My pregnancy itself was altogether a complete and totally unplanned surprise. The first trimester was absolutely horrible. I struggled with a lot of morning sickness and tried everything to ease it. Crackers by my bedside, tums, prescription zofran, ginger, smelling garlic and lemon, peppermints. Nothing in the world helped me with my morning sickness, and there was very little food items I could even keep down. Even though I lost weight in the first trimester, the baby was growing healthy and everything was going normal.
My second trimester I was still dealing with a lot of morning sickness. Although it wasn’t as bad as the first trimester, it was still a losing battle for me. But just like in the first baby was still growing strong and according to my OBGYN was going to be a very long baby. I don’t know if it was because it was my first pregnancy or if it was because she did not have a lot of room, but I barely felt the baby move. Maybe because I didn’t really know what to feel for, but when I did feel her move it was wonderful feeling.
My third trimester never happened. I went into preterm labor at 30 weeks. Looking back I know now that my labor most likely started on a Thursday night. That night I was feeling a lot of pressure and tightening, but I thought it was just some Braxton Hicks contractions. The next morning while getting ready to go to work I noticed I was spotting a thick bloody mucusy type of discharge. Hoping it would stop and was nothing I went ahead and went to work. However it didn’t stop so when I got my break at work I called my doctor and they scheduled me an appointment that afternoon.
When I went into the doctor’s office the nurse practitioner checked me and said my cervix was thinning. They sent me to have an ultrasound which showed my cervix was about .5cm dilated. I was checked into the hospitals labor and delivery unit where I would be monitored, according to the nurses I would be there until Monday so that my doctor could discharge me and after being released I would be on bed rest for the remaining of my pregnancy. Friday night and Saturday was uneventful, I had very irregular contractions and nothing was progressing. I was ready to go home.
sSunday brought a change of pace though. I woke up with even more pressure and tightening than I had had all weekend long. I told the nurse immediately and she told the doctor on call. When they came in to do a vaginal exam I was 3 cm dilated and they needed to move me to another hospital because they didn’t have a NICU in that hospital. Immediately I was given some mag medicine to help stop the labor.
After about a 20 minute drive to the other hospital the doctor there checked me and I was now dilated to 5 cm. They took me off the mag and I was told we were going to have a baby that night. What happened between that decision and the pushing I don’t remember all to well, perhaps it’s because I received an epidural. Which I kind of regret because I did not like how numb my legs got afterwards and during, I couldn’t get up and walk on my own for a few hours. Around 7:20 pm I started pushing and at 7:47 I had a beautiful baby girl. I couldn’t do a lot of skin to skin with her which I hated because it sounded so wonderful and I was hoping for a breast crawl. But she was taken away after seeing my face and getting a kiss to the NICU. She was 5lbs and 18in, very long and big for a 30 week gestational age baby.
My baby girl spent a little over a month in the NICU and leaving her in there everyday was hard. She had some oxygen and breathing problems but when she finally came home it was sooo wonderful and relieved to finally have her home with us. I finally felt like an actually mommy having her home.
We also got to do a lot of skin to skin in the hospital, even though it wasn’t right after delivery I was still happy that we got to do some skin to skin. Which we still do at home to this day.
This is her coming home day, she was only about 6 lbs. here.
This is one of her recent pictures. She is now 3.5 months old and 11lbs 10oz. She is growing way to fast for me.
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