In this powerful episode of The Golden Hour Birth Podcast, we welcome Shayla, a brave mother who shares her transformative journey of facing preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) during her pregnancy. Shayla's story takes us through the unexpected challenges of delivering her daughter at 30 weeks, navigating a 48-day NICU stay, and advocating for her premature baby.
Throughout the episode, Shayla openly discusses the importance of self-care, finding support, and trusting your instincts when faced with the overwhelming experience of having a preemie in the NICU. She shares valuable insights on dealing with the emotional ups and downs, the joy of seeing her daughter grow stronger each day, and the power of sharing her story to help other NICU parents.
Shayla's journey is a testament to the resilience and strength of mothers who encounter unexpected complications during pregnancy and birth. Her story offers hope, guidance, and a reminder that even in the most challenging situations, it is possible to have a healthy, thriving child.
Join us as we dive into Shayla's inspiring story and learn how to navigate the NICU journey with courage and grace. This episode is a must-listen for any parent who has experienced preterm labor, PPROM, or has a baby in the NICU, as well as anyone seeking to support a loved one through a similar experience.
In this powerful episode of The Golden Hour Birth Podcast, we welcome Shayla, a brave mother who shares her transformative journey of facing preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) during her pregnancy. Shayla's story takes us through the unexpected challenges of delivering her daughter at 30 weeks, navigating a 48-day NICU stay, and advocating for her premature baby.
Throughout the episode, Shayla openly discusses the importance of self-care, finding support, and trusting your instincts when faced with the overwhelming experience of having a preemie in the NICU. She shares valuable insights on dealing with the emotional ups and downs, the joy of seeing her daughter grow stronger each day, and the power of sharing her story to help other NICU parents.
Shayla's journey is a testament to the resilience and strength of mothers who encounter unexpected complications during pregnancy and birth. Her story offers hope, guidance, and a reminder that even in the most challenging situations, it is possible to have a healthy, thriving child.
Join us as we dive into Shayla's inspiring story and learn how to navigate the NICU journey with courage and grace. This episode is a must-listen for any parent who has experienced preterm labor, PPROM, or has a baby in the NICU, as well as anyone seeking to support a loved one through a similar experience.
Have you ever faced the unexpected challenge of preterm premature rupture of membranes PROM during pregnancy? In this episode of the Golden Hour Birth Podcast, we sit down with Shayla, who vulnerably shares her journey of delivering her daughter at 30 weeks due to PROM and navigating the NICU for 48 days. Shayla's story brings up the important question how do you advocate for your premature baby, take care of yourself and find support when faced with the overwhelming experience of having preemie in the NICU? Join us as we explore the power of trusting your instincts, seeking help and finding healing through sharing your story. Shayla's experience highlights the importance of self-care and leaning on others during this trying time. Tune in to gain valuable insights on facing the unknown with strength and resilience and learn how it is possible to have a healthy, thriving child after premature problems. Shayla's story offers hope, guidance and a reminder that, even through the toughest situations, mickey parents can find the support they need to get through it. The Golden Hour Birth Podcast a podcast about real birth stories and creating connections through our shared experiences.
Speaker 2:
Childbirth isn't just about the child. It's about the person who gave birth, their lives, their wisdom and their empowerment.
Speaker 1:
We're Liz and Natalie, the Golden Hour Birth Podcast, and we're here to laugh with you, cry with you and hold space for you. Welcome to the Golden Hour Birth Podcast. I am your co-host, Liz.
Speaker 2:
And I'm your co-host, natalie, and tonight we have Shayla from Pennsylvania on. Thanks so much for coming on tonight, shayla. Thank you for having me. Yeah, so if you want to go ahead and tell listeners a little bit about you and your family, I am 24.
Speaker 3:
I had my daughter whenever I was 22. I was working full time and I've been a stay-at-home mom since I've had her, and I've been a stay-at-home mom since I've had her. Awesome, she was born at 30 weeks, okay, and she was in the NICU for 48 days.
Speaker 2:
Oh wow, oh. So if you want to kind of go ahead and go into, like find out that you were pregnant and what pregnancy was like.
Speaker 3:
Whenever I found out, I wasn't entirely expecting it. I was actually looking for a different job, so I put that on hold. I was very excited but nervous at the same time, and pregnancy for me I was. It wasn't very like normal, like I didn't really have any complications, I was just sick all the time.
Speaker 2:
Yes, I feel like girls definitely can do that to us. Yes, and then? So we can just go ahead and jump into your birth story, unless you want to add anything more about pregnancy.
Speaker 3:
I actually had. I think it was like my 30 week appointment and I never made it to the appointment that day. Um, I woke up in the middle of the night and I was. I ended up rushing to the hospital because I thought my water had broke and whenever I got there they had diagnosed me with p-prong, like premature preterm rupture of membrane, and from there they were like you're staying on hospital bed rest until the baby comes. So I was on hospital bed rest for nine days until she arrived, oh wow, so couldn't leave.
Speaker 3:
No, I was given like two steroid shots and, like I think, like two rounds of magnesium. Okay to try to like slow and like prevent and um help her development yeah, had you um had any contractions or anything?
Speaker 1:
or did they stop it before they?
Speaker 3:
stopped it like before, like since it was like my first time. I had no idea like what contractions felt like and I never really actually felt any contractions. It was all back labor. So I just kept complaining that my back hurts.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So like while you were on the bed rest, you felt like you were just like having back labor the whole time.
Speaker 3:
That wasn't up until like two days before delivery. Okay, the entire time I had like no complications. I didn't feel any contractions. The only symptom I had was that my water was broken, some leakage.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, wow, was it like every day they were like you have to stay? Or was or was there any like, oh, you might be able to go home if something? Or were they just well?
Speaker 3:
there are like stories where like women do like reshill and like they are able to carry the term and go home. But that wasn't the case for me. Um, they pretty much told me if I made it to 34 weeks and they were going to induce me. So I was there for the whole ride.
Speaker 2:
Oh my gosh, wow Were they doing like constant ultrasounds to check fluid and all?
Speaker 3:
that I think they only did one ultrasound and whenever they told me they said it was like hardly like measurable, measurable. But your body keeps making more, so I think the entire time she had less than a couple millimeters of fluid for nine days. Wow.
Speaker 2:
Did you feel the leakage? Was it constant leakage or was it a big gush?
Speaker 3:
Oh no, at first it was like a big gush and then it was like a leakage throughout, like the nine days.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So after the nine days were they like, ok, we got to kind of do something from here.
Speaker 3:
Well, actually I was going into labor. What happened was they put me on magnesium on a Monday and then they made me it was my second time they made me stay in labor delivery again, and then they sent me back up in the morning. But one of the nurses actually put the TOCO monitor on backwards and I was sent back up to my room later that day and then, not even like 12 hours later, I was checked and they were like oh, you're six centimeters, you're having a baby today. Oh my gosh. And I'm like, excuse me, oh my gosh the heart heartbeat monitor for her.
Speaker 3:
Yeah they put it on back. Yeah that, yeah, like the contractions and like the heartbeat, like it was all on backwards, oh my gosh. Oh, I thought about saying something I'm like, but I'm not qualified in that area, but turns out I should have said something.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, oh my gosh um, how did magnesium make you feel? Did you feel loopy on it?
Speaker 3:
Because I know a lot of women say that it really messes them up the local hospital only had a level two NICU and they said we don't deliver babies under 32 weeks. So they sent me into Pittsburgh and that was the first time I actually had like the magnesium, like during like the ambulance ride, like whenever they like transported me, and I just remember feeling hot. I was like get me like eight ice packs now, like I am on fire, yeah, oh. But yeah, then the second time they were gonna give it to me I'm like ice pack, I need an ice pack now. Yeah, but terrible, I just felt like really warm. A lot of people like say it makes them feel like loopy and drunk. Yeah.
Speaker 2:
I know um how far away are you from Pittsburgh? About 90 minutes, okay, so not too far, but not local, no not local. Yeah.
Speaker 1:
Did they take you in an ambulance?
Speaker 3:
We went to the local hospital about 40 minutes away, and then they transported us into the city by ambulance. Yeah, oh boy, us into the city by ambulance, yeah, oh boy, yeah, because I call it like the on-call number for, like my oby and I was like I don't know if I should go in.
Speaker 2:
They're like, yeah, they're going so you found out that you were six centimeters. What happened there?
Speaker 3:
they pretty much told me that you're having a baby today. Well, whenever I whenever I first went in, I think, I was only like one centimeter and then, throughout like the nine days, I was like progressing, hmm, and then, from six centimeters on, it was very slow. I think they told me that at like 9 am on Tuesday and I didn't have her until like almost 3 am on Wednesday.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so then were they yeah, were they just treating you like you were, just like going into labor, then Pretty much.
Speaker 3:
I kind of stayed there for like nine days so it was pretty much like a hotel for me, almost Like they knew I was going to have the baby soon.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, did it was just kind of like a waiting game yeah, did you um like, were you able to like get out of bed and labor? Did you like labor at all to get to 10 centimeters, or did you have a c-section?
Speaker 3:
uh, no, I was actually allowed to move around and I used like the peanut pillow and the balls for a while and I actually waited until like eight centimeters to get an epidural, so at that point that I was bedridden, but other than that it was very smooth sailing. It wasn't no sea suction or anything like that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, well, that's nice that you could still move around and everything. That's really great to hear. So what happened next? So I mean, I'm sure like the NICU team was already in your room and kind of taking her away from there yeah, pretty much they explained like the best and worst case scenario.
Speaker 3:
The hope was that whenever she was born, that she was breathing on her own. So whenever she was born, she was breathing on her own, so it was like the best thing that we could have ever asked for.
Speaker 1:
Yeah had you found out before, um, if it was going to be a boy or girl?
Speaker 3:
uh, yeah, we actually had a gender reveal about four weeks earlier, oh wow. And my baby shower was a month away at that point, oh no oh my gosh, so did you bring her?
Speaker 2:
no, you, I guess you couldn't have.
Speaker 3:
She was still in the NICU we actually had, um, there's like something called like NICU. It's like a live baby monitor like um, your NICU baby, and we actually had that hooked up to a tv at our baby shower oh, that's so sweet.
Speaker 2:
I've never heard of that before.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, one of the nurses. She was really great for feeding time. At that point they were already introducing a bottle to her to eat by mouth. So the NICU nurse. She put a little sign in the isolate out for lunch.
Speaker 2:
Aw, that's awesome, so yeah.
Speaker 1:
That's funny, yeah.
Speaker 3:
so right after she came came out kind of what happened from there um, from that point they just set her on me briefly and they let dad cut the cord and that was pretty much it. They whisked her way over to the isolate I mean the warmer and they put like a c-pap on her. He went over and took pictures, they wheeled her by for like what seemed like 30 seconds and took her down to the nicki at like four or five minutes old oh wow, how big was she.
Speaker 3:
She was uh, three pounds ounces and 15 inches long. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:
Peanut. Oh yes, so sweet.
Speaker 1:
How are you?
Speaker 3:
feeling right after Good. It was actually like very relieving because I could actually see her. I could see how she was doing.
Speaker 2:
It was a lot better than, like the nine days in purgatory that I spent before then yeah, that makes sense, you can like, you can like see her, she can like grow and you know eat and everything.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's a lot better knowing like the known than like just sitting there fearing the unknown.
Speaker 2:
Yeah yeah, that makes sense. How was your mental health during her time in the NICU?
Speaker 3:
Oh, it was up and down. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, how long did you end up staying in the hospital after you delivered?
Speaker 3:
They told me that I could leave after 24 hours, but I chose to stay 48.
Speaker 2:
Okay, yeah, that's good to stay. 48 okay, yeah, that's good. Um, so she was in the NICU for 48 days.
Speaker 3:
Were you like going up there every day and visiting almost every day? Yeah, um, I actually did take breaks because the NICU isn't like the happiest place on earth to be. Yeah and um, whenever you go in there like you want to be calm and you have to have like a good head of you know mental stability, so it's hard to go in there like you want to be calm and you have like a good head of you know mental stability, so it's hard to go in there, like whenever you're just not feeling it. So there were days that I would, that I did take breaks, yeah, for sure, but for the most part I was driving up there four or five, six days a week.
Speaker 2:
Wow yeah, and that's 90 minutes. Oh my gosh. Yeah yeah. Were there any setbacks that she had, or was it pretty much just smooth sailing?
Speaker 3:
She was pretty good. Honestly. She was on a CPAP and the oxygen she actually did end up coming home on oxygen, but other than that, the only setback that there was was groomer trials and keeping her body temperature out of the ice a lot. Yeah that's good. And she was eating. Yeah, she didn't have a problem eating. Taking food by mouth Still doesn't. So, yeah, everything was just moose nailing after that. That's good.
Speaker 2:
How was it when she came home? How were you feeling Scared?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, we had home health nurses come twice a week for two weeks and they didn't do anything with the oxygen, they just weighed her to make sure that like she was like gaining weight and then the oxygen was like all on me. So I actually had like respiratory therapists come to the house and like deliver the equipment and teach me how to use it. Like before I even like took her home and then the NICU actually gave me clearance to like wean her off oxygen at home. Oh wow.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, she was on a monitor and it was very scary yeah, that's a lot to be put through, not like put through, but like a lot to learn in a short period of time yeah, because pretty much whenever you have a preemie, a nicky baby like you, have to advocate for them like you were their voice.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, and I've never had any experience in that before and all of a sudden I had to become a professional.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, wow, um. So how long did it take for her to wean off the oxygen?
Speaker 3:
she was off the oxygen within two weeks of being home. Oh, that's awesome. I think it was like 14 days. So, yeah, she was on like the lowest amount, so like our next step was off. So it wasn't anything major, but it was still scary.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, that's two weeks of, yeah, having to check everything and make sure it's all right. And did she have, like, the oxygen monitor and everything?
Speaker 3:
Yes, and I would not wish that on my worst enemy.
Speaker 1:
It was awful Did it like go off at random times.
Speaker 3:
Yes, like it didn't even even like read correctly half the time yeah, that would be very anxiety inducing, for sure, and only did it at night too, of course, worked fine during the day, yeah always yep um.
Speaker 2:
How was your mental health again being, you know kind of being in charge of that and taking care of her?
Speaker 3:
I was more confident doing it myself than like letting you know grandma watch her for an hour, you know, or something. I was like I was very on top of it. Yeah, I was very on top of it yeah, yeah Was it hard to?
Speaker 3:
is it still hard to like leave her like with a babysitter or anything Sometimes? But it's not like I don't know my anxiety. I still have like the anxiety, but it's for different reasons. Before it was because, like you know, she needed the oxygen and you know she had an oxygen tank. But now it's more like hmm, did you know, did so-and-so do this while I was gone, not you know? More or less like, her well-being am I worried about?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, so you said that she's 16 months now. How is everything going since then?
Speaker 3:
Oh, it's going great.
Speaker 2:
Now, good, she's running terrorizing the living room, Just like a 16-month-old should. Oh yes.
Speaker 3:
No, step back there, yeah.
Speaker 2:
Did they give you kind of any clarification?
Speaker 3:
on what happened that made your body go into labor so early. Nope, uh, still to this day there is no known cause. They said, sometimes it just happened. Uh, it happens to like one to three percent of women, so it's not common at all. Yeah, but they said, um, like if I were to ever get pregnant again, I would be considered high risk and I think I have like a 30 chance of it happening again. Oh wow, I'm blind. I didn't know, but it could actually happen at any point in pregnancy. Yeah, no, like that, I did not know.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah, definitely in chance, or increases the risk by 30 percent is that's wild yeah, I mean they told me, um, to wait at least 18 months to try again, because I think under 18 months, like your percentage, is like 50 percent chance of it happening again, looking back now, what was the biggest challenge that you had to overcome during all of it?
Speaker 3:
Probably just having a preemie in general, because I had her right at. I brought her home right at the beginning of like RSV season and not a lot of people know this preemies they don't have. Like their lungs aren't as big as like a full-term baby, so, like if they get sick, like it's a very high chance that like a simple cold can like put them on a ventilator. So the hardest thing for me was probably like navigating that like with like my family and the holidays and choosing to stay home and, like you know, not letting people like hold her and come over.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's tough, that's really tough, and you're only doing it because she can't speak up for herself, but then it makes you look like the bad guy and that's.
Speaker 3:
That's a whole lot to navigate yeah, I mean I got to the point where, um her health was more important to me than somebody else's feeling. Yeah, yeah for sure love. So I mean it sucked having to do it, but I don't regret it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you made the right choice. Yeah, well, yeah, you had to protect her right.
Speaker 3:
You had to, like, speak up for her, so that's awesome you had to protect her right, you had to, like, speak up for her. So that's awesome, yeah, um, because she was diagnosed with chronic lung disease, which is common in preemies. Pretty much like it's like damage from the oxygen therapy she has that now.
Speaker 1:
Yes, okay, what.
Speaker 3:
There's like no way to tell or like how it's getting better. It's just what the hospital clarifies as chronic lung disease is after they have to use oxygen after 36 weeks.
Speaker 1:
Okay, gestation. So does she have any breathing problems or anything? Now, not that.
Speaker 3:
I noticed, yeah, but like it does make her higher risk for like asthma does she?
Speaker 2:
you know, like obviously she's 16 months old, she's like probably running around or all of that like do you have to like stop her at some point, or is she?
Speaker 3:
okay, no, no, she's fine. I think she's fine. Yeah, and it's just more or less if she gets like sick.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, okay, okay, gotcha. That makes sense. So what advice would you give to NICU moms or parents out there?
Speaker 3:
Hard as it is, take care of yourself. You cannot afford from an empty cup.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah. How did you take care of yourself during all that?
Speaker 3:
I slept I ate, right, I was on a pumping schedule so I was pumping constantly and obviously whenever you're pumping you're thirsty and you're hungry. So literally just basic care, yeah, yeah. Literally just you know.
Speaker 1:
Basic care, yeah, yeah, but it's hard to do whenever you have a baby that's not right beside you yeah, you feel guilty for doing it yeah, yeah, were you like watching the camera a lot when you're pumping?
Speaker 3:
yeah, I watched the camera a lot whenever I was pumping. It was hard for me to watch the camera because I wanted to be there, oh yeah. So some people, you know, stared at it constantly Other times where I'm like you know what, I'm just going to get in my car and drive there. I mean, everybody handles it differently and nobody does it the same. I know that there are some moms who stay there with their babies day in and day out and you know, just because you don't do that doesn't make you a bad mom.
Speaker 2:
You can go home and take care of yourself too. Other people have little ones at home and other obligations. Yeah, it's definitely such a wild ride because, like you're not expecting it, like you're not, you don't want to go back to the hospital once you have a baby, you just want to be home. But you know, um, it's just, it's a whole nother layer added into it and no one, nothing, can prepare you to be a NICU parent.
Speaker 3:
so yeah, one of the things that really helped me, oddly, whenever I couldn't be there, since I had so much at home to get done. Like I said, baby shower wasn't done, nursery wasn't done I actually had a lot of joy, um, even just getting like the nursery like ready for washing clothes, like it was, even though I wasn't there and I was doing something.
Speaker 1:
It kind of like got my mind off of it and it was something to look forward to yeah, yeah, like the, because you probably missed all the nesting kind of you get in that last trimester.
Speaker 3:
Yeah nope, I didn't get nesting, I didn't get the newborn photos, maternity photos, wasn't pregnant. My baby shower, yeah, yeah, so it was like it was a lot to cope with, but I mean, I don't think I would change how I managed it, yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it sounds like you. You know you took care of yourself, like you said. I love the advice that you said of like you can't pour from an empty cup. You're so right. I mean, you have to do what makes you happy as much as you can.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I mean it's hard whenever you have a nicky baby because you have so much more on your mind you know, you're kind of the last person that you think about for sure yeah, and everybody takes care of themselves in different ways, like, yeah, I would probably have been sleeping and catching up on all the sleep that you lost too from and just healing physically too. You know, yeah, no, sometimes you think, oh, like I didn't tear, I didn't have a c-section. There's still like an open wound in your uterus.
Speaker 3:
That oh yeah, I was told to wait a week to drive, but I was driving before that and I wish I would have waited. I mean, there are some things like you know, like you just don't think about, like everything goes on the back burner because you're like I got to get this done. And healing goes on the back burner too sometimes.
Speaker 2:
Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story of you and Scarlett, and I'm so happy that she is, you know, a thriving toddler now. She looked beautiful from what I saw, thank you.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. I hope somebody else can you know use this information and you know, know, can relate. I was going through the body, you know, six months ago, whenever it was coming up on her birthday, and I was like there's nobody else that has like a similar story to me. So I'm just hoping that somebody can you know take some of the information and relate to yeah, absolutely, that's so important, important to just find that community, which is what we're striving to do.
Speaker 1:
Thank you so much for sharing. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Golden Hour Birth Podcast. We hope you've enjoyed our discussion and found it insightful and beneficial. Remember, the Golden Hour Birth Podcast is made possible by the support of listeners like you. If you appreciate the content we bring you each week, consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform or sharing the show with your friends and family. Your support helps us reach more people and continue creating valuable episodes. If you have any questions, suggestions or topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes, we'd love to hear from you. You can reach us on our website, wwwgoldenhourbirthpodcast, or connect with us on social media. We value your feedback and want to make sure that we're delivering the content you want to hear. Before we sign off, we'd like to express our gratitude to our incredible guests who joined us today. We are honored that they trust us enough to be so open and vulnerable. We're grateful for their time and willingness to share their stories with us.
Speaker 1:
If you're interested in taking the conversation further with us, join us on our Facebook group, the Golden Hour Birth Circle. We'll be back next week with another exciting episode, so be sure to tune in. Until then, stay golden and remember to take care of yourself. We'll catch you on the next episode of the Golden Hour Birth Podcast. Bye.