My husband Jonathan and I waited anxiously on the HPT we had just taken. After the two long minutes I check it. The stick said nothing, it was faulty! It was Memorial Day and because of this not many stores were open, so I ran across the street to the PX to get another test. When I got home I went straight into the bathroom to take it. It immediately said positive, so I started getting excited while Jonathan was looking at it awhile, saying it hasn't been 2 minutes yet so we couldn't read it! (gotta love the intel analysts thoughts on things) Of course once the 2 minutes were up it still was positive. We took the blood test to actually prove I was pregnant and found out I was due January 20th, 2011.
As the weeks and months passed us by it was a pretty easy pregnancy. In that time Jonathan and I had many discussions on whether we were going to breastfeed or bottle feed. We decided on breastfeeding because I heard nothing but good things about it. So we bought books and scheduled ourselves to attend a breastfeeding class. I was really excited about breastfeeding, I had a plan to breastfeed for at least one year and then go from there.
30 weeks came and everything was right on schedule with our baby girl. We went along with our daily lives not know what would happen in the weeks to come. On Thanksgiving (32 weeks) we attended Thanksgiving dinner at a friends house and had a blast eating wonderful food and playing video games. I think I did way too much cause I had been having what I thought to be braxton hicks all evening into the next day. Jonathan was kind enough to schedule me a prenatal massage in the hope that it would ease my braxton hicks. After the massage I got home and was contraction free for about an hour so we decided to just settle down for the day and watch As the Earth Stood Still. While watching the movie my contractions started picking up again but this time they were actual contractions that went for 30 mins apart to 3-5 mins apart. I was in labor. We rushed to the hospital where they thought I had mixed up braxton hicks with real contractions being a first time mom. The doctor came in and checked me to see if by chance I was in labor and once he checked me he had a weird look on his face and said I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. They gave me steroid shots to help baby girls lungs if she came early and admitted me so they could try to slow my labor. At this point both Jonathan and I were scared about the health of our baby girl if she came this early. They gave me meds which slowed my labor and discharged us a few days later to a cottage behind the hospital so we'd be closer if I happened to go into labor again. The next few weeks flew by and I made it to my 3rd trimester which was a huge relief cause we didn't think we'd make it that far. With the huge possibility of a premature labor we thought our breastfeeding window was slowly closing, but the doctor kept assuring us we would be able to.
December 23rd came around and we joined a group helping Jonathan's Unit FRG wrap presents to raise money for future FRG events. As usual everyone was instantly attracted to my HUGE belly (I looked full term earlier in my pregnancy) and they started making bets on when I would deliver since I only felt 1 kick the entire day. During the day we tried many things to get her to move with no luck so we decided to call it a day early, head home for dinner and try again after that. Baby girl had other plans and at 5:30 pm on December 23rd, a month ahead of schedule, my water broke. I delivered a beautiful baby girl in Okinawa Japan @ 1:51 am December 24th, 2010 she was 5 lbs 15.9 oz and 18 in long. We named her Abigail Grace.
Her 1st physical was good news - she was a pretty healthy baby, so I started trying to breastfeed. I ended up getting some help from a lactation nurse cause I wasn't able to attend the breastfeeding class due to the preterm labor and premature delivery. The latch was a hard thing to master but we eventually got it.
All was going good until, while under the lites, she started shivering horribly. She had become hypothermic. So they whisked her away to put her under a warmer. After about 30 mins they brought her back in and immediately put her back under the lites. They couldn't figure out why her temperature had gotten so low so they did a spinal tap. (scariest moment for me ever in that hospital room) The tests came back normal and we were told to keep her bundled at all times.
Eventually we were allowed to go home and at this time we were still breastfeeding but mostly she was getting it through a bottle.
However, after a few days, she was readmitted for Jaundice and low temps and this time she was under bililites and a warmer. We stayed for a few days and she was released. Months passed and she was losing a lot of weight. We were told they will give Abigail two weeks to show improvement in weight and if not we would have to supplement. I refused for this to happen, so during those 2 weeks we breastfed and pumped day and night hoping that she would show signs of improvement. Once those 2 weeks were over we went back to the doctor's office and she had lost more weight. We had no choice but to started supplementing. As time passed she started refusing breastmilk little by little and that frustrated me. She was choosing formula over my breastmilk. One day she straight up refused my breast and even my breastmilk in the bottle, so I knew my breastfeeding stretch was at its end. So we started our long, long road with formula feeding, trying not to concentrate on not being able to breastfeed but instead being focused with her weight issues. For along time her weight kept fluctuating. About a month ago we started her on 22 k/cal bottles and those seemed to be the cure of her weight issues.
Now at 5 months old I can say my daughter is currently 10 lbs and 4.5 oz and on her way up to a healthy weight! I have never been so happy to bottle feed in my life! I have learnt to never EVER feel bad about not being able to breastfeed your baby, just remember you're doing what's best and that's all you can do! :)
