Our Story - The Perfect Preemie

I had placenta previa with both of my pregnancies. While my first was hassle-free, my second was not. At 21 weeks, I was sitting on the couch reading to my then 6-month-old son, Brandon, when I wet my pants. I cursed my weakened kegel muscles and hoped I hadn’t ruined our new couch. My pee turned out to be bright red vaginal bleeding--lots of it. I passed something large and screamed, thinking that I’d had the baby in the toilet–or worse–lost the baby. Having seen my healthy daughter earlier that day via ultrasound, I knew she had arms, legs and facial features. The shapeless, floating lump was just a blood clot.

The bleeding landed me in the local emergency room and after a couple of hours, the Overland Park Regional Medical Center where I took up seemingly permanent residence in their antepartum ward. There, I was hooked up to baby monitors and given a steroid shot to help mature our baby’s lungs. Though the bleeding stopped, I remained hospitalized.

My husband, Chris, was due to leave for two weeks for work the next day. Instead, he took emergency leave and dutifully drove the 30 miles everyday with Brandon to see me. They came early. They stayed late. Though Brandon adjusted well to his new routine of long drives and naps at the hospital, I was anxious to go home. I pestered the doctors and by the end of week three they caved. I parked my posterior permanently on my couch, but hemorrhaged anyway on the eighth day, which happened to be Valentine’s Day. I spent the long drive back to the hospital second guessing every move I’d made during my brief visit home.

Around 3 in the morning we arrived, exhausted and anxious. If our baby were born this early (25 weeks) she could have serious health issues. Luckily my bleeding slowed. Chris was scheduled to leave again the next morning. I was sure his boss would think I was faking it to keep him home. My bleeding episodes conveniently coincided with his work schedule.

At 29 weeks, I hemorrhaged again (Chris had left early that day) and then again eight days later (the one day Chris didn’t visit me). Clearly our daddy’s girl did not approve of his absence. After six long weeks in the hospital, the emergency c-section happened so fast. A short 40 minutes after the bleeding began, our baby was born and immediately rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Chris arrived just in time to go with her. Due to my risk of postpartum hemorrhaging, I had to wait an agonizing 11 hours to see her. When I did finally see her, I was shocked by how tiny and delicate she looked, especially compared to our 24-pound son.

Ella was born March 12, at 31 weeks gestation. Our unexpected miracle baby weighed 3 lbs., 14 oz. and arrived only 8 months and 1 week after her brother. We visited her every day. Each day the nurses told us how much she ate and how many grams she gained. She made excellent progress, consistently beating the doctors’ and nurses’ expectations. She started out life in an incubator, under bilirubin lights, with four IV’s, on a ventilator, and with a feeding tube. After three days, I was allowed to hold her. I didn’t want to let her go.

The first week, she fought off jaundice and anemia and was weaned from the ventilator to the CPAC to a nasal candela and could breathe on her own by the end of the week! The second week, she traded the incubator for an open crib. By the third week, she started to take food by mouth. Babies typically develop the suck/swallow instinct around 35 weeks (Ella was 33 weeks). This was a significant step.

Ella weighed 4 lbs. 11 oz. the night before we were due to take her home. The car seat was rated for 5lbs or above so the nurses stuffed her full of food all night. She weighed exactly 5 pounds the next morning. Initially, the doctors estimated that her discharge date would be her due date, May 12.. We took her home April 8 - after four weeks in the NICU. We feel grateful everyday for our perfect preemie and her big brother.

A transplant from Australia, Victoria Pressley is a military spouse, stay-at-home mom, and aspiring picture book writer in Leavenworth.