Judah's Story

When Norah was 11 months old, we found out we were pregnant again. We weren’t trying, but also weren’t trying not to get pregnant. I had an ultrasound at 6 weeks to check everything out and was also advised by my doctor and midwife to discontinue breastfeeding since it can cause uterine contractions. I was disappointed since I had wanted to go to Norah’s 2nd birthday if possible. My doctor also advised me to have an elective cerclage at 14 weeks. We did just that and had a very non-eventful pregnancy until around 28 weeks. In later ultrasounds, we found out the baby was a boy. I developed gestational diabetes around 26 weeks and was put on the diabetic diet. I lost about 10 pounds in the next 2 weeks, which was all fine. At around 28 weeks, I started having some contractions and went to L&D to be checked. The cerclage was holding fine and I was put on IV meds to stop the contractions. They let me go home on bedrest the following day. My husband, Forrest, took vacation to be home to take care of Norah and me. We had already been planning for him to quit his job once the baby was born or whenever I could no longer handle working and caring for Norah. So, the following week, he gave his notice and took the rest of his vacation. We made it on bed rest for about 2 and a half weeks. I started having severe pain in my sides one morning and knew that it was serious. We got Norah out of bed and headed to the hospital. Once they got me on the fetal heart rate monitor, they soon determined that our baby boy was in serious distress. My doctor was not there yet, but it couldn’t wait. The on-call surgeon did an emergency c-section, cutting me alongside the old incision. My uterus had ruptured along the old uterine incision and the placenta was through the rupture. The doctor cut my uterus open in the lower transverse manner to get the baby out. My doctor got there shortly after delivery and spent the next 2 hours repairing my uterus. Forrest Judah was born on January 31, 2008 at 10:16 am at 4 pounds 3 ounces and 17” long. His initial apgar score was a 1 (out of 10) which means he was almost dead. The wonderful NICU staff that had so aptly cared for Norah revived our little Judah and stabilized him quickly. He was on a ventilator briefly during that first day, but quickly pulled it out with his hands. By the next day, he had pulled off his oxygen canula. He was exactly 31 weeks at birth, but the hospital staff commented that he was a big 31-weeker. They gave us an estimate that he might go home in 5 weeks. He was quickly overcoming hurdles and gaining weight rapidly. At 1 week and 2 days old, he had his first bottle and the following day had his first breastfeeding. He did well on by-mouth feedings and was sent home at 2 weeks and 6 days.