Meet Victoria

We had quite a long journey to get to the point we are today. We started trying to get pregnant in 2007, and our third IVF attempt in July of 2010 was going to be our last. We couldn’t believe the phone call on Labor Day of 2010 that our IVF had worked and we were finally pregnant. The first two months weren’t easy, as I ended up in the ER twice with bleeding, and one of those times put me on bed rest for 3 weeks. By the end of October the pregnancy seemed to be continuing as normal, and I felt like I could finally enjoy this little person growing inside me.

On the morning of January 27th, 2011 I had my regular doctor's visit and everything leading up to that appointment had felt normal. That week though, I had noticed a strange liquid, so my doctor had his tech do an ultrasound to make sure I wasn’t losing cervical fluid. When the doctor called me back in to discuss the results, I was already 3cm dilated. I was immediately checked into the hospital, at 24 weeks and 2 days. That evening when the neonatologist spoke to us to explain all the risks involved if I went into labor, was the worst day of our lives. We couldn’t believe that after overcoming so many obstacles to get pregnant, our baby may not even survive. Now, the focus was go get me as far along in the pregnancy as possible, on strict bed rest. They gave me the round of steroid shots to help develop the baby’s lungs in case she arrived early. I lasted until I was 26 weeks and 3 days. My labor pains started the afternoon of Friday, February 11^th  at first I thought it might be stomach ache, since I had no idea what labor pains felt like, and  they grew more intense with each passing hour. Almost 7 hours later, and after receiving heavy doses of Magnesium Sulfate without even a reaction, there was no doubt I was going into labor that evening. My baby girl arrived by C Section at 11:37 that evening, weighing 2lbs4oz. My husband and I burst into tears when we saw how tiny she was.

I had apparently developed an infection and my placenta had already started to detach, and the reason they gave me for the early onset of the dilation, was incompetent cervix. We are extremely blessed that the issues she had, would be overcome with time and growth, but at the time it seemed like she would take two steps forward and five steps back. It was an extremely emotional time for us, and not how we imagined the birth of our first baby. She finally came home exactly three months after she was born, and only a few days after my very first Mother’s Day.

Today, she is a thriving 11 month old only a few weeks away from turning one.