My name is Christy(25) and my dh is David(29). We've been married 6 yrs. We waited until dh finished college before getting pregnant and were both thrilled when it finally happened. My ob and I could feel the baby move at 12 wks and he was moving my stomach not long after. She assured me that this didn't mean he would be an active baby(!!!). The pregnancy was difficult and I was put on bed rest at 5 1/2 months for low amniotic fluid. We were very lucky that it was discovered early. It was a miracle really. We were not scheduled for another ultrasound but I wanted one I could video tape. I paid for it myself because the insurance wouldn't cover it. The tech took one look and called the Dr. Thank God! Delivery was also eventful. My water broke without labor just at 36 wks. I was induced and given too much pitocen. Which meant one long contraction and I had to go natural. The baby was face up(the joy of back labor) and was still floating. Not in the cervix properly. They had to use that vacuum thing to help him out. We knew from the start that he was different. He had severe feeding issues and was finally put on Nutramigen(liguid gold) and Zantac for reflux.
He never slept and was fussy all the time even after the changes. He also seemed very advanced. He rolled over in the incubator at the hospital! I thought my ob was going to call the news people. He held his head high from the first and would turn toward voices early as well. Every emotion is at the extreme...Anger...Pain...Happiness. I thought for sure that my problems in the pregnancy and the difficult delivery had hurt him in some way. As new parents, we blamed ourselves for his not being happy. We just knew we were doing everything wrong. I stumbled across the high needs bulletin board when he was about 4 months old and the light began to dawn. He fits the traits to a "T" and everyone seemed to know just what I was going through. I rushed to buy Dr. Sear's book and my whole outlook began to change. Once I stopped blaming myself, and yes, the baby too, things got easier to deal with.
Christy and Connor 06/11/00