My wife and I were expecting a baby girl around November 8th. Early in the pregnancy, we had some issues which lead us to think there was a miscarriage, but a trip to the ER confirmed we were still pregnant. However, these problems manifested into something more serious later on.
After some routine tests and ultrasounds, it was confirmed that my wife had IUGR, aka Intrauterine growth restriction. Basically the 'miscarriage' event was actually from losing part of the placenta. This then resulted in a restricted amount of nutrition, blood, etc. getting to the baby. It was fine at first, because her demands were small. But as she grew, it created a 'sucking a thick milkshake through a small straw' problem for the baby. About a month ago, after a follow up test, my wife's doctor had her admitted to Mercy (St. Louis, aka the baby factory) for bedrest and monitoring until birth. This was at approx 27 weeks gestation.
They suspected they'd need to do a C-section by week 29, but things went well enough that they were able to hold off until week 31. At this point, baby's heart rate was dropping enough to show possible distress, and an ultrasound showed that she likely had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. At this point, they called it, and my wife went in for an emergency c-Section. This was on the 7th.
My wife asked that I don't share any direct photos of the baby in the NICU because she's covered in sensors, etc. and it looks discouraging, but I'm going to share this vid, that I took during the C-section. It's mostly just the camera pointed down at my feet, as I was more concerned about capturing the audio of my baby's first cries. But I managed to look up for a split section to see the baby coming out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyovrTSpBRA
She was born at 9/7/16 @ 6:09pm
Sex: Girl
Weight: 1 Pound, 9 Ounces
Length: 13 inches
Yes, she's not even 2 pounds. She's super tiny. Smallest baby in the NICU at St. Louis's best baby hospital. But she's doing great! She's 2 months early, but still underweight for her gestation age. That said, her lungs are doing amazingly well, and there's no issues on radar. The only thing that was on radar was her platelets being low, but that has stabilized. So right now it's just a matter of letting her bake for a few months and getting her ready for regular feeding.
I'm a daddy! Here's my life for the next few months.
After some routine tests and ultrasounds, it was confirmed that my wife had IUGR, aka Intrauterine growth restriction. Basically the 'miscarriage' event was actually from losing part of the placenta. This then resulted in a restricted amount of nutrition, blood, etc. getting to the baby. It was fine at first, because her demands were small. But as she grew, it created a 'sucking a thick milkshake through a small straw' problem for the baby. About a month ago, after a follow up test, my wife's doctor had her admitted to Mercy (St. Louis, aka the baby factory) for bedrest and monitoring until birth. This was at approx 27 weeks gestation.
They suspected they'd need to do a C-section by week 29, but things went well enough that they were able to hold off until week 31. At this point, baby's heart rate was dropping enough to show possible distress, and an ultrasound showed that she likely had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. At this point, they called it, and my wife went in for an emergency c-Section. This was on the 7th.
My wife asked that I don't share any direct photos of the baby in the NICU because she's covered in sensors, etc. and it looks discouraging, but I'm going to share this vid, that I took during the C-section. It's mostly just the camera pointed down at my feet, as I was more concerned about capturing the audio of my baby's first cries. But I managed to look up for a split section to see the baby coming out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyovrTSpBRA
She was born at 9/7/16 @ 6:09pm
Sex: Girl
Weight: 1 Pound, 9 Ounces
Length: 13 inches
Yes, she's not even 2 pounds. She's super tiny. Smallest baby in the NICU at St. Louis's best baby hospital. But she's doing great! She's 2 months early, but still underweight for her gestation age. That said, her lungs are doing amazingly well, and there's no issues on radar. The only thing that was on radar was her platelets being low, but that has stabilized. So right now it's just a matter of letting her bake for a few months and getting her ready for regular feeding.
I'm a daddy! Here's my life for the next few months.