Today is Owen's 2nd birthday...He has come a long way since 2 pounds 8 1/2 ounces. Here is Owen's birth story if you haven't heard it before...
All along my pregnancy the doctors said I was measuring small. Because of that I was scheduled to have several ultrasounds. On January 16th I had my 6 month appointment. My blood pressure was a little higher than usual but was nothing to be concerned about. They were going to re-check it at my next appointment which was scheduled a week later. I explained to the nurse that I wasn’t feeling the baby move as often as I normally did. She said if I felt concerned I should do a kick count. If I lay down I should feel 10 movements in an hour.
On Thursday, January 17, 2008 I woke up in the middle of the night with a bad side ache. I went back to bed and later woke up and got ready for work. I told Kevin I didn’t feel right so I was going to go to work a little later. I then ate a half bagel, hoping that would help, and laid down to record how many times I felt the baby move. After lying down for 45 minutes and not feeling a single movement I called my doctor’s office emergency line. By now it’s 8:30 a.m. and the office doesn’t open until 9:00 a.m.
They had me come to their office at 9:00 a.m. for a non-stress test. This test takes 20 minutes. The nurse was able to find the baby’s heartbeat, but my blood pressure was extremely high. I was also having contractions and not feeling them. Whenever I would have a contraction the baby’s heart rate would drop.
The nurse left the room to talk to a doctor about the test. Behind the closed door I heard the doctor say “she needs to go to the emergency room now!” I wasn’t sure if they were talking about me or not. Dr. Leary then stormed into the room and tried to explain to me (in a panicky way) how serious it was for me to go to the hospital and that she didn’t want me to drive myself. For some reason I left my cell phone in my car that morning. The nurse gave me her personal cell phone to use. I called Kevin but couldn’t get a hold of him. I called my mom’s work but something was wrong with their phones at the time. I called my sister Jayme at work and told her I was waiting for the ambulance to take me to the hospital and that I couldn’t get a hold of Kevin or mom. I think it was at that moment that I said the words out loud that it hit me that something was terribly wrong. Dr. Leary called an ambulance to take me to the emergency room where Dr. Menapace was waiting for me. Kevin and my mom were already there waiting for me too.
Dr. Menapace explained to me that I had severe Pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure). He said he would have to deliver the baby as early as 48 hours or no later than 4 weeks from then but that I was not leaving the hospital until I had this baby. They gave me magnesium to help prevent me from having a stroke or a seizure and I also got a steroid shot to help develop the baby’s lungs. The doctor explained that I would get another steroid shot in 24 hours. I had to have another ultrasound to check on the baby. This ultrasound took almost an hour and we never once saw the baby move. The nurse kept saying the baby is probably sleeping. I said that it wasn’t sleeping. I didn’t feel it move all day long. She ran out and got Dr. Menapace. He said that my body was beginning to shut down and the only way to cure pre-eclampsia is to deliver the baby and therefore I had to have an emergency cesarean section in exactly one hour from now. The reason why we had to wait one more hour was because I ate that half bagel in the morning. Dr. Menapace explained the risks of delivering a baby at 30 weeks. He also said the hospital’s incubators were better than my incubator.
Our miracle Owen William Manthei was born 10 weeks early (30 weeks 2 days gestation) at 4:17 p.m. weighing 2 pounds 8 ½ ounces and measuring 14 ½ inches.
Owen stayed in the NICU for 41 days. He came home without any complications from his early arrival.
