Since Lexi was a textbook pregnancy & delivery, perfect in every way, I assumed Hailey would be too. So, about 3 months before my due date I decided I was still going to take my annual trip back to the East Coast to visit my family and friends. All went well, until I was on the plane heading home. It was just Lexi and I, she was almost 3 at the time, and we were flying a red eye. All of a sudden I started getting really bad back pain. I didn't think too much of it, since my due date wasn't for almost 3 months and Lexi was only 4 days early. I figured it was just due to sitting so much on the plane. It soon passed and we got home safe and sound!
The following day my parents came over and took Lexi out for a while so Sean and I could go to dinner. Something just wasn't feeling right. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I just felt kind of off. During dinner I started to get really bad cramps and ended up skipping dessert (so not me!) to go home and lay down. I'm not one to run to the hospital or doctor for just anything and it was getting late and I was tired, so I tried to ignore the pain and rest. A couple hours later, I noticed my cramps were coming about 5 minutes apart so I called a friend of mine who's a labor and delivery nurse and of course, she told me to get to the hospital right away! I was tempted to say no because I figured we'd drive all they way down there (about a 25 minute drive), wait forever, just to have them tell me they were Braxton Hicks contractions and then send us all the way back home. However, something told me just to go get checked out anyways.
So we drove down to the hospital, they checked me in right away, and put a monitor on my stomach. Sure enough, the nurse told me I was going into preterm labor and they needed to admit me. I was shocked and not very happy...I just wanted my own bed, but at this point I was only 31 weeks along so they wanted to stop the labor if possible.
They put me on Magnesium Sulfate, which helps to stop contractions. Let me just tell you, it's worse than labor. Anyone who's ever been on Magnesium will be able to attest to that. It is miserable. Some of the side effects, that I experienced in full force are: muscle weakness, headaches, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision and speech, and more. I literally felt like I was in the twilight zone...I could barely move or speak, and my mind was so out of it. You also cannot eat or drink anything while on it because you'll just throw it all up. So even though I had intravenous fluids, I was sooo thirsty! I finally got a nurse who was so nice and after much begging I convinced her to bring me a Diet Coke. I didn't drink much D.C. when I was pregnant with Hailey, but at this point I was desperate! Apparently, she was an avid Diet Coke drinker too, and therefore understood my need!! However, she did warn me that I would probably throw it all up. No prob...I was willing to take the risk! Wow, it was heaven...until, sure enough, it all came back up within 10 minutes! Not only that, but the throwing up caused a huge back cramp that literally paralyzed me for about 2 minutes and hurt worse than anything else I had ever felt in my lifetime...to the point that I was screaming. So worth it though!!!
While in the hospital, I had Sean give me a Priesthood Blessing. In our church, men who live righteously hold the priesthood and can then perform blessings on behalf of our Heavenly Father. These are considered very sacred. In my blessing, Sean told me that Hailey and I would be okay, however there would be many more peaks and valleys to overcome. Ummm...could he have predicted that any better? After knowing what we now know, I asked him to keep those kind of things to himself from now on!!!
Anyways, after 2 days on the Magnesium Sulfate I was moved up to a regular room for a day and then sent home under strict orders to be on complete bed rest. Seriously? For those of you who know me, that just doesn't work for me! Not to mention, I had just got back from 3 weeks of vacation and had so much to unpack, clean and organize before the baby came. However, I forced myself to lay in bed the whole next day to keep my baby girl safe and healthy. Well, that next morning, my water broke. Seriously, I was so mad! Had I known my water would break anyways, I would have spent the day before unpacking, cleaning, and organizing!
We headed off to the hospital ready for a new adventure and a very little, early baby. My labor started off fairly normal, until I suddenly couldn't breathe. I was just laying there peacefully, went to take a breath, and nothing would go in. I started to panic and grabbed Sean who ran and got a nurse. She came in and started yelling that we had to deliver right then! They put an oxygen mask on me, told me to push, and within 5 minutes my precious, beautiful baby girl entered the world!
Hailey Mayz Vassilaros was born on July 20, 2006. She was 32 weeks and weighed 4lbs. 3 oz. She literally entered the world as suddenly and quickly as she left. They were able to get her breathing on her own and then wisked her away to the NICU while they tried to stop my excessive bleeding. Luckily, after almost having to go into surgery they were able to stop the bleeding and I was on my way to recovery.
Aside from Hailey being born early, everything else looked great and seemed normal! Little did we know what awaited us. We had no idea of the miraculous mission our little girl was sent here to the Earth to fulfill.
Stay tuned for more about those "peaks and valleys" we were about to experience...
Me telling Sean on Christmas Day that I was pregnant!
Merry Christmas Honey!!
Hailey right after being born.
After a little oxygen she was breathing like a champ!
Sean seeing his baby girl for the first time!
(I didn't get to see her until 9 hours later.)
I love that Hailey had been a fighter since she was in the tummy. I can't believe you had to wait so long to see her after she was born. After all that hard work!!
ReplyDelete