Well Regan will turn the big Thirteen on Thursday and It has been an incredible journey for us. It is absolutely amazing how much she has made a huge difference in our lives. Thirteen years ago today I went into labor at 24 weeks, and was sent from my small town hospital to the city of Houston by ambulance. Here are Thirteen amazing facts about that very scary week for me in history.
1. John Mark and I had been married exactly six months when I started getting contractions, although I had no idea that was what was happening. We were newlyweds, in a new town, new house, and John Mark and I were both in new jobs. In other words young and clueless.
2. My In-laws rushed to be with us in the emergency room, but ended up being delayed at our hospital and not being able to follow us immediately because my dear Mother in law fainted, and they insisted on keeping her for a moment.
3, In the ambulance on the way to Houston (2 1/2 hours away) the only thing I can remember is that the blood pressure cuff broke, and it kept filling up with air and not stopping...it was painful.
4. I was taken to ST. Luke's hospital in Houston because it is connected by hallways to Texas Children's Hospital and the NICU unit there.
5. The "brilliant" plan was to invert me to have gravity keep her in so for the next four days my feet were above my head, and my face was quite red.
6. I was given so many different baby boosting drugs, just in case she came early that I have no idea to this day everything I took.
7. I was more depressed about not being able to wash my hair, and looking like a greasy red-faced mess than anything else, that finally one of the nurses took pity on me, and washed my hair for me in a sink....but still upside down.
8. We had not agreed on a baby name yet, but knew she was a girl, so John Mark agreed that I could name her my favorite name in the whole world Regan Elisabeth. Regan is a last name in our family genealogy (I am also a huge republican so bonus!) and Elisabeth makes her the fourth generation of oldest girls with that as a middle name. I am Christine Elisabeth.
9. We lasted upside down for four days, and then she was delivered by cesarean so that no more trauma to her would be caused.
10. She weighed 1 pound 6 ounces at birth, and looked so tiny that my dad dubbed her the red wrinkled frog. With all the tubes and monitors on her, you could barely see skin...but it was bright red.
11. After I gave birth, and they rushed her to the NICU I had a fever and couldn't see her for two more days, so I watched a lot of video on her that John Mark, and my parents took for me.
12. There are about five different things you have to do before entering a NICU, and all of them take forever when you are anxious to see your child.
13. The initial things that were wrong, was her lungs had not developed yet in the womb, and her brain had suffered a low grade bleed. Which we later (two years later) found out is sometimes early code for cerebral palsy.
Wow that's a lot of stuff! I am truly blessed by my sweet Regan, and although she is as stubborn and obsessive as they come, she is the best almost-thirteen year old I know.
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