5 years ago

[89th]

My wife was pregnant with our first. At 32 weeks 5 days, her water broke. Went to her OB's office who made us wait for the doctor for a while in the waiting room, until I went back up and asked the receptionist for a status and after a less than urgent reply, I reminded her that my wife's water broke. She said, really? And I said yes, your floor is wet. Suffice to say we saw the doctor quickly after that. The doctor said our selected hospital was full so we had to drive to our back-up hospital. Without sounding alarming, he did ask if we wanted an ambulance which we declined then he looked at me and said, go to the hospital. Do not stop at home, and do not stop for food. LOL

Made it to hospital around 5pm. Was under a sever thunderstorm warning and tornado watch. Doc said it could be a day, could be 7 days, who knows. So my wife was all settled in the labor room and I went home to get stuff for a few days of a potential stay. That night around 2am the nurses came in and woke up my wife saying it was go-time based on the monitors.

Wife pushed for a bit but eventually they moved us to the ER for a few more tries and then it would be an emergency C section since the baby's heart rate would drop each contraction and they were getting concerned.

At 4am, our daughter was born. 3 pounds 11 ounces. Looked like a slimy alien (longer than we expected, but lightweight). Of course without any prior kid, our baby looked much larger than expected and, further, I didn't have time to think or process about what such an early birth could've meant on so many levels (risk to wife, risk to baby, long term health, lungs, etc).

Very luckily back at the OB's office earlier, they gave a steroid shot to initiate the baby's lungs to clear the fluid so that there would not be breathing issues when born. Must've worked just in time since it normally takes 12-24 hours and the baby arrived in about 12 hours.

Baby gets checked into the NICU. The nurses said it was 50/50 if there would be breathing issues, but we were on the lucky side of that coin flip.

To describe what it's like to sleep after 36 hours of being up, and stressed.... it's a DIFFERENT kind of sleep. I'd imagine Jolly and others here have experienced that before.

Fast forward.... 3 weeks in NICU, home healthy. Now turning 5 today. Absolutely beautiful, so kind, so so so sharp, and we are just so lucky.

[jon-nyc]

Awesome. Congratulations Dad.

[Jolly]

We called that sleep, the "sleep of the dead". I'm sure it has lots of names, wherever you're working.

My son's first child didn't weigh much more than that and also was a NICU baby. Tough times.

When you look over at your five year-old, you understand the ordeal was all worth it. It really is a wonderful life...

[Doctor Phibes]

Wow, 89 - a tough day indeed. I'm so glad it all came through for you and your daughter.

Our first was an unplanned C-section, too - not as dramatic as yours, but more than enough drama for me (and needless to say, Mrs. Doctor Phibes).

[taiwan_girl]

@89th That is awesome!! :couple_with_heart:

[89th]

@Jolly said in 5 years ago:

My son's first child didn't weigh much more than that and also was a NICU baby. Tough times.

The NICU nurses were absolutely fantastic. Talk about guardian angels. Great with parents, experts with tiny infants. They made us change the diapers from the start, which was good. We brought fresh milk each morning and evening and got our snuggles in until she was cleared to leave. On that day we arrived like normal and the doctor greeted us that today was the day she'll be coming home.

In retrospect, a NICU stay for the first child was fortunate. The baby was in good hands, on monitors, and got on a good sleep cycle. Further, we didn't have to juggle other kids during our twice-daily visit to the hospital.

Also this was the summer so we quickly learned where the free ice cream was each night on our way home.