Sofia’s Debut

My husband, Tim, and I have one daughter, Sofia. She was born 11/17/06, and had only been cookin’ for 27 weeks/2 days.

On the afternoon of Monday, 11/13/06, I went for my monthly ultrasound. (Since I’m a geezer mom, I had these appointments to make sure everything was going smoothly.) Sofia looked great.

That night, I was awakened by a gush of liquid. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be going into labor, and thought maybe I wet the bed! Do I wake Tim and tell him? Ha! Yeah, like I wanted to admit that. I figured what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. :) I cleaned up my side of the bed and went back to sleep.

In the a.m., same thing happened. Tim was already at work. As I got ready for work, I had a sense something wasn’t right. I called my OB’s office, and they said they’d try to squeeze me in and give me a call back .

I drove off to work, stopping for my morning chai and bagel. I got a call from the OB’s office saying they could see me right then. I called work and let them know what was going on. Once at the OB’s office, I was examined and, yep, amniotic fluid! Sadly abandoning my chai and bagel in my car, I was marched right down the street to the hospital.

I was told I was facing a 7 week hospital stay, strict bedrest. They would not let me consume *anything* but a few ice chips for the first 24 hours. My bagel and chai were only a dream by that point. The lunch and dinner trays automatically delivered to my room taunted me. The med staff pumped me with steroids, antibiotics, and magnesium. After 72 hours, they determined they did everything they could for the baby in the event of an early arrival. So, if I had contractions again, they wouldn’t stop them.

It’s unknown why my water broke. The doctor said there were two other women admitted the same day as I. He hypothesized, saying that it’s been reported that there is an increase in deliveries and premature births during the onset of stormy weather, which there was that night… The low pressure front of an oncoming storm possibly affects the body’s internal higher pressure.

That Friday, I was feeling pretty crampy. Tim left work to have lunch with me. (He was originally not going to return until later that afternoon, but since he could not reach me on the room phone or my cell phone all morning, was worried, so came to check in on me.) I began to feel worse. I figured it was the chicken taco salad I was eating. I rang for a nurse, she called for a doctor, and he discovered I was at 10 cm.

It was the classic scene… putting me onto a gurney and rushing me through the hallway. No time for meds, I gave birth about 20 minutes later. Sofia came
into
the world
eyes wide open
(literally) and
was 1 lb.
12 oz.,14.5 inches long.Sofia came into the world eyes wide open (literally) and was 1 lb. 12 oz.,14.5 inches long.

I was released 2 days later, but Sofia was in the NICU until 2/9/07. (Her due date was 2/14/07.) I went and saw her twice a day. I got my “lactation stations” running at full speed. I returned to work a month later, continuing to pump and visit the NICU daily.

She’s sassy and amazing.

I heart Sofie.

Filed under blahblahblah |