Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Jace's Birth Story





My whole pregnancy was pretty textbook, went to the doc, had ultrasound, its a boy, i worked at a cleaning company vacuuming and pulling trash up until i was 4 1/2 months pregnant, until...Jace Dillon was born at 25 weeks;Here is our story...

I started having pains the day before he was born, that to me felt like a UTI, i had UTI's throughout my pregnancy so i really didnt think much of it. All night long every 20 or so minutes i would feel like i had to pee really bad and i would waddle to the bathroom and nothing would come out until that next morning, after not sleeping at all because of the pain(contractions), i saw that i was bleeding and knew something was wrong, this was at 6 am. TJ was still sleeping and i woke him up frantically saying that something was wrong cuz i was bleeding, i dont think he understood the urgency. So i then called my mom and told her that i should go to the hospital and she insisted that everything was fine and that i should go to the doctors office when they open at 8. So on the way there i was in excruciating pain, doubled over, the pain had increased and was consisitent and i was saying to TJ and i quote "OMG there is No way that Labor is worse than this pain right now" (little did i know) So they got me in to do a pee test and they said with my symptoms i probably had a UTI and told me to go home with this prescription, thankfullly i spoke up and said "What about the bleeding?" and the nurse with an attitude said "where are u bleeding from" (ummm duh down there hellloooo?) and then she said "I GUESS we can get the doc to take a look. Of course i get the biggest asshole in the practice, someone i hadnt seen before but had heard about. So he checks me and without missing a beat says "Yep looks like ur gonna have a baby today" (just nonchalent, just like that??)He said "Ur 3 centimeters dilated u need to go to the hospital right now" So completely shocked and not knowing anything about premature birth, we asked if they were gonna do anything to stop it (in my head im thinking...my baby is gonna die) and he said very unreassuring that they will try to but...So we begin to call our family and friends to meet us at the hospital, they of course are all shocked as well.So we go the next block down to the hospital and TJ drops me off up front and me not knowing where to go i go in search of hospital staff, i find a nurses station and ask them where the labor and delivery is and they ask if im a visitor and i say "No IM in labor" one of the male nurses frantically says i will take u there and grabs a wheel chair and wheels me there. They know im coming and get me to a room right away.


Surprisingly i was extremely calm almost like an out of body experience throughout the whole day...my husband on the other hand was a wreck( i dont remember him being in the room much with me at all because he was so inconsolible). But i was surrounded by all my family and friends so i wasnt alone.(there were literally 20 people in my room at times)I remember my parents coming in and they were so nervous looking but trying to keep positive and i tried not to break down but then my cousins came in (they are like my sisters) and then the tears starting stinging my eyes...but i never broke down, i knew i had to stay strong for him, i didnt want to do anything that might stress him out. They gave me shots of steriods and tried to stop labor but the contractions just kept on coming. When they did an ultrasound they saw he was breech and said that we would have to do a c-section but we had to wait as long as possible. So i had to go through the whole labor all 10 cent and then go have a c-section (which was a big fear of mine) but they did it at 8 pm and took him up to the NICU ( i only saw his little elbow when they took him away).He weighed 2 lbs 2 oz which is bigger than they thought he would be. They said i could go see him when i could get out of bed and get in a wheelchair and u better believe i was in that thing before no time.



It was so scary to see him hooked up to all those machines, but he was so beautiful ( see he was my first baby so it didnt seem weird to me that he was so small cuz there was no comparison, he was just perfect in my eyes). It was love instantly, he was so perfect and tiny.






He did amazing in the NICU. He was only on the vent for 1 day!!We got to hold him after a few days passed and the first time i held him on my chest i just cried, it was the most amazing feeling. He was on c-pap for 5 days and then went on the nasal canula for 6 days then back on c-pap for a few and then back to the nasal canula. Which is amazing, lots of babies that are born that early are on the vent and cpap for a very long time.





He was out of the NICU in a month and in the transitional unit for a month where i could stay with him all i wanted in his private room, which was amazing. He was one of the smallest babies they ever had in the transitional unit only about 2 1/2 lbs. He never had to have any surgeries. He had a's and b's for a little while but didnt go home on any monitors. He had a grade one brain bleed but he is fine.


He left the hospital May 18th, a month before his due date at 4 lbs 7 oz., and he has been growing and developing at a rapid pace ever since. He is a good size for his age, id say about average, and has developmentally always been right on track with an exception of his speech which he is recieveing speech therapy for and doing amazing! They always say that the white boys are "wimpy white boys" becuz they typically do the worst in the NICU but Jace was definitly an exception. I am so blessed to have him! When people pitied me for having him so early, i felt lucky for being able to know my baby before most people do...i guess i just try to look on the bright side of situations!


And here is my Miracle boy Now!!

7 comments:

~Jessi~ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
~Jessi~ said...

What an amazing story Whitney, thanks for sharing! He's so strong! Born at 25 weeks and only on the vent for a day?! That is AMAZING! He truly is a miracle!!!

Nicknessaemma said...

Thank you for sharing such an amazing story with us. He is beautiful. You both are VERY strong. We know where he got it from. I agree with Jessi, he is a miracle.

Brianne said...

whit you are such a strong person! little jace is just a handsome little man!

The Beard Family of 5 said...

what a beautiful story Whitney - I love how you say you got to know your little baby earlier than most, especially knowing that he is happy and healthy!

Miss Britch said...

Wow Whit... I am sitting here reading this at work crying like a baby!! What an amazing story. You are such a strong woman and Jace is such a little trooper! I am so proud of you and so happy for you and your beautiful family.

Janie said...

I always cry when I read your birth stories! They are so incredible. Like something you'd see in a movie or on Discovery Health Channel. Just completely miraculous!

You are so strong and Jace was such a lil fighter! Wimpy, pbbt! Not him! :)