As of July 20, 2012 at 10:37pm, I became a "NICU Mom". No one ever thinks this will happen to them, especially me. I did not have gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or excessive amniotic fluid. I did not have problems with my placenta, like placenta previa or placental abruption. I did not lead an unhealthy life during my pregnancy. I did not have a sip of alcohol, I worked out 3-4 times a week and I drank tons of water. So why did this happen to us? We will never know. It took me a while to accept this. I'm still working on it...
It all started with annoying back pain for 3 days leading up to labor... little did I know, I was "in labor". I looked on the Internet and everything seemed perfectly normal, especially with this being my second pregnancy. On Thursday it became almost unbearable. I tried laying on the floor, stretching, massage and finally a hot bath. The bath helped but as soon as I got out I started having uncomfortable Braxton Hicks contractions. I called my doctor that evening and with no history of issues, she suggested I sleep it off and call her if the contractions become painful. I woke up at 1am, 2am and finally at 3:30am I tapped my husband and said "let's go in". My mom was at our house in 15 minutes flat and we were on our way to the ER. Once there, they immediately gave me a shot in my arm that should have stopped the contractions. An hour or so later, the doctor decided to check me because the contractions were not slowing down. Her face said it all... I was 3cm dilated. She proceeded to tell me that I would either have this baby soon or I would be in the hospital until I did... I wasn't due for 3 months. I felt scared, confused and most of all, MAD. This crap isn't supposed to happen to me? I still had hope though. I just assumed we would get comfortable and be in the hospital for a few weeks. How bad could that be? As long as the baby was safe I didn't care. At 6:30am I received a steroid shot. This was surreal to me. The shot was to help the baby's lungs mature. Wow... this was really happening. Terrified.
As the night continued, the contractions were all over the place. Sometimes they were 20 minutes apart and sometimes they were really close together. Nurses came and went. Their shifts started and ended. They all kept saying, "just make it to 6:30am again so we can give you the next steroid shot... 2 is so much better than 1, but 1 is amazing". I tried. I also tried to go without the epidural. And I did, for 20 hours. 20 hours of contractions. At the end of that 20 hours, I was 6 cm dilated. This baby was coming. The nurse and doctor came into the room and said they really wanted me to have the epidural because I was too stressed out and receiving the medicine might prolong the delivery. At this point I didn't care... as long as the baby was ok. I would do anything to keep her in as long as possible. Did I mention this was my baby girl? The little girl I had always dreamed of? Terrified.
At around 10pm the anesthesiologist came into our room. They decided to give me the epidural laying on my side so I wouldn't put any pressure on my bag of waters. I guess I haven't mentioned that I was not allowed to move this entire time. Any movement could have made my bag of waters break and we did not want that to happen. She proceeded to do her thing and to make the medicine spread to both sides, they gently rolled me on my back. The rest was a blur and at some point during all this my blood pressure fell off the chart and my eyes started to roll. Art yelled for the doctor and they ran in to give me a shot of addrenaline. It worked immediately and seconds later my water broke and I felt immediate pressure. I vaguely remember yelling "she's coming!" Art tells me that the nurses ran in, the doctor ran in and the NICU team was there within seconds. I didn't cry... I just laid there until they told me to push. I guess I was praying. I don't really remember. Two or three pushes later she came out. I didn't even know what to expect... Would she be breathing? What would she look like? Would she need recitation? Would they put her on my chest and tell me to say good bye? I just sat there, stone faced. However, when she came out, none of those things happened! She wiggled and cried immediately! She looked tiny, but completely normal! They checked her out - 2 pounds, 10 ounces and 15 1/4 inches long - and then brought her over to me for a kiss. The NICU team took her away and did what they do best - assess her and treat her. Terrified... numb.
The next thing I remember is being rolled to our room and waiting. Waiting for the doctor to come in or the nurses to come get us to meet our little girl...
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