Baby Henry Thompson
I found out that I was pregnant around March 17th, I felt a mixture of panic and excitement. I had terrible pregnancy anxiety and everything that happened scared me. I knew the dangers of having a premature baby. At 25 weeks the morning of August 2nd, I felt fluid leaking, I tried not to panic, everything had been going so well that I had lulled myself into a false sense of security; by evening I was having some cramping that kept coming and going and I knew something wasn’t right. I called the emergency on-call doctor’s line and was told to go to labor and delivery straight away. I was there for hours as they monitored the baby and ran a few swab tests. The nurse said most of the tests had come back and they looked okay. I didn’t get to see those results until the following morning after I had already gone to work.
My fetal fibronectin test was positive, a nurse called and told me to come to the office straight away, I was examined, and it was found that I had dilated to 3cm and my fluid sack was compromised. I was rushed to Labor and Delivery once again. I was told that my baby would be born either that night or the following day. I was given betamethasone shots to mature his lungs quicker, and magnesium sulfate to stop the labor the best they could, and I laid in a bed Trendelenburg position to try and get my baby back in position. After three days, I started having lung troubles, I was checked on constantly with ultrasounds and monitors to ensure baby’s health. I had wonderful friends and family who came to visit me every day. On August 30th, 29 weeks, I started having mild cramps, while I was on bed rest for a month, one evening I wasn’t feeling myself and the night got worse; My nurse put me back on the monitor but it showed nothing was wrong.
The doctor came in and did a pelvic exam and I was 9cm dilated and by 7:30pm they broke my water for a controlled labor, and I began to push. At 8pm Henry was born, 11 weeks early and weighing 2lbs 15oz. They rushed to get the fluids out and I held my breath until finally I heard his cry. I didn’t really get the chance to hold him because they were already rushing him away to the NICU. It was a week after henry was born, that I was able to hold him. I went through a pretty bad depression, I blamed myself for everything that had happened. I didn’t sleep and I barely ate while Henry spent 41 days in the NICU. I went every single day at the same time and sat with him for a few hours. Henry was on oxygen since the day he was born, with a diagnosis of Chronic Lung Disease of Prematurity and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia despite the diagnosis, I’m so glad he’s alive and home. I am so thankful to the entire hospital staff that shared my challenging journey; I could not have made it without them