One Week Old

On Friday, June 14, at 18 weeks along in my pregnancy, my water broke.  Earlier that day my high-risk pregnancy doctor gave us the scary news that Alyse had an omphalocele, which means some of her intestines had stayed in the umbilical cord instead of retreating to the abdomen earlier in the pregnancy.  We already knew Alyse had an issue, but we had been told it was most likely gastroschisis in the weeks prior.  Gastroschisis is very similar to an omphalocele, but omphaloceles are very commonly associated with fatal chromosomal issues, while gastroschisis is not.  With this new information, and the fact that the doctor saw a couple of other "markers" that could point to additional issues, it was recommended that we have an amniocentesis to rule out or be prepared for other things.  We were told the chance of my water breaking after the procedure was 1 in 1600, since it was being completed by a highly-trained professional.  After the procedure, the doctor told us it was as straightforward as it could have been, and that we had nothing to worry about.  One hour later, while eating at Cheddar's restaurant, water started gushing down my legs.

The weeks following were crazy.  I spent the next 34 days in the hospital at St. Mary's in Evansville.  There was one attempt to send me home on bed rest, which led to complications and had me back in the hospital after four hours at home.  After my water broke, it resealed, built back up, broke again, and built up again.  In my last days at St. Mary's, it had built back up to the higher end of normal.  Everything was looking like I could carry Alyse for weeks and weeks to come.

Because of Alyse's omphalocele, my doctor wanted to transfer me to St. Louis once I was 23-24 weeks along.  I needed to be in a place with neonatal surgeons, whenever Alyse decided to make her arrival.  We decided on St. John's Mercy as our hospital, and I was all set to transfer to their Antepartum Unit on Thursday, July 18.  But then things changed quickly...

In the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 17, my body started telling me something was very wrong.  I had been contracting more frequently, my blood pressure was rising, and I started to feel like I had a case of heartburn that was 1000x worse than I had ever experienced.  We soon discovered that I had developed HELLP Syndrome, a form of preeclampsia, which stands for: H (hemolysis, which is the breaking down of red blood cells), EL (elevated liver enzymes) and LP (low platelet count).  The only cure for HELLP is to deliver the baby, and if not acted upon will be fatal to the mother.  So, I went to St. Louis a day early, by life-flight.

During my very long, scary, and painful labor, I never dreamed that Alyse would still be with us one week later.  She was born at 22 weeks, 6 days.  When I was pregnant with Ethan, I had been told over and over again that 24 weeks is viability for a baby.  In my mind, Alyse was just too early to survive.  I had no idea that my little 1 lb, 8 oz baby would be such a fighter.

One week old.  She has defied the odds and survived seven days.  And although she's still an "hour by hour" baby, we feel so blessed to have had her in our lives for a full week.

Thank you to all who are keeping Alyse in your thoughts & prayers daily.  Prayer changes things.  Believe in miracles.  I know I do.