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January 26, 2010
Lots of folks have been asking about the events that led up to Amelia arriving so early. I am going to get to that in a moment, but first, I want to take this in a different direction.
It sounds like the neonatologist is finally going to let us take Amelia home from the hospital today. She is almost 2 weeks old. She spent the last week and a half in the NICU, but apparently that is still a relatively short time for a baby of her size and term. Great Job Amelia!
Below is a photo of Amelia on in her "going home" outfit. This outfit is very special. It is a gift and belonged to Amelia's cousin, Shane Howard. Baby Shane was stillborn on New Year's day about five years ago. He had "intrauterine restricted growth" and the physicians did not catch it in time. Only days from her due date, my sister-in-law woke up and didn't feel Baby Shane moving. She went to the hospital and found out that he had stopped getting nutrition, and had passed in the night. It was a terrible loss for our whole family, but especially for Andrew and Ashley.
Subsequent to the birth of Baby Shane, Andrew and Ashley had two beautiful children -- Sara Jane and Seth Howard (photos below). SJ and Seth also had some restricted growth issues, but the doc's watched it closely, and they both made it safely into the world. They are now growing quickly and keeping Ashley and Andrew VERY busy.
With this background, I will now come back to the circumstances of Amelia's birth. At Amelia's 2nd trimester ultrasound, her growth measured right on the "normal" curve. By her first 3rd trimester ultrasound (about a month before her birth) she was measuring a little small -- only the 25th percentile. The doctor was not alarmed at this point, but said that we would continue to watch her. After all, I am a pretty small person.
At my appointment three weeks later, the doc noticed that I was measuring pretty small. He asked about any family history of restricted growth babies, and we discussed Baby Shane, SJ and Seth. After our conversation, he decided that, instead of seeing me again in two weeks, we should do another ultrasound in one week (on January 14th) and that if the baby was measuring less than the 5th percentile, that I should "wrap my head around the idea of an early delivery."
At my appointment on January 14th, Amelia was only measuring at the 2nd percentile. This drastic reduction in her growth indicated that there was likely a problem with her umbilical cord or the placenta. My doctor pointed out that, right then, Amelia's heartbeat and movements were strong. If born today, she would be considered "late pre-term," but would probably be just fine. He added that he "would not sleep well that night" if we didn't go ahead and take her. He advised that it was better to have a baby that was a little early than to take the risk of letting her stay inside with inadequate nutrition. Of course, my mind turned immediately to thoughts of Baby Shane and I quickly agreed to the unexpected c-section. The doctor told me to go straight from his office to the hospital. He would meet me there.
My anxiety leading up to Amelia's birth was much worse than the birth itself. When I left the doc's office, I disobeyed his orders just a little so that I could collect Bill. He was in a meeting at UT when I called him, but he quickly ducked out and I picked him up on my way to the hospital. After we checked in at the hospital, we spent about an hour in a labor/delivery room prepping for the c-section. Then we went to the O.R. and within another 30 minutes, Amelia was out and I was in the recovery room -- now a Mom and happy to hear that Amelia was doing fine.
I'll admit, the past two weeks have been an emotional challenge in dealing with NICU and learning how to care for a preemie. That being said, I don't regret my decision and that of the doctor to go ahead and bring Amelia into the world before her scheduled time. We are grateful that she is here, healthy and growing quickly now.
When Ashley sent Baby Shane's preemie outfits for Amelia to wear, I was touched. We will always remember Baby Shane and I can't help thinking that he played a small part in ensuring Amelia's safe arrival. For that reason, we decided that this was the very best possible "going home" outfit. A very special thanks to Andrew & Ashley, and in loving memory of Baby Shane . . . .
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