Laura's Birth Story

Laura is also known as GABSMOM2

Laura has been a Type I diabetic for 5 years.
She is the mother to Gabrielle and baby Gracie

Gracie Mae came into the world on Sept. 29.
She weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long.
Mom was 34 weeks and 3 days.

Here's a pic of Laura's older girl, Gabby! Isn't she beautiful?

Here's Laura's story (Written when Grace was 11 days old):

 On Thurs. Sept 25th I went to work as usual and had my OB appointment around noon. The doctor sent me directly to the hospital. He suspected pre-eclampsia. There was protein in my urine, my blood pressure was up and my reflexes were what her called "jerky". I was also very swollen. I had been swollen for weeks though.

I called my hubby and proceeded to the hospital. I was ony one day shy of 34 wks. I was terrified.

They admitted me and started steriod shots to mature the baby's lungs. My OB ran labs and found that my liver enzymes were up. Also, my blood pressure seemed a little better on Fri after being in bed.

The doctor was either going to send my home on bed rest or keep me in the hospital until 36 wks (2 wks). Friday night I went into labor. He stopped it with terbutaline. That worked. At least I had the two steroid shots on board.

The steroids and the terbutaline both made my sugar levels in the high 200's. I felt pretty awful. They kept giving me more insulin IV. That really didn't bring it down, but my ob wasn't too concerned. He said he expected that and they would just monitor me.

They did an ultrasound and guessed that Gracie's weight was around 6 lbs and she looked great.

Saturday went ok. My labs kept going up, but my blood pressure was ok on bed rest. Sunday morning came and my liver and kidney functions looked bad. My ob said he was going to have to start induction that day. He also said there was a window of 48 hours to get her out. He said that at this point she was safer out.

They had a nurse from the NICU come and talk to me about a 34 wk. old preemie. I was very terrified. I tried so hard to keep everything under control and was so afraid of having a baby with a lot of problems. The main one being her lungs. They told me that diabetic baby's lungs develop even later that "regular" babies and at 34 wks it was hit or miss whether she would breathe on her own or not.

They started a cervical pill and repeated it all day on Sunday. Nothing really happened. I was 1cm all day. On Monday they started the pitocin.

Let me tell you, my first child was a natural delivery. NO pain meds or anything. An induction is very different. I went into this thinking that I could do this naturally. The contractions with pitocin are a lot worse. I got a pain shot and finally an epidural (which I was terrified of). I also had to be on magnesium all day to keep me form seizing (side effect of pre-eclampsia).

I got the epidural at 5 cm at 3:30 and was pushing at 5. I pushed 2 times in the room and was taken to the OR because of her gestational age. I pushed 2 more times and Gracie Mae was born at 5:17pm weighing 6 lbs. 4 oz and18 1/2 inches long.

I was very sick from the pre-eclampsia and the medicine they were giving me to control it. All I remember was hearing her cry. It was a wonderful sound.

They took her into another room immediately and checked her out. She was breathing great. She didn't need any oxygen. Praise God. Her apgar scores were 9 and 9.

They let me see her for a minute and took her to the NICU. That night I saw her for a brief second, but was very sick. My kidneys and liver were showing signs of failure and I could barely move. They had to keep me on the magnesium until Wednesday because my levels kept rising. I was very frightened. I couldn't see my baby and was not sure if I was going to even make it. The nurse in the NICU took polaroids of Gracie and sent them to me. She was so beautiful.

Wednesday morning, my OB thought I was out of the woods and took me off the magnesium. I was also allowed to visit with Gracie really for the first time in two days. She was doing wonderfully. He glucose levels were low for a few days. They had her on a glucose drip but were able to keep decreasing that. She never required oxygen and was starting to regulate her own temperature. She was somewhat jaundiced, but not high enough to treat. Eating was the main obstacle. They had to feed her through a NG tube (inserted into her nose and down her throat). They had moved her to a step down room in the NICU and she just had to learn to eat.

On Thursday I got to start bottle feeding her. She would take a little, but not much. They were able to take her off the warmer and glucose drip.

My OB discharged me on Friday and on Saturday I got the call that Gracie was able to come home. Only 5 days in the NICU! I was thrilled because it was so hard to leave her on Friday.

We are home now and still eating is a challenge. She only eats one ounce at a time, but is now 6 lbs. 8 oz. She will be 2 weeks next Monday and is already trying to hold her head up.

I feel like a train ran me over. My blood pressure is still high and my legs are very weak. My sugars ironically are normal. My OB sent me home with a decrease in my insulin levels, but I have not taken any for 4 days now. I know I just need time to level out, but am thankful for a break from it.

This is my story and I am glad to share it with all of you. I was terrified when I was told that Gracie might have problems and by the grace of God she is a wonderful little angel. I am so blessed to have her in my life.

I am a type I diabetic with a blood clotting disorder and pre-eclampsia and with the right docs you can still have a healthy child and pull through. I hope this will inspire other mothers who may be in a similar circumstance as me. Laura Type I for 5 years Mother to 4 yr. old Gabrielle and 11 day old Gracie

Update! New Pics!

Here's another pic of her older daughter Gabby!
What beautiful children.

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