Start of Amanda’s Hospital Stay

At 24 weeks, a routine ultrasound appointment revealed that Amanda’s cervix was dilated and membrane was in the vaginal canal. They rushed her across the street where she would lie in the Trendelenburg position for the foreseeable future. At this time the doctor told us we will not be leaving the hospital until Amanda had given birth and that Parker would be admitted to the NICU. This was terrifying to hear being so early on in the pregnancy. Each day she could keep Parker inside, it increased the odds of survival by 2%. Another doctor would soon visit with chances of survival, survival with impairment and severe impairment, written in percentages. We would be in the hospital for 10 days with a heartbeat monitor band tracking Parker. Amanda would be allowed to sit up and even shower a couple of those days, otherwise Jon fed her small bites of food so she wouldn’t choke. Amanda’s heartburn was brutal. The nurses all agreed Parker was a boy because of how uncooperative she was being by doing flips in Amandas womb. Sometimes she was head down sometimes not, other times she was trying to kick through the cervix. She really couldn’t wait to see us!