A Pregnancy at Risk......

Just about every possible difficulty one could experience during pregnancy, I experienced it. From the first trimester bleeding to a high AFP test in trimester two. I had another ultrasound and an amniocentesis at five months to rule out Spina Bifida. Again, I thought I was being “given” a way out as my research suggested that a child with severe cases of Spina Bifida live very short and painful lives. I thought that was a pregnancy I could terminate, but testing showed everything was fine. Rodney’s attitude seemed to change after that and he joined me for Lamaze classes which I had decided to schedule earlier than the norm because of my travel schedule and pregnancy complications. That turned out to be a wise decision because by month seven, I was in the doctor’s office every Tuesday and Friday to monitor our daughter’s irregular heartbeat. Friday, March 19, 1999 about three weeks before my due date, a disturbing non-stress test prompted my new OB/GYN, Dr. Toni Long to instruct me to go home, pack a bag and check myself into Santa Monica hospital for induction of labor. Rodney met me there and stayed until Nikque was born at 1:15am Oscar Sunday, March 21, 1999 (I guess I should have known then Nikque was born to perform, but I didn’t figure that out until years later). Nikque came out on the second push, umbilical cord around her neck, and mecconium in her amniotic fluid. I only got to hold her briefly after she was born, and then she was taken away to be put under a warming lamp. To some extent, I consider her a miracle baby, mostly because she went through such a troubled pregnancy just to make it into the world. She was already a fighter at zero days old, and she commanded my utmost respect. She had earned it.