Briana Kelly, born 12/24/08 at 10:39AM

On Saturday, Dec. 20th we were celebrating Paul's 34th birthday. Paul and I had a great time celebrating with friends and family. Later that night I went to bed and around 2am I woke up with some pain, thought nothing of it, and fell back to sleep. I continually woke up through the night with pains, would reposition myself and go back to bed. In the morning, after calling the doctor, I decided that it was time to go to Delnor. Paul came upstairs asking me how I felt about breakfast in bed, little did he know what was in store for him! Paul kicked out his friends that had stayed the night and we left. After arriving at Delnor we were rushed off to the maternity ward where we discovered I was 2-3 cm dilated and was 100% effaced at 27 weeks and 2 days. I couldn't believe this was it, I told the nurses we weren't ready for this, we hadn't taken our parenting classes yet! I was given a shot of steroids, to mature Briana's lungs, and medicine to stop the contractions. The worst moment was when the doctor came in and explained to us that we were in pre-term labor, that there was no way to stop it, and all we could do was prolong it. Paul and I held each other and cried.

The next step was to transfer me to Lutheran General Hospital, which has the 3rd best NICU in the country, so we could deliver Briana there. After my first ambulance ride, I was rushed into labor and delivery where they informed Paul and I of the plan so far. I needed to keep Briana inside me for at least 48 hours, for the steroids to take affect, and after that we would play it day by day. The doctors also informed us that Briana was breached. The second day the contractions were minimal and Paul and I honestly thought that we could stay there for weeks before Briana was born, we knew we had to make it to week 30 so that Briana would be fully developed but would just need to gain weight. However, we discovered that my bag was bulging and I was surpassed the max for fluid in my amniotic sac. The doctors explained that we needed to have my legs higher than my head in order to take pressure off of my amniotic sac. If the sac were to burst the rush of fluids could pull Briana's leg or umbilical cord into my cervix where it would get stuck and we would have an emergency c-section. They explained that once I reached 5cm they were going to preform a c-section under controlled circumstances for better results.

The third day my contractions were terrible. Paul was amazing with me, rubbing my hips and shoulders because I could only lay on 2 sides. He got the nurses to give me a one time shot of medicine, once again, to stop the contractions, and things calmed down a bit more. The next day everything happen again. This time they told us they were going to do a c-section and bring Briana out. Paul called my parents and explained it was "game time" and they proceeded to bring me into the operating room. I got my spinal, which was amazing, they put up the sheet, and Paul came in. Paul told me to remember that pain was temporary and pride was forever, a football saying! I could feel the pressure of everything they were doing, it was the oddest feeling. I felt them pull out Briana and we could hear her cry. It was such a relieving feeling to know that our baby was crying and Paul told me he could see her moving. Our little girl was born Christmas Eve at 10:39 am, weighing 2 lbs 15 ounces and 15 inches long. Paul was given a hat that had Briana's feet on the bill, she was walking all over him already. After that they took Briana to the NICU and began to staple me up.

Paul and our parents got to see Briana before I did but the pictures looked beautiful. I was so excited to see her. She is a little peanut. With a full head of brown hair, her fathers, toes like mine, and chubby cheeks. I really couldn't believe that she was finally here and that she was ours. Briana was breathing on her own and the doctors said that her for her gestational age, at that time 27 weeks 6 days, she was big. She has a c-pap that covers her nose to provides more oxygen to her lungs. She also has a feeding tube and a pic line that goes up her arm and next to her heart.

The next day Paul and I went to visit Briana in the NICU. She seems so small but is so beautiful. Paul and I started to talk to her and she opened her eyes! It was absolutely amazing. She has dark blue eyes, I know that they may change but the fact that she recognized our voices made my day. She cries and is quite feisty with the nurses. She lets them know if she doesn't like something. The doctor also informed us that he didn't think she was 28 weeks old only because her weight didn't match, she was way too big. He was thinking she was around 29 or 30 weeks, which is such good news. He also thought that we may be able to bring Briana home in 6-8 weeks!

Briana is also eating breast milk. She takes 2cc each feeding, which isn't much, but they are slowly increasing the amount. The idea is to jump start her digestive system. They also put some breast milk on a swab and cover Briana's cheeks and gums and she will suckle it! She is being fed out of a bag that has proteins, lipids, and other ingredients in it. They are slowly cutting back on that and hopefully soon it'll be replaced with breast milk.

After being there for a week, Paul and I left the hospital on Sunday. It was a little rough knowing that we wouldn't be bringing her home with us yet and that we won't be close. Paul has been very supportive throughout this whole thing and I consider myself very lucky. I'm sure the nurses are going to be sick of getting calls of us just wanting to check in. On Monday Briana gets a ultra sound of her head to see if there is any brain bleeding.

I also want to thank everyone for all of the support and prayers. The out pour of emotions and support has truly touched both of us. We couldn't have asked for better friends and family. Please continue to keep our little girl in your prayers. We both feel blessed to have such a wonderful baby girl.