Prologue: Hello, ER!
“Every pregnancy is different.” This is a phrase that I’ve heard too many times but something I’ve proven the hard way. With Yui, I had a chill pregnancy and labor which I wrote about in my old blog. I was hoping to have the same experience this time but every pregnancy is different and things have a tendency to not go as planned.
On my 31st week, I experienced severe stomach pain and had to rush to the Emergency Room which turned into an overnight stay in the Delivery Room where they monitored Kenji’s heartbeat while waiting for my diagnosis. It turned out to be gastroenteritis and I was discharged the next day. However, I started to have high blood pressure upon discharge which continued on to the weekend.
Chapter 1: Preeclampsia and IUGR
Tuesday of my 32nd week, I experienced unusual frequent and painful contractions which I thought would stop after a nap. However, after I took a nap, I noticed bleeding. So for the second time in just a week, I was in the E.R. They immediately rushed me to the Delivery Room for monitoring since the preeclampsia is consistent and my BP is going up.
Late in the afternoon, they did an ultrasound and although I was 32 weeks, the baby was found out to be very small due to IUGR or Intrauterine Growth Restriction and was only the size of a 29 weeker fetus. My OB immediately gave me steroids to speed up his lung development and some other meds that I lost track/count of.
Chapter 2: Monitoring, Monitoring and More Monitoring
I was hooked in the monitors again and was placed in the DR High Risk facility, without any communication to the family and the outside world. It was a night of monitoring and more monitoring. I literally didn’t know what’s going to happen to us and I think that anxiety might have added to my high BP. Lol. I would sometimes drift to sleep only to wake up with a commotion of the resident doctors as they see Kenji’s heart slow down then recover. There were times when they would shake my tummy and say, “mommy, gisingin lang natin si baby ha” and I’m like, “whuttt???” At one point, I asked the resident, “doc, uuwi pa ba kami?”
Chapter 3: The ‘No Choice’
Early Wednesday morning, I started bleeding again and was dilating but Kenji’s heart kept fluctuating and was taking a longer time to recover. When the OB arrived, she dropped the bomb to us. She said we had to choose at that point because I already have severe preeclampsia and although I’m 3cm dilated, the baby can’t wait for normal labor to progress anymore because he’s having a really hard time inside. Our option is to “terminate the pregnancy” or emergency caesarean section. Any further delay might be fatal to the both of us. So she asked, “what’s your decision?”
As if may choice talaga dun no? T_T
So in a matter of minutes, I was wheeled to the Operating Room. It was a whirlwind of CS activities and after a while I heard, “Baby out! Baby out!” after they saw that he had a cord coil, which is probably what’s causing his heart rate to fall. I heard a faint cry then they showed him to me and brought him to the Neonatal ICU.
Chapter 4: NICU Days and Nights
At 1:12PM on that fated Wednesday, Kenji Avery was born! Because of the IUGR, he only weighed 907 grams and falls on the Extremely Low Birth Weight preemie group. With this, he had to stay in the NICU so that he can be monitored closely. He needs to gain weight and reach the 1.8kg target weight before he can come home.
Epilogue: Preemie Strong
For 55 days, the NICU became our home. We’re just glad that Kenji, being our little warrior, didn’t have any major complications and mostly just stayed to gain the desired weight. It is a journey of roller coaster emotions, where time both went by so fast and slowed down during the past 2 months.
Today is supposed to be his original due date but instead of celebrating his birth, we will be celebrating 8 weeks of premature life in the NICU and awaiting his discharge. Can’t wait to see this little fighter come home.
“We all have a fighter in us. Preemies just have a little bit more.“
The Mommy Bunny 