Kailaya's Birth Story

Kailaya Zoe's birth story: Her original due date was Aug. 24th 2009. I had some spotting for two days so I decided to call the Dr. to see what she said. She told me since I was in my 3rd trimester I should go in to get checked since I could be dilated and that could be the reason I was bleeding. I drove myself to L&D since I thought I would be going home after a few hours of some monitoring. I was hooked up to a monitor then I heard a nurse talking to a Dr. about someone contracting 4 to 6 times and they were going to admit her. I thought she was talking about someone else, since I wasn't feeling any contractions. The nurse came into my room and said that they were going to keep me over night for observation. I was then admitted into L&D and when I was up there, I was still contracting. So I was giving a shot to stop my contractions. It worked for a little bit and they did draw my blood to see if I was going to deliver in the next two weeks or not. It came back Negative. Then she started decelling on the monitor. The nurse kept a close eye on that. Then the Dr. came in and said that I was going to have two shots of steroids to help the baby's lungs mature in case they needed to deliver her sooner than expected. So I was given the shot and that hurt! Then an hour past and her heart rate kept dipping. So the Dr. had an u/s tech come in and do an u/s to see if they could find why I was going into pre term labor. They had checked me I was dilated 1.5cm and was effacing. The U/s tech said that he found a clot that looked like it was on my placenta and he measured her and by the dates I gave him, he said that she was measuring too small. So basically she stopped growing from last month's u/s. Since she kept having dips in her heart rate the Dr. said I was going to have an emergency C section that night. So of course I was scared and didn't have a thing packed. I had to send my husband home to pack stuff for me since I was not going home any time soon. I also called my family to let them know I was going to have the baby that night. They all showed up that night even my parents who lived an hour and a half away from San Diego. I gave birth on June 1st at 1:23am and she was only 1 pound and 5 oz. She was 12 inches long. She was put on the ventilator for one day then down graded to the CPAP which she was only on that for two days then downgraded to the nasal cannula. She is still on the cannula but is feeding thru a feeding tube bolus feeding and is up to 14ml of breast milk fortified, over a hour time period. She is tolerating her feedings and is pooping great. She is now 1 pound 15oz. She is a strong girl. I visit her everyday and do kangaroo care with her. I can't wait till she can come home with us. We have a free night stay, so I plan to use that night to stay there the night before she is discharged so we can leave as a family together. Doing great so far. I never thought I would be a preemie mom, but I wouldn't change this experience with anything else. I love going to visit her in the NICU and the nurses are a blessing. She is in great hands over there. She will be home before I know it.