May 1st, 2002 was a big day it was to be the 1st day of my new job I was getting to work with my best friend it was supposed to be soo much fun. However that didn't happen I called in my first day of work because I got the shock of a life time when I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. I was scared, confused, unsure about everything. To top it all off I was ONLY 16 years old. I went and sought medical attention to assure I was in fact pregnant. I was terrified of telling my mom. what would she think, what would she say? Due to my fear I kept the pregnancy a secret for 3months. Finally the pressure of the situation brought me to a breaking point I finally told her I was pregnant and almost 13 weeks along. Needless to say she about had a heart attack and was in disbelief. I was the honor-roll and straight A teenager not the pregnant teenager in her eyes.
Due to my age and our financial state my mother refused to let me have this child. She scheduled me an appointment for the next day. When I arrived it was the abortion clinic. I was beyond words with emotion. I was taken in back did the ultrasound to determine how far I was to ensure they could perform the procedure I was 13wks 1day. Next came the counseling part. She asked me a series of questions and within minutes said "you do not want to do this do you?" My immediate answer was "NO." I told her my mother had brought me but I was terrified to tell her no, so since it was the last day for me to get it done anyway she informed my mom that I had missed the deadline to perform the abortion by a day. Silence filled the next few days until my grandma spoke with my mom. I think because of her my mom would forever change her view on the situation at hand. *Thank you grams*
14 weeks I had an appointment I set up through a agency that does free pregnancy testing, childcare/ birthing classes, and does a one free sonogram per pregnancy. So it was to have my 1st REAL sonogram. The nurse preformed it I remember hearing his heartbeat, all the fast and suttle movements I was a mom. After she was done she asked if I had an OB already, I told her no. So she said, "well I would really like you to meet the OB he's a great Dr. and will take excellent care of you. Immediately I thought something was wrong she kept insisting there was not she just wanted me to have the best of care.
15 weeks I have my 1st official doctors appointment with Dr. Mikael Love. Yes people Dr.Love delivered my babies :) Well he did the quick usual check then wanted to do an ultrasound. I knew something was just not right because I had been reading and knew the usual ultrasound isn't until 20weeks or so. After a 15-20minute ultrasound he broke the news I was not expecting to hear...."Your son has a condition called Gastroschisis." My initial thought was OMG will my child live, what is this, etc....then came wait I am having a BOY!!!?
Gastroschisis is a type of hernia. Hernia means "rupture.” Babies with this condition have a hole in the abdominal wall, usually on the right side of the umbilical cord. The child's intestines usually stick out (protrude) through the hole.
From the point of diagnosis on I was seeing Dr.Love and the Perinatologist twice a month. I was not ready to deal with the condition but was enjoying every moment of pregnancy, all the appointments with the Peri were full of ultrasounds so I has tons of pics.
On the morning of December 24th, 2002 I woke up with a VERY mild cramping feeling. My mom said as a precaution pack my bags. As the hours progressed so did the intensity of the "cramps". By 2pm we made a trip to L&D sure enough I was in early labor. However being at 34weeks my Dr. did not want me to deliver just yet. At this point I had no clue what a preemie even was. I was given medication to try to stop labor and released. I went on my typical Christmas Eve schedule last minute shopping, cooking at Grandma's and opening presents at midnight. Through it all it was obvious the labor had no intention of stopping. By 2am I was admitted in to the hospital at 4cm. Dr.Love wanted to perform a C-section to prevent possible rupture of Aidan's intestines. I was petrified so we decided to at least try Vaginal birth.
7:13am I gave birth to a beautiful baby Boy Aidan Lee weighing 5lbs 4oz measuring 18 inches. The excitement was short lived because the chaos in the room that immediately followed his birth was overwhelming. There was a whole team that surrounded Aidan. They got his measurements, let me take a pic next to him and withing the blink of an eye he was whisked away to the NICU.
12:30pm I awoke to the surgeon Dr. Josephs coming in the room to tell me he was about to operate on Aidan. He explained detail by detail how the operation would go. I sat nervously in my room waiting to hear anything possible on his condition. That evening the Neonatologists gave word I could finally come to see him it was almost 11pm by that time. I walked into the scariest of places and found myself so lost, so unaware of the severity of the issues he faced.
I was unable to touch him the nurses explained because of fear eh would go into shock he was that heavily sedated. He was on the CPAP machine, apnea monitor, NG tube, and more, but had no temperature regulating issues. I first held him at almost 2weeks old. That was also when we started actually trying to feed him. He was monitored very closely. I was told he could not come home until he was able to 1st eat enough food to show he did not need a permanent feeding tube and 2nd to have a bowel movement to show that his bowels were working correctly and did not need any surgery.
That time came after a long awaited 7weeks. I had never been so happy to see a dime size little ball of poop in my life!
Aidan I was told would have many delays, setbacks, etc due to his early arrival and condition. I am proud to say he accomplished every milestone early. Aidan is in perfect health besides having asthma. I am so proud of the journey Aidan faced and beat. He is my pride and joy and a true blessing in my life.
My mom is a wonderful grandmother, not to my surprise her and Aidan are closer due to the troubles he faced so early on in his life. She was opposed to the even thought of me having him yet turned into one of my biggest sources of support.
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