Mia's birth story

Prior to getting pregnant with Mia I had 2 miscarriages. Getting pregnant wasn't hard for me but staying pregnant was. When I got pregnant with Mia we prayed that 3rd time was a charm, and it was. I stayed off my feet for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Which was difficult because I am an avid gym devotee! After that I was told to be super cautious and careful. I had a wonderful pregnancy. I ate all fresh fruit and vegetables and drank my skim milk and took my prenatal vitamins. I did everything according to the experts. I was never sick or tired. My skin was glowing and I felt great. I gained a perfect amount of weight, 17 pounds in 30 weeks.
Then all of a sudden everything went down hill.

During week 30 my body swelled. I couldn't move my arms. I slept with my wrists in braces to help with the pain. I didn't recognize my own face in the mirror. I was gaining 4-5 pounds of water weight a night. I gained 20 pounds in a week. I attributed it to being July and what everyone told me pregnancy was like in the summer. I waited to go to the Dr. until my next scheduled OB appt. When I got there we found out that my kidneys had shut down and my blood pressure sky rocketed. It was 170/110. My normal is 110/70. I had developed a very dangerous condition called pre-eclampsia. The biggest risk of this condition is that I could have had a stroke. And based on how serious my condition had become, they thought I would stroke at any minute. I was sent from the Dr. office to Orange Regional Medical Center. I stayed there a night and was sent to Westchester Medical Center the next day. They kept me on bedrest another day so that I could have 2 steroid shots to jump start Mia's lungs. They knew that they would be underdeveloped. But the only way to save my life and hers was immediate delivery.

Then on Friday July 28, 2006 at 10:31 a.m. Mia Grace was delivered by C-section. She was gestationally 31 weeks 3 days. She weighed 2 pounds 8 ounces and was 15 inches long. She stayed in the NICU at WMC for 13 days and was transferred to the NICU at St. Luke's in Newburgh and stayed there for 4 more weeks.

Nothing can prepare you for the pain you feel leaving your child behind. It is not natural. I went to see her everyday. I sat with her from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Some days I got there earlier and some I stayed later. I couldn't hold her a lot so I sat and watched her in her incubator. I would open the port holes and sing to her or read to her. I let her know right away that she had a mommy and that I wouldn't leave her.

Some days they would let me hold her for a few minutes some days for an hour. Those were the moments I lived for.

Finally after 6 weeks we were able to bring her home. When she came home she was exactly 4 pounds.

Now, she is doing wonderfully. She is the happiest baby I have ever seen and we love her to pieces. She sleeps all night and smiles all day. She is never fussy or grumpy. She is pure sunshine. Motherhood is all that I imagined and more. And that is my Mia's entrance to the world!

And here is a picture of my happy girl at 10 months old!