Ellie Grace Feisal

Ellie Grace Feisal entered this world March 16, 2010 at 5:13 pm weighing 5lbs 7oz and measuring 18 inches long. Of course in her Mommy and Daddy's eyes she is absolutely perfect. Below is her story.

As I posted previously on Tuesday March 9 I had a doctors appointment and learned that I was already dilating. My doctor was not overly concerned but she wanted me to watch for any cramping, pressure, contractions, etc. If any of these things happened I had strict instructions on what to do immediately and if they didn't subside I was to head to labor and delivery.

On Wednesday March 10/Thursday March 11 I started having some pain. It was late evening and the cramping was back and worse than ever. I wouldn't say I was having time able contractions but I was having pretty severe cramping and back pain. I followed all my doctors orders and nothing would subside so I called Labor and Delivery after reviewing my file and doctors notes they told me to come immediately. We get here and get hooked up to the monitor and miss priss is just kicking away and doing exactly what she was supposed to. She did have a couple of heart rate drops so to be on the safe side the nurse ordered a biophysical profile and sent us down to get an ultrasound. We had the ultrasound and came back to wait on the report. The report was perfect our sweet girl scored an 8 out of an 8 so we were getting discharged. The monitor picked up VERY VERY slight contractions that were not regular at all!! They felt the cramping and pain was mainly due to her position.

We made it through the rest of the week and weekend without any problems and spent some time preparing Ellie's nursery.

Sunday March 14 I was having what I would call really severe pelvic pressure. I've had lots of pressure come and go throughout my pregnancy and I've been told pressure is SOMEWHAT normal and I would probably have more due to her breech position. My pressure typically subsides with rest so that's what I did! Monday morning the pressure hurt worse than ever. I headed into work with plans to call my doctors office as soon as they opened....I REALLY REALLY wanted to avoid a trip to Labor and Delivery. I knew Monday was my doctors surgery day but I planned to talk to the nurse.....little did I know my doctor was on vacation but I would obviously learn that later. The nurse of course sent me immediately to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. I was not pleased but knew that I needed to do what was best for Ellie and myself. We got to Labor and Delivery, heartbeat was strong, contractions were MINIMAL and very irregular, I still wasn't dilated past a one but she was really positioned deep in my pelvis so they once again thought that was the problem. They ordered another biophysical profile just to make sure there were no major changes from a few days before. The Sonographer stated everything looked good to her but she would send the final report to the nurses so they could determine the next step. She stated that my fluid looked lower than before but fluid was so subjective and good be anything. I knew from the previous biophysical profile my fluid was just over 11. The nurse came in about 20 minutes later and said A+ she scored an 8 out of an 8 I let the doctors office know that and they said to release you. I was thrilled with this news and knew that I could deal through the pain I was having and headed back to work!!!

Tuesday morning March 16 is when everything went crazy!!! I got a phone call from my doctors partner. She introduced herself and stated my doctor was out of town. Panic was already setting in because I didn't know why she would even be calling me. She let me know that she was very upset with the nurses and herself for accepting a verbal report of the biophysical profile from Monday. THANKFULLY my nurse at the doctors office reported it to her first thing that morning when it had came in....that was definitely God looking out for us! The doctor said had she gotten the report on Monday I would had never left the hospital and would have already had a baby. My amniotic fluid level was down to 3.24. They did not know the reason for the drop as I had been checked and I was NOT leaking amniotic fluid. Due to a number of reasons she felt that it was better at this point and time to have an outside baby immediately instead of an inside baby. My world was changed from that point forward. I was told to stop eating and drinking, get squared away at work, get my bags and get to the hospital quickly.

From that point on things were a whirlwind even after arriving at the hospital. Finally at around 4 pm they started the admission process and got me hooked up to the monitors. The nurse immediately asked me if I was ok and what I was feeling because it turns out I was having VERY regular and VERY strong contractions. I didn't feel any different then I had the past week when I was having pain. Around this time Ellie's heart rate begin to drop. They rushed a team of nurses in so they could complete my paperwork, insert a catheter, get my blood to the lab and begin my iv. Everything was moving so quickly I could feel myself starting to panic and could tell it was getting to Steven as well who is normally calm and collective. By 4:50 pm they were wheeling me to the OR and by 5:13 pm we had our sweet angel in this world.

If you read below you can see how our world changed from that point forward. We had discussed with the doctor what could happen with Ellie arriving early but we agreed with the doctor that those complications were worth the risk rather than keeping her in utero.

I am taking things one minute at a time. That's all I can do at this point. I know we are so very blessed and we could have had a very different outcome and even though we are looking at a long road ALL of the doctors are confident and I trust that we are in good hands! I struggle with blaming myself and my body that I couldn't keep our sweet angel where she needed to be for at least a few more weeks but I know that I was taking care of myself and doing all that I could but God had other plans!

I know all of these posts are lengthy but we really wanted somewhere to document everything, share our thoughts and ask for prayers for those willing to pray!'

We love you all and our so appreciative of the love and support we have received over the past few days.