Alyssa's Birth Story

My husband and I got married in May of 2000 and immediately began trying to have children. I was born with a congenital heart defect and my doctors were not pleased with the idea of my having children. But I would not accept "no" for an answer. They concluded that if I really wanted to have children I should do it while I was young.

Since my husband and I were only 23 & 22 years old, we figured getting pregnant would be a snap. I had gone off birth control pills three months before the wedding took place. A snap, however, was not the case.

We tried for almost a year before we decided to give it a rest. We felt that at this point maybe our timing wasn't right so I went back on the pill in February. Five months, a new job later and 30 pounds lighter I found out I was pregnant. Apparently, my husband and I fall into that 2% category for whom the pill does not work. We were elated. At six weeks I had some minor bleeding and was put on bed rest for a weekend. After that the pregnancy went pretty well. All the tests came back okay and in December we found out we were going to have a little girl.

Then came January. It was rough. I was constantly battling yeast infections that would just not seem to go away. In late January I was put on bed rest again for 3 days.

My husband and I finished our childbirth classes on February 7th and I took my breastfeeding class on February 10th. I had some contractions on the 9th but they were far apart and were diagnosed as Braxton Hicks since I was not due until March 14th. On the 11th I went to see my OB because I thought my water had broken. It turned out to be another yeast infection. My OB prescribed a 1 day treatment and told me to come back on the 13th for a check-up. Well at 2:30am on February 13th my water really did break and our daughter was born after 38 minutes of pushing on February 14th. She was the best Valentine's Day present we could ever have received.

Since she was four weeks early and weighed five pounds, three ounces, they kept her in the hospital for a week. She came home for a week and was re-hospitalized a week later for severe jaundice and a reduced weight of four pounds, eleven ounces.

I am happy to say that she has just turned six months old last week, is still breastfeeding and now weighs thirteen pounds, ten ounces. Her early arrival has had no lasting side affects and she has actually been reaching her milestones earlier than expected. I couldn't be happier.