Disclaimer Note: I've never really written down my pregnancy/childbirth stories so I figured now is better than never and with my blog as my journal and scrapbook, I've decided to do it while I still remember some of the details. It's a LONG story but it won't be too graphic since I know some of you are reading this and I don't like yucky stuff, anyway. ;)
On February 14, 2001, we found out we were pregnant with child #2. We were so excited to add a new little one to our small family. We were in Maryland where Joe was going to medical school and I was a stay-at-home mom of a little toddler, Clark, who was just about 18 months old. When I was fourteen weeks along, Joe was attending a conference in Chicago for the weekend. On Saturday morning, I woke up in a pool of blood on my bed. I didn't know what was going on. I had felt great for the first three months with no pain or morning sickness. But I thought that I was miscarrying, despite not feeling any cramps or pain. I called my sweet friend, Kathryn, in a panic, who came and got Clark and me. We dropped Clark off at her house with Scott so she could take me to the hospital. They have a little girl, Brooklyn, that is best buddies with Clark and they are the same age. Kathryn was also expecting another baby, although I was 3 weeks behind her. I was being seen by a family practice doctor at our medical school, whom I absolutely adored, Dr. Stephens, and he met me at the hospital. Dr. Stephens suggested that I call Joe and tell him to fly home immediately. He thought I was going to miscarry. Joe arrived a few hours later and they ran some tests and did an ultrasound. Katelyn's heartbeat was strong and everything looked fine. We even found out at that time that we were having a girl! They watched me for three days in the hospital and with no other problems, I was sent home.
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| The morning after she was born |
My pregnancy continued and she was growing bigger and becoming more active. When I was 19 weeks along, my sister and her husband were flying out for a vacation and we were excited to show them the D.C. sites. The morning that they were to arrive, I again woke up bleeding and was admitted into the hospital again. The diagnosis was that I had placenta previa and I was put on bedrest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I was not allowed to lift heavy things, including my son, and could only stand long enough to make a quick and easy meal or take a shower. Placenta previa is quite common but my case was rare (around 4%) in that I was bleeding more often and earlier in my pregnancy. Most women have one bleeding episode around 28 weeks and as the uterus continues to grow, the placenta will "move" away from the cervical opening. They were hoping that I would follow suit. Again, I felt fine with no discomfort or pain and Katelyn was still growing, developing, and looking healthy on the ultrasounds. I was sent home after a week but they told me that if I bled again, I would be admitted in the hospital until delivery.
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A few days before coming home |
Eight weeks later, I felt the gush of blood and immediately burst into tears. I knew that I would have to stay in the hospital where they could monitor me and my sweet baby. Joe was in his third year of medical school and during this year, they are sent to different hospitals around the country for rotations of learning in the different medical specialties. He was scheduled to do 2 rotations out of town but when I was admitted indefinitely, the school worked everything out so that he could work at the hospitals around town. We also did not know how to take care of Clark. We couldn't afford day care, we couldn't pawn him off on ward members and friends everyday, Joe couldn't quit going to medical school, and I couldn't bear the thought of sending my toddler to Utah for 3 months with family members where I couldn't see him everyday. We figured the best solution was to fly family out every week or two to help us out.
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Home at last! And tuckered out!
Everyone was so gracious to come and take care of us. Flights were planned so that they would overlap or come in/out of town within a few hours. On the couple of days where we were solo, Joe would wake up at 4:00 in the morning, take Clark to a friend's house for the day, pick him up around 5 or 6, come visit me in the hospital, and then get home for Clark's bedtime, his study time, and then his own bedtime before repeating it the next day. My father-in-law, Grandpa Hillam, my sisters, Joe's sister, my mother-in-law, and my mom all made the long flight out to take care of us and we never would have survived without them. |
I was in the hospital for 6 weeks reading lots of books, scrapbooking along the window of my hospital room, watching lots of TV, taking naps, choking down the same hospital food every week, bleeding like a leaky faucet, losing baseball-sized blood clots, controlling constant IV's in my arms, staring at black and blue bruises up and down both sides of both arms, and praying that this little girl was going to make it and be a healthy baby. I had some wonderful friends that would visit me weekly and call me almost every day. They would bring me new books to read, a fun magazine, yummy treats, a cute craft project they had done, decent food, some good company and great conversations. I am so grateful that they took the time out of their days to see me and show their love and support.
I was assigned to a maternal-fetal medicine doctor, and an obstetrician, but Dr. Stephens still checked in with visits and telephone calls. The nurses took great care of me and were really sweet, sneaking me extra desserts, ice cream bars, jell-O, and juices. Even though I was frustrated at being "stuck" there, I really felt that I and my baby were going to be okay. There were so many sad stories of other women in the nearby rooms that had lost babies or given birth to extremely premature babies barely surviving and I realized how blessed I truly was each day that she stayed inside me. With every situation, people will have it worse and people will have it better than you. I was extremely grateful that Katelyn still seemed to be healthy and that we were getting the best care possible.
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I love to eat my swing too!
On the 4th of July, I even convinced my doctors to let me out of the hospital for a few hours. I had to be in a wheelchair the entire time but it was so great to get a change of scenery. Joe took me to the mall and we went out for dinner. I got some pretty interesting stares especially since Clark wanted to sit on my lap for the ride and I looked completely fine. People probably just thought I was a big baby and couldn't handle walking while pregnant. I was a little embarrassed but thought it was humorous and didn't even care since I was so happy to be out of my hospital room. |
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A couple of beach babes--Summer 2002. Look at that belly!!
Around 31 weeks along, I had some pre-term labor. It was pretty scary and they gave me Magnesium to stop it. That was the craziest stuff I have ever been on. It makes you really hot and you just want to jump in a barrel of ice. Plus, it made me really sleepy but you're so hot, you can't sleep! The labor stopped but Katelyn also had some steroid shots to help her lungs develop in case she decided to come anytime. A few days later, I went into labor again and they gave me the Magnesium and she had steroids for a second time. At this point, I was feeling so torn because I was miserable and tired of worrying about the bleeding and pre-term labor. I wanted her out but I knew that she was not fully developed and her life would be at risk. |
The labor stopped and things were fine but after another week, I went into labor again. This time they tried Turbutalene, another type of drug to stop pre-term labor. This made my heart beat like crazy and I thought it was going to explode. I also thought I was having a heart attack at one point because my chest hurt so bad. I had to have an EKG but everything looked fine. It was just the drugs. This drug only lasted a couple of hours but it was still some crazy stuff. After Kate's third round of steroid shots, the doctors told me that if I went into labor again, they would just have to perform the C-section and deliver her. Again, I felt at peace that she would survive and we both would be fine, but I was scared to death and kept praying that she would stay in my tummy a little longer. Every day counted and the more days we got behind us, the better her chances were once she was born.
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| Cute little cowgirl up at Grandpa Stuart's barn |
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Preschool
At 33 weeks along, on September 6, 2001, Kathryn called me that morning and told me that she had given birth to her second daughter, who was born 4 weeks early! Everything went well and Makell was perfect so I got to go visit her in my nice little wheelchair while she was down the post-partum hallway. We had a great visit and then Joe came to the hospital during his lunch hour. He and our friend, Josh, had gone to our favorite place, California Tortilla, and brought burritos in for lunch. We ate, talked, and then Josh headed back to school for the afternoon lectures. Joe was going to skip out on the first hour of lectures, so he snuggled up with me on my hospital bed for a nap and I started watching some talk-show. A few minutes later, I realized that my water had broken. It felt different than blood and I knew it was time and Katelyn was going to come whether we were ready or not. We called the doctors and they were discussing whether or not to hold off the delivery for a few days. They finally decided the risk of infection was too great and they were going to perform the C-section right away. |
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| Clark has no qualms about playing with his little sister! |
All of the sudden, it was crazy getting me ready for surgery. I had been anticipating this day but now that it was here, I got really nervous. Joe left to call the school and tell them the situation and by the time he got back, I was prepped and ready to go. They wheeled me into the operating room, strapped me to the bed, started the drugs, and numbed my stomach. Something made me nauseous and I explained that I was going to vomit. They held a bed pan up to the side of my head and I turned my head right into it. After that, I felt much better but was freezing. Joe smiled and said that it was because my body was completely exposed and so were my insides. Yuck! They put a warm, heavy blanket over my legs and I felt so much better. At 4:45 p.m., they pulled Katelyn out and I heard her little cry. I immediately started crying with relief and joy. I couldn't see her yet because they had to immediately check her vitals since she was about 2 months premature. I also need to be stitched up and head to the recovery room. Joe was able to see her and said that everything was fine and she looked great. She even weighed 5 pounds which was a lot bigger than we had expected. Thank heavens for those steroids!
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| Cute Cousins and Ballerinas--Sarah and Katelyn |
Late that night, about 10:00 p.m., they wheeled me down to the NICU so that I could see Katelyn for the first time. I was nervous to see her because I didn't know if she would be on oxygen or what tubes would be coming out of her. When I got to see her, she looked tiny but wonderful. She was breathing on her own but having a hard time maintaining her body temperature outside of the isolette. I couldn't hold her yet but I was excited to talk to her, give her kisses, and rub her cute little arms and legs.
The next morning, I forced myself to get up and out of bed very carefully and slowly, take my time walking down the hallway to the NICU, and see Katelyn. They let me hold her for a few minutes but it had to be quick so that her body temperature didn't drop too much. I did this a few times during the day and Joe got to be there the whole time.
The following day, on September 8th, the doctors said that I was doing extremely well and that they had heard that I had a birthday party to get home to. Clark was turning 2 years old and I was anxious to get home. Katelyn needed to stay in the NICU until she was a bit bigger and could maintain her temp and they expected her to be there about 6 weeks. So Joe and I left our sweet little munchkin there that evening and headed home. On the way, we stopped at Baskin-Robbins and found the perfect ice cream cake for Clark's 2nd birthday, a football. He was so excited to see us and we had such a fun birthday celebration for him that night.
Over the next 10 days, we spent our time back and forth at the hospital. Joe would go in before school, taking in milk for Katelyn, and spending some time with her. I would sometimes come in late morning or early afternoon to see her and then when Joe got home from school, we would all head in as a family. Clark was very gentle and so sweet to his new little sister. They were best buddies already.
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Second Grade
On September 11th, we got a phone call from the NICU explaining that our daughter was fine and that we had nothing to worry about. However, we weren't allowed to come to the hospital that day. Since I had been watching Dragon Tales all morning with Clark, I innocently asked if Katelyn was out of the isolette yet and the nurse asked, "Mrs. Stuart, aren't you watching the news? Terrorists are attacking New York City, the White House, and the Pentagon!" I couldn't believe it. We turned on the TV just moments before the second tower fell in New York. Crazy times and the rest is history. Five days later, on September 15th, Katelyn got to come home. |
Katelyn, we are so blessed to have you as our daughter. We love you so much and you bring such a light into our family. You are such a good big sister to your little brother and sister. Thank you for always being so willing to help us with anything around the house and taking care of your siblings. We can always count on you to be responsible and kind. You have such a sweet testimony of the gospel and we love that you want to do the right thing and be an example to others. Happy Happy Birthday, Katie-bug!
