Our Story
 

Day 1 -- 07/20/04

I stayed in the hospital overnight on the 19th.  I slept for a grand total of about 30 minutes...partly because I couldn't get comfortable in the hospital bed (surprisingly enough, I actually wasn't sore or uncomfortable from the labor and delivery), and partly because I was just so worried.  We got to see Joshua again before we went to bed (Chris slept on this recliner/bed/chair in my room), and again when we got up in the morning.  Dr. Albers came by to check on me in the morning (before we made it up to see Josh), and said that he was doing pretty well.

I ate a little breakfast (seeing as all I'd had the day before was a Pop-Tart for breakfast and a bagel for lunch), and took a shower (one of the best showers I've ever had in my life!).  The lactation consultant came around and talked with me about my options for breastfeeding (I was planning on nursing, but figured there would be issues with him being born so early).  She got me set up to start pumping and saving my milk, explaining that once he's able to start being fed (he's just getting IV nutrition for the time being), the nurses can use my breast milk, and that although they'll fortify it with extra vitamins and nutrients, it's the best thing for him so he can get antibodies and nutrients from me.  She also explained that my body knows that he was born early and will "compensate" by producing appropriate compounds to make up my milk.  It's not exactly what I had in mind when I decided that I wanted to breastfeed, but it's something that I can do to help him, and I wouldn't miss that for the world!

I got to see him several times throughout the day, and even got to touch him (I can't hold him yet, because he's attached to too many machines).  He's in a temperature and humidity controlled isolette, but there are little doors on the side so I can reach in and touch him.  It's a little scary, seeing him all hooked up to those machines, but they're doing things for him that I'm not able, so I try to look at them in that way.  The doctors say that typically with a preemie, a good "rule of thumb" is that the baby will probably be in the NICU until around the time that it was originally due.  So we're looking at about 12 weeks there, give or take.  It's going to be a long, hard 12 weeks, but I guess that it's a small price to pay to be able to take him home at the end of it.

Everyone has been so nice and so kind.  Dr. Kelly called me to check on how I was doing, and Dr. Dennis (the specialist I saw twice about the cerclage) stopped in to see me.  He said that although it's early to start talking about it now, he would recommend another cerclage and progesterone shots starting at 16 weeks if I decided to have another baby (the progesterone shots have been shown to be about 70% effective in allowing women with histories of preterm labor to carry until closer to term).  He was very supportive, and very nice about everything, and he also indicated that if I was feeling up to it, I should be able to go home that day.  A little later, another doctor came by and checked me, and gave me the go-ahead to be discharged later that evening.  I had several different sets of paperwork to take care of -- had to fill out information for Josh's birth certificate, had to fill out forms for something else, and had to sign my discharge papers.  The nurse went over everything with me, and I was able to leave around dinner time.  I went up and saw Joshua one more time, then Chris and I headed home.  I never dreamed that when I had the baby, I'd be leaving the hospital without him; but on the other hand, looking at how small and fragile he seems, I would be completely terrified to take him home, even if I could.  For now, we're just going to have to settle on visiting him as often as possible, and use our time at home to rest up and prepare for when he is able to come home.

He has had a really good day...the settings on his ventilator have steadily come down (that's a good thing), and he seems to be responding well to the different things they're doing.  He had a surfactant added to his lungs to help clear them out and seems to have responded well to it.  The doctors will be doing quite a few tests over the next several days to check different functions, so we'll see how things go.

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