Prematurely
Yours
My husband and I were married, July 1, 1971. After 10 years of marriage, we decided it was finally time to start our family. My biological time-clock after all, was ticking away, I was 29 years old. We tried getting pregnant for 3 years and it wasn't happening. We finally went to my Gyn/Ob and told him of our dilemma. The first thing he did was put me on Clomid, a fertility drug. We discussed the pros and cons of using this drug and decided to go ahead and give it a try. We were told it could take 4 to 6 months for Clomid to work. I guess, we must have relaxed because, we conceived the first time! I was 32 and pregnant. Our baby was due February 10, 1986.
My pregnancy started out normal. I had horrible morning sickness, wanted to sleep all the time, but was happy and contented. At 8 weeks gestation we heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time, it was a wonderful sound. I was getting huge so at 12 weeks gestation our Dr. thought it best to have an ultra-sound to see how many babies I was carrying. The ultra-sound showed only one baby.
I was in awe of seeing my baby in uterine. He was moving and I could see his heart beating. I hadn't yet felt him move and seeing him move on ultra-sound made him alive to me, this was around August 1, 1985. I was calling my baby a he and the Dr. was calling him a she he said the heartbeat was to fast for a boy. The month's of September and October were uneventful and progressing normally, or so I thought. I felt my baby move the end of October that in its self is an awesome feeling.
My parents came to visit us the end of October first of November. Mom took one look at me and said "you're carrying that baby awful low". That statement came back to haunt me. We had a good visit with my parents they went with me on my monthly check up to the Dr. My parents got to hear my babies heart beat the smiles on their faces were ear-to-ear. While at the Dr.'s office my dad asked if there was any indication that I might have a premature birth as, I was a preemie. My doctor assured him that everything looked good and there were no indications of a premature birth. Mom and Dad stayed with us for 6 days and when they got ready to leave I didn't want Mom to go home. I cried (never had done that before) and in my mind. I begged her to stay. I watched them drive off with a heavy heart and an overwhelming all consuming sadness.
Three week later on Sunday, November 17, 1985, I woke up with a horrible back ache (I found out later is was back labor) it just wouldn't go away. I went and used the bathroom and bright red blood was on the tissue. I was scared and called out to my husband. He called my Dr., told him what was happening. My Dr. said to meet him at the hospital. I thought I probably had a bad bladder or kidney infection. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I was going to give birth to a preemie.
Monday, November 18, 1985 at 1:23 p.m., after 25 1/2 hour of labor our son, John was born. He weighed 2 lbs. 15 oz. and was 15 inches long. Below is his newborn picture. He was 1-1/2 hours old.
Right after giving birth to our son, John, I asked to see him. The neonatal nurse stopped by the head of the deliveryroom table for just a second to show me our son. He was tiny, tiny, lobster red and crying at the top of his lungs, he was the most beautiful baby I'd even seen. Little did I know what lie ahead for us and him.
John was born at 28 weeks gestation. His APGAR scores were 5 at one minute and 8 and five minutes. He started his life in a neotatal unit on a warm bed called a radiant warmer. His condition started to improve and he was moved into a heated isolette on November 21, 1985. His favorite house temperature started at 34 C*. As he grew, he began to maintain his own body temperature. I finally got to hold him for the first time on November 27, 1985. I cried with joy, ohh my, he was so tiny.
Because John's lungs were immature he needed extra
help to breathe. The day he was born he had an oxyhood the Fi02 (oxygen)
was set at 60%. On November 19, 1985 his need for Fi02 (oxygen) dropped to
30% his Fi02 (oxygen) level stayed this way until November 25, 1985. This was a very scary day for us. I thought we were going to loose him.
John had his first major Bradycardia episode, he had to be bagged. Unfortunately
he had many Bradycardia episodes that day. He was diagnosed with Respiratory
Distress Syndrome placed on a ventilator to expand his lungs to help him
breath easier and to hopefully stop the Bradycardia episodes. His ventilator
settings were Fi02 (oxygen) 25% and pressure was NPC-pap-5. He was a very
sick baby but I never gave up on him. As it turned out, the ventilator didn't stop John's Bradycardia episodes he became known as the Bradycardia King in the neonatal unit. He was extubated on January 1, 1986 and placed in 35% Fi02.
John was too little to eat and was nourished with IV's. He had his IV from November 18, 1985 to November 30, 1985. He was given his first gavage (tube) feeding on November 30, 1985. He received 34cc's of 1/2 strength Pregestamil every 3 hours. December 5, 1985 he had to go back to IV feeding as his tummy wasn't tolerating the gavage feedings. For the next month he bounced back and forth between gavage feeding and IV feeding. Finally, the end of December '85 he was able to tolerate the gavage feedings. January 4, 1986 was the first time he nursed from a bottle and I got to feed him the first time on January 5, 1986 at 8:00 a.m. I remember being very nervous feeding him, it was time consuming as he had to be positioned just right or he would get choked and have a Bradycardic episode.
While in the hospital John had many special procedures, numerous blood transfusions’ and various medications to get him well enough to come home. Homecoming day finally arrived on January 19, 1986. John was 2 months, 1 day old, weighed 5lbs. 9oz and was 17" long. He came home with a heart monitor and oxygen.
to be continued......
This is a picture of our son, John, 13 1/2
years later!
5'7 1/2" Tall and 140lbs.
First Award Received For This Page! Thank you, Di
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Stop Abortion Not A Beating Heart!
Life What a
Beautiful Choice!
Megan
Adopted: August 16,1999
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