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| Happily expecting... |
Welcome! This journey began in April 2010 when we learned that we were expecting a baby! We were thrilled!!! The baby's due date was Dec. 9th, and we had lots of plans before that. We were planning a really fun baby shower on Oct. 24th at the Oak Bar in Boston. Kat was working on wrapping up her dissertation, and had her Ph.D. defense scheduled for Nov. 19th. But things don't always go according to plan...
On Wednesday September 29th we hit an unexpected bump in the road with our pregnancy. Kat’s water broke prematurely (29 weeks and 6 days gestational age) at 5:45 am while she was peacefully lying in bed. We rushed to Brigham and Women’s hospital, where the next 48 hours were devoted to preventing labor and speeding up the maturation of the baby’s lungs with steroids to get him ready for the outside world.
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Making the best of bed rest
at the hospital |
We are happy that premature labor was successfully prevented. Kat moved on to bed rest on the 8th floor of Brigham and Women’s hospital, and had to remain hospitalized until the baby's birth. The doctors said that this could happen any hour, or take a few weeks. We remained optimistic and positive, and Kat focused on being a good incubator for the baby as long as possible.
Kat was able to keep Nicholas inside for an extra month after her water broke. Her vital signs and the baby's heart rate were monitored every four hours to make sure that everything was progressing smoothly. When Kat's pregnancy reached 34 weeks, the doctors said that the risks of infection for keeping the baby inside with ruptured amniotic sack outweigh the risks of prematurity, and scheduled the delivery of the baby on Oct. 29, 2010. The baby had to be delivered by C-section because he was breech (feet down), and vaginal delivery would be too risky, especially for a premature baby.
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We did it! Happy family reunited for
the first time after birth! |
Nicholas was born on Oct. 29, 2010 weighing 5 pounds (2, 270 grams) and measuring 17 inches (43 cm). He was breathing on his own, and showed off his lung capacity and strong voice immediately. His Apgar scores were 8 and 9 at 1 min and 3 min after birth. Nicholas had to spend two weeks at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Brigham and Women's hospital to make sure that he was successful at breathing, eating, and maintaining his own body temperature. He graduated NICU on Nov. 11 and reunited with his family at home.Thank you for reading and for keeping in touch with us. Please read the individual entries to stay updated with adventures of Nicholas.
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| Napping at home on daddy's shoulder. |
