Layne’s Story – Part Eight

After a very long six-hour ambulance ride we were finally pulling into the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia parking lot.  It was Friday, January 10, 2020 around 7 PM, and I had made it another week in my pregnancy. I was 27 weeks at this point, despite multiple close calls the week before at our local hospital.  It did not feel real.  Each time I “went into labor” the week before it took the wind out of my sails.  I was not sure if I ever was going to make it to Philly, and I cannot explain how happy and safe I felt finally being there. 

Within moments of arriving at CHOP, I was taken out of the ambulance and wheeled on the stretcher through the ER and up to the Labor and Delivery unit where they placed me in room 17.  The nurses assisted getting me off the stretcher and into the bed.  My vitals were checked and I spent the next hour or so anxiously awaiting Jeff’s arrival as he was unable to ride in the ambulance, so he followed behind with our car.   Later that evening, after Jeff had arrived and we were settled in for what we hoped would be a very long stay, the on-call doctor paid us a visit during her rounds.  I had talked with her on the phone the night my water broke and she was a huge advocate for getting me to Philly, so I was extremely excited to finally be seeing her in person.  We chatted about the drive and everything that had happened the week prior and she left me with the hope that I would remain stable and ride out my pregnancy for as long as possible.  At this point Jeff and I had a lot of questions.  We knew that I needed to stay pregnant for as long as possible, but what if I didn’t?  What if she were to come at 27 weeks? 28 weeks?  We wanted to know what our chances were of her surviving in all the possible scenarios.  After discussing these concerns with the on-call doctor, one of the Neonatologists that was there that evening came in to speak with us.  She was very sweet and kind, but she put things into a perspective that Jeff and I knew, but did not want to hear.  She reiterated how sick Layne was and that if she were to be born right now, she more than likely would not survive.  She said every hour, day, and week in the womb is vital and she really would like to see me make it to 36 weeks. 

We had heard this in the weeks prior, but hearing from a doctor that operates on the sickest of sickest babies was tough to hear.  If anyone could help Layne it was these people, and to hear them say her chances were slim hit home.  It was a tough concept to wrap my head around.  Staying pregnant was a must and I was going to do everything in my power to make that happen.  

The next morning, we were greeted with another doctor that was a huge advocate for Layne and I, Dr. G.  We had seen her multiple times in our weekly trips to Philly and she also played a huge roll in getting us to CHOP.  She was coming to do an ultrasound to see how things were looking.  After several minutes of scanning she told us everything looked great and I still had a good amount of amniotic fluid, even though my water had broken a week prior, which was great news.  Things were going well and I was so happy.  A few days later, January 13, 2019, I had an appointment with the MFM’s for another ultrasound.  This time we got to see another favorite doctor, Dr. M. She was the doctor that performed our cyst drainage and my two shunt surgeries.  She was super familiar with our situation and we loved her.  During that scan it was determined that Layne’s scalp edema was completely gone, the cysts appeared to be shrinking, the fluid in her belly was decreasing, and the CVR had gone down to a 1.1.  Things were finally heading in the right direction.  We had waited 9 long weeks to see improvements and we were finally witnessing them.  She even said she was able to see some healthy lung tissue, which was music to my ears.   I had so much hope that she was going to make it, and I just wanted her to stay put for as long as possible. 

The next few days were uneventful.  I spent all my free time in the bed, as I was completely on bedrest.  Jeff was able to work a little here and there and I found shows to binge; anything to make the time pass.  On January 16, 2019, I started feeling a little off.  I was very “crampy”.  Like a menstrual cramp.  It did not hurt, but it was just enough discomfort for me to notice.  Within a couple of hours, I noticed that I began to start spotting.  I informed the nurse of the cramps and spotting and they decided to hook me up to the monitors to see if anything was happening.  The monitors were picking up small, very sporadic, contractions.  It was nothing serious and they were so few and far between that it was nothing to be concerned with at the time.  A few hours later the contractions started to get a little worse and by that evening they were decently intense and coming pretty regularly.  The doctor paid me a visit and said she was comfortable with trying to stop labor one last time, but if this did not work then I may be having a baby sooner rather than later.  Within minutes I was being started on an IV of fluids and doubling up on my medication.  After about an hour, things appeared to be calming down and I had dodged delivery yet again.  I think I am on like 5 or 6 by now.  Pretty amazing.  I was so thankful things did not go south that evening and I was able to rest all night and look forward to my parents coming in the morning to spend the weekend with Jeff and I.

The next morning was going great.  I slept through the night and my parents had already hit the road.  Jeff and I ordered breakfast.  I ordered blueberry pancakes and a bagel, just like I did every morning since being admitted.  Jeff and I shared the pancakes and bagel, and they were surprising really good.  After breakfast I noticed I was starting to get crampy again; just like I was a few days prior.  It was happening again and I did not want to believe it.  Jeff was getting ready to take a shower and I mentioned to him that I was not feeling great again.  We waited a little to see if things would calm down and after about an hour, I finally called the nurse.  I filled her in on how I was feeling and she hooked me up to the monitors.  She consulted with the doctor and based on the fact that I was spotting and contracting she had a good feeling my cervix may be dilating.  She ordered another round of IV fluids and a bolus of Magnesium.  In the past, Layne responded very well to when I was given fluids, so they wanted to do that just in case this was it and delivery was imminent.  The Magnesium was given to coat Layne’s brain.  It has been proven to help prevent cerebral palsy, among other benefits.  If the two were to stop labor again that would be amazing, but at this point things seemed to be progressing.

I had been on the fluids for about an hour and things seemed to be getting worse.  My cramps had turned into contractions and they were starting to get intense.  The fluids and Magnesium were not working like they had before and things were starting to get real.  Before I knew it, the doctor on-call came in and told me that she had been watching my monitor readings and she was a bit concerned at how Layne was responding to the contractions I was having.  For the first time ever, she was in distress.  Every time I had a contraction her heart rate would drop very low, but within seconds it would come right back up.  The doctor said we were ok for now, but at any point if her heart rate did not come back up, we would need to have an emergency C-section.  I then became fixated at watching her HR on the monitor.  I could see it dropping and with each contraction I was having it was taking just a little bit longer for her HR to come back up.  

At this point things were not looking good.  I was contracting regularly and Layne was being watched very, very closely.  It appeared that I was in labor, but they needed to check to see if I was dilating to be 100%.  Sure enough I was.  I had gone from 1.5cm to 3cm.  I was in active labor and there was no stopping it.  I was going to have a baby soon and I could not wrap my brain around it.  I was exactly 28 weeks.  I still had 12 weeks to go.  How could this really be happening. 

In the following 30 minutes things started to get a little hectic.  I was being wheeled out of my room and moved into a labor and delivery room.  Nurses and doctors were coming in and out setting up and getting prepared for a natural birth or c-section.  Things were insane, to say the least.  My contractions started to pick up and I was in pain.  They were coming every 7-8 minutes or so.  Not long after getting switched into the labor and delivery room my parents finally arrived.  Thank goodness. Little did I know things were about to get pretty intense moving forward.  I spent the next few minutes praying so hard.  I begged that He kept her safe.  I had no idea how things were about to play out, but I surprising remained so calm.  I felt at peace.  I knew this could not be the end of our journey and I was trusting He had it under control.