AJ decided to give us some excitement in our pregnancy, so we will start there. I went into labor on Jan. 20th, at 28 weeks. I was admitted to the hospital, and given a barage of medication in an IV to try to stop it. It worked, and we luckily didn't need to face the fears of having so small a preemie. I was on Procardia to try to keep my blood pressure under control (I normally run 90/60, I had reached 140/100), and Magnesium to control the contractions. I got to come home from the hospital Jan. 23, the day before Cheyenne's 1st birthday.
Things stayed pretty steady for the next few weeks, I was still having contractions, but they were very mild. I also had a lot of help, John took on a lot of the house work, because it seemed like every time I got up, the contractions got stronger. Also, the ladies in our church did a lot for us.
Then at the ultrasound I had at 33 weeks, he was footling breech. If he didn't flip back around, that would mean a C-Section. Dr. Sonnenberg had me lay at an angle, with my head below my belly, 4 times a day. I had my doubts, but I did, and it worked, we'll get to the part where we find this out soon.
I started contracting badly again at 35 weeks. Dr. S was out of town though, and the Dr. covering for him wanted nothing to do with a Premature, footling breech (not that you can blame her!), so she told me to go home, and not do ANYTHING, until Dr. S got back. I made it through till then, but from the beginning of my 36th week I was in and out of the hospital constantly. Dr. S took me off the meds when he got back to town. I went in and was contracting, and he wanted to know if we were still working with a breech presentation, so he did an ultrasound on me himself, in the OB unit (poor guy, a few days later, he had to take my B/P all by himself too!). We were all happy to see that with the help of a miracle, AJ was flipped around, and was in the proper position for birth. :)
That night I made it to 1cm dialation, and 30% effaced, but the contractions started getting weaker, and slowly went away. I went home, and a few days later, they started again. This time I made it to 3cm and 50%. Then they stopped again. As I said, I was in and out of the hospital, but nothing seemed to be changing.
Finally on March 27th, I went back in, and Dr. S said that my cervix was ripened enough that he would rupture my water, to see if that would keep things moving. I was in the middle of my 37th week, and the baby should do fine. I was very ready to get everything over with, after spending 2 weeks contracting, and not getting anywhere, so I told him to go ahead. It worked for a while, they got stronger, but then they stopped, AGAIN!!!
The next morning, when nothing was happening, He started me on Pitocin. That was about 8 AM, Saturday, March 28th. It took a little time, but THAT worked. I asked for Demerol at 11:30, which seemed to make EVERYONE happy, that finally meant that something was happening.
At 12:45 Dr. S told me to start pushing, I was in pain, but it was the best feeling I had experienced in weeks, it wouldn't be long, and AJ would be with us. I focused on the clock,(which I've been told is not good, but it's what I did when Chey was born) and at 1:02 he told me that one more good push would get us the head. I think that gave me to much hope, because one more push got the whole hospital a very loud scream, as Dr. S caught the whole baby, not just the head, and I tore.
I guess it was good for everyone in the end, bacause it was scorching in that room, and I was the only one with the luxury of not being in those gowns and masks. And at least with it being over quickly, I was not in pain anymore.
He was 7 lb 8 oz, 20 1/2 inches long. And had a head full of dark blonde hair.
I held AJ, and nursed him, and I knew he was a gift. After all it took to get him here, after basically being in labor for 2 weeks, I didn't care about anything more than having him close to me. I kept him with me as much as they would let me. And when we came home, I'd sit with him nursing, and Chey laying with her head on my lap, and nothing could ever have made me happier.
Everyone says that you forget the pain as soon as you see the baby. This is not entirely true. When you see your baby, you realize that they were worth the pain, it takes a few days to actually forget it. I don't remember the pain now, but I do remember asking if it would do any good if I said I wanted to quit now. That was only a few minutes before I was ready to push. Jamie D., my nurse (she was also my labor nurse when Chey was born, and my nurse when I was in for preterm labor), said that I was at the piont when a lot of girls decide they want to stop and go home. I thought it was kind of funny, but I understood those girls, I would've prefered to be home at that piont myself.
AJ is our last baby, after all the health problems I had, we decided it would be better not to even try again. I had wanted more children, not right away, but someday. But I have AJ and Chey, and Josh. They along with John, are my whole life.
So now you see, after everything with AJ, and Chey's experience with RSV, we have learned that some stories have happy endings. If you want to read another story with a happy ending, here is one that gave me some hope during the weeks of being on those meds, and wondering if something was going to happen. Tommy's Cybernursery has the story of Tommy's stay in the NICU, he was born 15 weeks early, and weighed 1 lb 10 oz. It is a very uplifting story, though not for those with normal pregnancies, it did give me hope, that even if AJ was born early, things would still have the chance of turning out ok.
