#TheMommyDiaries: My Unexpected, Premature Childbirth Story (Baby #2)

I recently shared with you guys in this post, that I was admitted to the hospital a couple of weeks ago, due to my water breaking, right before I turned 26 weeks pregnant. Well, that was just the beginning of another set of surprising events that were about to take place.

My Unexpected, Premature Childbirth Story (Baby #2)

 

Last Tuesday (July 7, 2015), I started having serious contractions, and due to the position of the baby, and my water having already been broken, I ended up having a c-section Thursday afternoon, the day before my daughter would turn 28 weeks old.

 

Dalila Johari Mfuko was born on July 9th at 3:29 pm at around 27 weeks old. She weighs 2 lbs. 8 oz. She cried when she came out, which is a great sign! She is doing very well.

 

I am currently out of recovery and back in a room in the postpartum unit of the hospital.  I am doing very well, and have hit all the milestones my doctors wanted me to reach postpartum. So I will actually be getting discharged tomorrow.

 

Dalila is a preemie, and in the NICU, so I didn’t actually get to see her in person until about about 24 hours after she was born. But hubby took a few pictures for me, while I was in post-surgery recovery, and I was able to get a sneak peek of her.

Meet Our Beautiful Daughter

Dalila is a Swahili name, pronounced, da – LY – la. It means gentle, her soul is tender. Johari, also a Swahili name, pronounced jo – HAR – ee, means, a gem, something of value. We love to honor my husband’s African heritage, in the names of our daughters.

 

 

The first time I saw her, I was blown away! I couldn’t believe how tiny she was! I had never seen a baby so tiny before in real life, only on television. But the NICU nurses say that she is actually on the larger side, for a baby of her age. Many babies born as preemies weigh just a little over 1 pound. So the fact that she’s 2 lbs. 8 ounces, is pretty incredible.

 

“Premature babies are amazing – they can grow and thrive despite huge obstacles, & catch up to full-term babies in both size & development.” ~ BabyCenter.com

Click To Tweet

 

She is truly a fighter, and has gotten the nickname, “the feisty one” in the NICU lol. She is strong, and has been breathing on her own (no help from a ventilator, or additional oxygen necessary), from day one, and her vital signs are very strong as well.

 

I have been pumping my breast milk, and building up my supply, and they have started giving her small, breast milk feedings through a tube for now. As she tolerates the feedings more and more, grows, and gets stronger, they’ll eventually start giving her my breast milk in a bottle. Then down the line, I’ll be able to breastfeed her directly. But that won’t be for a while.

 

She will more than likely be in the NICU for about the next 2 months, give or take, depending on her progress. I will be coming to the hospital every day to be with her, and also bring more breast milk for them to freeze. I haven’t been able to do skin-to-skin contact with her just yet, because she has a couple of catheters in, an intravenous line, along with a C-PAP. But her doctor and nurse said that I should be able to hold her for the first time, in about a week or so. I can’t wait for that moment!!

 

I’m super excited about being discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and finally going home, after being here for 2 1/2 weeks. I mean, I can’t believe that I have not been outside, for almost 3 weeks, that is just CRAZY!!

 

 

However, I’m very sad at the idea of leaving my little baby here at the hospital, and being more than an elevator ride away from her. I’m also a little sad to be leaving the care of my awesome doctors and nurses. They’ve taken such great care of me over the past couple of weeks, and been so wonderful! Knowing that they won’t be at home to take care of me, makes me a little sad. But I have an amazing support system, and so many family and friends that love me, I know that I will be taken care of, as I recover from surgery at home.

 

 

With God on my side, along with my wonderful hubby, my mom, our babysitter (one of my former Joffrey Ballet School students, who rocks!), my postpartum Doula, my family, and friends, I’m sure that this next phase of life will be very manageable, and fly by. Then, before you know it, Dalila will be coming home to be with us! Oh, I cannot wait for that day!!

 

Praise God that we are both doing very well!! Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes!

 

If you have any experience with preemies, or even pre-term babies, I’d love to hear your story. This is all new territory for me, so I love to hear stories from other moms and parents, who have gone through a similar experience. Please leave me a comment below!

 

If you’d like to purchase a gift for Dalila, you can view our baby registry here -> Ashani & Fredy’s Baby Registry