So I've had a few people asking why Olivia was early. It's not really a one word answer, so I'll try to keep this as short as possible! Feel free to stop reading now, as I'm sure my long-winded explanation will take awhile... My blood pressure started creeping up early in the pregnancy, around 14 weeks. No big deal, my doctor said it's fairly common with first pregnancies. They would keep an eye on it. At our "big" ultrasound (when we found out it was a girl), they noticed she was measuring on the small side. I was 22 weeks pregnant. She was in the 30th percentile for that gestation. They scheduled more ultrasounds and appointments. My doctor thought it was related to high blood pressure. Moving along to 27 weeks. I start having contractions. In the hospital for a night, pumped full of IV fluids, given a shot of terbutaline to stop contractions. Managed to fly home for a few days right after this happended. 28 week ultrasound: she dropped from the 30th percentile to the 12th. Now they're worried. She isn't growing properly. My blood pressure is high, but not high enough to cause this much of a deficit. I start going to the doctor every week and having ultrasounds every 2 weeks. I'm also instructed to keep a log of my blood pressure at home. Fun stuff. 31 week appointment: they put me on modified bed rest at home. 33 week ultrasound: she dropped to the <5th percentile for this gestation and my amniotic fluid level was 6. Normal is anything over 10. Sent straight to the hospital "for the weekend (it was a Friday)." My doctor was hopeful that with bedrest and hydrotherapy, my fluid level would go up. They scheduled an ultrasound in the hospital for that Monday. Long, boring weekend, lots of IV fluids and hydrotherapy. Monday rolls around and my fluid level is.... 4. Great. I'm told I will be in the hospital until I have the baby. I took steroid shots to mature her lungs, because not only is my fluid low, but now I'm having contractions. It was basically a waiting game. I ended up getting a shot every day to stop contractions. They wanted me to get to 35 weeks, so 2 weeks in the hospital. They scheduled my c-section for 8/6/08, but told me it could be anytime. We toured the NICU and watched lots of TV! We spoke with a neonatal nurse practitioner and she told us what to expect after Olivia was born. Not only was she 5 weeks early, but was classified IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) because of her small size. There were many concerns, but we were blessed with a healthy baby.
This is the day she was born (it was very early in the morning! My nurse convinced me to take one more belly shot.)
Right after she was born:
SOOOO Happy she's healthy!
The most frustrating part of the whole experience was not knowing why I had so many complications. My doctors initially thought my placenta gave out, but they sent it to pathology and it was fine- just small. It measured 33 weeks, so 2 weeks behind. She finally ordered blood tests and 9 vials of blood later, we find out I have a blood clotting disorder. The blood flow to the placenta was restricted, causing not enough oxygen/nutrients to make it to Olivia. The blood clotting disorder is not a huge deal, take a baby aspirin a day to reduce the risk of blood clots and I'm good to go! :) So that's it in a nutshell. Olivia left the hospital the same day I did at 4 pounds 7 ounces. It was terrifying to have a baby that small!
I love this picture, because you can really tell how tiny she is:
If you made it this far, sorry it got so long! That's alot of explaining. We are so fortunate to have a beautiful, healthy baby.
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