My Miracle Baby

Finally got around to posting some pics of my baby Lucia. Not everyone knows (at least, those who aren't in hubby's facebook circle) what happened during the birth.

We got a nasty birth surprise called Placental Abruption -- below is the wikipedia entry:

Placental abruption (also known as abruptio placentae) is an obstetric catastrophe (complication of pregnancy), wherein the placental lining has separated from the uterus of themother. It is the most common cause of late pregnancy bleeding. In humans, it refers to the abnormal separation after 20 weeks of gestation and prior to birth. It occurs in 1% of pregnanciesworld wide with a fetal mortality rate of 20-40% depending on the degree of separation. Placental abruption is also a significant contributor to maternal mortality.

It was a very scary moment -- they couldn't find Lucia's heartbeat while I was writhing in pain at the delivery room. As a result of this, her Apgar score was only 3 and she hardly breathed when they finally got her out. She had to stay in the Neonatal ICU (NICU) for 10 days before she was well enough to come home. There were other conditions that she was being treated for but I don't really want to go into all that. Suffice it to say that we are very thankful that she (and I!) survived the trauma and what could have been a very tragic event had a happy ending.

Here are some pictures of Lucia -- pardon the poor quality as these were taken thru our cellphones:

Here's one taken at the NICU while doing kangaroo care. I loved kangaroo care.

Taken at home -- around 3-4 weeks old.

This was taken last night at just about 6-7 weeks old. She's filling out! :D