Collin Wayne McGuire

Most know that at 13 weeks pregnant, Tim and I found out that I had a massive subchorionic hematoma (large blot clot) in my uterus. The doctor and ultrasound techs called him (yep it is a Boy) a miracle baby and knew he was going to do great things. Up until I was about 22 weeks pregnant, everything seemed to be going pretty smoothly. I continued to bleed until the blot clot was gone and my doctor kept an extra eye on everything. I took progesterone shots to try to relax my uterus in hopes I would not start contracting. On our way home to Indiana Christmas Eve, I started having severe pains in my back along with increased bleeding. The back pain was new but bleeding at this point was pretty common. When we returned to Missouri, I made an appointment with my doctor because of a rash I had developed on my hip where I get the progesterone shot. I also talked to her about the back pain and she said that I was having contractions and this was likely due to the size of the blood clot and to continue to expect these back pains. She was okay with the contractions as longs as I did not start dilating. This continued over the next week and then Tuesday, Jan. 4th, I went to work and throughout the day I began to notice I was having contractions pretty regularly. Again, I made an appointment with the doctor. The ultrasound told us that baby was looking good and the blood clot seemed to have diminished. I then went to see the doctor and after her exam she told me I was 2-3 cm dilated and sent me to the hospital to see if we could stop the contractions. Long story short, the contractions stopped and I was to stay in the hospital on complete bed rest. Tim and I were told what that the chances of the baby surviving at 23 weeks was low but we all remained hopeful especially with the steroid shots (which is like adding an extra 7 days). Early Saturday morning, January 8, the contractions started again along with a fever. When the doctor arrived, we all made the decision to have the baby. My blood pressure was dropping and after an ultrasound the doctor noticed my placenta was beginning to detach. Collin Wayne McGuire was born at 1:52 am January 8, 2011. He weighed 1 lb. 3 oz. and was 11.5 inches long. The NICU doctors did their very best but he was only able to hang on for a couple of hours. How do a Mother and Father begin to deal with the pain of the loss of a child? This is so unfair...