Nicholas' Birth
I originally wrote this birth story for my fellow pregnant cyber-friends at Storksite, and the February and Special Deliveries mailing lists. It's amazing the support network these wonderful women share. Before Nicholas was born, the only other preemie I knew was my mother who had been born two months early. I had no idea what was in store for us the minute I saw my baby boy, so small and fragile but perfectly formed.
Faced with such a rough start in life, Nicholas has shown us his strong determination and what a little fighter he is. I am constantly amazed with each milestone he reaches and watch in facination as his little personality develops. The joy he has brought to our family is immense. Here now is the story of how he blessed our lives.
It was 6:00 in the morning on Saturday, December 21, 1996 when I felt a "pop" followed by a gush of fluid. Coming out of my sleepy fog I suddenly realized that my membranes had ruptured. I couldn't really believe it because I was only 32 weeks and one day into my pregnancy and Nicholas wasn't due until February 14, 1997. I shook my husband Bill awake and sprinted to the bathroom not really sure what I should do next. He was really groggy and couldn't quite understand what I had said until he got out of bed and turned on the light. It was then he realized what had happened and he started to panic thinking I was losing the baby. He calmed down when I told him that there were no contractions.
I phoned my OB and he gave me instructions to head across town to Foothills Hospital right away. This threw me off a bit because I was scheduled to give birth at Rockyview Hospital which was five minutes from where we lived. My doctor explained that Foothills had NICU facilities and were better prepared to handle me with premature ruptured membranes.
I quickly jumped into the shower while Bill woke my 12 year old son Christopher. Before we left I got onto the computer and left a message on Storksite saying my water had broken and we were headed to the hospital. Christopher still laughs at me saying "It wasn't anything like in the movies or TV where people rush to the hospital in a panic. My mom got on the Internet first!!". We dropped Christopher off at my brother's home and headed to the hospital.
Once I got there, I was admitted and immediately put on strict bed rest with bathroom privileges only. The doctors explained the greatest risk to me and the baby at this point was infection since my membranes had ruptured. An ultrasound quickly determined that there were still some pockets of fluid left around Nicholas and that he was in the head down position.
Over the course of the next couple of days, several doctors (including a neonatologist from the NICU) visited me and explained that beside the risk of infection, there were several risks to the baby. Since I was only 32 weeks into my pregnancy, they were worried about immature lung development, brain hemorrhage, and the inability to regulate body temperature ... all problems of preemies. I was given two betamethazone (steroid) shots within a 48 hour period to help Nicholas's lungs develop so that they could produce their own surfactant. The shots were also to help prevent brain hemorrhage in case I were to go into labour.
Over the next few days, things were going well even though I could still feel fluid loss. I was told not to worry too much because my body was continuously producing amniotic fluid. Each day they checked my blood pressure, temperature, and listened to the fetal heartbeat three to four times per day. I also was given fetal non-stress tests several times daily to make sure Nicholas was okay and I wasn't having any contractions. The doctors wanted me to make it to 34 or 35 weeks but there were other plans in store for me.
On Christmas eve night, three days after I was admitted to the hospital, I started having back ache along with mild cramps. It didn't feel like contractions but the nurses hooked me up to the non-stress monitor just to make sure. They did this several times into the night. At 5:00 Christmas morning I knew I was having contractions and began timing them over the next hour. They were coming every 5 minutes and the non-stress test confirmed I was in labour. At about 6:15 I called Bill at home and told him he better head to the hospital ... it looked like Nicholas was on his way.
I was taken to labour and delivery and they started to assess me. At that point I was only one centimeter dilated. Then a problem developed. Every time I had a contraction, Nicholas's heartbeat would drop to 110 beats per minute. An ultrasound revealed that he was still head down but there was no amniotic fluid left around him. The attending OB quickly decided to put fluid into my uterus because each contraction was pressing down on the umbilical cord making his heart rate drop. When they replaced the fluid I thought I was going to deliver right then and there!!! I have never experienced anything more painful ... including the birth of my first son!
All of a sudden there was a huge commotion in the room and things went into a panic. Nicholas' heart rate dropped to 60 and wouldn't come back up. They rushed me to an operating room while the OB told me she was going to perform an emergency c-section right away using a general anaesthetic so as not to waste any time. I was so scared. Bill still hadn't arrived and I thought I was going to lose my baby. I tried to remain calm and stay in control for his sake.
Shortly after I arrived in the operating room, Nicholas' heart rate returned to 130 and stayed somewhat stable. They changed their plans and said I could have an epidural instead. The epidural was not fun ... they had a hard time getting it into my spine but I was glad I was going to be awake for the birth.
At this point Bill arrived and joined me in the OR. He was able to sit by my head while they began the c-section. A team from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was standing by in the room to take Nicholas as soon as he was born. As they started to deliver Nicholas, they were surprised to find he had flipped completely around. At 8:26 Christmas morning he arrived in this world feet first weighing 4 pounds 9-3/4 ounces and measuring 18 inches long. Bill stood up and watched as they delivered him. He had tears in his eyes. We knew we were having a boy due to an amnio taken earlier in my pregnancy but it was still wonderful to hear the doctor announce "It's a boy".
I, however, couldn't see anything due to the surgical drapes and I couldn't hear my baby. I kept hearing a small sound through all the commotion and asked over and over if that was him. It was hard for me to speak because my mouth was dry from the oxygen mask placed over it.
Finally someone answered "yes". It was the sweetest sound I had heard and the tears began to flow. Nicholas was quickly assessed and was in distress but his lungs were developed enough that he could breathe on his own. As they wheeled him past me, they paused for just a moment to give me a quick look. All I could see of him was a sweet round little face and one eye open looking right at me. He was beautiful. They then rushed him off to the NICU. When I was wheeled to recovery they told me Nicholas had scored 6, 9, and 9 on his apgar tests. It was then that I found out he had needed resusitation and had to be given oxygen by mask.
That night before Bill and Christopher went to have Christmas dinner with friends and family (why pass up a good turkey meal), Bill went down to the NICU to see Nicholas. He came back with a Polaroid picture for me. It was the first time I could really see my little Christmas Angel. He looked so small.
By mid morning the next day I still had not seen my baby and the nursing staff were very busy so I walked (like the Hunchback of Notre Dame) down to the NICU all by myself. When I saw him I couldn't stop crying. He was so beautiful and so perfect in every way. He had a head full of blonde curly hair, all his fingers and toes, and the sweetest, most angelic face. The nurses said they were surprised to see how good he looked given his gestational age. He even had a bit of baby fat on him. Later that night I was finally able to hold him for the first time for a moment.
The next day he was upgraded from the NICU to the Special Care Unit partly because they needed the space for some babies who were not doing as well as him. I was able to hold him for very short moments over the next couple of days.
I was discharged from the hospital on December 29th and the following day Nicholas was transferred to the Special Care Unit at Rockyview Hospital where he was to have originally been born. Although not being able to bring him home was unbearably hard, Nicholas was only in the hospital for a total of 33 days.
One thing I found amazing, and my mother noticed it too, was that initially Nicholas seemed in an agitated state and would flinch from anyone's touch except mine. Whenever he heard my voice or felt my touch, he seemed to calm right down. One of the nurses explained that newborns know their mother's voice and can even recognize her by smell. It's amazing how nature works.
