My husband and I had been married for a year and a half when we found out we were pregnant. I told him the news on his 30th birthday and we couldn't be happier.
When I had my first OB visit, I was asked to fill out a form that had specific questions about my lifestyle and background. Do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you exercise? What's your race? Marital Status? Age? Number of Pregnancies? Miscarriages? And then a long list of illnesses to which I had to write whether we or any member of our families ever had.
With such a good clinical history and a healthy lifestyle, I was set to a very healthy pregnancy. I had terrible nausea and some vomiting during the first trimester, but once I hit the second one everything went great. We knew since the 20th week that we were having a boy, and by the 34th week we had decided he would be a Junior. I only had the initial sonogram, and then the 20th week ultrasound. During the checkups, I got to hear my baby's heart each time and everything was great!
Thanksgiving was around the corner. Patrick was due on November 18th but had no sign of being born any time soon so I was told I needed to be induced, and the date set was November 23. The process started early in the morning. Not much happened during the day, but by the evening, I was given the epidural and had my water broken by the doctor. 5 hours later, at 2:08am on November 24th, 2010 my son was born at the Inova Alexandria Hospital. Patrick was born 20.5 inches long, and 7lbs 14oz. He was healthy, and not only he didn't require to stay any longer at the hospital, we were actually sent home the very next day to enjoy Thanksgiving at home. What a wonderful Thanksgiving day it was!
Every time we see a new specialist regarding Patrick's health, I'm asked if there were any complications during pregnancy or at birth. Looking back I can say without hesitation that there weren't. Nothing ever raised a flag that Patrick would have a few health issues later. This doesn't mean that if you are having a good pregnancy you still have to worry about your baby's well being. I'm pregnant now and I can't allow myself to think that way and neither should any pregnant woman. Also, I'm not saying it is OK to drink, smoke and do drugs during pregnancy, because even when you have a healthy life style, your son may not be completely healthy. Not at all. The healthier your life style is, the healthier your baby will be. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. There are rare cases where the opposite will occur, and we just happened to be one of the exceptions.
Patrick was born with Oculomotor Apraxia and Hypotonia, and there is nothing I could have done to prevent that. I couldn't help Patrick before he was here, but now that my little man is here, there are so many things I can do to help him catch up with his friends' developments sooner rather than later. He was given to us with teeny tiny physical disadvantages for a reason, and I can happily say that one of the reasons was to bring me closer to God.
Happy 2nd Birthday Patrick. You are truly a blessing to this family.
When I had my first OB visit, I was asked to fill out a form that had specific questions about my lifestyle and background. Do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you exercise? What's your race? Marital Status? Age? Number of Pregnancies? Miscarriages? And then a long list of illnesses to which I had to write whether we or any member of our families ever had.
With such a good clinical history and a healthy lifestyle, I was set to a very healthy pregnancy. I had terrible nausea and some vomiting during the first trimester, but once I hit the second one everything went great. We knew since the 20th week that we were having a boy, and by the 34th week we had decided he would be a Junior. I only had the initial sonogram, and then the 20th week ultrasound. During the checkups, I got to hear my baby's heart each time and everything was great!
Thanksgiving was around the corner. Patrick was due on November 18th but had no sign of being born any time soon so I was told I needed to be induced, and the date set was November 23. The process started early in the morning. Not much happened during the day, but by the evening, I was given the epidural and had my water broken by the doctor. 5 hours later, at 2:08am on November 24th, 2010 my son was born at the Inova Alexandria Hospital. Patrick was born 20.5 inches long, and 7lbs 14oz. He was healthy, and not only he didn't require to stay any longer at the hospital, we were actually sent home the very next day to enjoy Thanksgiving at home. What a wonderful Thanksgiving day it was!
I know there are a lot of women that get to deliver naturally and without any medicine involved. Others have C-Sections, and I know, too, that there are a great number of women that get induced, get an epidural, and even have their water broken by the doctor, so all in all I think Patrick's delivery was within the "norm".
Every time we see a new specialist regarding Patrick's health, I'm asked if there were any complications during pregnancy or at birth. Looking back I can say without hesitation that there weren't. Nothing ever raised a flag that Patrick would have a few health issues later. This doesn't mean that if you are having a good pregnancy you still have to worry about your baby's well being. I'm pregnant now and I can't allow myself to think that way and neither should any pregnant woman. Also, I'm not saying it is OK to drink, smoke and do drugs during pregnancy, because even when you have a healthy life style, your son may not be completely healthy. Not at all. The healthier your life style is, the healthier your baby will be. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. There are rare cases where the opposite will occur, and we just happened to be one of the exceptions.
Patrick was born with Oculomotor Apraxia and Hypotonia, and there is nothing I could have done to prevent that. I couldn't help Patrick before he was here, but now that my little man is here, there are so many things I can do to help him catch up with his friends' developments sooner rather than later. He was given to us with teeny tiny physical disadvantages for a reason, and I can happily say that one of the reasons was to bring me closer to God.
Happy 2nd Birthday Patrick. You are truly a blessing to this family.
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