November is Preemie Month!

We know all to well about preemies around here and November is prematurity month. I feel really blessed with Peyton being born with very few problems. Although with him it makes me realize that people who only know our story think that it isn't a big deal to have a preemie. Even with him doing well it still was a big deal. Actually I still get upset when some think that preemie Peyton didn't have his problems and it must not have been bad for us. It was. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.

For those that don't know.

Peyton was born at 33 weeks. There is a huge novel that I would have to get into before he was born to realize why he was so early. Starting with at 27 weeks I had surgery to remove my gallbladder and unfortunatly the surgeon went in liposcopy and hit my uterus, caused the amniotic fluid to come out into my abdominal cavity and I ended up with open surgery to clean it out.

That started the first preterm labor I had.

Many problems later... At 32 1/2 weeks they found a clot in my uterus the size of a golf ball. I was in labor then, but I wasn't dialating so they brushed it off as braxton hicks. 33 weeks Peyton could not be stopped coming and was born.

He did have problems as many 33 weekers would, but I really really believe that because my doctor was so active in giving me lots and lots of painful steriod shots, that he was better than most.

He was not lifeflighted like they threatened.

He was on oxygen for a few hours after he was first born.

We weren't allowed to hold him for 4 days because of him not gaining weight, sucking (he was on the feeding tube), and the biggest was his jaundice was so high. It is very emotional to have a sick baby and see him struggle and not be able to help him.

I honestly feel guilty because I know there are preemies out there who were not quite as lucky as Peyton and are still dealing with problems. But I realize that if I can be active and tell people that I truly believe that the steriods helped him then maybe someone else will realize that and opt for them too instead of hearing the bad about them.

Now my biggest problem with him is trying to keep him out of the toilet.