SUPER LONG I'm SORRY😘

Tiny bit of back story:

This past April I lost my first baby, Thomas at 20 weeks. Friday morning I woke up and I was bleeding a bit so I went by the ER, they said it was spotting due to sex and baby's heart was fine. Saturday morning I started feeling what I thought were awful cramps and they told me I had a UTI, gave me antibiotics, a shot of morphine, and said baby's heartbeat was still strong. That night and into Easter Sunday I was in excruciating pain but they'd told me I'd experience pain due to the UTI.. until my water exploded and my baby stuck his foot out of me.

Now onto my rainbow baby's birth!

Monday night my husband and I had sex and afterwards I noticed a bit of blood. I remember this is how it all began before and I am FREAKING OUT. Tuesday morning I noticed a bit more blood and what I guessed was my mucus plug and I called my doctors office where they promised a nurse would call me in a few hours. Wednesday morning the nurses line called me and asked me to come in. My husband and I rush to the doctors office and an ultrasound is done. Baby looks fine, baby's heart is fine no big deal.

That night beginning at 11 pm, cramps. Around 3 am the contractions began. I kept telling myself they weren't real and I was imagining them being more painful than they really were.. I wake up my husband and he reassures me everything is fine. 8 AM I get in the shower crouching and my husband finally realizes we need to go to the hospital.

9 AM I'm in L&D; triage, 7 cm dilated, bulging bag.. they rush me to a room, start me on magnesium, antibiotics, steroids, fluids and a catheter. contractions are almost on top of each other. I'm in hella pain but I'm trying to keep calm because my baby is only 24 wks 6 days and I want to make it further. They hope I can make it 45 minutes to an hour so the steroids and mess have a chance to make it in our systems....

2 PM comes around and I am DYING. The contractions are on top of each other, and I'm in back labor now. 2:30 they offer me an epidural and I reluctantly agreed.. I haven't eaten since the evening before and the hospital ran out of popsicles but I don't let my husband leave my side to go buy me some. Now they just want me to make it to midnight so I can get another round of steroids. At this point I've gotten 4 antibiotic treatments, 3 bags of magnesium, 2 rounds of steroids and fluids. At midnight, I finally agree to try to take a nap so I can be some what rested.....

30 minutes later, my nurse Christina runs in when she notices the baby's heart rate dropped tremendously. I'm half asleep, my husband is knocked out on the couch. She calls in another nurse for help finding the baby's heartbeat, she shoves her hand up you know where and then I hear them say over their headsets; ITS TIME. 2 OBS, a respiratory tech, neonatal doctor, neonatal nurse practitioner, recorder, 4 nurses (and lord knows who else) run in. All of a sudden I start shaking like I've never been out of the sun and they're puncturing my water bag. After what felt like a warm eternity it's time to push. I push once for 10 seconds and nothing. Nurse Christina looks at me and tells me I need to push for my baby to make it and I push harder than I've ever done anything in my life and out she comes still inside the placenta.

I'm shivering and shaking, my epidural is turned off. My husband and I don't get to cut a cord or hold our baby..

our little Katherine is taken by the NICU team and wrapped up like a burrito and we don't see her for the next 4 hours or so while she is being taken care of.

October 20th my rainbow baby Katherine Belle was born at 1:23 am at exactly 25 weeks. She weighed 1 pound 9.8 ounces and was 13 inches long. It's been 5 days and I still cannot get over the fact that she's here, no longer inside of me. She'll probably be in the NICU until her due date in February but I'm glad she's doing well and stable.

We finally got to touch her hands yesterday and I took her temperature for the first time as well😊 I wish she'd waited until her due date but I'm so thankful she's okay and she's mine. She is super sassy already but doing well.

Thanks for reading! I always enjoy reading birth stories I think they're so beautiful no matter how short/long/yucky, etc.