On Kate Being Born Early....

Many of you know, especially if you read THIS POST, that Kate was born a bit early -- 35 weeks, 5 days gestation; a month exactly early to her due date.

While a month early isn't extremely early (of which I'm grateful), it still is early. Kate was officially deemed "late premature."

Before Kate was born (I'm talking about an hour or so before she was born), we, or especially I, were/was warned about a couple of things that could happen because of the 35 weeks (ONLY) gestation.

She could have a bit difficulty breathing -- at least for the shortterm (especially because she was also going to be a C-Section baby). She may have a difficult time maintaining her temperature. She may have some feeding problems.

When Kate was born (and I closed my eyes and simply prayed that she'd be O.K.), she was crying unassisted. Granted, the cry was VERY WEAK. But, she was getting air to do it on her own -- before she was ever handed over to the pediatrican and the respiratory therapist. I can honestly say that I've never been so grateful to hear a cry. Fortunately, Kate ended up needing ZERO assistance breathing.

The nurses brought Kate to me in my hospital room probably 1 1/2 hours or so after she was born (I think -- time all is a blur from that day). They didn't let me nurse her because she was cold. Ultimately, Kate did spend the entire first night in "Special Care Nursery" because she was NOT maintaining her temperature (I can't complain -- we were warned). Unfortunately, because of the C-Section, I was unable to ever go and see her in the nursery. So, I basically went almost the first 24 hours without really holding her. But, I knew she was well cared for. Also, Marc frequently went into the nursery (throughout the night) to check on her.

When it was determined that she could maintain a little better temperature control, Kate was brought to my room (almost 24 hours old at that point). She was swaddled in THREE blankets....and she remained that way for a couple of more days until it went down to swaddling with TWO blankets. Also, when she was first brought to me, Kate had an IV (looked sad). The pediatrician was afraid she had an infection. She took a culture; however, it took 48 hours to get the results. So, the IV was started right away to prevent any potential infection from getting worse. FORTUNATELY, the culture came back negative. Kate was fine!

Eating was a bit of an issue; however, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Despite not being able to nurse for her first 24 hours, when Kate did finally get to nurse, she actually did quite well (completely DIFFERENT scenario from her brother, who was a TERRIBLE feeder -- despite a full-term pregnancy). But, typical of almost ALL newborns BUT even more so with Kate, Kate was extremely sleepy. Breastfeeding really wore her out.

Around 48 hours or so, it was determined that Kate would not go home after 3 nights in the hospital -- like her mother. FORTUNATELY, the hospital, even after my dismissal, would let me keep my room. I just wouldn't receive any services (pain medication, etc.). I would need to be there to feed her every 3 hours, on the clock, but otherwise, I could leave. I only left 2 times during that time when I was dismissed and Kate was still a patient. SO, Kate spent a total of 5 nights in the hospital. I was a patient 3 of those nights. (I hope that all makes sense).

The pediatrician and lactation consultants put Kate on a strict feeding schedule that involved me breastfeeding as well as supplementing with formula. I listened to and obeyed that schedule from the beginning. I absolutely did not want Kate to have to stay in the hospital any longer, and I did not want her to have to return as a patient once she was dismissed.

At a little over a week, Kate was STILL LOSING weight. That made this Mama extremely nervous. But, I was reassured that it was normal in late pre-term babies. So, I kept up with the schedule and visited the lactation consultant frequently. At two weeks and one day, Kate FINALLY hit her birth weight and hasn't stopped since then (she's chunked up nicely now).

When I asked about Kate's slow gaining of weight (in the beginning; clearly, not now), I was told that late pre-term babies (and obviously premature babies) use SO many calories just to breathe, digest, etc....SO, that was the reason I was to supplement with formula right away. I was also told at that time (first couple of weeks) to spend NO MORE than 30 minutes on a feeding. If I would've spent more than 30 minutes on a feeding, Kate would've been burning off more calories that she would've been taking in....resulting in NO weight gain. It was almost a bit of a game -- to get her fed correctly and to gain weight properly.

So many people have said to me, "Oh, 35 weeks is no big deal...she's fine." (Thinking that at least she wasn't born much earlier). While Kate definitely had an advantage of 35 weeks gestation (compared to much earlier), it still was a bit tricky at first. It did take a little bit more TLC than normal. I didn't take her out very much at first. I most certainly wasn't in church with her for several Sundays. It stressed me out to have too many people at our house at one time. I flat out had to tell people not to have too many people over and to keep visits short. I'm SUPER glad we're past that "Kate being born early stage." I feel like Kate has made GREAT strides (her weight proves it). Words cannot simply describe how much I've been taught about gratefulness throughout this ordeal. Words cannot describe how much I've been taught about God's GRACE in this ordeal. It is NOTHING but God's GRACE that kept both Kate and me SAFE during this ordeal. I didn't deserve it....I'm not saying that because I think I'm a bad person. I simply am saying that because the older I get, the more I realize just how backwards this world is from the way God originally intended it in the beginning. Sin entered this world (see Genesis 3), and since then, it's been an imperfect place. We're all sinners (see Romans 3:23), including me. I'm SO grateful (more and more each day) for Jesus Christ dying for my sins. I'm SO grateful, I'm saying it again, for GRACE. And, I believe I'm slowly starting to understand more about GRACE each day. Parenting has taught me that. Yep, I have a LONG WAYS to fully get GRACE. But, little blessings like Kate being O.K. and Luke are one step closer :)