I had
waited to hear. My doctor finally
smiled, and said, he could almost treat
this as a "normal" pregnancy again! I
knew there was hope!
I tried not to live by this good news, I
always took this pregnancy day by day. I
knew the water wouldn't last at that
level. My 30th week came at halloween.
That weekend, I woke up at night with
another gush of fluid. I went to the
hospital for my 2nd admission. They
monifored the baby for 24 hours. There
was nothing abnormal. The baby was still
growing and doing fine. The doctors were
amazed I had gotten so far. Most mothers
with PROM (premature rupture of
membranes) don't make it that far
along. I was sent home on bedrest again.
At 32 weeks, I began to bleed along with
the fluid leaking. I knew it was time to
go to the hospital for good. I was
admitted on November 12, 1996. I stayed
in the hospital for 3 more weeks. It was
very uneventful. It felt like a prison;
I only saw my family and kids 2-3 times
a week. I was still healthy and so was
the baby. The doctors were now being
more positive. They said they would try
to make it to 34 weeks and do an
amniostentesis to check lung maturity.
If mature, they would induce labor. If
not, then I would wait until 36 weeks
and they would induce labor then. I went
day by day, that's all I could do. I
continued to bleed in the hospital. The
doctors said I must have a tear in my
placenta, causing a little bleeding. As
long as the baby was healthy, they would
go on.
Week 34 came. I took the amniostentesis
and the results came back. The lungs
were not mature enough for delivery. I
was beginning to get worn out and knew
it wouldn't be much longer.
At week 35, the bleeding got heavier and
heavier. On Dec 6, the day he was born,
I had a worried feeling about the baby.
I had not felt movement 10 times in an
hour like he was supposed to. I kept
asking the nurses to check the monitor
and ask the doctor to do an ultrasound.
The doctor stopped by just before he was
leaving the hospital and saw the baby's
heartrate was dropping on the monitor.
The doctor immediately said he would do
a C-section. At last the time had come!
Ten minutes later, I was strapped to the
table. The doctors gave me a spinal
injection to numb me from my stomach
down. They began the operation, and my
husband arrived just as they were about
to take the baby out. I was awake the
whole time. It was the weirdest
experiences of my life, yet I had a
peaceful feeling that everything would
be ok. I wasn't worried about the baby.
It turned out I had a placental
abrubtion, the placenta had separated
from my uterus, due to lack of fluid.
This caused the bleeding, which came
from the baby's umbilical cord. The
baby lost blood and oxygen very quickly.
It is a good thing the doctor acted so
quickly, because the baby could have
died.
He came out a little blue. The doctors
began to ressucitate him and gave him
oxygen. He went to the NICU (my hospital
had a level 3 NICU--the best). They put
him on the Ventilator to help him
breathe. He wasn't in too great of
shape to begin with. But he had made it!
I didn't see him for the first 24
hours. I got out of bed the next
day--very painful-- and went to see him.
He had a lot of tubes, but he was
breathing!
We named him Shane Riley Nelson. Shane
is Irish, and means "God's Gracious
Gift." He stayed in the NICU for 2
weeks. He went from the ventilator, to
the CPAP and then nasal oxygen in 3
days! He did very well. In 5 days, he
was breathing on his own!
He came home on December 15, 1996. Our
lives are very full with 3 children, but
we wouldn't have it any other way.
Shane is truly a blessing in our lives.
Shane Nelson 3 months old
Deborah Nelson
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