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Aidan Matthew's Birth Story By Traci |
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Birth Stories -
Hospital Birth Stories
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 09:39 |
Aidan Matthew
Febrary 4, 1998 5:35am
I'd had a miscarriage 9 month prior to getting pregnant with my son and required Clomid to get pregnant the second time. This pregnancy started off easy enough. No morning sickness or anything. I really felt good.
Then, at 29 weeks, I started noticing a tightening of my stomach - no pain, just tightness periodically. Being that I have a sister who had pre-term labor, I knew I should call my doctor. She immediately told me to go to the hospital to be checked out. It was determined I was in pre-term labor. I was given shots of terbutaline - which did nothing. Then on to the nightmare drug - magnesium sulfate. My sister had been put on the drug as well, so I knew ahead of time how horrible it was - I cried when then told me I would need it too. Luckily it stopped the contractions and I was able to go home 2 days later on bedrest with oral terbutaline only.
Unfortunately for me, it lasted on 1 day. The next evening, I was back in the hospital having more contractions and this time I had started to dilate. Being that this hospital didn't have a NICU, I was sent in an ambulance to a hospital that did. I was put back on mag for 4 days, and spent the next 5 WEEKS in the hospital taking various drugs, getting terb shots every day, having ultrasounds weekly, and steriod shots every 5 or 6 days to mature the babies lungs. Luckily, my husband and family were terrific. They visited me everyday, and brought me lots of yummy food from the "outside."
Finally, at 34 weeks I was allowed to go home, still on bedrest, but I was at least in my own bed. One day shy of 36 weeks I was taken off the medication and promptly went into labor. As during the 7 weeks of pre-term labor, I was having contractions, but no pain. I was a chicken and knew there would be pain eventually, so I got the epidural when it was offered to me at 5 cm.
The epidural worked great until it WORE OFF when my water broke at 9 cm! Nothing like going from no pain to the most intense pain of your life in one fell swoop! The doctor finally came in and tried to give me a pudendal block, but it was even too late for that. Because I was screaming so hard and virtually unable to push from being so weak from my long stint in bed, the babies heart rate started to drop and the doctor decided to use a vacuum to get my baby out quickly. With 2 big sucks with the vacuum and 2 big screams from me, Aidan Matthew was born at 5:35 am on February 4, 1998 weighing 6lbs 15 ounces (big for being 4 weeks early). All the while his daddy was laughing and crying simultaneously.
Although the weeks in the hospital were horrible for me, I can't thank the nursing staff and doctors enough for keeping me pregnant for those extra 7 weeks. Aidan was able to come home from the hospital the very next day and is now a thriving 23 pound 9 month old!
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