A Matter of Minutes

It only takes a matter of minutes to change the future.
(Written on 8/16)

On Sunday, August 11th, 2 days after my Aunt's funeral, I started having minor signs of pre-term labor.  I made an appointment with my Dr. on Monday and he decided we needed to do a cerclage (sew my cervix shut).  I wasn't dialated, but my cervix was thinning. My Dr. was leaving town on Wed. and was packed tight for appointments on Tues. He felt we needed to do the surgery sooner than later though. So he was able to set up the surgery for Tues. morning.  By the time I was ready for surgery at 9 am I felt like I was already in light labor with contractions 5 min. apart.  My Dr. was a bit surprised that I had dialated to a 4 just since the day before.  He was able to still do an emergency cerlcage and close my cervix, but I was transported to a different hospital so I could be near an NICU(newborn intensive care unit).  Had I not had the surgery that morning, I would have had Kate that day. I'm so grateful my Dr. had the intuition about what needed to happen! I was only 23 weeks and 3 days into my pregnancy.  The babies chances of survival at that time were somewhere near 40% chance with 80% chance of neurological severe impairments if born. 
 I've been here at the hospital since Tuesday- I'm basically a "ticking time bomb" so I've been put on strict bed rest and am being watched carefully for any signs of labor.  Every day counts- every week makes a huge difference in this babies future lifestyle.  If I can at least get to 28 weeks, she will be on a little safer ground-and more fully developed.  My third child, Kam, was born at 28 weeks- and although it was terribly hard- he has done wonderful.