Paige Noelle Sex: girl Born: 28 January, 2008 Age: 0 years & 312 days Birthday in: 53 days Starsign: Aquarius Development: See the 10 months page. Biggest achievement so far: I can sleep through the night!!!

Birth details

Type of delivery: Cesarean section
Duration of labor: 3.5 hours
Weight @ birth: 2 lb, 1 oz
Length @ birth: 14.5 inches

Paige's Birth Story

I was 27 weeks and 5 days pregnant.... I woke up at 5:30am when my water broke. The gush of fluid was huge but painless. I spent about 5 seconds in a total panic, then somehow gathered my wits about me and leaned over to tell my husband, "Get up! My water broke! We need to go!" My husband was dressed and across the room before I even got all the words out of my mouth. He was in as much of a panic as me, but it later turns out he had no idea our little girl could still be alive.... so it's even more of a miracle that he was able to function and get us to where we needed to be. I called the doctor and told him I was on the way to the hospital. I wasn't in any pain.... yet. We were in the car 5 minutes later; three blocks down the road the contractions started. I told my husband, "I feel pressure, like she is trying to come out. She can't! We need to get to the hospital so they can save her!!!" This was when my husband first realized our daughter still had a chance. He drove faster, but it still wasn't fast enough for me (my contractions were getting worse and I was trying with all my might to "hold her in"). We spotted a police car up the road and I yelled to my husband to pull over next to them and get help; I wasn't going to make it to the hospital (my OB's hospital is 30-40 minutes away). I started yelling at the police officers "We're not going to make it!" They must have thought I was insane!!! My husband quickly explained the situation and I called my doctor back; he said to go to the nearest hospital. The police called an ambulance and I told them that it wasn't going to be fast enough! (LOL I can't believe that I was screaming so much at the police!!). Three minutes later the ambulance showed up, and three minutes after that I was in the hospital. My contractions were two minutes apart, but as soon as I was wheeled into the ER they stopped! I knew my little girl was still alive because she started kicking me in the ambulance. Her heart rate was strong and in the 150s; they gave me a steroid shot and did an ultrasound. She scored really low on her ultrasound because she wasn't doing her breathing excercises, which is a sign of fetal distress. The doctors immediately decided to get her out with a c-section.

I got a spinal (which took FOREVER to numb me) and they had to cut my uterus vertically to get her out... she was not only breech but jammed in on one side of my womb. The first thing I remember about her was hearing her cry; I was amazed because I didn't think her lungs were developed enough to do so. She sounded like a little kitty cat meowing. The doctors announced that she was 2 lbs, 1 oz and I remember thinking, thank GOODNESS she is over 2 lbs, it gives her a better chance at survival. Apparently at this point I yelled out that she needed to be Christened right away LOL. They then wrapped her up and wheeled her over for my husband and I to see while they were stitching me up. I was actually inverted a bit on the OR table and couldn't see her under all those blankets, but my husband assured me she was in there. She went from an APGAR score of 2 to a score of 9 ten minutes after birth. She has an amazing strength that I already look up to. Paige was treated immediately with surfacant to allow her to breathe and within hours she was on a ventilator. She had apnea and jaundice but the doctors said her prognosis was good. Her heart valve was closed and a head ultrasound detected no blood on the brain.

The next day I learned why my water broke so early: my placenta was infected with group B streptococcus. This is the same infection that caused my water to break with my son at just under 18 weeks gestation and killed him; an infection that several doctors assured me was highly unlikey to happen again. I must have the world's crappiest womb because tons of women has group B strep in their vagina naturally, but it STAYS there. Mine likes to enter the uterus where it doesn't belong, and the doctors have no idea why. Luckily, although Paige's initial blood test was positive for group B strep, her subsequent spinal tap came back clean (no traces of the bacteria). We all breathed a big sigh of relief because strep infeciton can lead to menengitis.

Jonathan Francis Sex: boy Born: 19 October, 2006 Age: 2 years & 48 days Birthday in: 317 days Starsign: Libra Development: See the 25 months page. Biggest achievement so far: Inspiring Mommy

Jonathan Francis is my first child, born too soon at just under 18 weeks gestation. My womb was infected with group B strep, causing my water to break. The infection was bad and there was nothing we could do to save him. I was induced and delivered my little angel at 12:44 pm on October 19, 2006. He weighed just 6.4 ounces and was 7.1 inches long, but I remember being in awe of how big of a boy he was, with long legs and a perfect little body. I got to hold him afterwards and the hosptial gave me a paper with his footprints. He was big enough to be buried and we visit his site often.

Before Jonathan, I was terrified of motherhood: that I would screw up, that my child would hate me, that I would make mistake after mistake. I didn't think that I could do it. Jonathan changed all that, and I owe him deeply. I made a promise to Jonathan that I would try again to become a mother, and not be scared. That was how my daughter Paige came into this world!