And so it begins...

May 11, 2008 our baby Kennedy was born by c-section 10 weeks early. She was born at 4:52pm weighing 1 pound 6 ounces and measured 12 ¼ inches long. We have created this blog to help keep family and friends updated on her condition.
So I guess I will start with the events leading up to her birth. The following is copied form my journal:

5/11/08
It’s 4:20am Sunday morning- Mother’s Day- and I am writing this in the dark on the back of a scrap of paper with only the glow of Nick@Nite to see by. I am at Loma Linda Hospital. Shawn is Asleep in an empty patient bed next to me. This past night was the first sleep we have had in 40 hours. The nurse woke me up at 2:30am to get my vitals and monitor the baby’s heartbeat. Since then I haven’t been able to fall back asleep. All I can do is wait for the news and pray that today isn’t my first mother’s day as a real mom.
So I guess a little background is in order, so let me catch you up. Friday afternoon at 3:45 Shawn and I went in for a routine ultrasound. The tech was very nice and told us not to worry, but she wanted to call out doctor because the amniotic fluid was too low to measure and Kennedy was measuring only 25 weeks- a full 4 weeks behind my actual 29 week date. The tech called my doctor’s office and they told her to send me to Labor and Delivery. Shawn and I went over to Saint Mary’s thinking we would be in for a few hours of tests and be sent home. Boy were we wrong. They immediately admitted me and placed me in the L&D triage unit. My blood was taken and another ultrasound was done. My doctor had just left town and the doctor covering for him was busy at another hospital so they had to wait for another doctor to come to review the ultrasound. The whole time we were waiting I tried to be as upbeat as possible and Shawn and I hung out and watched tv. When the doctor they got came to see me he told me in a very calm manner that they didn’t have the proper equipment or personnel to accurately diagnose me and that even though everything would probably be fine he was going to transfer me to Loma Linda University Hospital. He told us they were the best place to be for this sort of thing. “This sort of thing” being a high risk pregnancy situation- but I didn’t realize that was what he meant at the time. The nurse said I would have to go by ambulance so Shawn and I decided that he would get some things from home and drive down there with my mom and meet me there. Two and a half hours later the ambulance arrived to pick me up so I called Shawn and he and my mom left. It was my first ambulance ride ever. They were very nice and I was able to get about a half hour of sleep on the ride down. We got to Loma Linda at about 11:30pm and I was put in a room in Labor and Delivery. The resident on duty came and did another ultrasound and decided to admit me. The nurse brought up the paperwork and after I signed all that they sent in a nurse practitioner from the NICU. She talked with us about the potential problems that our baby might face if it was born at 29 weeks. Up to that point I had done a pretty good job of staying calm. I have seen enough baby shows to know that at 30 weeks a baby has a pretty good survival rate if born early and that they could at least give me steroids to help her lungs, but when the NICU nurse was going over everything it was so overwhelming. Even Shawn, by his own words, “almost lost it.” It was 3:30am before all was said and done and we could try to get some rest. Mom went to the waiting room and slept on the floor and Shawn stayed in the room with me and slept in a chair. Really though non of us got more that 45 minutes of sleep. The nurse gave me a shot of steroids for the baby’s lungs. At that point it was no longer a matter of if my baby is born premature but when, and I could say goodbye to the vaginal delivery that I had hoped for. Dr. Skala (the perinatologist) came for rounds with the residents on the high-risk team. They sent a tech to do a formal ultrasound. It took about an hour and he took way more shots than a normal ultrasound. It was about 10am when he was finished and they transferred me to the anti-partum unit where they keep the women waiting to go into labor. Then our entire Saturday was mostly waiting. We have to wait for the radiologist to review the ultrasound and state his findings. We were waiting all day yesterday. They are tracking the baby’s heart rate every 6 hours and have me on an IV. Dad came to visit and take mom home around 6pm. Shawn refused to leave me until we hear back on the ultrasound. Finally at 7pm they said I could go have dinner in the cafeteria, but I would be back to no food after that. It was the fist I had eaten in 30 hours. We were back in the room by 8pm and decided to try and rest why we waited for the results which brings me to this morning. It is now 5:30 Sunday morning. I got another steroid shot for the baby’s lungs. I was told the residents would do rounds about 7 and hopefully by 8 or 9 the doctor would be in to discuss the plan of attack. Basically we need to know why the fluid is low and if Kennedy’s lungs and kidneys are working. Her heartbeat has been good the whole time. We are of course hoping for the best, but I fear the worst. I realize that no matter what my baby will be born early. I hate the thought of her being poked and proded and having tubes everywhere. She was only measuring 1 pound 3 ounces by Saint Mary’s estimate. It’s just so tiny. 30 weeks is ok for a premature baby, but the fact that she is measuring only 25-26 weeks is what has me worried. I am so scared. I’m scared to have a c-section, I’m scared she won’t cry when they take her out, but most of all I’m scared she wont make it. It’s hard to explain how you can have such strong feelings for this little person inside you who you have never met. I love her so much. I have been looking forward to being her mom, but please God just not today. Give her a little while longer to grow inside of me- to get stronger and healthier.

5/11/08 10:30am Ok well, so much for extra time. I am having the c-section today. In as little as 4 ½ hours I will be having my baby delivered. They think the placenta is causing the blood flow from the baby to be interrupted. They tell me she should weigh about 2 pounds. It is very overwhelming right now. Shawn left to go home to pick up some stuff do he can be back by 3. I got a shower so at least I feel semi-normal again. Now its just waiting.