Carly knew early in her pregnancy that she was at risk of delivering prematurely. Her doctor’s warning proved accurate when at only 26 weeks she went into labor. On arrival at the nearest hospital emergency department, she was experiencing painful contractions and was already dilated three (3) centimeters. The staff administered heavy doses of drugs that had a 50-50 chance of reducing her contractions. An ultrasound showed her baby, a girl, to be under 2 pounds in weight. The emergency staff did not have the resources needed and called her Obstetrician-Gynecologist, who delivered premature babies at his Neonatal Intensive care Unit (NICU) in the next county. It was one of the top rated units in the United States. He sent an ambulance immediately to bring her to him. The Emergency Medical Technicians arrived in an extraordinary vehicle, unlike most ambulances. It was large enough to bring staff from the NICU with the ability to treat her on the way.
They were very calm and assured Carly that they had “a lot of tricks up their sleeves” to deal with situations like hers. This helped her cope with the fear she had for her baby’s survival. On arrival at the NICU, she received high doses of magnesium sulfate which slowed her contractions from ten (10) to one (1) an hour. It also caused severe vomiting and nausea which she did not mind if it would save Sophie. The goal was to delay delivery for six (6) weeks, using constant testing and monitoring of every medication they found to be successful. In the ensuing days, these included Terbutaline (a smooth muscle relaxer), Nifedipine (a calcium channel blocker used to reduce contractions), thyrotropin-releasing hormone (a thyroid medication shown to be beneficial in the development of the unborn), a corticosteroid, ampicillin, and the magnesium. Her family rotated each day to sit with and see the efforts being made to prolong her labor. As the doctor said, “Every day in-utero shortens the stay in the NICU by 3 days.” Shorter stays meant a healthier outcome.
As the first week passed, Carly thought: “How do I deal with this if I go into labor today? I’m not ready “NOT to be pregnant”. “I’m scared of the possible complications, and I know the baby is safe where she is now.” “This bed rest is not that easy; I can’t focus because of the drugs … I can’t read… I can’t knit… I can’t cross-stitch or watch television”. It amazes me that with all the drugs they are giving me the baby is not affected… She’s still partying down there, and I feel like crap.” None of that mattered if Sophie kept sending good signals.
Her family and one of her best nurses decided visualization might help. Carly was willing to try anything, and started visualizing being calm, serene, floating in the water, letting it buoy her, embracing her pregnancy, and seeing her bulge as small but STRONG! That and the drugs helped her get just one (1) additional full week, three (3) months before an ordinary term. Her NICU doctor, seeing her blood pressure had dropped too low, said holding off childbirth would be harmful to the child. On the way to surgery, Carly was worried: “Again, I’m scared. Here we go, no turning back. Praying Sophie will be okay and will be strong to pull through.”
Everyone held their breath as Carly was wheeled into the delivery room.
*Please note that the names in this story have been changed to protect the privacy of the author and their family.
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