Preston's Birth

I woke up March 14, 2007 feeling a little weak. I asked Marcos to stick around in case I needed his help. About an hour later, the flu bug hit me and I was very sick. By evening, I thought the worst was over. I sat on the couch trying to sip a little Sprite. Marcos took Dylan to Young Men's with him. I had been having contractions for awhile, but assumed it was nothing. When I decided to time them, they were about 5-6 minutes long and 30 seconds apart. I called Marcos to let him know what was happening. My midwife, Kathy, told me it was probably due to dehydration and to try to sip liquids and take a warm bath. By 11 p.m. we decided to go in to the hospital to see what was happening. Sure enough I was dehydrated and needed 4 bags of fluid. They tried to stop the contractions with fluids and medicine, but nothing worked-Preston was on his way. Things progressed quickly at first and then stopped. When they finally got my epidural to work and turned up the pytocin again the next morning, it wasn't long before I was ready to push. It only took one contraction and three pushes and Preston was here. It was 11:50 a.m. on March 15, 2007...a record-breaking day for births at McKay Dee Hospital. Preston was a big 36-week-old preemie at 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 1/2 inches. Seeing him and holding him was amazing...it truly was a magical moment. I was so glad my baby had arrived!

The hospital staff took Preston to the nursery to get him cleaned up. It wasn't until I had been alone in my room for several hours that I started to wonder and worry a little. Marcos showed up about the time Alicia came to see the baby and the two of them went to check things out. Preston had been transferred to the NICU and no one had informed me. I was so emotional. The neonatologist came into my room to explain what had happened. He had low glucose levels and needed an IV. It wasn't too serious, but the idea of my healthy baby being in the NICU was a nightmare. Needless to say, it was a very long weekend. Preston was born on Thursday morning and it was Monday afternoon before we took him home. I stayed at the hospital to nurse him. I feel like I never slept. I would wake up, walk to the NICU, feed him, go back to my room, try to fall asleep, wake up and repeat the whole cycle over 1-2 hours later. All I could think about was getting my baby healthy so I could bring him home. The idea of leaving the hospital without him was more than I could bare, but being away from Marcos and Dylan was very challenging as well. It was a very lonely first few days. I just tried not to think too much because I needed to just get out of there so I could move on with my life. The whole process was so emotionally draining. It gave me a small glimpse into the lives of so many people who have babies in the NICU for months. I can only imagine what a trial that would be.

Marcos and I were so relieved when the doctor discharged Preston Monday morning--it seemed unreal. I was in nursing Preston when the panel came in and the doctor told me he was letting us take him home. I wanted to scream with joy, but was afraid to get too excited and then find out something was wrong so I tried to act cool about the whole thing. Dylan was so excited as well. We told him about it, but I don't think he believed it until he saw me carry the baby out to the car. It was just such a different experience than we had expected where Dylan could come in and hold the baby and have his picture taken with him. Instead, the baby had been born and then he hadn't been able to see him. It made it hard for a 3-year-old to understand that the baby was here. One day, he actually asked me if I still had the baby in my tummy. He didn't understand why I didn't have him in my tummy anymore, but he couldn't see him either. We loaded the baby in the car and I sat in the back with the two boys. Dylan was so sweet with Preston. He held his little hand or held his binkie in the whole drive home. The next week all Dylan wanted to do was hold his little brother. It was a nice surprise for us. Although he had his behavioral moments, he has been an awesome big brother to baby Preston.