Viability

I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about this term over the last three months. A baby's viability is not something I ever thought much about, because my pregnancy with Caroline was completely uneventful. My sister went into preterm labor with her first child at 26 weeks, so I tried to learn as much about it as I could at that time (she was put on bed rest and delivered a perfectly healthy, wonderful baby boy at 39+ weeks). And recently a dear friend went through the same thing (she delivered a perfectly healthy, wonderful baby boy at 37+ weeks). Besides praying and worrying (yes, you can do both at the same time!) for them, all I knew is that the baby needs to stay inside for as long as possible.

When my "incident" (more on that later) happened at 12 weeks 5 days, I was put on bed rest. I established care with a perinatologist (Dr. G.) at 16 weeks, who noted that my condition (more on that later too), although rare, almost always resolves itself by 20 weeks. He said that, if the condition persists long enough, there can be a threat to the baby. Someone had mentioned that babies are officially viable (meaning they can live outside the uterus) at 24 weeks, so I knew that.

I asked Dr. G when we start worrying about the baby. He said, "24 weeks." I went home and wondered if that is really when the threat starts or if it doesn't matter if there's a threat before 24 weeks, because nothing can be done for the baby at that time. It turns out that the latter is correct. I should note that, in addition to being a control freak, I am a doer. I like to read, research, ponder, read some more, get second opinions, choose the appropriate action to take, and DO SOMETHING. So, imagine my neurotic self, [GROSS PREGNANCY STUFF ALERT] bleeding and bleeding, knowing nothing can be done for many weeks. I bet a lot of you are glad we only keep in touch through the Internet now. Ha! Just kidding.

When I first checked into the hospital on Monday, June 11, 21.5 weeks pregnant and bleeding heavily, the above was repeated to me over and over, with some variations: "You are here for you." "We don't want you bleeding too heavily, because that could be bad for you." "You are here for you." "We can't do anything for the baby." "You are here for you." "We don't care about the baby at this point." "Uh, uh, I mean, we CARE about the baby, we just can't do anything. " "You are here for you." Well, mamas care a lot about their babies, so hearing this, while technically true, is really disheartening.

I stayed in the hospital for 3.5 days and was discharged home on Thursday afternoon because the bleeding had let up. I spent a couple of days at home, had some great visitors, meals brought by, etc. I woke up on Father's Day, June 17, bleeding even more heavily. Knowing I would be admitted again, I packed a bag, took a shower and put on makeup (yeah, I did!), and went back to the hospital. I was, indeed, admitted and told I would have to stay at least a week this time. Sigh...

Time went on, I kept bleeding, and was told after a few episodes that I would be staying until the baby came. There is a lot more to this that I will discuss later, but I am trying to stick to the theme of the this post. What was it again?....Oh yes, viability. So they kept repeating the whole, "You are here for you" thing. I was always thinking, "Well, I guess it would really suck if I bled out, but what I really care about here is my baby." It was such a helpless feeling.

Little Weston kept hanging on by a thread, so eventually the talk shifted to care for the baby. Yippee! I got a Rhogam shot around 21 weeks. They are usually given at 28 weeks, so the fact that I got it so early means that everyone knew Weston would come early, if he made it. Side note: we wanted to be surprised with the sex, so we didn't know Weston was Weston until he was born. Well, actually, I didn't know until my postpartum nurse told me in the recovery room after the c-section because I don't remember anything about the surgery. More on that later too. BUT, I knew all along that we were having a boy. Mother's intuition is very powerful.

So, I got steroid shots. Steroid shots are given to a mother who is expected to deliver early. If the shots are administered in a timely fashion, they help the baby's lungs develop if he/she comes too early. Lung problems are a big, big risk with preemies (more on that later too-aren't you so excited at all the anticipation?). You get one shot, wait 24 hours, get the second shot, and the shots have taken full effect 48 hours after the first shot is administered.

That week leading up to the 24-week mark went great. My bleeding was way down, which was unusual for me. Dr. G. was even optimistic enough to venture that I could stay pregnant until about 30 weeks, which is so much longer than we had ever hoped. My first shot was administered at about 9:15 am on Wednesday, July 4. My second shot was administered about 9:30 am on, you guessed it, Thursday, July 5. My 24-week milestone was Friday, July 6, and the shots took their full effect around 9:30 that morning.

Weston was born at 2:19 am on Saturday, July 7. Miracle baby, indeed.

We are going to see Weston in about an hour, so I should have an update then.