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My 3 Amazing Preemie Boys :)
MrsRamsey1387 - 10:28pm Jul 7, 2012 EST
Hello! My name is Ashley, and I am the mommy to the most amazing 3 boys. I already posted this story. However, it was 2am, I was suffering from anxiety over my recent preemie, and I was typing on my iPad (so there were many typos!) so I am reposting
I gave birth to my first baby, Mason Andrew, on July 21, 2006 at 4:51pm. I was 34 weeks and 4 days along in my pregnancy. The morning of July 20th I started having some pretty intense pains that I knew were contractions. I had been on bed rest and Terbutaline since 28 weeks for pre-term labor. I did everything I knew of to try and get them to stop on my own (warm bath, lots of fluid, etc...) before going to the hospital that morning, but to no avail. Once I got to labor and delivery they hooked me up to the monitors and determined that I was definitely in active labor. My contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and I was dilated to 3cm, and 90% effaced. The doctor on call decided it was best to try and stop my labor, so I was given 3 injections of Terbutaline. The shots did absolutely nothing to stop the contractions so I was put on a magnesium sulfate drip and admitted to a labor room. The next 20hrs were pure misery. I threw up so much that they were afraid I was going to throw up the lining of my stomach! It was so horrible! The morning of the 21st (20hrs later...) my water spontaneously broke. I was then taken off the magnesium and told I would have a baby that day! Since he was my first baby and I had no idea what the possible complications of having a 34weeker were, I really wasn't too scared. I was just mostly thankful to be off the magnesium! 8hrs after my water broke I was allowed to get an epidural because I had finally dilated enough, and I was in an enormous amount of pain! I remember the nurses telling me they had to move the patient in the room next to me because I was scaring her! About an hour after I got the epidural and I was finally getting relief, all of the sudden my room was flooded with nurses. I was told to flip over on all fours (the nurses had to hold me up since I was numb from the epidural) and they had strapped oxygen to my face. I had no idea what was going on and I was so scared! It turns out that my baby was in distress and his heartbeat was dangerously low. I was quickly wheeled into the OR and within minutes they had my baby boy out. He wasn't breathing, and was completely blue when they first took him out. I was told his first apgar score was only a 2! Thankfully, he perked up pretty quickly and his second apgar score (5 minutes later) was an 8. He had the softest blonde hair, and he weighed 5lbs 11ozs and was 19.25 inches long. He was perfect! At the time I had no idea how blessed I was, because he never required oxygen and didn't even need a feeding tube. He came home with me 4 days later! Today he is a very healthy almost 6yr old, and you would never know he was a preemie
My 2nd baby, Kamdyn Tyler, was born on November 26, 2009 at 3:51am. I was 36 weeks and 1 day pregnant. He was definitely my easiest and least stressful delivery. I did have some preterm labor and was put on modified bed rest starting at 29 weeks, but other than that my pregnancy was pretty uncomplicated. The entire day before he was born I noticed I was feeling quite a bit of pressure and having a lot of braxton hicks, but I just chalked it up to the fact that I had been on my feet a lot that day. I left work early because of the pressure and went home to lay down. I was having a hard time getting comfortable, so I couldn't get to sleep at all. It was about 1:30am the next morning, and as I rolled out of the bed to use the bathroom that I felt a huge gush between my legs. I remember thinking to myself "Did I just pee myself??!!" And then it hit me... my water had broken! Contractions started almost immediately and were very consistent at about 5 minutes apart. I arrived at the hospital around 2:15am and after they determined my water had broken they stuck me on the monitors and got the OR prepped for my repeat c-section (they don't offer vbacs in the city I live in). I remember laying there thinking "Holy cow this hurts! Hurry up and get me in there and get him out!" Thankfully I didn't have to wait too much longer and about an hour later he was born. He had the cutest face and a full head of brown hair. He weighed 5lbs 10ozs and was 19.5inches long. Almost the exact same as his brother! He also required no oxygen or feeding tubes and came home with me 3days later. Today he is a very healthy, and very quirky 2 and half year old.
March 21, 2012 was the day I gave birth to my 3rd baby, Karsen Thomas, at 9:34pm. I was 31 weeks and 6 days pregnant. That was the scariest day of my life. The ironic part of this story is that this pregnancy was the easiest pregnancy of them all! I had hardly any preterm labor, and never even had to be put on bed rest. My doctor had started me on the weekly progesterone shots when I was 17 weeks pregnant since I had 2 previous preterm deliveries. I thought they really made a difference and I often wonder how much earlier I would have given birth if I hadn't been on them. 3 days before my son was born, I was laying on the couch next to my husband, and as I stood up to go use the bathroom I once again felt that all too familiar feeling of Niagra Falls between my legs. I ran to the bathroom and hovered over the toilet until it was more of a trickle, and after about a minute of denial I called my husband in and told him my water had just broken. The next 10 minutes were complete chaos as we got our 2 other boys out of bed and my hospital bag finished packed (I had started packing it only 2days before!). I don't ever remember crying as hard as I did on the way to the hospital. Since I live in a relatively small city, I knew they would have to transport me to a larger hospital. After I got to labor and delivery they determined my water had indeed broke, I was given the first of 2 steroid shots and then life flighted to a hospital with a level 3 NICU that was 5 hours away. It wasn't until shortly after I arrived at the new hospital that the contractions started. They were about 15 minutes apart, and thankfully I was not dilated or effaced at all. They told me they would try and keep me pregnant as long as possible, but they wouldn't use any medication to stop my labor from progressing because they were worried about infection. The first morning I was there the perinatologist gave me an ultrasound and told me my fluid levels were very low and I would have to be monitored very closely for infection. He also did an amniocentesis (which was kind of scary!). The results were not good. My baby's lungs were not even close to being mature. The NICU team came and talked to me and told me to expect my baby to have a very hard time breathing and that he would need to be intubated for at least a few days. I was terrified. The next 2 days were kind of a blur. I spent a lot of time in the hot shower because it seemed to be the only thing that eased the pain of the contractions. They were pretty irregular, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes apart for the entire 2 days after I got there. The day of the 21st, I was awoken from a nap at about 4:30pm by a contraction that was really intense. 5 minutes later, I had another one. Followed by another 5 minutes later, an on and on... I remember thinking "This is it. This baby is coming tonight!". I called the nurse in and although she wasn't too convinced I was in active labor, she called the NP in anyways. I ended up being 3cm dilated and 100% effaced. Sure enough, I was having my baby that night. Again, I have never been more terrified in my entire life. I was given the option of a vbac, but decided against it because I felt the possible complications were too risky. Then I was put on the dreadful magnesium sulfate drip again for one hour. I was told studies had shown it prevents brain bleeds in preemies. After the mag drip was done, I had been given a shot of Fentanyl for pain because the OR was full and I would have to wait a few more hours for my c-section! About 2 hours later it was finally my turn to go back. My sweet, tiny baby boy was born. To everyone's surprise, he came out screaming! That was literally the best sound I have ever heard. He also had a ton of black hair! He weighed 4lbs 0ozs, and was 17.25inches long. It wasn't until after my c-section was finished that I learned my uterus was so thin that it had ruptured during surgery! I cannot tell you how lucky it was, that I had decided against a vbac! My baby was such a fighter and he never had to be intubated! He did require cpap for his first 2 days of life, then only the nasal cannula for the next 8 weeks. His whole stay in the NICU was spent on him gaining weight and learning how to eat. He never had any problems with maintaining his temperature or bradys. It seemed like a lifetime, but 4 weeks, 2days, and 15hours later, we got to bring our precious baby home! He weighed 5lbs 12ozs and was 18.75 inches long the day of his discharge. Today he is 3 and a half months old actual (7weeks adjusted). He is behind developementally, but that's to be expected. We start OT with him next week to help him "catch up". Even though he is doing so well, I am still having a really hard time coping with everything that happened. I know that time will help, and I'm contemplating seeking counseling from a professional for it.
My husband and I did have plans for a 4th baby until our 3rd was born. After careful consideration, we have decided against it though. We feel that the risk of another preemie and also the risk of my uterus rupturing is just too high. We are very blessed to have our 3 healthy boys and couldn't be happier that the outcomes of all 3 of their premature births were so good. Thank you for reading my story
Hello! My name is Ashley, and I am the mommy to the most amazing 3 boys. I already posted this story. However, it was 2am, I was suffering from anxiety over my recent preemie, and I was typing on my iPad (so there were many typos!) so I am reposting
I gave birth to my first baby, Mason Andrew, on July 21, 2006 at 4:51pm. I was 34 weeks and 4 days along in my pregnancy. The morning of July 20th I started having some pretty intense pains that I knew were contractions. I had been on bed rest and Terbutaline since 28 weeks for pre-term labor. I did everything I knew of to try and get them to stop on my own (warm bath, lots of fluid, etc...) before going to the hospital that morning, but to no avail. Once I got to labor and delivery they hooked me up to the monitors and determined that I was definitely in active labor. My contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and I was dilated to 3cm, and 90% effaced. The doctor on call decided it was best to try and stop my labor, so I was given 3 injections of Terbutaline. The shots did absolutely nothing to stop the contractions so I was put on a magnesium sulfate drip and admitted to a labor room. The next 20hrs were pure misery. I threw up so much that they were afraid I was going to throw up the lining of my stomach! It was so horrible! The morning of the 21st (20hrs later...) my water spontaneously broke. I was then taken off the magnesium and told I would have a baby that day! Since he was my first baby and I had no idea what the possible complications of having a 34weeker were, I really wasn't too scared. I was just mostly thankful to be off the magnesium! 8hrs after my water broke I was allowed to get an epidural because I had finally dilated enough, and I was in an enormous amount of pain! I remember the nurses telling me they had to move the patient in the room next to me because I was scaring her! About an hour after I got the epidural and I was finally getting relief, all of the sudden my room was flooded with nurses. I was told to flip over on all fours (the nurses had to hold me up since I was numb from the epidural) and they had strapped oxygen to my face. I had no idea what was going on and I was so scared! It turns out that my baby was in distress and his heartbeat was dangerously low. I was quickly wheeled into the OR and within minutes they had my baby boy out. He wasn't breathing, and was completely blue when they first took him out. I was told his first apgar score was only a 2! Thankfully, he perked up pretty quickly and his second apgar score (5 minutes later) was an 8. He had the softest blonde hair, and he weighed 5lbs 11ozs and was 19.25 inches long. He was perfect! At the time I had no idea how blessed I was, because he never required oxygen and didn't even need a feeding tube. He came home with me 4 days later! Today he is a very healthy almost 6yr old, and you would never know he was a preemie
My 2nd baby, Kamdyn Tyler, was born on November 26, 2009 at 3:51am. I was 36 weeks and 1 day pregnant. He was definitely my easiest and least stressful delivery. I did have some preterm labor and was put on modified bed rest starting at 29 weeks, but other than that my pregnancy was pretty uncomplicated. The entire day before he was born I noticed I was feeling quite a bit of pressure and having a lot of braxton hicks, but I just chalked it up to the fact that I had been on my feet a lot that day. I left work early because of the pressure and went home to lay down. I was having a hard time getting comfortable, so I couldn't get to sleep at all. It was about 1:30am the next morning, and as I rolled out of the bed to use the bathroom that I felt a huge gush between my legs. I remember thinking to myself "Did I just pee myself??!!" And then it hit me... my water had broken! Contractions started almost immediately and were very consistent at about 5 minutes apart. I arrived at the hospital around 2:15am and after they determined my water had broken they stuck me on the monitors and got the OR prepped for my repeat c-section (they don't offer vbacs in the city I live in). I remember laying there thinking "Holy cow this hurts! Hurry up and get me in there and get him out!" Thankfully I didn't have to wait too much longer and about an hour later he was born. He had the cutest face and a full head of brown hair. He weighed 5lbs 10ozs and was 19.5inches long. Almost the exact same as his brother! He also required no oxygen or feeding tubes and came home with me 3days later. Today he is a very healthy, and very quirky 2 and half year old.
March 21, 2012 was the day I gave birth to my 3rd baby, Karsen Thomas, at 9:34pm. I was 31 weeks and 6 days pregnant. That was the scariest day of my life. The ironic part of this story is that this pregnancy was the easiest pregnancy of them all! I had hardly any preterm labor, and never even had to be put on bed rest. My doctor had started me on the weekly progesterone shots when I was 17 weeks pregnant since I had 2 previous preterm deliveries. I thought they really made a difference and I often wonder how much earlier I would have given birth if I hadn't been on them. 3 days before my son was born, I was laying on the couch next to my husband, and as I stood up to go use the bathroom I once again felt that all too familiar feeling of Niagra Falls between my legs. I ran to the bathroom and hovered over the toilet until it was more of a trickle, and after about a minute of denial I called my husband in and told him my water had just broken. The next 10 minutes were complete chaos as we got our 2 other boys out of bed and my hospital bag finished packed (I had started packing it only 2days before!). I don't ever remember crying as hard as I did on the way to the hospital. Since I live in a relatively small city, I knew they would have to transport me to a larger hospital. After I got to labor and delivery they determined my water had indeed broke, I was given the first of 2 steroid shots and then life flighted to a hospital with a level 3 NICU that was 5 hours away. It wasn't until shortly after I arrived at the new hospital that the contractions started. They were about 15 minutes apart, and thankfully I was not dilated or effaced at all. They told me they would try and keep me pregnant as long as possible, but they wouldn't use any medication to stop my labor from progressing because they were worried about infection. The first morning I was there the perinatologist gave me an ultrasound and told me my fluid levels were very low and I would have to be monitored very closely for infection. He also did an amniocentesis (which was kind of scary!). The results were not good. My baby's lungs were not even close to being mature. The NICU team came and talked to me and told me to expect my baby to have a very hard time breathing and that he would need to be intubated for at least a few days. I was terrified. The next 2 days were kind of a blur. I spent a lot of time in the hot shower because it seemed to be the only thing that eased the pain of the contractions. They were pretty irregular, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes apart for the entire 2 days after I got there. The day of the 21st, I was awoken from a nap at about 4:30pm by a contraction that was really intense. 5 minutes later, I had another one. Followed by another 5 minutes later, an on and on... I remember thinking "This is it. This baby is coming tonight!". I called the nurse in and although she wasn't too convinced I was in active labor, she called the NP in anyways. I ended up being 3cm dilated and 100% effaced. Sure enough, I was having my baby that night. Again, I have never been more terrified in my entire life. I was given the option of a vbac, but decided against it because I felt the possible complications were too risky. Then I was put on the dreadful magnesium sulfate drip again for one hour. I was told studies had shown it prevents brain bleeds in preemies. After the mag drip was done, I had been given a shot of Fentanyl for pain because the OR was full and I would have to wait a few more hours for my c-section! About 2 hours later it was finally my turn to go back. My sweet, tiny baby boy was born. To everyone's surprise, he came out screaming! That was literally the best sound I have ever heard. He also had a ton of black hair! He weighed 4lbs 0ozs, and was 17.25inches long. It wasn't until after my c-section was finished that I learned my uterus was so thin that it had ruptured during surgery! I cannot tell you how lucky it was, that I had decided against a vbac! My baby was such a fighter and he never had to be intubated! He did require cpap for his first 2 days of life, then only the nasal cannula for the next 8 weeks. His whole stay in the NICU was spent on him gaining weight and learning how to eat. He never had any problems with maintaining his temperature or bradys. It seemed like a lifetime, but 4 weeks, 2days, and 15hours later, we got to bring our precious baby home! He weighed 5lbs 12ozs and was 18.75 inches long the day of his discharge. Today he is 3 and a half months old actual (7weeks adjusted). He is behind developementally, but that's to be expected. We start OT with him next week to help him "catch up". Even though he is doing so well, I am still having a really hard time coping with everything that happened. I know that time will help, and I'm contemplating seeking counseling from a professional for it.
My husband and I did have plans for a 4th baby until our 3rd was born. After careful consideration, we have decided against it though. We feel that the risk of another preemie and also the risk of my uterus rupturing is just too high. We are very blessed to have our 3 healthy boys and couldn't be happier that the outcomes of all 3 of their premature births were so good. Thank you for reading my story
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