Preterm Baby: Mia's Story

To continue with the idea of the "Preemie Awareness Day" posts, here is the post about Mia's story.

Mia's pregnancy started as a normal one until week 22 when the contractions started. This time I was able to catch them on time, and we were able to keep them monitored. By the third trimester the contractions were still present and an ultrasound at 32,6 weeks showed that everything was fine and that she was already 4 pounds.

At week 33,2 weeks, when the doctor checked my blood pressure, it was high. Urine test for protein came back negative, but the doctor still wanted to keep a close eye on me. At the following week at 34,3 weeks, my blood pressure was a bit high again, protein was negative, and I was sent for another ultrasound. At this moment I knew for sure that something was not right. The baby was 4 pounds which was the exact weight she was 11 days ago. I know ultrasounds are not exact, but I knew there was something more in this case. As the contractions intensified, I was prescribed with meds to stop contractions.

At 35,6 I had another doctor's appointment and another ultrasound. The ultrasound kept pushing for less weeks of pregnancy, but my doctor and I agreed on using the original due date. We knew the baby was not growing properly. My blood pressure was still high and my contractions were still present.

Three days later, I went to Labor and Delivery because even though I was on meds to stop contractions, I was feeling a lot of contractions that morning. When I got there, I was contracting, but I also had high blood pressure. They kept me in the Hospital from Thursday until Saturday. That day I was supposed to be 36 weeks pg (according to LMP), and that it when pregnant woman are suppose to stop taking the meds to stop contractions. But the doctor told me not to stop taking them until Wednesday that she wanted it to see me again.

On my next appointment I was already 36,4 (according to LMP).  My blood pressure was higher and my contractions were non stop. They sent me for EKG, echocardiogram and urine test, and everything came back normal. However, at this point, she was still as big as a 33 weeker and the doctor determined she had fetal growth restriction.  They prescribed me meds for the high blood pressure and I was sent home.

That night I started to feel some cramps all over my body (specially in the neck) and a tingling sensation. At the ER, my blood pressure was 150/120 and it took the emergency staff almost 3 hours to have it under control. I was admitted and they were giving me Magnesium sulfate for a few more hours when I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. A few minutes later, I was rushed to an emergency c-section as Mia was showing signs of distress.

She was born weighting 4 pounds and 2 ounces.  She had respiratory distress, jaundice, umbilical hernia and was tube fed for 2 days. She was discharged after 6 days in the NICU and needed 3 daily trips back to the hospital for IV meds. She was 3 pounds and 14 ounces when discharged (notice her head is the size of the palm of my hand on the 2 weeks old picture above).

The ped asked me to breastfeed on demand, and also a special formula with extra calories three times per day.  By the time she was a month old, she had already doubled her birth weight. The only long term consequences so far are some gastrointestinal issues and red dye allergies. She also needs a yearly special imaging on her eyes but still has not been diagnosed with any vision problems.