From the Beginning

     Ben and I decided to try for our Third baby in August of 2008. By the end of September we were pregnant (much do Ben's dismay). My first 2 pregnancies had been textbook so we assumed this one would be the same and it was up until about the 24th week. Jacob started measuring small, so I was sent to the specialist to check the placenta, measure Jacob and make sure everything was on track. It turned out that he wasn't growing quite the way he should, so they continued to monitor me through the rest of the pregnancy. He started in the 25th percentile for size and by 37 weeks had dropped down below the 5th. At that point I was sent in to be induced immediately in hopes that he would grow better on the outside. Labor was long and intense with him. I became extremely sick and was having trouble dilating past a 2. Finally after being in the hospital for 30 hours, Jacob Thomas Petry was born at 2:17am on May 29th, 2009. He was tiny and only weighed in at 4 lbs 11 oz. The nurses noticed he was having trouble breathing so after holding him  for about 10 minutes, he was taken to the special care nursery to be monitored. I was exhausted and was moved to the postpartum  room  to sleep. The next morning I immediately wanted to go see him  and we were taken to the Special Care nursery where we were told that he was having significant trouble breathing and would be immediately taken to the NICU.  Jacob ended up spending 3 weeks in there, was intubated twice, hooked up to everything imaginable and finally got to be sent home on June 17th, which ironically was his actual due date! We had no idea that this was just the beginning of an even longer journey ahead...