Re: Front Page Star!!- Dustie

[Guest guest]

Dustie,

I thought I was the only one whose little angel always has a yucky

bib! Darn that reflux!

> First, I would like to apologize for the very stained filled bib in

> that picture. Reflux, lol…….

>

> I am so excited to see my " superstar " on the front page!!!

> WOOHOO!!!

>

> Ok, here it goes…I hope y'all have time to read my book. is

the

> youngest of 3 girls. YAY me. My due date was May 16 2002. On

> April 7, 2002 while shopping for my middle daughter's birthday

> present I felt as if my water had broke. No way, I had almost 7

> weeks to go! I kept shopping, with my husband's over-shirt wrapped

> around me. lol Finally, the pain was more than I could bare, so

with

> the girls in tow, we left and of course everyone was starving and a

> trip to Taco Bell was all they wanted. I sat there in pain crying,

> nobody cared!!!! lol I finally make it to the hospital after

several

> phone calls to them. They are about to send me home because I

still

> had 7 weeks to go. The nurse decides to check the contraction

> machine and says OMG Mrs. , you are in labor! Well DUH???

They

> start the steroids and the magnesium (ouch!) I was in labor all

> night with no relief because they were convinced they were gonna

stop

> the labor for at least 42 hours. Yeah, OK!! It didn't work and at

7

> a.m. April 8, 2001 they decided to go ahead and give me some pain

> relief. After much discussion I decided it would be ok to deliver

> my preemie at this Podunk hospital instead of being moved to a

> Bigtime City Hospital. Why? I don't know. I was in pain!!!

> Anyway, she was born with no complications. She was 5lbs 13 oz and

> 18 in long, but 6 weeks 5 days early. Trust me, if she had been a

> term baby, I would have given birth to a cow! She was whisked away

> to the nursery, Daddy following closely behind, me still in denial

> she was a girl. I was convinced only a boy could act like this.

Her

> ped came in to see me and tell me what all needed. She was

put

> on 100% oxygen, IV for food (She didn't have the sucking reflex

> yet). I was released after 2 days and had to stay. Trust

me,

> that is the worst thing to ever have to do is leave your newborn in

> the hospital!! So, I was up there about 8 hours during the day and

> none at night. Finally after a week in NICU, she was released to

her

> own room. The next day, we were taking her home along with her

> reflux and apnea monitor. When she was 2 weeks old I was taken

back

> to the hospital with severe hemorrhaging. Come to find out, I had

an

> infection in the placenta which had caused it to " breakdown " ,

causing

> me to go into labor early and it had sliced in half during

delivery.

> My OB says that he was so wrapped up in 's problems he didn't

> notice that not the entire placenta was delivered. After my brush

> with death, I finally knew why was a preemie. Nothing a

little

> bit of antibiotics wouldn't have fixed. Jerk, lol She grew like

a

> weed!! She did so well; the only time the monitor went off was by

> OUR error. Oops…At 's 2 month check-up I questioned how big

her

> soft spot was, it was huge!! They said it was because she was a

> preemie and it would be ok. At her 4-month check-up I brought up

the

> soft spot again and this time she brought up her headshape. I just

> about lost it. Her head looked great, so I thought anyway. We

were

> referred to a cranialfacial surgeon in Dallas. We were rushed in

due

> to her age and that took 3 months. Nice rush huh? At 7 months she

> was officially diagnosed with Scaphocephaly. We chose to band

her.

> After insurance woes, 2 ill-fitting bands and hours on the phone

she

> was finally DOCBanded at 8.5 months. She wore her DOCBand for 12.5

> weeks, graduating just a few days shy of 11 months old, and

received

> great correction. I can't put a clinical correction amount on what

> she actually received because that number is very subjective. Her

> head looks 100% better than it did when she was 4 months old though.

>

> Thanks to this group and CT for such a wonderful job they have

done

> for me. This group was just awesome and if I had not found them, I

> probably wouldn't have treated 's Scaphy. I must also Thank a

> dear friend of mine that is a nurse who knows 's ped on a

> personal level and brought up 's headshape to her. She thought

I

> would freak if someone other than her dr. said something about it.

> Thanks for reading this if you got this far. I tried to shorten it

> as much as possible. lol

>

> Thanks for having my baby girl as the front-page star!!!!

>

> Dustie