Had I known that, at three years old, Eli's life would have been so filled with these experiences, I would have started this blog in the beginning. However, how could we have known? So, now that we seem to have some direction and answers, I decided that now was as good a time as any to go ahead and start blogging. I know a lot of our friends and family know the details of the past three years, but I also know many of our acquaintances or friends of friends don't. So this first entry is a little bit of history. Hopefully it will help everyone to understand what the past three years have been like for us.
When Adam and I found out we were pregnant, everything seemed fairly normal. It wasn't until about 19 weeks in that things started to change. I was at work one day and began having some pressure and pain. Out OB, Dr. Killeen, assured us that it was nothing to worry about. A week later, when we saw our specialist, Dr. Atkinson, he seemed a bit more concerned. He monitored me for a while, put me on medication and sent me home with instructions to return in a few days to be monitored again. So, we went home, went about our business as normal, returning a few days later as instructed. As I was hooked up to be monitored, I began to notice nurses checking in a bit more than usual. They'd come in, look at the screen, check the tape, re-position my straps, then leave.... only to return a few minutes later to do it all again. At the end of the appointment, the head nurse came in with papers saying, "We're admitting you to the hospital. You're in pre-term labor." She then began to give us directions of where to go and instructions of what to do once we got there. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what she said. Thank God for Adam... I probably would have been wondering around the parking lot the rest of the day if it hadn't been for him. So we left the office and headed to the hospital, calling family on our way. Once we arrived, nurses seemed to kick into high gear; hooking me up to monitors, putting in IV's and pumps.
During my 17-day stay at the hospital, we took a tour of the NICU. We were told this is the size your baby will be (as one nurse held up a 16.5 oz coke bottle) and these are the problems your baby will have, as they went through a lengthy list of medical conditions. Dazed, we returned to our room to rest, mentally trying to process everything we had just seen and heard. Thankfully, we were sent home on December 5. The doctors said, "Well, you're in labor but there is not much more we can do here." So, we came home where I spent the remainder of my pregnancy on strict bedrest with one activity allowed per day and in a wheelchair any time I left the house.
We made several trips back to the hospital during that time, with intense contractions and pain. I'd get a dose of medication, be monitored for a bit, then sent home again with instructions to rest. We also had two amnio's done to check for lung maturity. We were finally told on Monday, March 1 that Eli's lungs were mature enough to deliver. It was only 3 weeks early, which was a complete blessing, considering where we were a few months prior. So, on the morning of Wednesday, March 3, we went into the hospital and delivered our little miracle, Elijah Kevin Rouse, via C-section. We were finally able to hold our little Eli. We were now a family. Our lives had just completely changed and it was the most amazing feeling in the world and we couldn't be happier.
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