Pre-term baby at 6 months

Everything was fine until August when I was six months pregnant. I woke up to find myself all wet. I was a little bit worried thinking that I might have peed on myself. I did not want my husband who was sleeping by my side to know what was going on. I came out of the bed and noted that beside my night dress, the bed sheets were wet too, as was my husband’s pyjama on one side.

Having been married for six years, my husband, Francis, and I were expecting our first child. At that time, we were doing our Masters courses and thought it was not the right time for us to have a baby as we wanted to be done with our education before getting children. We had planned that after our education we should have two children because of the high cost of living.

Immediately after our wedding in June, I consulted a doctor about family planning options. The doctor advised me to use Norplant, and I applied the one that lasts for years-it can be removed whenever one is ready to have a baby.

In February  my husband and I decided to try for a baby and I conceived immediately. We loved the forthcoming baby from the time we realised we were going to be parents. I was only one month pregnant yet from the way I behaved one would have thought I was nine months already! Even though I had nausea in the morning and fatigue in the evening, the complications would not be compared with the love I felt for the forthcoming baby. We never missed the visits to antenatal clinics; we were seeing a private gynaecologist in the city centre.

Now that I had peed on my husband as well, I knew there would be no escape. I decided to wake him up to reveal what I had done!

My brain kept playing games with me; how could I have peed on myself? When I went to the bathroom, I saw a blood stain on my pant. That is when I knew something was definitely wrong. We called our doctor who told us to meet him in his clinic. Since I was not in pain we took our breakfast and at around 10 a.m. we went to see the doctor.

I explained what happened and he did some vaginal examinations, which were very uncomfortable. After the examinations the doctor told us that I must be admitted immediately because my cervix had dilated 4 cm and my amniotic sac had broken!

The bloody stain I had seen on my panty was something called a ‘show’ which comes out when one is in labour. There was no way he could prevent the baby from coming out. I was speechless for a while tears flowed freely down my cheeks.

How could I be in labour when I was only six months pregnant? My EDD was 15 November ! I really needed answers but there was no time for questions-the doctor warned that the risk of infection was high once the waters break. Both my husband and I were frightened but by the help of our doctor we managed to get hold of ourselves and checked into the hospital.

At around 12 noon I was admitted. I began feeling some mild stomach pains. By 3 p.m. The contractions were so strong that I thought I would go berserk! After every few minutes the nurses would come check the baby’s heartbeat and do more vaginal examinations; yet I was in so much pain. A point came when I did not want anyone near me-including my own husband who was busy rubbing my back. By 6 p.m. I was partially loosing my vision because of the pain. I became very weak.

The doctor recommended that I be augmented since what I felt as strong contractions were not strong enough to make me deliver. I thank God because 30 minutes after being augmented I delivered a premature baby boy who weighed 1.57 kilograms.

He was so tiny and he needed to be resuscitated. My greatest worry as a new mother was whether he would survive. The external environment seemed so harsh on him.

The doctor assured me that the baby was in good hands and there was no need for me to be alarmed. Our bundle of joy was going to be put in an incubator where the temperatures were conducive for him. On the third day his weight dropped by one gram but the paediatrician told me that it was due to environmental changes.

I was discharged on the fourth day but I had to leave the baby behind in the incubator for another three weeks. The doctor wanted him to achieve a weight of 2 kilograms before being released to us. It was a trying moment because even though I was discharged I had to go to the hospital every day.

Throughout the first week I expressed breast milk for him to be fed with a nasal tube. In the evening my husband would pick me up on his way home from work. He really supported me during that time. The nurses were also very accommodating and offered me a bed in the maternity ward where I would rest. Because of the daily movements my episiotomy broke and I had to get stitched again.

After three weeks our son was discharged and the joy of having him around could not be compared with any of the difficult times we went through. We named him Abraham who in the Bible was the father of many nations, believing God that our son too will be a father of many.

Abraham is now one-and-a-half years old. When both my husband and I look at him we can hardly believe he survived from a premature and underweight baby to grow so big.

END: PG  11 /50