nasmith882: Christopher's Premature Delivery

Posted Wednesday, May 27, 2009 12:53 PM

"When my water broke, it shot across the room and sprayed the ceiling, wall, and all 15 people in front of me...."

A surprise beginning

It was a Friday and I was on my way to school like every other day. In the thick of rush hour traffic I got really lightheaded and I felt one really sharp pain low in my groin. I pulled over on the median and waited for the lightheadedness to pass. I assumed the low pain was round ligament pain. The lightheadedness gave way to a cold sweat and labored breathing so I decided to call 911. As I heard the ambulance, firetruck, and police car coming I said to the 911 operator, "These people are going to be PISSED -- traffic already sucks today!" We both laughed and I hung up. They put me in the ambulance and soon I was off to the hospital.

I fully expected them to tell me to eat something and then send me on my way when I got to the hospital. The doctor had me hooked up to a fetal monitor as I described to him what happened. He very quickly became disinterested and asked me if I was feeling the contractions. "Yes, of course, I have been having those since I was 17 weeks," I said (as I explained to him that I thought I was having Braxton Hicks contractions because they weren't painful).  I would just get this really tight feeling and it would go away. Sometimes, they were so bad I couldn't move but not the painful, earth shattering contractions I thought I would get in real labor.

I also told him they happened 8-10 times an hour. The next thing I knew they were hoisting me up in to the examining chair to check me out. The doctor looked at the nurse and said "Yep, she is 1cm" to my surprise. I then asked "Well, is that normal?" and of course they said no. They gave me a shot to stop the contraction and some medicine. It worked so they sent me home and told me to rest. On Saturday the contractions came back so they increased the medication. Sunday, they came back again and asked me to come into the hospital.

Back to the hospital

When I got to the hospital they gave me another shot. This time it dropped my blood pressure to 50/30 and I really thought I was going to die. They decided to set me in a Labor & Delivery room. Around 12 a.m. the contractions had not stopped and the nurse came in with a sad look on her face and an IV bag in toe. UGH, magnesium sulfate. They hooked me up to the mag and the side effects came quickly. Hot flashes, dizziness, nausea, head ache, vomiting. Around 4 a.m. the doctor came in and explained that I was in real danger of delivering and at 26 weeks and 1day the baby needed a level III NICU. So, off I went to UC by ambulance at 4 a.m.

Ten days ago, I was admitted to UC hospital with contractions. I was 1 cm dilated when I got there. They left me on the Magnesium for 24 hours. I have never felt that sick ever in my life but I knew it was for the good of my baby. I was hooked up for a FNST everyday. (Several times for more than 24 hours). I was rushed to L&D a couple of times for false alarms when the baby's heart rate would drop. My contractions never really stopped but they weren't painful. At some point I went from 1cm to 3cm. Tuesday, I woke up and felt fine. I took a shower, ate breakfast and at 10am I got hooked up to do a NST and at 10:15am the nurse came in and asked how my contractions felt because they were coming every 1.5 minutes. I told her that they felt different than the ones I was having before. Then all of a sudden they became pretty intense and they had to page the doctor.

Get the doctor!

It took him 30 min to get to my room because he was delivering another baby. We had developed a pretty good doctor-patient relationship so....I cussed him out for taking so long LOL. He told me that I was fully dilated and that my bag was bulging so it hadn't yet broken. I immediately called my husband and told him to drive as fast as he could to the the hospital. They rushed me over to L&D and assembled the team of peds doctors.

Now, if there are any light hearted moments to this story this is where it happens.....I asked the doctors if I could get any pain meds and they said... "Well, you are too far at this point and we don't want to make the baby sleepy." Of course I agreed.  For those that know me well, they know that I joke around and deflect a lot when I am freaking out. So I decided that it was time to focus on something else. The nurses and I started talking about scrap booking and how crazy this whole thing was and how fast I dilated. The doctors said to me "Do you even realize you are fully dilated? Wow you are handling this really well!" Then the doctor said "Well, we need you to push on the next contraction." My husband had not yet gotten there so my response to that was,"It is my vagina and you can't make me!" He didn't know what to say and the room burst out in laughter.

The doctor was staring at the monitor and I said "Stop being a doctor for just a couple of minutes, the baby is fine and we can wait." I called my husband and directed him to the valet parking so he could get in faster and two minutes later he came though the door. They rushed him by my side and all 20 people in the room gazed at my vagina! They said, "Give us one good push on the next contraction" and I did. Well, my water broke but it shot across the room and sprayed the ceiling, wall and all 15 people in front of me. Me and everyone else broke out in laughter in the room. I couldn't stop laughing! They checked me again and said "Well you are 6 cm so it will be 2,3, or 4 hours..."

Here comes baby!

The nurse and I discussed whether or not to get an epidural and ushered out the peds department. All of a sudden I felt a drop in my bottom and I said I have to push NOW! They asked me to wait and I told them that I couldn't.  Two good pushes later and Christopher Carl Schaefer III (Trey) was brought in to the world... I looked down to see him and thought he is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. The sound of his little cry filled my heart with more love than I have ever felt in my life. I can't even describe it.

They rushed him over to the peds and then brought him to me. I briefly held him and a tear ran down my cheek. They took him to the NICU and I felt scared because I wanted him close to me but I knew he was in the safest place he could be. Born at 12:40 on April 28 at 2 lbs, 10 ounces and 15 inches in length, he was large for a 27-week, 3-day-old baby, but he still has a long way to go! My milk (or colostrum) came in not even 1 hour after he was born, which is very unusual for a preemie delivery. I guess my body knew best. We still have no idea why I went in to pre-term labor, but I have to believe that everything happens for a reason and Trey will be just fine.

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