Well, the journey sort of began here...I was actually about 20 weeks pregnant then, but the photos seem to capture the essence of the pregnancy at that time. I was still in Albuquerque, I had just been put on bed rest and my mom had come out to help me prepare for the move to the East Coast. I wanted to try to recapture some of this experience from the beginning for everyone. Just before we left, Tasha graciously captured the moment with this beautiful photo shoot in the foothills not far from my house, with mom and Bailey.
I was a high risk pregnancy and in the care of the wonderful, very capable perinatologists here in Albuquerque. I was being monitored closely by cardiologists and neurologists for other problems associated with the pregnancy, biweekly ultrasounds, triple screens, amniocentesis (times 2), and a myriad of other tests. When I went in for a routine 2 week visit, they discovered that my cervix was shortening, later to be called incompetent, and this was grounds for immediate bed rest. We started with a minimal variety, fondly known as "house arrest," where I was supposed to just stay at home, no work, no working out, no dog walking, no grocery shopping, no nursery preparation, no lifting, etc, etc. Not too bad, except the house arrest then quickly progressed to moderate bed rest with the ever-shortening cervix which meant mostly lying down, occasionally I would be allowed to sit upright, but only for 20 minutes maximum. Pretty much limited in everything...no cooking, cleaning. So, since I lived by myself, the rest is history, I was Manhattan bound. Brian would take care of me in between classes, final exams, papers, meetings, presentations, and research for his dissertation. Bailey was eventually to find his new temporary digs in Florida with Brian's ever-gracious parents and their dog Max.
We were in the great care of another perinatologist group associated with NY Columbia Presbyterian. I chose to be affiliated with them because they have one out of 2 level IV NICU's in Manhattan and this was the closer of the two to where we lived on the upper west side. At 23 weeks, my Doctor was very concerned with my history and she thought with my cervix as short as it was I was going to deliver within the following 2 weeks!!! So, needless to say we were in and out of the OB triage, hospital admission and office visits from then on. I was upgraded to strict bed rest, which meant only bathroom privileges. I was no longer allowed to walk to the taxi to get to my appointments, she prescribed a wheelchair.
Every week I would get the morbidity and mortality reports from Brian (MMWR!!) for our week of gestation. It was all pretty devastating for me until we finally reached 28 weeks. A huge sigh of relief was heard around the state! However, if I could lay on my side for a few more weeks, I knew we would all be much better off. When I made it to 31 weeks, my doctor said this was a miracle, a huge success story since she didn't really think I was going to make it past 24 weeks when I first met her. Strong will and determination to lie still for a few more months helped me over that hurdle. It was probably one of the most difficult things I have done. Thanks to all my friends who kept me going over the phone, on email and visiting me in person, or I never would have made it. Also, Brian gave me a "weekly walk" in the wheelchair (if I had been good, he said) once the weather got warm. It is such a sad thing, but I lived for those walks, just to see the sky and feel the sun on my face and see that there was actually life going on outside my four (tiny) walls!!
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