Preemie Experiences Anyone?
Hello everyone. I just gave birth to beautiful premature baby boy! My water broke for some unknown reason last Saturday morning. I was 28 weeks 5 days and when I went to the hospital they found I was already 3 centimeters dialated. I was admitted to the hospital immediately on strict bed rest and was given 2 shots of steroids for the babies lungs to mature quickly and I was on antibiotics the whole time. I never once had any fever. I was feeling fine until Tuesday night when I started getting painful cramps and some bleeding. They monitored me and the baby all night and came to the conclusion that I was not in labor. As Wednesday wore on, the cramps got worse but they were not registering on the monitor! By Wednesday evening I was in excruciating pain. The "cramps" were about 4-5 minutes apart and were lasting for one to one and half minutes. They still did not want to believe I was in labor! They thought it was gas and constipation! Finally my mother and mother in law yelled at all the doctors to check me. They found that I was still 3 centimeters dialated but fully effaced. They rushed me to Labor & Delivery and within an hour I had dialated to 7 centimeters! They barely had time to get me an epidural! They were going to start me on pitocin to speed up but by the time the doctor checked I was at 10 centimeters! I pushed the baby out within 20 minutes! Nicholas was born on Wednesday Nov 5. He was only 29 weeks 2 days! He weighed in at 2lbs 12oz. and was 15 1/4 inches long! I was scared that when he was born he wouldn't cry but he was wailing! His Apgar score was 9.9! He was almost perfect! Just really tiny! I am happy to say he is doing great. I was discharged from the hospital yesterday but I visit him now often in the NICU. He is so active and all the nurses keep telling me how well he's doing. We are hoping to have him home before Xmas!
I was just wondering if anyone else had any similar experiences with preemies to share, and if they can tell me what to expect in the next few months. I'd love to hear your stories! Thanks!