The Romaezis

Day 1: Here’s What Happened

We don’t really know why, but at 3:30 a.m. on 12/23/2010 the amniotic sac ruptured. I woke up a bit wet and let Kavyan know what happened. Since I am only 23 weeks pregnant we spent a few minutes debating what on earth the problem could be, called our doctor and by 5:00 a.m I was admitted to Labor and Delivery.

After I was poked, prodded and asked a million questions, my doctor came in to confirm that my water had broken and I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid. Now that we have this information, what to do? KEEP THIS BABY IN!

As long as he is in the womb, baby will continue to make amniotic fluid and the doctors will let him stay put as long as there is no infection. So to ward off any infection, the doctors put me on an antibiotic.

Once my water broke I was technically in labor so we also need to be sure and keep those pesky contractions away. To do this the doctors put me on magnesium and so far it’s been doing its job well. Another benefit to magnesium is that it helps baby’s brain development should he be born early. The only drawback is that it makes you feel plain AWFUL. It’s like they gave me a huge dose of the flu. More on this later. The doctors also gave me steroid shots to help jump start baby’s lung development in utero.

Once baby and I were stabilized and the sun began to rise my doctor came in and told me and Kayvan that it is in everyone’s best interest to be transferred to a hospital that has a NICU better equipped for a baby that is only at 23 weeks gestation–should he still decide to come early. They put in the right paperwork for the transfer request and much to our benefit the hospital accepted us. At about 11:30 am, I was transported to what is now my new home and this is where I will stay, holding this kid in tight for as long as absolutely possible until he is born.

Now, can I just tell you that magnesium is a wonderful drug in that it has some incredibly useful and amazing benefits I mentioned above. The side effects however, are HORRIBLE. The nurses said I would feel hung over. Which, when the side effects are mild is a fair description. But if you’re in my shoes and the magnesium levels in your blood get too high it feels like you have a 400 degree temperature, have double AND blurred vision and are just THANKFUL that you can’t go anywhere other than bed. This made the first night incredibly rough on me but as long as baby made it through, that’s all that mattered.