Button Blossoms: March for Babies Monday; Miracle shots...no joke!

Brendan the night he was born at 30 weeks 2 days gestation

The FDA recently approved the use of progesterone treatments for preventing preterm birth for women who have had a. a previous spontaneous preterm birth with one baby and b. currently pregnant with one baby. Please read these links through the March of Dimes website on more information about these miracle shots.
March of Dime: Progesterone
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee Opinion #419:
New research about progesterone

I remember the night after our son was born, my doctor came up to visit us in the NICU on her way home from work. She was amazed at how stable he was because of being so early. She said you sometimes cannot tell when a woman will go into preterm labor. There were no risk factors for me. I had just been to the doctor two days prior to his birth. She then went on to tell us a little how my next pregnancy would look (like I could imagine having another after my son was just born 10 weeks early!) and being labeled as high risk. She mentioned a shot that was given once a week for an extended period of time and it had amazing statistics at keeping women pregnant longer. That was the last time I really thought about that for the next couple of years. We were unsure if we would have anymore because of the greater chance I would deliver so early again and the stress of having another baby in the NICU. All our time was put into Brendan and keeping him healthy.

Brendan is 3!

Fast forward to fall of 2008, Brendan was nearing his third birthday (January) and was very independent. We decided it was time to think about having another and got all the information from my doctor about what my pregnancy would look like for the coming nine (hopefully!) months. This was my list:

doctor visits biweekly beginning at 12 weeks
cervical exams biweekly beginning at 12 weeks
cervical length ultrasounds at 13, 20, 26 weeks
progesterone shots weekly beginning at 17 weeks-35weeks
no working at 19-20 weeks
modified bed rest beginning at 24-26 weeks-35-36weeks
no heavy lifting/carrying over 5lbs
no housework after bed rest began

This list was pretty overwhelming and I kept laughing thinking of what my husband would say when I gave him my rules. We took some time to think about it and in May 2009 our journey began when my test read: pregnant! It started stressful when I had early bleeding and was then labeled "threatened miscarriage." Two ultrasounds later showed a strong heartbeat at 6 weeks and another at 9 weeks confirmed a thriving healthy baby.

Round #2: May 11, 2009

Surprising Daddy...I'm going to be a big brother!

About 7 weeks later at 16 weeks, I received a call from the nurse at the office to talk to me about the "miracle shots" I had been hearing about and would begin the following week. I had to pick them up from a certain pharmacy, each jar lasted 4 treatments (weeks), they would hurt, they would be given in my derriere on alternating sides each week, they would hurt, they were amazing, and they would hurt, and would cost $50 per jar. She really told me that it would hurt all those times. She said I would have a hard and lumpy backside but my baby would stay put.

My journey of "butt shots" commenced and my nurse became such a good friend as did everyone else in the office. We laughed, we cried, and we joked over the next 17 weeks of shots. Each week they told me another story of a woman who had these shots and she is full term and another is overdue. It was so uplifting to hear and each week I thought that my baby would be too because of these shots. The first four weeks were a breeze to get with just a little soreness to sit. Then it started to hurt. Not a ton. Just enough to wince while they gave you the shot and the next day or two sitting. Now my bed rest was starting up and getting shots and then having just to sit was rough and this is when cold packs became my friends. The baby was staying put so that it what mattered. The last few shots were not so bad. I was ecstatic to be so far into my pregnancy that a little shot was no big deal and my last shot was at 35 weeks and that night I thought I was going into labor...early...again. I had contractions about an hour and then fell asleep. I called the very next morning and talked with my nurse. She assured me that 1. the contractions stopped, 2. I was able to sleep, and 3. I wasn't holding my baby so therefore I was not in labor. At my next appointment I was checked and was 1 cm and 50% effaced...a change from last week's check and thank you miracle shots for working! I stayed this way for the next 5 weeks and on my due date our sweet little Lila was born healthy and full-term!