By Gretchen Magrane, Smyrna, GA USAi was so happy when i found out i was pregnant. my husband and i had gotten married 1 month before we started trying and i was pregnant the next month. that was the easy part for me. the hard part would be staying pregnant. i had my first bleeding episode at 5 weeks and when i went to the er the dr, thought she saw 2 gestational sacs and only one looked viable. she said the bleeding may be from loosing a twin. this was devastating and so scarey. the bleeding stopped and i saw my regular ob at 7 weeks. there was a heartbeat! and i was diagnosed with an arcuate uterus, or slightly heart shaped. this could lead to preterm delivery and usually a c section is required because the baby could be breach. that was fine with me as long as my baby made it. i started bleeding again a week later and it pretty much didnt stop until i delivered. i bled very heavily at least once a week for several days for my whole pregnancy. i was on bedrest at home starting at 12 weeks. this was so scarey. you never get used to bleeding while your carrying a baby. i always felt like i could lose my baby. we found out i was having a boy at 16 weeks! we were so happy but still very scared. by this point i had had numerous ultrasounds due to bleeding and everything always looked normal with the baby. it did appear that i had a blood clot near the placenta that was causing the bleeding. it varied in size but was always there. when i was 22 weeks 6 days i experienced very heavy bleeding and when i went to the dr. i had 2 cm of amniotic fluid. i was admitted to the hospital and was told my baby was going to die because my water had broken (pprom). the drs. said i had 48 hours before i would deliver and my 23 weeker would not survive. we had to decide if we would want him to be ressusitated or if we would just hold him and let him go. i told them we wouldnt decide. my baby is going to live. i recieved iv antibiotics and 2 steroid shots at 24 weeks. i had no more than 2 cm of fuid the whole time, usually 0 cm. hospital bedrest was horrible and the worst most terryfying time of my life besides my sons nicu stay. almost 5 weeks later i had my first contractions and was sent to have a c section because my son was breech and had no fluid to turn around in.
PROM at 22 weeks + 6 days. Delivery at 26 weeks + 5 days.
Story added: 2009-12-18
devin luke magrane was born at 10:51 am on 6/23/2009 weighing 2 lbs. 6 oz. and was 13.5 inhes long. he did not cry when they delivered him and not one person in the o.r. told me whether or not he was alive before taking him to the nicu. i was not able to see him for 12 hours after he was born (hospital policy). but when i did he was so tiny and i was so afraid for him. the drs said he might not make it. he was breathing when he was born but required c-pap 1 hour later, then he needed the vent for 2-3 days. then he went to high flow nasal cannula then low flow. he was in the nicu for 11 weeks 1 day and ended up coming home 2 weeks before his due date on 9/9/09. hes almost 6 months old now (3 months adjusted) and weighs 14 lbs. 9 oz. hes doing great. he came home without oxygen or a monitor or anything! we are so proud of him! hes a happy healthy chubby little baby whos swinging in his swing right next to me right now! i love him so much and honestly i wouldnt change anything about the way he came into the world because he might not be exactly how he is now. the nicu stay is hard but once your baby is home, its all over and you will be so happy and realize how strong you really are. and you will never take your child for granted. i came to this website while i was on hospital bedrest everyday and i read every single story in green. i couldnt bring myself to read the ones in blue. i wanted so badly to type out my happy ending story and have it be a green one! im so happy to be finishing this and i hope my story gives someone hope. because there is so much hope when it comes to premature babies. they are amazing and so strong and so are their parents. good luck to you all!
if you are going to have a preemie, please join the preemie parenting group at babycenter.com. all of the parents there are so supportive and i dont know what i would do without them. and please visit my blog to see pictures and read about my sons everyday life. he is awesome!
http://abittyblog.blogspot.com/