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I was happily married and pregnant with our first child. I
followed the doctor’s orders—took prenatal vitamins, avoided harmful things—to
give our baby a healthy start. I was even able to continue working.
All of that changed during week 25 of our pregnancy. After an exhausting day,
I was shocked to realize that I was bleeding, so I headed right to the hospital.
Although the doctors thought I was fine and sent me home, the next morning I was
back in the hospital, again bleeding. Examinations confirmed that I was having
premature labor.
Everything was tried to stop the labor, including medications. While making
the decision to go home on bed rest or stay in the hospital, I started bleeding
again and having contractions. The next thing we knew, I was headed to the
delivery room, trying to calm ourselves by saying, “This is not happening.”
But it was happening. At 1:19 a.m. on May 15, 2000, our daughter Marina was
born. She was so tiny, 2 pounds, 3 ounces, and 13¾ inches long. She was rushed
into the NICU. When we were able to see her, Marina was so delicate and fragile.
She was unable to breathe on her own and required a respirator. Marina was in a
warmer, connecting her to many tubes and wires. Although Marina’s condition was
stable, the next six weeks would be a different story.
They say that life in the NICU is a continuous uphill battle—two steps
forward and one step back. So true. I spent 12 to 14 hours a day with Marina for
six weeks. I could not leave her side because I was terrified that something
would happen when I was not there. I was on an emotional roller coaster. One
minute Marina would be fine, and the next her lungs would collapse or she would
have an infection. What a struggle to watch your child go through all of this,
continually on the verge of death. We did not know if she would walk, talk, see,
hear, or develop normally.
But we were lucky. Despite ten weeks in the NICU, Marina had fewer problems
than other babies did. Marina was still on a monitor for her heart and lungs, a
feeding tube and medicines, but at least she was home.
We have been watching her grow and develop for the past three years and have
breathed sighs of relief when she began to crawl, walk, and speak. We were so
worried that the worst-case scenarios the doctors told us about would become
realities for Marina. Her biggest issue still remains her eyes. After multiple
surgeries, Marina is blind in her left eye and has less than perfect vision in
her right eye. She can read books and watch television. She has recently caught
up in size and intellect of kids in her age group.
The doctors had no cause for my premature labor and delivery. My friends at
the March of Dimes tell me that 50 percent of the causes of premature birth are
still unknown, and that is why we are raising funds for needed research to find
the answers.
Do you have a personal prematurity story?
Register to walk and share it online!
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