Imagines...

Imagine...
Finding out on Mother's Day that you're 6 month's pregnant, but in the next breath, the doctor's telling you that you're having a miscarriage. Going to the Doctor to be told that the baby is fine but stay off your feet. Then 8 days after finding out you're pregnant, going into the bathroom and looking down to see the umbilical cord hanging out of your body. Thinking to yourself of what to do. Thinking, " your husband got home from work early today, so he can drive to the hospital, but what about the rest of your kids? I have to call my mom and have her come stay with them till I find out what's going on." After all that is done, we're on the way to the hospital, running all sorts of red lights, making our own turn lanes to get to the hospital. Then after playing 50 questions with the man at the registration desk, he still sends me upstairs as a labor check. The nurses were surprised when I told them what the problem was. I was rushed to a bed and had about 10 people asking me questions, thank god my husband was there to help with the questions. The doctor brought in the ultrasound machine and saw the baby's heart beat, all I saw was a smile on the doctor's face. Then the neonatologist came in and told us the baby had less than a 50% chance to survive, because I was only 25 weeks pregnant. I got rushed into surgery and given a general anesthesia. When I woke up in recovery my husband was by my side, he had been able to see the baby as they were taking him to the NICU, and said that he was doing well. He had a tube in his throat to help him breathe and tubes running into his umbilical cord, but that was common. I got to see him on the way to my room and he was the most precious thing I had ever seen. He was so tiny (1 lb 10.4 ozs and 12 inches long), they had his warmer covered in plastic wrap and humid air going into it to toughen his skin. The hardest part came 2 days later when I had to go home without him. He is now 3 months old, still in the NICU, up to 5 lbs 1.2 ozs, doing pretty good, having some setbacks (which we were told to expect), still on the ventilator (he's been off a couple of times). And we are just looking forward to the day we will actually be able to bring him home. It's hard to get to the hospital as often as we would like because we have 5 other children at home. It's just a waiting game.

Patricia A. Spencer, mom to Aaron Kevin Spencer