My pregnancy was far from normal, and that is not a complaint! I had virtually no morning sickness, no weight gain, no extreme hormones. It went smoothly and perfectly. I got to listen to my little guys heartbeat at about 10 weeks at my younger sister's pregnancy exam! A week later, I had my first ultrasound and everything was picture perfect. They told me my due date was going to be on OCTOBER 16th! I saw my little man and I was amazed. It was so beautiful to see him for the first time.
Everything remained good (pregnancy-wise) up until it was time for my 20 week ultrasound, where I was SO excited to find out the sex of my baby! Instead, I was set for shock and fear and disappointment when inside of a gender, I find out my baby had something wrong with him. My dr's were hush-hush and refused to tell me anything. Instead, they transferred me over to a bigger hospital that specializes in high risk pregnancy for further testing.
It was three whole days I had to suffer in silence wondering what was wrong. The worst possible scenerios came to mind and I was devastated. That Monday, I went into the new hospital for another ultrasound. It was then I found out my baby had a birth defect called Gastroschisis. This is where a hole is left in the abdomen (it never fully closes when developing the baby) and the intestines, organs and bowels can travel outside of the body. Approximately 1 in every 10,000 babies have it. I was informed the survival rate was 90 percent for all babies, and also that every case is extremely varied. I could expect a hospital stay to average about 2 months long. My baby would need surgery, perhaps more than one (two is most common) and a variety of things that could happen badly during pregnancy. Including low weight gain or IUGR, low amniotic fluid, extrememly high amniotic fluid, early labor and delivery, premature birth, and one of the worst - the exposed intestines could die, causing Short Bowel Syndrome and a whole other park of bad things! I was scared but mostly I knew we would be ok. I remained positive the entire time.
The good news?! I was having a boy!
For the next couple of weeks the pregnancy remained fairly normal. I had to have dr. appointments and ultrasounds almost weekly throughout the rest of my 2nd trimester. It wasn't until about 27 weeks in my 3rd trimester things started looking not so great.
The first things that were happening was my baby's weight gain. He wasn't keeping up and I had hardly gained any weight. He was diagnosed with Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction. Which alone in a normal pregnancy can cause prematurity and a handful of other problems. But it wasn't shocking because it was typical for Gastro babies to not grow very well. At 29 weeks pregnant we had a big scare though. I thought for sure that was it and we were having the baby. I went in for another routine ultrasound and I had almost no amniotic fluid. I believe it was level 7. Had it been any lower, they said they would of admitted me. But I was allowed to go home and return in 2 days to check it again. They gave me to shots of steroids in my thighs, because the probability of my baby being born soon was so positive, they wanted to make sure his lungs would be ok. I was put on bed rest and told to drink ALOT of water. I thankfully came back to find out that it had rose slightly and I was ok to keep going. At that point, my dr. told me not to expect making it to 34 weeks, he said that would be a shock.
Soon I made it to 31 weeks, then to 32 weeks, then finally to 34. I was going to my dr. twice a week. Two ultrasounds a week and 1 regular check up. Everything was going ok. My baby FINALLY hit 3 pounds according to ultrasounds, which I was so happy with! And we talked about scheduling an induce date for about 2 weeks later. However, that never happened.
On September 15th (almost exactly one month before his due date) I went in for a routine appointment. On our BPP's the baby scored only 2 out of 8 points. It wasn't looking good. He was very unresponsive and dr's were very worried. I was sent over to Labor & Delivery to get hooked up to moniters to track contractions (which I was, to my shock, having here and there) and his heart rate. It kept dipping and was not at all stable or anywhere near where they wanted it. They told me I was delivering that day. They would wait a little bit to see if it at least would get stable enough they would induce me and I could have a natural birth but if it did not I would be taken to have a Cesarean section. Not much longer after that I was being wheeled into have surgery!! I cried SO hard I was petrified. I had no idea what it would be like. I was laying helplessing on a table in the middle of what looked like hundreds of nurses, dr's, surgeons, and ped surgeons and the NICU staff. And thank God in the middle of all of that I had my mother and son's father to support and comfort me!
About a half an hour later, my son was born.
Seven Simeon
09-15-09
35 weeks gestation
4 pounds, 2 ounces
15 inches long
My mother took a picture with my crappy camera we brought, and showed it to me. It was the only time I saw my baby until about 7 hours later! He was immediately taken to the NICU to get evaluated for surgery and then onto surgery to repair his gastroschisis, at only a few hours old. I was taken to recovery. It was a very, very long 7 hours. I was impatient and sad and felt so alone. I honestly didn't even believe I really had my baby because it was so fast, so unreal.
Well at last, I was wheeled up to the NICU where my baby was laying helplessly, recovering and doing very well. He was hooked up to so many wires and machines it was hard to tell what was where. He couldn't cry or move or open his eyes because of the surgery and him needing alot of morphine. He was truly beautiful though. Even at that moment I didn't feel like a mom. I felt very sad and cold and yes, I almost wanted to leave because I had no idea I would feel like that. It was a very, very guilty feeling!
From then on I spent every waking moment with him. The first time I got to hold him was when he was 3 days old and to my surprise, he was stable and well enough to be transfered out of the NICU and into the Children's Hospital. I felt so blessed. He fit perfectly in my arms and I never wanted to let him go. After being transfered I pretty much was told I could hold him ALOT. Sometimes I was scared to ask so I watched him and talked to him. He was finally able to wear real clothing he looked alot less scary! He was so beautiful. Perfect. Amazing. I didn't know how much you could truly love someone. It was ... amazing.
Because of his Gastroschisis he was not allowed to breastfeed so I pumped, ALOT. I pumped religiously. Everyone was shocked and so happy to see the stash of milk I was building up. I was determined. We waited forever (it seemed) for his first poop. Which was a miracle - like moment. It meant his bowels and intestines were in good shape for the moment and we could start very small feeds through a bottle. And I was SO happy to do so! We took it very slowly, but eventually he was up to almost full feeds and the amount he was getting of TPN was slowing going down too. It was great news he was digesting and eating and pooping. We were much closer to getting home.
And we eventually did get home! When Seven was 24 days old, we were released from the hospital in a car bed (because he still could not pass a car seat test) and some reflux medication (common in gastro babies). I was relieved our journey was over and although it may not appear to have been very long. It was the LONGEST time of my life. It honest to God felt like we were there for a year. I don't know how I could of made it through anything more than that. I was given a miracle and he bloomed and bloomed and raced through everything he needed.
*Let me just say I was completely BLESSED. Our story could of turned out so much worse. I've met moms who (God bless their hearts) have lost their babies because of Gastroschisis, who had to stay in the hospital for up to a year, some more. Moms who had to witness set back after set back, watched their babies have multiple organ transplants, surgeries and some who have lost all of their bowels. Gastroschisis is NOT a pretty thing. It can be so easy, or it can be the hardest. And yes, I was BLESSED. I had a picture perfect recovery and a strong amazing baby. We never had a set back, we never had to re-start. We got through every obstable and we overcame it all. I love my son with all my heart and we kept each other going the entire time. I thank the Lord all I can for having such a miracle and blessing in one little bundle!*
Thank you SO much for reading our story and hope I have helped someone going through any of the same things. God bless and hope your journey is as smooth as ours was.
Here are some pictures of his birth, and a few taken while he was in the hospital.
