Every year around this time, I tell this same story and probably will until the day I die. Each time, the words are a little different, but the story is the same. So, here it goes. Probably the longest and most detailed version yet. The story of a son who almost wasn't.
April 3rd 2013 - I walked out to my car to make the school run. It was a STAAR testing day for Kaitlyn & naturally, the car had a flat tire...or wouldn’t start...or something, but at any rate, it had to be towed in for repair. I texted my brand new friend Amanda that I had only known for maybe a few weeks to see if she could get Kaitlyn to school for me - which she did. Tow truck came, loaded up my car, and then loaded up Adriana’s carseat. Me, Adriana and Mr. tow truck driver bounced our way all the way down to West Plano to the dealership. At this point, I was 25 weeks pregnant with my 4th child. I remember feeling pressure & thought to myself - wow, this baby is really low. I mentioned it briefly in a phone conversation to Leslie & he insisted that I go to the doctor. I told him I had an appt next week and i’m sure it would be fine until then. He insisted, so I made an appt for the next day.
April 4th 2013 - I go strolling into my doctor’s office, pushing my 18 month old daughter. I had set the appointment so that it would end right at the start of her nap time which would mean she would sleep in the car on the way home. Then once home, it would be her lunch time. I had it all figured out and perfectly timed. That was until it was discovered that my cervix was opening up (by roughly a CM)...at 25.4 weeks. My doctor told me to go down to labor and delivery (her office is on the floor above) & I told her “sure, just let me go pick up my high schooler and take her home so she can watch Adriana & after that, I’ll come back.” She said no, and that I had to go down right then. Said to call friends and family so they could handle everything with the kids. I remember walking out of her office, down the long hallway & calling Leslie, who was away for work in New Jersey. I told him to find a flight home, because I was being admitted into the hospital. I got down to L&D with my hungry & tired 18M old in tow. Next thing I know I'm I have blood being drawn, an IV line being put in, and a NICU doctor giving me a consult of the “course of action” once he was born - that being done after the fetal fibronectin test done in the office a bit before came back positive. Meaning the odds were that the baby would be born in the next week or so were much greater. Can babies born at 25/26 weeks survive? Absolutely. Do they all survive? No they do not. All the while during all of this, Adriana was crying and kicking the side of the hospital bed from her stroller. Kick...Kick...Kick... right on the metal bedside. Mind you, I had zero snacks. Why would I? We were going to eat lunch at home that day!! Thankfully, I had that one friend that was a stay at home mom who could help me. She came walking in with her TWO toddlers that are 11 months apart in age. While Leslie was trying to get himself a flight back, he had called a friend of his who came to the hospital to help. Somehow, the two managed to get adriana’s car seat into the 3rd row of an MDX and off they all went. Somehow, they also were able to grab Kristen & Kaitlyn from their different schools as well. The rest of that day is a total fog. Especially once Leslie got there and the nurses received the orders to push the Magnesium Sulfate. If you’ve been on Mag - you know exactly the hell that I’m talking about. If you haven’t, just think of having a really, really bad flu and nothing can help you to get comfortable, or to sleep. My daughters even came in to visit at some point during that time & well I just don’t even remember. It was like death until it was all done the next morning.
April 5th 2013 - I became a resident of room 367. Here I was, 34years old, a mother of 3 - the youngest being an 18month old & also the wife of someone who traveled about 90% of the time for his job. On the flip side, my traveling husband suddenly was forced into taking care of the household, 3 kids, 2 dogs AND still manage to do his job. I hear he has something called “the dada diaries” written - but i’ve yet to see it. I suppose one of these days he will tell his story. A total of 60 days were spent laying in a hospital bed. Those 60 days were filled with weekly sonograms, weekly shots, daily medication, and after the first 4 weeks, I was allowed to actually leave my hospital room for wheelchair rides around the hospital. Major events that occurred during my stay - Prom, Mother’s Day, My birthday, Our anniversary, arguments at home where I thought my family’s dynamics were going to completely unravel, etc. After a lot of episodes of Michael & Kelly, Judge Judy & Wendy Williams, along with countless hospital kitchen prepared meals - on June 2rd I was set to be released from the hospital, just in time for Kristen’s high school graduation the following weekend. By the grace of god & the expertise of my doctor, I was still pregnant. On that same day, one of our english bulldogs died in his sleep. I spent the next couple of weeks trying to take it easy & limiting my activities & rolling to my daughter’s high school graduation in a wheelchair.
June 21, 2013 - I went into labor around 1am. Within a very quick 1.5 hour, Leslie Quiros III was born via C-Section at 36 weeks, and he was absolutely perfect. He was 6 pounds versus being born at 26 weeks & barely 1 pound. LQ passed all his little late-term preemie baby tests & went home two days later. I don’t think anyone in our family has been the same since. We all survived.
