I was sooooo sick the first trimester. We had our confirmation appointment with our OB and I kept telling him something must be wrong. I was tired and so nauseous but he said it was because I have a two year old and each pregnancy is different. I was a trooper. I couldn't keep a thing down but I managed to box up an entire house by myself while watching an energetic 2 year old.
Things slowly moved along and the sickness finally eased up but the exhaustion kept getting worse. I could sleep day and night and doing but the simplest thing wore me out. Pregnancy is no fun for me. Things were going well until we went in for our 20 week ultrasound.
When we saw the specialist nothing was much different except that he was way too small for his gestational age, and his bowels are blocked. The physician said that the blood work showed no Down Syndrome or other genetic disorders so he asked us to draw blood for a virus called Cytomegalovirus. That test came back positive.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a virus that can be contracted at any point in our lives and each one of us could already have it without showing any signs or symptoms. It is most commonly contracted from children of a young age who are in school or daycare. It is harmless unless you contract it when you are pregnant and it is worse if you catch it early in your pregnancy. It can be fatal to any fetus and most mothers don't know their fetus's are infected until after birth. It is more common than Down's syndrome but the severity of the condition can range from hearing loss and blindness to seizure disorders and developmental delays. All the cases are different depending on the severity of the infection of the fetus.
We were told after we did and amniocentesis that the baby was most likely infected and that based on his signs during our ultrasounds he may not live to term. Our baby was so small, he had and enlarged heart, blocked bowels, cyst on his cerebellum and really low amniotic fluid but is in a pretty bad case. After a lot of research the doctor recommended a treatment called Cytogam. This treatment had showed some success in helping relieve some of the problems that CMV can cause and possible help us carry little Ollie to term without the need for Pre-term birth. We did two four hour treatments in the hospital at 24 and 28 weeks and he put me on Acyclovir for the remainder of my pregnancy to help keep the virus dormant. After our first treatment I went from looking 13 weeks pregnant to my actual gestation size. From one week to another people were shocked that I was pregnant and that I was so far along. We had such success with the first that we hoped the second would really help. Ollie went from occasional movements to ninja in a matter of days. Amazingly my energy improved and I didn't feel as sick. The second treatment was not as amazing and didn't make much of a difference but we were optimistic. Our physician was so tickled that he was excited to see every other week just out of curiosity (these treatments are not the norm and we were his first case of cCMV in his career of 20 years). He said that we would carry to term easily and that he could possibly have little to no effect from the infection. He had set up a team to help us when we deliver Oliver so that he could get the best possible care for his needs and all we did was wait for him to come into this world.
I had discussed with my regular OB that I didn't want to carry past my due date. I was the one who gave Oliver this virus and part of me wanted him out of me when he made it to term because I felt that the sooner he was out the less damage the virus would do to him. The OB agreed and scheduled us for Induction on March 1st 2014. My body was not starting to show like I was going to give birth around that time and I was only 1 cm dilated after two membrane peels (ouch by the way). I was having small contractions on and off but they just wouldn't go anywhere and walking was not helping.
We were supposed to go in for our induction at 3pm but the hospital told us there was no room for us so we had to wait, and wait, and wait. Finally at 11pm they called and told us that there was a bed ready. I was having some very mild cramping in my lower back but didn't think it would go anywhere because it hadn't the other 100 times before.
We were set up in a room at the hospital and given a pill to start the process. The contractions came on hard and fast but after 6 hours I had only dilated 1 cm. The nurse gave me another pill and we had to wait 6 more hours. The contractions started to come on regularly and super strong and finally I was ready to be moved into labor and delivery. At this point we had been in the hospital for 12 hours and I was just a barely 4 cm. They hooked me up to pitocin and started the epidural (cause I'm a wuss) I was so tired and in so much pain that I balled like a baby. The midwife and the OB came in and talked to me about our baby and for the 100th time I had to explain everything in detail. The running joke with my OB and his office is that because my first was so big that Ollie would literally just slide out or take no more than three pushes so the on call OB was rather excited to be a part of our birth ( and because we were cCMV) I was on the pitocin for maybe 2 hours and with no progress. The physician said it could be 5-6 more hours easy and that he would check on me periodically BUT if I have any pressure that I need to let them know. 1 hour later I got really nauseous and told the nurse my blood sugar had dropped and needed juice or I would throw up. I later learned that I was transitioning. 1 hour after that while watching The Walking Dead (love that show) I felt a gush and a whole lot of pressure. I waited to see if it would happen again and boy did it! I called the nurse and she came in the room to check me and told me it was time to have the baby. My husband was asleep in the chair and jumped up wide eyed and terrified (just like the first time) and started to fuss. They keep telling me NOT to push and but they wanted me to move around on the table to give birth. That is an impossible task. My body was already pushing him out and all these people are telling me not to do anything but scoot my booty down the table. I yelled to "shut up!!!!" The midwife came running in the room to gown up and barely but her gloves on before I started to push. Three pushes later and Ollie was in the room. It took two minutes to deliver that little boy. The OB missed it because he was too slow.
Unlike with Gabe, I never got to hold Oliver right away. It took them an hour to do his vitals and check on him and then another hour to get approval from other physicians and specialists before he was able to have skin to skin contact. He had all fingers and toes and he was perfect!
Oliver was born on March 2, 2014 at 11:58pm. He weighed 6lb 11oz and he was 18.5 inches tall and he had a knot in his umbilical cord. He is our miracle baby. He has a seizure disorder because he was born with calcium deposits on his brain. He is very small for his age and has microcephaly. He is physically and mentally delayed. He is the happiest baby boy. He wakes up laughing everyday from his naps and smiles at anyone who makes eye contact with him. He loves to cuddle and has so much love to give! He isn't a normal typical baby boy and has little control over the left side of his body. He has given us many scares and is a big challenge but he is a blessing in our lives and we wouldn't want it any other way.
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