One mom's journey

ROSE’S ROAD 🌹
The year 2020 took off like a rocket 🚀. I turned 30 years old, I started nursing school, a pandemic impacted upon us, and then I found out I was pregnant with my first child. Working thru the pandemic while being pregnant went relatively well. I was scared for myself and the child I was carrying, but safely maintained our health throughout it all. I kept up with every doctor's appointment.
Everything seemed to be going fairly well up until September 21, 2020 on my 28 week gestational ultrasound. That is when I learned my baby was in a breech position (which means her body was positioned with her head up towards my ribs instead of down towards my legs). It was also discovered that my blood pressure was severely high, a condition called PREECLAMPSIA.  Because this condition can cause complications, I was told to go straight to the hospital to be admitted for monitoring and this is where I first learned about the NICU WORLD. The NICU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It was a world that I wasn’t familiar with, something I never knew existed. 

While being admitted into the hospital on the labor and delivery unit I was introduced to some of the NICU team. It was truly amazing and quite overwhelming. But at the same time I was scared, nervous, and anxious, not only for myself but for this little life that my body was carrying. She really gave the nurses a run for their money hiding from the monitors jus having a field day in my belly. As I’m talking to the NICU team she was hiding from the nurses to where they had to bring the big ultrasound machine in just to simply find her. This little girl caused a lot of commotion that day. The NICU doctor (called a neonatologist) told me about the team that will care for Rose in the NICU and the things that might happen to her because she will be premature.  I just remember asking one question which felt like it was the most important question to ask WHAT ARE HER CHANCES OF SURVIVING OUTSIDE OF THE WOMB AT THIS EARLY STAGE OF THE PREGNANCY? I wasn't due until December 15, 2020. So we were a whole 3 months early. The neonatologist simply said well after the show this young lady just put on with hiding from the nurses I’m thinking she will do relatively fine. With that statement alone I was at peace with whatever was going to happen and whatever needed to be done.  Trust was established.

After 4 days of labor being pumped with IV fluids and no food I begged Rose to come because I felt like I was being tortured with not eating. On September 25, 2020 @ 1:57 am ROSE ANN’MARIE BLADES was born at 28 weeks and 3 days gestational age weighing 1 lb and 10 oz. I had to have a C-Section and she was so small, the size of both my palms put together . Her dad got to get a great look at her and amazing photos to match. In the delivery room the NICU team was there and ready for her. They did what they had to do with Rose in the delivery room and took her to the NICU. After 2 days, we finally got to go to the NICU to see our child. The NICU was a beautiful place for babies and parents to bond. After our tour around the NICU I felt comfortable knowing that Rose was getting the best care. But in the back of my mind there were these thoughts of is my child strong enough to endure life outside of the womb and will she survive? Once Rose was stable enough to hold I was able to do skin to skin with her.  She was so tiny, so tiny that my breasts were bigger than her whole body. She literally fit right in between my breasts. That was a VERY happy moment for both of us.  After a while in the NICU the team started to teach her little things like how to hold her own pacifier. It was truly an amazing thing to see especially with her weighing 2 lb and 1 month old.  We are still on this journey and I hope to continue this post soon...