Our Beggining

My name is JoLynn and I have a former 24wk micro-preemie. This story begins early Jan. 2008 when I found out I was expecting, and after 10yrs of infertility that was a miracle in itself. I began dreaming of bringing a chubby, little healthy bundle home and beginning a life as a new mom. Sixteen weeks into the pregnancy I got a call from my OBGYN that there was concern with my blood work. It showed my AFP levels at risk for a Down-Syndrome baby. I spent a month worried about that, and finally after a level-2 ultrasound my fear was relieved (HE was healthy). At 23 wks I was feeling some pressure and went in to be looked at. I was told I was just "paranoid" and that everything was fine. A week later I was in Labor & Delivery and my paranoia had become a reality. I was in pre-term labor.

I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and had been told not to get up for any reason. The heart rate was strong, but from time to time I would hear it fade out. Being uneducated I did not realize that his heart was stopping. Once I had been made aware of this, it felt like an eternity between pulses. The doctor rushed in and told me that they had to "take him now or have no chance". After having a miscarriage the year before I felt like such a failure. Why was it so hard for me to be a mom? Within 10 minutes I was being wheeled into OR and signing consents for surgery. I was in such a daze of emotion that all I can remember about the OR was the cold steel table. I didn't know that a baby so premature had a chance, and when they took him out I was so scared to look. I didn't want to see another lifeless baby. Then all of as sudden I heard the faintest little cry, and the Neonatologist yelled "he is breathing momma, he is breathing all by himself".

When I opened my eyes and looked up there was a crowd of doctors standing around a warming table. I heard one say "I think we got a chance here", and "heart rates stable". It was then that I felt a glimpse of hope. They let me see him for about two seconds before they rushed him out of the room , and I had never seen anything so tiny and fragile in all my life. Shortly after he was life flighted to Children's Memorial Hermann in Houston. This is where our journey and our constant struggle for life began. Join me on our roller coaster ride through the N.I.C.U..