By Jennifer Bonsu, Millbury, MA USAAfter a long and difficult pregnancy, and 13 weeks spent in the NICU, I am finally ready to share my PAP story with all of you!
. Delivery at 28 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2002-12-08
After loosing our first baby, Michael, we decided to try again right away. I got pregnant only 4 months after loosing him. The pregnancy was very difficult. I went for weekly cervical measurements to watch for incompetant cervix. When I was 17 weeks along, my doctor began to notice some funneling. I had also noticed that I would feel wetness "down there". my doctor said that it was probably my cervix sweating because it was becoming more active. At 18 weeks the doctor placed a cerclage in my cervix, and I was placed on moderate bedrest for about 1 month. Things were looking great afterwards, especially after reaching viability! However, things did eventually take a turn for the worse. At 27 weeks, I began having really bad pains under my ribs through my back. The doctor kept saying it was heartburn, but to me it was much to painful to be heartburn. Soon afterwards, my bloodpressure started to increase, often up to 160/100. My doctor told me I could be developing Toxemia, so he put me back on bedrest. The pain I was having became intolerable at 28 weeks, so the doctor recommended I go to the hospital to be checked for gall stones, which made more sense to me. Well, The second the doctor examined me and did urine tests, they soon realized I was developing HELLP syndrome, a severe and life threatening form of pre-eclampsia. The doctors wanted to keep me in the hosptal, give me steroids, then deliver the baby in two days. I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME!!!! It was like I was dreaming. I just couldnt believe that this could happen! The pain I had been feeling was my liver expanding due to the HELLP syndrome. The doctors moved me into a different room, and started giving me Magnesium sulfate ( to prevent seizures). The doctors and nurses attached me to a baby monitor, and turned it away so I couldnt see anything. They all kept watching the monitor, and apparently the baby's heartbeat kept dropping dangerously low. He was in distress, so they needed to get him out ASAP. I was rushed into the operating room, and had an emergency c-section. They has to knock me out because my blood platelets were too low due to the HELLP syndrome.
When i woke up, I was completely out of it. I didn't even know if our baby survived. Well....he did! He weighed only 1 pound, 10 ounces, and was 13 inches long. He was now our miracle baby! We named him Derrick Bonsu!
We spent the next 13 weeks up in the NICU. We almost lost him a couple of times due to infection, but he was strong and pulled through. He spent a total of 5 weeks on the ventiator, and after 9 weeks he was breathing room air. He finally came home on October 30, 2002.
Derrick is now 18 weeks old (his corrected age based on his due date is 6 weeks) and he weighs about 8 pounds, 3 ounces. He has no other medical problems right now except for a hernia that may need to be repaired. He is our little miracle, and I know his big brother, Michael, is watching over him.
Thank you for listening!
PROM PG Story