Premature Baby: The Birth of My Son, Aiden

It is very unlikely that your baby will survive through the birth, which is more than likely, going to be a premature baby. If by some chance he beats the odds and survives through the pregnancy and the premature birth he is going to be born with no lungs or kidneys be stillborn. His chances of survival are slim to none. So, your only feasible option is to terminate the pregnancy immediately. We can't perform the procedure here, our code of ethics forbids it. There are other hospitals out of the state that will do it though. The doctor told us all of this as if he were telling us that they were out of the daily special. However, seemingly unbeknownst to him, the survival rate of premature babies these days is ten times what it was fifteen years ago, thanks to advances in modern medicine. I'm so glad we didn't take the advice of that quack.

That is a picture of Aiden on his fourth birthday, last July. I'm Ed and I am what people today commonly refer to as a stay at home dad. Almost seven years ago, I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful woman like Elaine, who until the miraculous birth of my son was the most important person in my life. After being born almost four months premature, Aiden spent the first three months of his life in the NICU at Christ hospital.

Once this initial shock of finding out that we were pregnant subsided, we were elated at the prospect of having a son together. In the beginning, all was well and we expected a normal birth of a healthy child. It wasn't long before Elaine started to notice that she was leaking and spotting blood. At first the doctors all told us that she was leaking a little bit of amniotic fluid and it wasn't that out of the ordinary. After this went on for a while, it began to get worse, until it got to the point where the doctors informed us that something was amiss. Eventually we were spending a couple of days a week at the hospital and her fluid level continually declined and she began now, to cramp as well. Finally, we were at the hospital for one of our weekly visits only to discover that she was in labor, but hold it, it's too soon. We're only at 25 6/7 weeks, so the doctors administered magnesium to slow the contractions and for a while, it worked. However, eventually, the contractions continued and it came to the point where the doctors thought it best to perform a Cesarian c section.

I had made it understood by the staff in the hospital that I wanted to be present in the delivery room when my son was born. Before I knew it I was being whisked away to the delivery room in my very fashionable scrubs. As soon as I got in the room the doctor was approaching Elaine with a scalpel. Now, I don't consider myself a weak person, but when the doctor cut her from one side of her abdomen to the other, I nearly fainted. This was, without a doubt, the most gruesome thing that I had ever seen. Right around the time that I was able to get my feet back under me, he pulled this little purple person out and set him on the table in front of me. However, nothing could prepare me for the flood of emotions that I would feel by witnessing the birth of my son. I guess this is what they meant when they told me that this would be the most beautiful experience of my entire life. Right in front of me, was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen and I knew at that moment that he would be just fine. Regardless of the fact that he was only 12 inches long and one pound and 15 ounces and he needed me to keep him safe from all of the evil crap in society.

We honestly have, as well as the many doctors and nurses at Advocate Christ Medical Center, the March of Dimes to thank for the survival of our son. Their many contributions to medical science for the welfare of children. So, please donate whatever you can to help those who can't help themselves.

Today Aiden is 8 years old and doing great! For the last two years he has been getting occupational therapy. His teacher suggested therapy at school for what he is referring to as Attention Deficit Disorder. He has a very short attention span and can not multitask to save his life. If this is the only issue we face after his premature birth of almost 4 months, we are truely blessed