After battling infertility for 3.5 years and experiencing the pain and loss of a miscarriage the Lord answered our prayers with a positive pregnancy test on September 30th, 1999. We were so excited but were reluctant to spread the news too quickly. We waited a few months before we told anyone about our wonderful secret.
We were so excited each time we saw the little one on ultrasound looking wonderful and developing normally. The pregnancy went perfectly without any morning sickness or extra weight gain or tiredness. I was thouroughly enjoying every day. I cannot relay the excitement and awe I felt at 20 weeks when I felt her kick for the first time. As time went on I was getting bigger and finally was at the point around 23 weeks when one would know for sure I was pregnant just by looking. It was all so exciting and new!
Things quickly changed however. I had my normal 5 month checkup on the 11th of February and everything was good. I had been experiencing a few Braxton-Hicks contractions here and there, but it wasn't anything alarming. On Wednesday the 23rd of February, I came home from work and started cooking dinner. While cooking dinner I felt about 4 "tightenings" in the abdomen in fairly quick succession. I thought I hadn't drank enough water that day so I drank several glassfuls and rested for a while, ate dinner, and went to bed early. I did feel a few more "tightenings" in the night but they were not painful and did not last very long, so I chalked them up to Braxton-Hicks contractions again.
I got up for work the next day and felt fine. All was going well until around 11:00 am when those pesky abdominal "tightenings" returned. I was keeping track of them and they never did get more than four an hour and they weren't regular, painful, or progressive so I wasn't too panicked. I did call my OB and talk to the nurse practitioner and discuss it with her. I made an appointment for the following day to get checked and make sure all was okay. I was going to take that day off and just rest the entire weekend.
Right before I left work I had to go to the restroom and I noticed I had some mucus discharge. I thought this wasn't good, so I got in the car and was heading the 40 miles home. In retrospect I realize that I should have just went to the nearest emergency room at that point. As I was driving home I felt more of the contractions which again, were not really painful but were radiating around the back. Now, everything I had ever read about pregnancy said that if pains are radiating to the back it is time to get checked out. I drove immediately to Dr. Ebner's, my OB's office. I chose the wrong day to forget my cell phone at home so I couldn't warn them in advance. I arrived at the office at 4:30 p.m. and told them "I need to be seen." They took me in right away and I was examined. My blood pressure was up a bit, but that was from the stress of worry. The exam revealed that I was 85% effaced (thinned out), and 1 centimeter dilated. Dr. Ebner said I was off work as of this time and would be in the hospital until further notice and he even discussed puting in a cerclage . I had to call my husband (Mark) from the doctor's office to let him know what was going on. He didn't have a clue, so I am sure my call came like a surprise theif in the night.
I was put in the hospital right away and started on magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions. The doctor had a myriad of tests done including lots of blood work. The monitors for the baby's heart beat and contractions were applied to my tummy. It was such a relief to hear her heartbeat loud and strong letting me know she was okay. After being there for several hours some of the test results were coming in. The tests showed that I had a possible urinary tract infection which is known to cause pre-term labor from time to time. I was relieved to find that out. I was placed on antibiotics to help clear this up. Through the night I was listening to the comforting heartbeat while being sick to my stomach. Magnesium sulfate is not a kind medication to be on. I was so sick all night long as well as a complete zombie. The drug not only relaxes your uterine muscle, it relaxes all the others as well. It was so difficult to move or focus my eyes on anything. A few times the contractions broke through the magnesium sulfate and I was given terbutaline to also stop the contractions. The terbutaline worked well and the contractions were stopped.
After a long night the lab techs show up to draw the 6:00 am blood work. At 7:30 another technician came in to do an ultrasound. He wasn't very friendly and barely said a word. He simply did the ultrasound, took lots of still pictures, and wouldn't even let me watch the monitor. I was paranoid he was hiding something from me. Luckily for him I had no strength from being on the magnesium sulfate or I might have choked him. He finally did tell me she was moving after I grilled him to give me some information. My doctor called several hours later to inform me that the ultrasound showed the membranes were slightly bulging through the cervix and he was transferring me to another hospital and place me in the care of a perinatologist (maternal-fetal medicine). He said I could always come back if things checked out okay, but he wanted to be safe. I was nervous about meeting a new doctor because I love my OB so much, but I knew his judgement was best. I was given a shot of betamethasone as a precaution to help mature the baby's lungs before I was transported.
I was transported 40 miles north via a very bumpy ambulance ride. The whole thing made me sick all over again. I do remember feeling the warmth of the sun on my body when I was gurnied outside. It felt so wonderful. We arrived at the new hospital, located in the town where I worked. Our local hospital where I live does not have a level III NICU unit, another reason I was transported. I was quickly greeted by Dr. Cedars and my fears of a new doctor were quickly put to rest. He was a very nice, genuinely caring, and concerned doctor. I was immediately comfortable with him. He defintely let me know I was well cared for and kept us informed as to what the status was with the pregnancy. He did an ultrasound and everything looked good. He explained to us that he was going to run a few tests on this mornings blood and from blood he was going to have drawn now. If the CRP (C - reactive protein) was elevated and increasing along with a high white cell count he would be suspicious of an infection of the membranes and fluid. He returned several hours later to inform us that the levels were high and increasing and his next step was to confirm suspicions with an amniocentisis. He returned later with his fantastic nurse, AnneMarie, the ultrasound machine, and all the necessities to perform the amnio. I was scared to death of this test but he said it was over rated. I was still scared, but he was right. It didn't hurt a bit. The amniotic fluid he drew out was cloudy which is another sign of infection. After several more hours the results came back positive for a bacterial infection of the fluid and membranes (chorioamnionitis).
Dr. Cedars returned with Dr. Van Scoy (neonatologist) and told us we had two options at this point and that there was no right or wrong answer. We could either do the conservative approach and deliver her now, or we could be aggressive and treat with lots of antibiotics and repeat the amnio to see how things were going and deliver in a few days or even longer depending on what the status was. After some thought we opted to go the aggressive route and keep her in utero as long as possible. There were risks either way. Delivering her now would surely result in a premature baby with a long road in front of her with a long list of possible problems. By waiting, we would keep her growing but run the risk of her getting an infection from the infected environment or she may even have an infection already and staying in-utero wouldn't help that a bit.
Saturday the 26th of February came early following another night of ill sleep. I was spared the nausea and being sick though. Poor Mark spent the night on a chair that converted to a bed. They say it was a bed, but I am sure it was some sort of medieval torture device. I was having a difficult time getting comfortable as the hospital bed was hard and it was starting to make my hips really ache from laying on one side and then the other. My strength was totally zapped and it was difficult to roll over. At 7:30 a.m. I asked Mark to help me roll over and when I did so I felt a gush of fluid. I just knew it was my water breaking. It took a while for the nurse to confirm that is what it was, but the confirmation did come. At that point we knew we were having the baby that day and the magnesium sulfate drip was stopped and labor was allowed to resume.
After several hours of slow progress due to the residual magnesium sulfate, pitocin was started at around 10:30 a.m. I was allowed to take a much needed shower. It felt so good even if I was still a little wobbly. Mark commented on the fact that he didn't realize how much the mag affected me until I was off the stuff. Around noon Dr. Cedars came in a checked me and I was about three centimeters dilated and 85% effaced. He figured I would deliver somewhere between 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. At this time we got a tour of the NICU and were shown what everything was and where Lydia would be and what they would be doing with her etc. It remember looking at the tiny babies in there and knowing we were going to be there a long time. I was grateful for the technology and the caring staff.
Mark and his sister Patty were with me the entire time. We had not been to our birthing classes and were first time parents so all this was pretty new. Labor progressed well and contractions were every 2-3 minutes apart and lasting about 45-90 seconds. Labor was labor. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I had to ask if labor hurt less because she was so little and the pregnancy was so early. The nurse chuckled and told me it was an all or nothing thing but it could be shorter because she was so small. Around 3:00 p.m. Dr. Cedars called to have the nurses check me and much to their surprise I was 100% effaced and at 6 centimeters. Things happened very quickly from this point. The room was a bee hive of activity as everything was being prepped for the baby's arrival. At about 3:30 p.m. I felt the baby's head engage in the birth canal. The nurse was shocked and called Dr. Cedars and Dr. Van Scoy to come as quickly as possible. It was so hard not to push...I just focused on other things and tried not to think about the pressure I was feeling. The doctors arrived around 3:45 p.m. and I was checked and prepped quickly with a dousing of cool Betadine solution. As soon as Dr. Cedars examined me the contractions stopped so he finally made the decision to push between contractions. He delivered her while wearing blue jeans, polo shirt, and tennis shoes because he didn't have time to change. I wonder how many pairs of shoes he has ruined?
At 3:48 pm, after one strong push, Lydia Joyce Sparlin came into the world. She was very pink and gave a good cry for such a little tyke. She was quickly taken and intubated and showed to us briefly before being taken to the NICU via an Isolette. By 4:00 p.m. it was just Mark, Patty, and I in the delivery room. Lydia weighed 1 lb 9 oz (705 grams), and was 11.5 inches long. Her APGARS were 7 at one minute and 9 at 5 minutes. She was a true fighter from the start. Her story in the NICU is next.
