January 2, 2007, My Birthday

Even though I wasn't expected to enter the world until my due date of March 4, 2007, I had a different plan and decided to make my grand entrance earlier. Since I am currently resting in the NICU at Good Samaritan Hospital, I am going to let my mommy, Annie, tell you about the adventures I put her and my daddy, Dom, through.
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Quick Summary:
Mario Michael Ferreri
Born Tuesday, January 2, 2007 at 11:13am
Weight: 3lbs, 14.5oz
Length: 16.5 inches
Gestational age: 31 weeks, 2 days
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The whole story (warning, it's a long one):

Shortly before midnight on January 1, 2007, I climbed into bed not looking forward to the alarm going off to return to work after a nice holiday break. As soon as I had found a comfortable position (which was becoming more and more difficult as the pregnancy progressed), I felt a swift kick/punch to my bladder and made a dash for the bathroom. At this point I began to have abdominal cramps, which I though were either bad gas pains or intestinal cramping. I had been feeling a little under the weather all day and thought I might be coming down with a virus or something. However, the cramps kept getting worse. On top of that, every time I moved I leaked urine, so I thought. I was becoming very frustrated with myself, thinking I was sending Dom on a midnight run to buy me some Depends because I suddenly couldn't control my bladder. All the while I was reminding myself to do more Kegel exercises. After about 15-20 minutes Dom and I knew something wasn't quite right and made the call to my OB/GYN office to page the on call doctor. Within minutes Dr. Gardner called me back and advised me to come down to the hospital maternity triage to be evaluated.

So, Dom and I each threw on some clothes and headed down to the hospital, bringing nothing more than the clothes we were wearing and my purse. I thought I would either be told it was intestional issues and sent home after being monitored for a while, or maybe kept overnight for observation. The whole drive to the hospital (about 20 minutes, because there was no traffic at 12:45am) I kept getting severe cramps and felt like I was peeing my pants. When we pulled into the parking lot I couldn't even get out of the car without soaking myself. So, Dom got a wheelchair and wheeled me up to the maternity floor. There, they immediately told me I was not peeing my pants and my water had broken. As I went to stand up out of the wheelchair it came out in gushes, soaking everything I was wearing and leaving a big puddle on the floor. They confirmed it was, indeed, amniotic fluid and it was nice and clear, a good sign. After getting me changed into a gown and hooked up to the monitor, Dr. Gardner came in and examined me. By this point, I was 1cm dialated and having strong contractions. They hooked up an IV line and began meds to try and stop the labor. They gave me my first shot of steriods for the baby's lungs and told me the goal was to hold off labor for at least 48 hours so I could get my second shot in, 12 hours after the first, and give them time to work.

My contractions kept up in intensity, despite both of the drugs they had given me. So, they moved right to the "last resort" drug, magnisium sulfate, and loaded me up with that. All the while I was coping through the contractions by whatever means I could; mainly breathing through them and squeezing Dom's hand. I even have a few contractions which made me sick to my stomach. And, let me tell you, trying to get through a strong contraction while throwing up is not an easy or fun task.

Finally they moved me out of the triage area around 3-3:30am and into a room in the high risk maternity ward. We though things were slowing down and I would make it through the night. Well, we were wrong. I wasn't there more than an hour or hour and a half and I started feeling incredible pressure down below. Dom called both my mom and my dad to tell them what was happening and let them know we'd keep them posted. Mom immediately said she was on here way. The contractions picked up in intensity again and something was happening. So, the nurses called the resident on duty to come check me out. Ladies, let me tell you, I will not complain about stirrups being uncomfortable again. They didn't have any stirrups on the beds in the room, so I had to hoist my rear end onto a hard, plastic, flipped over bedpan while they did a visual exam (no internal exam so as to minimize chance of infection). I knew we were having a baby when the resident told me there was a head of hair right there when she looked and I was about 5 cm dialated at about 5:30am.

So, I was moved into a suite in labor and delivery to prepare for birth. Dr. Gardner ordered an epidural immediately. Now, I had intended to do labor and delivery completely natural, but all of that went out the window when they told me this was best for the baby. The hope was that with the magnisium sulfate and the epidural my labor would slow and they could buy time. Even a few hours would help. The goal was to get me to 2:15pm so I could get my second steriod shot.

So, as my contractions intensified I blew through them waiting for anestesia to come administer my epidural. At this point my contractions were forming a pattern (up until now they had been somewhat irradic), I would have 4-5 minutes of nothing then 4-5 minutes of straight, intense contractions. This, combined with the incredible pressure and urge to bear down really tested my breathing skills. Thanks to wonderful nurses I managed to get through it and the epidural insertion. Once that kicked in I had a break. I couldn't move my legs and things felt funny, but I could make it through things much easier.

So, Dr. Gardner examined me again around 7:30am and I was about 9 cm dialated. At this point they were telling me we'd have a baby this morning. Dom began to make phone calls to family to spread the word. At this point, it was a waiting game. The doctors switched off and Dr. Schuermann took over my care and monitored me very closely. Pam, my labor and delivery nurse, gave me a crash course in what to expect during delivery, told me about what to expect once the baby arrived and what to expect in NICU.

My Aunt Jean came to the hospital around 9am to sit with me and lend support. And, around 10am Dr. Schuermann took another look at me and said we were having this baby. So, with the help of everyone in the room, I was put into position and talked through a series of 3 pushes to see how quickly we would have the baby. Those pushes were pretty productive so they called in the NICU team to be there for delivery. And, 4 of them arrived. Of course, once they got there we had to wait out my contraction pattern. . .5 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest, and the baby decided to take his time. Finally, the NICU team went back to the NICU and said to call them when we needed them. Well, no sooner had they left than I had a great series of 4 pushes and we had a baby. Dr. Schuermann held up the baby and Dom proclaimed, "It's a boy!" They put him on my chest and Dom started to cut the cord. Of course, baby Mario Michael Ferreri, had to make sure we knew he was there, belting out a good cry and trying to pee on his daddy!

Then the nurse whisked him off to be cleaned up and the NICU team came racing back in. As I was awaiting the delivery of the placenta , Dom stood watch over our little guy to take more pictures and quickly meet the NICU team. They got his color perked up and wrapped him up so I could see him for a few seconds before they put him in his incubator to transport to the NICU. His APGAR scores were 7 and 9, which are very good scores (on a scale to 10, and we're told no baby ever gets a 10).

My placenta was delivered and Dr. Schuermann stitched up my small tear (level 1, only required a couple of internal stitches) and got me all cleaned up. At this point my mom arrived and we told her the news. Mom and Dom then went to the NICU to see Mario while Aunt Jean kept me company. By this time I was hungry and nibbled on some peanut butter and crackers as I waited to be transferred to my post-partum room in the Mother Baby Unit, after a quick stop in the NICU to see my newborn son.

The remainder of the day was spent recovering from the birth, dealing with the overwhelming emotions I was feeling, and making trips to the NICU to see Mario. Mario spent the day on the CPAP machine to help with his breathing. His bloodwork looked good as did his chest x-rays. At one point they thought they may have to intubate him and put him on the ventillator, but our boy was a fighter and that was not needed. Looking at him in his incubator was a very surreal thing and we're still getting used to the idea that he is here.

We may never know what caused me to go into labor so early and suddenly. Up until these crazy events, my pregnancy had been wonderful and everything had been right on target. The placenta has been sent out to be examined, but it looked good and likely won't show anything. My bloodwork showed indications that there could have been an infection in the uterus, so perhaps that set things in motion. But, we will likely never know for sure why things happened the way they did. All we can do is move forward at this point and know that any future pregnancies of mine will be considered higher risk and monitored very carefully.

More updates to follow. . .