At 22 weeks my doctor notice my cervix was shortening and I had started to funnel. He referred me to a high risk ob to hopefully have a cerclage but in place but high risk ob refused so my reg ob sent me to a second high risk ob with the same hopes and still denied, I was told to just take it easy. My reg OB continued to check me for the next 3 weeks and then I started have back contractions that sent me to the hospital multiple nights to get a shot or meds to stop the contractions. The contractions were not affecting my cervix, in fact it had started to lengthen.
I began my best rest vigil, my husband elevated the foot of the bed and I only got up for restroom breaks and my 20 mins for supper. At the beginning of my 26 wk, I spent 3 days in hospital on magnesium to stop the contractions (still in my back) that were happening every 5 mins. I was released on Thursday and woke up Friday morning with what I thought was gas pains. After about 10 hours and they did not subside I started to have some weird discharge so I called my reg ob who said to head to our local hospital.
When I arrived I was 2cm dilated and had to be transferred to another hospital with a Level 4 NICU - we (my son and I) both had our first ambulance ride. We arrived about 2am Saturday morning and I was 3cm dilated. I continued to have these horrible contractions and continued to dilate then about 830am my water broke and the contractions only got worse. Finally at 1115am they said I could have an epidural, in the process of the epidural Aeden moved into position to be born. I started pushing at 12(noon) Saturday and he was born at 12:20pm. My epidural kicked in for the last 5 minutes of the ordeal.
He was on the vent for his first night then on high flow nasal canula for the remainder of his 86 day NICU stay. He had one small "blip" of a perferated bowel which put him on the ossilator vent and then he had to be stepped back down to reg vent then to his nasal canula, during this "blip" he was given only a 50% chance of making it through the weekend, but he is my "little fire" (the meaning of his name). Our NICU stay consisted of constant reflux, apneas and bradys.
He stayed in the NICU until 39 weeks gestation because doctors were certain he would need the "nissen" sugery, however about middle of his 38 weeks he decided to eat without desatting. I spent these 3 months in the ronald mcdonald house right across the road from the hospital, while my hubby ran our home and continued to work. He came home on oxygen and apnea monitor on October 17, 2011.
I lost my job due to having to take care of him and his inablitlity to attend day care, so now I am a full time mom to a healthy happy 6 month old that weighs 10lbs 14oz. He is developmentally correct with his adjusted age of 3 months - a little ahead actually with some of his milestones. He is small for his age but the doctor is certain he will catch up. During my entire pregnancy we jokingly called "him" butterbean becuase of the way my 8 week sonogram looked - now we jokingly say that if we knew he would have been born the size of a butterbean we would have called him watermelon instead. He is truely a miracle and I wouldn't trade a day of our ordeal for anything in the world!!
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