NICU Mommy

When I found out I was pregnant, the doctor gave us a due date of December 27, 2012. After not finding a heart beat at our first appointment, talk about scary, she sent us for an ultrasound. The ultrasound went fine and we found out that the baby seemed to be more on track with a due date of December 25, 2012! Christmas baby! We were happy that everything was going so well. I did everything I could to help keep him safe inside me. I took my vitamins. I ran almost daily or at least exercised a bit. I quit drinking coffee and cut out the sugar. I ate healthy for the most part and ate more than what I was used to, as to give him the nutrients he needed. In my second trimester, the doctor's started to get worried. The baby wasn't growing according to their charts. He was a tiny little baby that's for sure. By my 30th week of pregnancy. I was going to the doctor nearly three times a week for NST's, dopplers and ultrasounds. Will was estimated at 2lbs 10oz at 30 weeks gestation. By my 34th week, we were ordered to go downtown to the hospital on Saturday morning for another ultrasound. The doctor warned me that it could be time to get the baby out instead of letting him stay inside me. She said we were considered IUGR, intrauterine growth restricted, meaning he just wasn't getting what he needed from me to grow. The risk of keeping him in would be worse than getting him out early. If we kept him in longer, there was a risk of still birth and that killed me just thinking about it. I was more than okay with being induced but it definitely wasn't in my birth plan!

Family of three for the last time!

On Saturday, November 17th, they admitted us to be induced. My parent's were picking up my sister at college 5 hours away. We let them know what was going on and they cut their stay short, got my sister, and came home. Everything was going on so quick that honestly I didn't have time to accept the fact that our son was going to be here instead of inside me. I was in labor for 30 hours and only dialated to 3cm. The pain on Saturday evening got so bad that I got sick and then they gave me the epidural. After getting that I finally felt okay and got some sleep. By Sunday afternoon they had us meeting with the NICU doctors to discuss what will happen when we had Will. Sunday they made the decision that since they broke my water already and I wasn't progressing that if by 8pm Sunday night, if I wasn't progressing enough that it would have to move to a c section. I was fine with all of this. It was as if I wasn't really comprehending anything that was going on yet. I heard everything and knew everything that was going on but nothing hit me until 9pm when she checked me again. At that point she said we'll be having a c section and I just looked at Dave and started crying. It became real at that point. They started to numb me up some more and it just wasn't working. The wheeled me into the OR and I said bye to Dave for the time being. He got his suit on to come into the OR with me. They are still numbing me up at this point because I was still feeling them poke me with a needle. They told me and Dave that they had to put me under general anesthesia. Dave had to leave. I started crying again. I didn't want Dave not to be there with me even though I was asleep in two seconds. Honestly, after that I don't remember anything. I remember it was almost 10pm and I woke up and it was 2am. I looked at my mom first, she was at the foot of my bed. I closed my eyes again. I opened them and grabbed Dave's hand to the right of me. I looked at him and asked how the baby was. He said he was great and was in the NICU. I then asked if the Steelers lost. We did. Then I asked if my fantasy team won. I did. After that we said goodbye to my mom and dad, and his mom and dad. They finally took us up to our post-partum room on the high risk suite.

Will was born that nigh at 9:53pm. He weighed 3lbs 8oz and was 17.5 inches long. He did cry when he was born. His apgar score was a 3 at one minute and 9 at five minutes. He was on oxygen for about 24-36 hours.

Meeting Will for the first time

Finally able to hold my baby

He got food by a NG tube on day 3. I pumped breast milk for him from the time I was in the post partum room till about 2 months of age (actual). Until he is two years old we have two ages for him, actual and adjusted. He was born 6 weeks early so until Christmas day he was considered 0 weeks old. So although today is his 4 month birthday, 17 weeks old, he is really only 11 weeks old when you subtract those 6 weeks. He was almost two days old before I was able to see him. He was so small. It was so surreal. I just wanted to take him home with us and we couldn't. He was in the incubator for weeks. The NICU at Magee where we had Will is amazing. They are the best by far. After about a week in the NICU, they said because Will was so stable, we were moving upstairs to their NICU where they have the most stable babies. Will did great there but we did have a nurse and a doctor let us know we had an option of moving Will. After finding out that we wouldn't be charged to move him to the Children's Home, and that I was able to stay with him there, we decided that was best. After moving him I stayed there with him for the last two weeks of our stay in the NICU. We were there for a total of 23 days before he was able to come home with us. At discharge he was 4lbs 12oz and was eating without a tube, no oxygen and no bradys or apnea scares. That means his heart wasn't stopping and his breathing was normal. This was due to him being premature which is definitely a scary situation. But they cleared him to go home and we couldn't of been happier.

How tiny he was..

Feeding tube 

All strapped in and ready to be transported to the Children's Home!

In an open air crib! One last step before going home. 

Discharge day! Time to go home in my car seat! 

Through this whole ordeal, Dave was beyond amazing. He was the most supportive boyfriend. He talked to all the doctors while I was out of it. He knew all the information for Will and his NICU. He knew it all. I could never thank him enough for what he did for our family during that time. I love him more and more every day thinking about what he did for us. I know this is long but that's our birth story. The NICU feelings will come in another post. That will need to be saved for another day and I hope you come back to continue to read about our journey!