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My 23 Weeker Miracle By Alison My first loss was in July 1996 at 24 weeks a rescue cerclage was placed in hopes of buying a few more weeks, no such luck. My son was born and died a few weeks later due to respiratory failure. Oddly enough, I found myself pregnant again in July 1999. This time things would be different. I had a preventative cerclage placed at 14 weeks, quit my job, and placed myself on the couch. I got up only for bathroom use, meals, and doctor appointments. The next few weeks sailed by, but at 20 weeks I was having an odd discharge and cramping. I saw the doctor but he said the stitch was intact and the discharge was nothing to worry about, and I believed him. At 22 weeks 6 days, I woke up at 3am and knew I was in labor. My husband rushed me to the hospital, thinking I would be started on magnesium sulfate and sent home with some meds. When the doctor checked me, we found out that I was fingertip dilated and 80% effaced. I was immediately flown to a perinatal hospital two hours away. My contractions slowed to 1 or 2 per hour and I was started on Indocin, but we got some bad news. My white blood cell count was extremely high, I spiked a temperature of 105, and I was bleeding. An amniocentesis confirmed chorioamnionitis, not what we wanted to hear. I was getting very ill...delivery could not be put off any longer. The next morning, my cerclage was removed. The neonatologist came into my room to speak with me. He said exactly what I thought he would, “she’s so early, there’s really nothing we can do.” Active labor started about 10 hours later...and my daughter was born November 10, 1999 at exactly 23 weeks gestation. Immediately after delivery, the NICU team took my baby and began working on her. The plan was to intubate her long enough for my husband and I to say goodbye to her. But someone had other plans. I began to get very ill, my blood pressure dropped to 40/20 and I was having a hard time breathing. It took a couple of hours before I was stabilized. In the mean time, the doctors decided that my baby was doing well on the vent and they needed to get a second opinion about saving her. A transport team was called from a nearby level IV NICU. They assessed her and determined she had a 50% chance for survival. They just could not ethically let her die. I was so happy but so scared at the same time. What if they were just prolonging her suffering. I had already watched my son go through a terrible NICU battle...did I want my daughter to suffer through that as well? Somehow I knew it was the right thing to do, so I allowed them to take her and do what they could for her. She surprised everyone...what a strong little girl she is. Her NICU battle was long and hard, it’s still not over. Butt what a long way she has come. She weighed 1lb 4oz at birth, now she weighs almost 7 lbs. She still has one last intestinal surgery to endure, due to her prematurity, but she will be home very soon. She is off the vent, breathing on her own, nipples her feedings, and has no sign of a brain bleed or any neurological problems as of yet. I look at her and thank God each day for the blessing He has given me. Alison akirk15@hotmail.com Paige's website www.homestead.com/_paige_paige/index.html |
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