preemie-l introducing Laura (now 4.5 yrs old)
MBrews9668@aol.com
Wed, 5 Jun 1996 17:09:00 -0400
I recently found this group and I only wish that it had been around 4.5 years
ago ! Here is Laura's story:
I had a normal pregnancy until my 25th week when the Doc determined that the
baby was not growing and my amionic fluid was low. I then developed high
blood pressure and I was put to bed. At 30 weeks I went into premature labor
but we were able to stop the contractions after a couple of days in the
hospital. We were told that the baby would have to be taken early but that
the Doc wanted to wait as long as possible. Every week we ran sonograms but
nothing bad showed up. We did an amio test at 35 weeks and determined that
the baby's lungs were mature enough. At 36 weeks the baby started having
fetal heart problems and my blood pressure sky-rocketed. We took her by
emergency C-Section on August 24, 1991. The c-section was because she decided
to go breech at the last moment.
Laura was born weighing 3 lbs 13oz. and 16 inches long. It was a good thing
we did a c-section because we found out her umbilicle cord had a knot in it
which explains why she was so small. In addition, the cord was wrapped twice
around her neck. I didn't get to see or hold her for 24 hours while we both
recuperated. I was later told that because of the knot, she received enough
food to keep her alive but not enough for her to progress as a normal term
baby. It was a miracle that she survived under those conditions.
We were both released after 4 days as the pedi doc on call at the hospital
determined that Laura had no health problems except that she was small and
needed to gain weight. Being new parents as we were, we did not question his
judgement.
Within 12 hours of being home, Laura stopped breathing in my arms. I was able
to revive her by instinctively and gentlely shaking her which startled her
into breathing again. We rushed her to the emergency room at a nearby
hospital whereby she was placed in NICU on the critical list. What the pedi
doc at the birth hospital had failed to recognize was that Laura was too
small to breastfeed and that I should not have tried because she had a
under-developed sucking mechanism because of her size. The Nurses and Doc at
the birth hospital had thought I was over reacting when I called while we
were at home and I told them Laura wasn't feeding. By the time she was
admitted to the NICU her weight was down to 3 lbs. I was devastated and
bitter about the stupidity of the pedi doc who released her too early. The
emergency room docs were appalled at his lack of judgement and told him so.
Laura stayed in NICU for 3 weeks in an incubator and was feed with a G tube
using pumped breast milk. How we survived those 3 weeks I can't tell you now.
Since her birth the only health problems have been esotopia (diagnosed at 6
months, surgery at 2yrs), epilepsy (diagnosed 3.4yrs - her 1st seizure was 1
1/2 hours long) and delayed gross and fine motor skills (about 1 yr behind.)
She verbal skills are wonderful and on target. Her eye problems continue to
plague her ( she has some optic nerve damage) but she is compensating for
them pretty well. Her epilepsy is mostly under control - she's on Tegretal
and Lamictal.
Our current challenge is to have her tested for entry into Kindergarten. We
don't know if she is quite ready to face the challenges of real school.
Currently she is in a private daycare and doing OK. She has problems with
over stimulation but as a whole she is doing great. She also has OT/PT
weekly.
I love her so much and it so hard to see and deal with all the crisis she
has had to go through since birth. I am thankful for every "boring" day we
have with her. I wish all of her days could be normal run of the mill days. I
hate waking up each morning wondering if she's going to have a seizure that
day. BUT I wouldn't trade her for the world.
I'm sorry this has been so long. It's been a long 4.5 years. I also have a 3
year old son who was also early but he has developed normally- Thank God.
Thanks for the sympathetic ear,
Jackie
Mom to Laura (3.13lb- 36 week now 4.5 yr) and David (6lb - now 3 yr)