“One of the nurses joked that my baby’s middle name should be Theda and we laughed. But then I thought, it is a pretty name and it would help put a positive spin on all this. And when I learned about Theda Clark and her family building the hospital to help keep women from dying in childbirth, it was even more perfect.”
We found out early in my pregnancy that my placenta wasn’t in the right place. So at 28 weeks I had to be admitted and my daughter would have to be delivered early by C-section. We were hoping that would happen at 34 weeks.
Living at the hospital for over a month was so hard but the staff was amazing and went out of their way to make it easier for me, my husband, and our two-year-old daughter. My family would visit and we would video call a lot. My doctor would see me every day, plus, they would monitor the baby’s heartbeat three times a day and check to see if I was having any contractions or bleeding. So I got to know the whole staff of nurses very well! They helped us stay healthy and told me that every day the baby stayed in was equal to two fewer days in neonatal ICU, so my goal was to stay pregnant every single day I was there!
But I started having contractions a week earlier than expected and was pretty scared. Dr. Koellermeier was not scheduled that day but she came in. Once I saw her face and everyone started prepping, it was all very reassuring. The whole experience was just so hard but so worth it.
