When I was pregnant with Andrea I had high blood pressure. So they put me on a medicine called Labatol. At about 19 weeks they noticed that the baby wasn't growing and her heart rate would dip under the line. So I was put on bed rest.With ultrasounds and stress tests 2 times a week.
At about 25 weeks they noticed that Andrea had quit growing and that her placenta was not functioning for her.At this time they thought that she could survive in utero for possibly another 2 weeks.At this time I was given the 2 steroid shots to help Andrea's lungs mature faster.
At 26 weeks I went in for the regular (well regular to me) stress test and ultra sounds and they discovered Andrea's amniotic fluid was low and it was time to take her.Well because I had eaten that morning I had to wait all day in the surgery prep area for my C-section. So at 4:44 pm on January 26th Andrea was delivered. Weighing in at 1 pound 10 ounces and 13 inches long.
Andrea had sever lung issues. On February 7th we got the dreaded phone call that no parent wants to get.Andrea was suffering and no treatment was working. There was only 1 more thing that they could try and that was steroids. They called to ask permissoin to give it to her. If we don't give them to her then she would die, if we do give it to her there is all the side effects that could possibly occur. Blindness, cerebral palsy,and possibly death. I was like, "Just give her the meds!" I don't care if she has these things just give her the medicine.It took many weeks but she made a great turn around.
I finally got to hold my baby for the first time, 5 weeks and 5 days, after she was born.I was so happy and proud of her. She had gone through so much in her short tiny life. I was so thankful that she was a fighter.
Andrea would then have to stay in the hospital until April to gain weight,regulate her body temperature, and learn how to suck from a nipple.
One week before I was to bring home my baby daughter, my mom passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm.She was 42 years old.She was so excited that I was having a baby and that it was going to be a girl.So I left Andrea in the hospital to come home and help arrange things for my mom.It was such a tragic time for me.
To be continued....... Tune in to find out when and how we knew Andrea was a LP
