Alexandra

Last Tuesday when I went to my OB/GYN appointment the Doctor noticed I'd gained 20 pounds in a week and there was protein in my urine. Then they noticed my blood pressure was really high so he sent me to the hospital for some tests. They monitored my blood pressure for a few hours and ran some blood work. I thought maybe they would keep me overnight to get my blood pressure under control and then send me home on bed rest. After the blood work came back the doctor said I had severe preeclampsia. No one really knows what causes preeclampsia, from what the doctors told me it can happen in your first pregnancy or your fourth. They said it doesn't matter what you do it just happens to some women for soome unknown reason. There's no cure other than to deliver the baby. Because the baby was going to be so premature my doctor wanted to send her to UAB because they have one of the best NICU nurseries in the country.

I was sent to UAB by ambulance that evening. Incidently I've never been in an ambulance before so being in one for 3 hours going 97 miles an hour was quite an experience. Before I was sent to UAB I was given a steroid injection to help the baby's lungs develop. The best chance for the baby to do well was to get 2 steroid injections 24 hours apart and then to deliever by c-section 24 hours after the 2nd injection. So Thursday at around 7:45 they delivered Alexandra by c-section.

She was delivered at 29 weeks and weighed 2 pounds and 5 ounces. She never needed supplemental oxygen because of the steroids, and was moved out of the intensive care nursery to the continual care nursery after a day. She had to have UV treatments to make sure her bilirubin levels weren't too high. She had little googles on while she was in there sunbathing. After a day they stopped the treatments. Now she's on full feeds and no longer needs IV dextrose so they took her IV catheter out today.

The doctors have said that they are impressed by how well she's doing and expect her to continue to do well. We're not sure how long it will be until she can come home. Usually around her intended delivery date is what we're told, but it can be a month more or less depending on how she's developing.

Ransom had to go back to Dothan on Sunday(somebody has to go to work and keep the lights on)and I was discharged from the hospital today. I'm in Birmingham not too far from the hospital. He's going to come up here on the weekends while me and Alex are up here. He's so proud of his little girl. I couldn't have asked for a better daddy for Alexandra.

I am thankful that I have a smart doctor who saved Alexandra's life and maybe mine also. I'm thankful she was able to get both steroid injections before being born. I'm thankful to have a wonderful husband and a beautiful little girl and so many people who have asked about us and kept us in their thoughts.

I can only hope that she continues to reach milestones every day and that she doesn't suffer any long term effects of being born so early. I've learned to focus on the positive and not read statisics about all the problems pre-term babies can suffer. I choose instead to think of the pretty young doctor that came to my hospital room to check on me and told me that she was born at 30 weeks.

25 weeks

Six months already! Things are moving so fast. I can finally feel the baby kicking-which is very exciting. This week Ransom and I have been painting the baby's room, picking out a stroller, registering and trying to decide on a crib. It's almost like buying a car. Who knew buying a crib was so complicated? We painted the room an apple green which will look really cute with the bedding we chose (which is called Alexis Garden-you can google it).

Baby's development from Baby Center:

The baby now weighs nearly 1.5 pounds/ 660 grams and is approximately 13.5 inches/ 35 centimeters long from crown to heel. He makes breathing movements but has no air in his lungs yet. At 26 weeks, fetal brain scans show response to touch. If you shine a light on your abdomen, your baby will turn his head, which according to researchers, means his optic nerve is working.

Just wanted to take a few minutes to elaborate on the last ultrasound. Aside from being a girl the ultrasound tech said she was a little bigger than average (big surprise there), she has long fingers and is very active.

She let us see the 4-D ultrasound (which I wish I could post but the scanner isn't cooperating right now) and it is so cool. The tech said that a lot of women want to see the 4-D and then get upset because the baby looks weird at this stage, so they usually wait until around 30 weeks when the baby looks a little more like a baby. We though she looked cute anyway. She was sucking her thumb and we could see her getting irritated that the umbilical cord was touching her face.

We've decided on a name- Alexandra Hall Mayfield. Hall was my Godmother's maiden name and I was very close to her. Hall is also my middle name- although I have 2. Alexandra has no real significance other than we liked it and though it was pretty. We will probably wind up calling her Alex.

We are both doing well-Ransom and Randy are out back putting up a fence and I'm making a small effort to clean the house. Hopefully Ransom will be able to reason with the scanner and we'll be able to post the 4-D ultrasound pictures.

It's a Girl!!!!

Week 16

This has been a very exciting week for us. We recieved great news from UAB that all of the results of the screening tests came back normal! The blood tests screened for Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and a few other awful things I can't remember the names of. So of course that's a giant relief and a load off both our minds.

Tuesday we have another ultrasound but this is the one that lets us know what color paint to buy for the baby's room!

I'm feeling much better than I did during the first trimester-not nearly as queasy and nauseated as I was feeling, but now none of my pants fit and I've never had such terrible heartburn.

We will let you know what we find out on Tuesday.