What inspired us to support the March of Dimes?
I would like to share the story of my son’s premature birth with you. I hope this will inspire you to support the Walk for Babies.
I apologize in advance if this is too detailed for many. Summing up this time in our life was not as easy as I thought it may be. So this is the abbreviated version…
* I’ll start by saying that I had a wonderful pregnancy. I drank my water, exercised, took my prenatal vitamins and went to all my dr. visits. There was never a moment where the doctor considered the pregnancy “high risk”
* This is why the shock of the events to come were completely unexpected.
* It all happened shortly after midnight on September 14, 2005. I was 26 weeks pregnant. I had severe cramps , which I now know were contractions, for several hours before calling the attending OBGYN. She asked me to come in to let her “check me out.”
* We drove to Brookwood thinking that they would simply examine me and send me home, telling me to “put my feet up and take it easy.”
Boy were we in for a big surprise!
* We arrived at L&D @ 4:18am where I was told to change into a gown. Before I could even change, my water broke and Lawson came into the world feet first @4:23am. He weighed 2 lbs. 6 oz and was 14.5 inches long. He took 3 breaths on his own, was intibated and whisked away to the NICU
Our world STOPPED!
* Eric and I were in compete shock, disbelief and praying that we would wake up from this bad dream. We thought, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this…no doctors, no IV’s, delivering my baby wearing my street clothes and a AU baseball cap.
* We had to wait an hour and a half before seeing him. The Neonatologist came by before we went to see him. The only thing I remember him saying was “Your baby is VERY sick and the next 48 hours are crucial.”
* It is hard to explain the feelings you have when you see your baby for the first time with so many wires and tubes on him. He was in an incubator and we could only visit for a short time.
* We were told that his heart, brain, lungs and kidneys were their main concern.
* We were slowly realizing how long and bumpy this road would be.
* Lawson was in the hospital for 3 months. On and off the ventilator for 33 days. Experiencing hypertension, brain bleeds, infections, jaundice, sodium issues and all the other issues that come alone with surviving life as a preemie in an NICU.
* We learned to never get to high on the good days or too low on the bad days. To take it day by day - - minute by minute.
* It was very difficult to think that it was our responsibility to protect our child. In this type of situation, there was nothing we could physically do.
* We realized that this was bigger than we were. And God was the only one that had complete control there. We prayed SO hard that he would work through the dr’s and nurses. We thanked him for every little milestone. And I mean EVERY milestone (tee-tee diapers, poop diapers, gaining 1 oz, etc)
* We got to hold Lawson for the first time when he was 1 month old. He wore clothes for the first time when he was 38 days old, took his first bottle when he was 48 days old.
* We moved “to the wall” (where the less critical babies were) when he was 2.5 months old. WHAT A MILESTONE.
* We were transferred to Children’s when he was 73 days old. This was to see a specialist for a rare condition that he has, diabetes insipidus.
* We finally went home when Lawson was 3 months old, December 14. The week of his actual due date. What a Christmas gift!!
* Eric and I are so thankful for all the many blessing that we received during this experience. We couldn’t have done it without family, friends and the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes developed surfactant which helps the lungs remain open to incoming air. Without this, the babies lungs stick together and they are unable to breath. This was an essential therapy given to Lawson and many other babies in the NICU.
* We later found the MofD does a lot of research on preterm deliveries. Knowing this now makes us proud supporters of the March of Dimes. We hope that our story will encourage you to support this great cause.
http://www.marchforbabies.org/lawsonandrew
Thank you!
