Why were you scare when you had your primi baby!

Linda - posted on 03/17/2011

My daughter was born at 29 weeks and weighed 2lbs 10oz. She was in the NICU for 63 days. I had such a hard time dealing with it in the beginning because I wanted so much to do more for her to make her better, but couldn't. Thankfully, she is now 19 months, walking every where and healthy. I was so scared those first two months, but she made it through with flying colors!

Renee - posted on 03/17/2011

I started having really bad pain in my bladder area on June 30, 2010 so I went in to Labor & Delivery so they could check me. They monitored my baby's heart & checked me and said my cervix was still closed and that I was probably having Round Ligament Pain. They sent me home after about 2 hours. The next day the pain got worse & I left work early to go lay in bed for the rest of the day. I noticed that when I turned to view my side profile that my stomach looked lower than normal, but being that this was my first baby I had no idea what to expect or what labor pains felt like. Friday, July 2nd I woke up to extreme lower abdominal pain and pressure as well. I had my mom rush me to the hospital and again was taken to Labor & Delivery for observation. They monitored my contractions and said they were weak and that the baby's heart rate was good and that they didn't think anything was wrong. When the pain finally got too unbearable they brought the doctor in so he could check my cervix and when he did he broke my water!!!! They rushed me into the delivery room & within about 10 minutes my baby was here. I was 27 weeks & 2 days along. My son spent 10 weeks in the NICU & he is now a happy, healthy 8.5 month old baby whose doing extremely well. He had no major issues in the NICU other than low birth weight. We are so blessed with our little miracle baby!

Leonie - posted on 03/17/2011

I started asking about prematurity at 17 weeks. I don't know why. Just after 23 weeks I started leaking and my membrane had a small tear. I went to hospital and was on bed rest for 6 days. I had steroids for my little boy's lungs.
He was born at 24 + 1 day. So beautiful, so very small at 1lb and 12 oz. He worked so hard evey day in the nicu. Sadly, our lovely Iggy managed over three weeks and then left us. I am a differnt person. Our bodies know.

Katrina - posted on 03/03/2011

My first was born at 30 weeks but I went into labour at 29.5 weeks so they transfered me to a differnt town with a NICU unit. I was terrified as she was coming too soon and was away from family and friends and familiar places. Ishe was my first and with my complications (double uterus) they didnt know if I could deliver her normally of if would need emergency csection. I spent 5 days in pain and terrified something would go wrong. Luckily it went well and she is now 12 months and doing great. My second is only 13 weeks and as the 29 week mark approached I was terrified I would have to do it all again including going to Wellington with now having my daughter at home as well. He was footling breech so knew he was going to be a cseection bub which also terrified me as they knew he would be early and emergeny csection. Luckily at 30 weeks when I went into labour we go to stay in our home town hospital and it all happened so quick I didnt get time to worry bout the csection. He is doing great now though we have to watch him for possible cerebal palsy as he develops but he came out safe and sound! I still find myself scared of what has happened and what will happen in the future. We cannot have anymore children now as the risk of twins that woulnd survive is too high so now I am waiting to have an op so I cant have anymore kids as I am terrified to get pregnant again. I love my babies but two premmies isenough thank you!

Candace - posted on 02/03/2011

I had my son at 33wks because of eclampsia. He weighed 3lbs 5oz and was in the NICU for four weeks. It was scary for me because I had no idea what had happened or what was going on. Even after the birth of my son my blood pressure would not go down, my kidney's were starting to shut down and the left side of brain was swollen. I was in the ICU for two days. I had him on a saturday morning and the only thing I remember is waking up Tuesday afternoon in the hospital with "it's boy" and "get well soon" balloons. It was a lot to deal with at one time, my health concerns and then worrying about my little one. Fortunately my little man was doing great and just needed to gain weight and learn how to drink from the bottle. He's now 9mths(7.5 adjusted) he's now 17lbs 10oz and 28inches long. Looking at him now you'd never know he was born 7 weeks early.

Liz - posted on 02/02/2011

It all started at 5:45 in the morning on June 8th, 2008 ( the day of my baby shower) I rolled over and my water broke. At first I wasn't sure what was going on as this was my first pregnancy, once I did find out I woke my husband up and we went to the hospital. By the time we got there ( 5 min away) and checked in. They checked me and I was already 100% effaced and 5 cm dialiated. The problem was I was pregnant with b/g twins and my son was a breach and my daughter was ready to come out. They prepped me for an emergency c-section and I had my daughter at 7:51 am and my son at 7:53 am.



I got to see my son for a total of a second before they rushed him off. I saw my daughter a minute longer and was at least able to give her a kiss. My daughter was born at 3 pounds 12 ounces and my son at 4 pounds 10 ounces.



After getting back in my room and finish getting registered, my husband comes back from the NICU. Our son was born with underdeveloped lungs. They gave him the steriod shot, but when I finally got to see them a day later he was hooked up to a resperator and we were unable to go near him or disturb him. We didn't know if he was going to make it, but thankfully he came off it four hours later, and we were pleasantly surprised when we came in that night and saw he was off. He had trouble mantaining his body temp and had jaundice. Also was on oxygen for six days. He came home eight days later at a discharge weight of four pounds one ounce.



My daughter was on oxygen for an hour and had issues with weight gain and had jaundice. they also thought she might have had a bleed on the brain, but with a second scan they didn't see anything. She came home at a discharge weight of four pounds one ounce on special formula twelve days later.



I know we have been extremely lucky with them. I can't believe this year it will have been three years. You can't tell they were preemies, and there only seems to be very minor issues. Like the fact my daughter has glasses and the fact my son gets sick so easily.



I went on to have our youngest in July 2010 and I made it to 38 wks 6 days he weighed in at six pounds one ounce. It is amazing how different and how much more relaxed the experience was!

AMANDA - posted on 02/01/2011

My due date was April 11. I woke up on January 28 with some spotting. I called my dr's office and she told me since it was so early (6:30am) to go to the women's center. When I got there, they hooked me up to the machines and noticed that my blood pressure spiked. It wouldn't go down. They check me and I was completely closed. This was at 7:30am. They admitted me at 11 because my pressure wouldn't go down. They did an ultrasound at 12:30 and told me to wait on the results before we ate lunch. I kept telling them that I had a lot of pressure like I had to go #2. At 1:00 I asked for a tylenol because I was really uncomfortable. At 1:30 the nurse came in and said that it wouldn't be strong enough and went to get something stronger. While she was gone I went into the bathroom and started throwing up. I told my husband to go get the nurse because I was starting to hurt. She came back and told me to get back in the bed and she would check me. When I did, my water broke. I had NO contractions at all!!! The midwife came running in and started screaming that I wasn't in labor. They checked me and I was already at 9 1/2. I did 4 pushes and he was here. It was less than 15 minutes after my water broke. He was born at 2:04pm. I was only 30 weeks and we spent 7 weeks in NICU. He turned 1 last Friday on the 28th. He's the happiest baby!

Jessica - posted on 02/01/2011

I was 20 years old and my doctor wasn't answering his messages. My stomach was hard as a rock and was protruding on one side, baby was turning. Went to doctor's office and he felt my stomach and sent me up to the hospital without telling me or my boyfriend (husband now) what was going on. The nurses hooked me up to the monitors and closely watched me and they gave me a shot of terbutaline to see if that would stop contractions. Nothing was working, so they got the ambulance ready and took me over 2 hours away from where I lived and my boyfriend or mom couldn't ride with me. Once I got there they gave me another ultrasound and showed how thin my wall was. I was in the hospital for 5 days and couldn't get up to do anything but go to the bathroom, the only time I was allowed to sit was to eat. I was hooked up to magnesium the whole time I was there also, which is a very miserable drug to be on. Makes you hot and so uncomfortable, it makes you constipated. When you did go it was like you were a kid everyone was so excited. On the 5th day I had to have the nurse come unhook me from the monitor and give me the handheld for the machine giving me a bolice of medicine for contractions and whatever else (all kind of a blur). When I came back from the bathroom she checked me and said it was time. My boyfriend called my parents, who just left that night, and his family and they all drove the 2 hours at 5 a.m. There was a team of doctors and nurses for Lane, when he was born I didnt get to see him before they took him to the NICU. When I woke up after having him our families were in my room with me and said he was beautiful. I walked down to the NICU once I got feeling in my legs, and that was the first I had seen him. He was there for 3 months and i had to drive back and forth all the time because there was never any rooms at the Ronald McDonald house, which was very inconvenient. He is so worth it!

Nicole - posted on 01/30/2011

i went into the hospital at 29wks for observation turns out babies decided they were coming that night, i am very lucky that where i live they have one of the best nicu units in the country, we had our setbacks but was lucky i used to walk up to the hospital to feed my babies usually 1/2hr walk.

Nichole - posted on 07/01/2010

My son was born at 36 weeks, but my fear began at 19 weeks. I started cramping then, and ended up in labor at 21 weeks. I was pretrified of losing my baby. Then despite bedrest, a countless shots, pills, and IVs I kept going into labor at least ounce a week. I was slowly dialating and effacing, praying that I would stop progressing so I could keep him inside me long enough he'd be ok. Then at 36 weeks I went into labor and my hospital doesn't not try to stop labor at that point, so they let him come. Doctor didn't know why but he was born with a hematoma the size of half his head...and he was not born with forceps or vaccum. I honestly think the hematoma was from the fact my contractions that began at 21 weeks never were completely stopped just slowed and made irregular. So I think he spent on that time with pressure to his little head. It took 3 1/2 weeks for him to heal the hematoma, and he was so Juandice because of it. I used to call him my little pumpkin because he was that orange, with yellow eyes. Also when he was born he swallowed some meconium..he struggling with fits of choking for the first 2-3 days of life. A few times the nurses had to rush him away from me to suck out the fluid out of his lungs and tummy. He was 7 pounds 5 ounces at birth (he was projected to be 10 if carried to term). Now he's a healthy 10 month old (27 pounds, 31 inches). He has a mild case of asthma but other than that he's normal. He's never been developmentally delayed or anything, he does get very sick really easily though. He's had 3 major viruses in these last 10 months. 2 had him in the ER. But I think I'm lucky. I can't imagine what some of you went through...babies in the NICU. You are strong women.

Amanda - posted on 06/28/2010

It all started on May 11th at 5am...I began getting 'odd' cramping in the lower part of my stomache, but I put it down to being braxton hicks. The day went on, and my Mom and bf kept telling me to go to the hospital - it finally got to a point, sometime in the afternoon, where I realized I wasn't able to talk through my 'contractions'. Finally, at 5pm I made my way to the hospital to Triage. I explained everything to them and they had me sit on a bed in the department for close to FOUR HOURS!! I heard two nurses talking at the shift change and the one who admitted me told the night shift nurse I wasn't in labour. Meanwhile, I wasn't even checked by ANYONE at this point. I was getting fed up, and I was absolutely starving, so I went to the nurse and asked her for the discharge paper so I could sign it because I had enough, I wanted to go home.
Luckily, the resident doctor was there and the nurse assured me she would be in to examine me.
After a few minutes passed, she came in and explained she would swab me to see if was in preterm labour, turns out I was actaully 5 cm dilated at 30 wks. There was no stopping it now, I was being taken away to have an emergancy c-section...(after speaking to 3 nurses, 2 doctors, and a woman from the NICU.
It all seems like a blur now...the moments laying in triage waiting for my surgery, crying uncontrolably...all I remember saying was, "NO! It's not supposed to happen now...its too early.." And before I knew it, my 3lb., 2 oz. baby boy (Max) was born at 11:47pm on May 11th.
And now, here I sit, at a laptop in my 4 ft by 4 ft room..wondering will this ever end? It's been 7 weeks, tomorrow...I don't know how I'm going to manage the rest of my days here. It just seems neverending.
(I am here 24/7 because I choose to have Max feed off the breast ONLY, and he's feeding on demand, so I never really know when he'll want to eat).
My fears are ongoing, everyday...and thank you to all the ladies who post their stories, they give me a sense of courage in a way...there is hope at the end of the day.

MARTINA - posted on 06/26/2010

doctors didnt neva have nothin poositive to say they kept sayin awww your baby going to die... so that made me kind of scared but shes alive n healthy 3years later

Tiffany - posted on 06/07/2010

We were scared because we went to our nearest hospital and they told us that they were not equipped to deliver a pre term baby. so they were going to transfer me to another hospital. While we were waiting for them to transfer me we were told that our daughter could come out with all kinds of problems and we did all we could do to keep from crying when they told us that. Well the people came to transfer us and they told my boyfriend (also my babys dad) that he could not ride with me up there but that he had to drive in our car behind us. We got to the other hospital and the people there were so much nicer. They told us that they delivered more premature babys then that that survived and ones that were further along and they didnt survive. So they told us not to worry and everything will be ok. After that we were more able to relax and weren't so scared about having a premature baby!

Sabrina - posted on 06/06/2010

i was very scared, i was 28 weeks on my 2nd baby when i went to visit a friend in the hospital with my daughter who was 7. we were cooing over her baby when the nurse came in and said i'd looked very yellow she then said go downstairs and have a quick check up, i was all against it cos my daughter was with me i told them i had an appointment the following tuesday this was a thursday she was very insistant so my friends husband offered to take her home, i went down for a check up at 1.20pm they couldn't find a heart beat so sent me for a scan still at this stage i didn't know what was happening, when i got to the scan the doctor turned the screen away from me so i couldn't see nothing then he started slapping the hell out of my tummy, he then turned and said my placenta had came away from the baby she was still alive but needed to come right away she wasn't moving she was slipping away, my daughter was born weighing 2lbs she wasn't breathing they preformed cpr on her as i was awake during emegency section, and they were still pumping her walking out the door, i was in recovery for 2 hours with no news no nothing my family had arrived bu that time, but they weren't told a thing the reason i was in recovery i pre eclamsya, i was then told that if i didn't turn up when i did i would of been dead by the weekend it was so severe i swelled up like a balloon afterwards and my blood shot through the roof so i was rushed to a hospital 3 hours away with still no news eventually i got a call that they had saved her but it was touch and go, she is now 8yrs old and very healthy no long term affects :)

Donna - posted on 06/04/2010

I also had pre-eclampsia, having renal failure and my son was born 8 weeks early. He was 1466grams. He is now nearly 4 years old and, touch wood, there seems to be no developmental issues. He goes to daycare and you would not even know he was a premmie.

Brandy - posted on 05/31/2010

at 26 wks i had just had my checkup and was told everything was fine but that night i woke up and was feeling really weird then i started throwing up alot so i had my husband take me to the ER then my OB came in followed by paramedics they started hooking me up to an IV and the dr. said they were transfering me to another hospital that was 5 towns away she made me sign all these papers and kept talking about getting things under control and my life etc... i was so confused and i said what about the baby? and she looked at me like i was crazy and said brandy, the baby isnt going to make it we need to focus on you now. i sobbed uncontrollably all the way to the hospital, the paramedics kept telling me i had to calm down, then when i got to the hospital the new dr told me i had preeclampsia and hellp syndrome and that a different dr was going to try to save the baby they gave me steroid shots and hooked me up to all of this stuff, and then i got really weak and couldnt breathe or talk it felt like an elephant was standing on top of me i kept trying to tell my mom but the words just wouldnt come out luckily my mom was there and saw that my eyes were starting to roll back into my head and she got a nurse come to find out i couldnt handle that much magnesium and it almost killed me, and it went on and on i finally had my daughter at 28 wks emergency c-section she was 2lbs 6oz and she is now 15months old and doing great.

Grace - posted on 05/31/2010

I was on bed rest due to me having pre eclampsia. On my next doctor's visit my blood pressure was high so they admitted me & were going to induce me. They gave me a steroid shot to help her lungs, she went in distress after they induced me so I had to have a c-section. She was born 6 weeks early & weighed 3Lbs. 1 Oz. and had to have a breathing tube. I was so scared. Luckily she was able to breathe on her own the next day. I had to leave the hospital without her & I felt so empty, as if I was missing something. My husband & I went to the hospital everyday to see her & let her know we were there. She was growing stronger every time we went there. She was only in there for a month, I thought she would be in there longer. She is 5 years old now and very talkative and active. Hard to believe that she was a preemie. She was then and is now one strong fighter.

Megan - posted on 05/31/2010

my little girl was 8 weeks early and was born by c-section when her heart rate suddenly dropped due to the stress of early labour.. i was so scared that i was never going to see my lil girl especially after having lost a baby to early laboour the previous year.. she was only 3lbs 6oz and spent 2 months in hospital before we could take her home.. she is now 5 months old and doing great!!

Amy - posted on 05/30/2010

I had had a miscarriage at 13 weeks before my first child was born at 37 weeks she was healthy, after her we tried again and had another miscarriage at 8 weeks. When we got pregnant with our son I was already scared to have another miscarriage that i tried to do everything right. After weeks of premature labor and bedrest my son was born at 34 weeks. Raymond was blue/purple when he was born and didn't cry. He was intebated and flown away to the closest NICU (which is 2 hours away). We didn't get to see him until he was almost 24 hours old and I didn't get to hold him until he was 3 days old. He spent 4 weeks in the NICU and we commuted back and forth 2 hours each way almost everyday (it's hard with a 20 month old). I think I was more scared from having lost 2 babies that I was going to lose him and I don't think with the distance I could emotionally handle that loss. He is now 18 months old and a very happy healthy boy.

Kylie - posted on 05/25/2010

It was different for me. I had severe pre eclampsia, I went to hospital and the midwives and doctors at first thought I was paranoid and there was nothing wrong, but I knew there was.

I was 26 weeks + 6 days, and a doctor came and said "you are very ill, we need to deliver your baby maybe next week". I was kinda scared, but the last thing I read before I went to hospital was a pregnancy book that said "27 weeks, if your baby is born now they have a very very good chance of survival"

I was kinda scared, but I knew if I stayed strong and positive we all stood a better chance.

Joseph was born the following day bang on 27 weeks. He spent 10 weeks in hospital, and he's now a happy one year old.

I think having premature labour, or premature rupture of the membranes is a lot scarier, because you have no idea what's happening, whereas with me it was all very clear and controlled.

LaKedra - posted on 05/24/2010

I had my daughter at 30wks and she weighed 3lbs 1oz. My intial scare happened when my water broke at 28wks so I knew anything could happen after that. My doc admitted me into the hospital and had me on strict bed rest, I could only get up to go to the bathroom! I got so down. I went into labor around 11pm and I instantly cried. The nurses and my mom thought I wasn't handling the contractions well but all I could say over and over was "It's not time". Once they got me into the delivery room there were soooooooooo many nurses in there, my babies heart rate dropped a little, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, dad didn't get to cut it, she didn't cry right away and they instantly took her...I was very emotional. Although they updated me on how she was, I birthed my baby girl at 3:27am and I didn't see her until 7am, she was 4hrs old. Had to leave her at the hospital and spent a little over month driving back and forth before we could get her home. A very trying time, one of the worst experiences of my life. We've been through a lot but now she's 2yrs old and very active and talkative. Now I'm in question as to whether I wanna go through another pregnancy again.