Five Years Ago...

I found out that I was pregnant with #4 in March of 2003. At 22 weeks, I had my ultrasound and measurements and growth were very good. We did not find out if we were going to have a boy or a girl.

The pregnancy was very uneventful other than me having gestational diabetes diagnosed at 27 weeks. I changed my diet and went on with life as normal. Once Thanksgiving came around, I started getting into the full "nesting mode" so I thought that the baby was going to come early like what my three boys had. However, I carried the baby right to the due date...December 27th!

Labor started around 8am and I got to the hospital around 9:30am after dh stopped at McDonald's for a couple of breakfast biscuits!(yes he went thru the drive thru with me in labor in the passenger's seat!)

I got hooked up to the monitoring device and the nurse could not keep a good reading coming on the baby's heartbeat. So I had to stay positioned a certain way in order for her to get good readings. Labor progressed along and I started noticing that they were contacting extra help(NICU nurses) being on standby before baby was actually delivered. I thought it strange that they were really not saying anything to me other than saying things like we are having trouble monitoring the baby.

The doctor broke my water around 1:30pm. I delivered a girl at 1:40pm!! She weighed 9lbs 12 oz. and was 22 inches long. She had the cord around her neck. Along with the fact that, she was delivered so fast that she wasn’t able to expel any of the fluid in her lungs naturally and didn't start breathing on her own upon delivery. After about 16 minutes of alternating between suctioning her lungs out and pumping her with a breathing tube, she was able to breathe on her own. She was placed on oxygen for 6 hours and earned herself a stay in NICU for observation. I was able to see her about 3 hours after she was born and hold her(tubes and all) for the first time. She was the biggest baby in the unit!

The doctors had to give us the run down as to what might happen to her negatively. The doctor also said that as long as her white blood count stays down she would be able to come home quickly. We had the faith that God didn’t give us this little girl to have her taken away from us so quickly. We got the prayer chain at our church going and other friends praying for our little S! She ended up not having any of the negative effects (like seizures, or stop breathing) happen to her in that first 24 hours! Amen!

Today she is a normal 5 year old little girl! Looking at her one would never guess the “scare” that she gave us coming into this world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, S!!!!!!!