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@A very belated ctbabyingermany birth story
I feel horrible for not having posted this way sooner! My excuses are that I still can't figure out how to post from my i-gadgets, and we have only spotty internet at our house because the Telekom has been dragging their feet for over six months in getting us our phone and internet service.
I am taking advantage of a brief moment of quiet to update you all though, because ctbaby just turned one month old yesterday, and it isn't fair of me to hold out much longer 
On my visit to my OB on Nov. 28th, I was told that ctbaby was probably going to be early. I was having regular contractions on the NSTs for the past three visits, and although I wasn't dilated, she said that it really seemed like ctbaby was on his way. When we left, she said that she hoped to see us for my appointment on Dec. 7th, but she felt it was highly unlikely. I decided to enjoy my first week of maternity leave, and worked a bit on the house. I was having back pain for about 2 weeks at this point, and we couldn't figure out if it was labor related or just the fact that I have a bad back. On Dec. 1st, everything was fine, and I worked on DS room for about an hour before going to bed. At 5:00 am on Dec. 2nd, I was happily asleep when I felt my water break, it was the stereotypical "gush," so I knew what had happened immediately, and woke DH and told him that we had to get to the hospital.
Ironically, I had planned on packing my hospital bag on Dec. 2nd, so I didn't have anything packed. DH called the hospital where I was planned to go on Dec. 23rd for my c-section, and surprisingly, they told us they were full, and that we needed to go to another hospital. DH called the next closest hospital to us that had a neonatal unit, knowing that this was very important to me. While DH was making phone calls, I tried to pack some clothes for the hospital. DH, MIL, and I all packed into the car by 5:30 and we were at the hospital by 6:00 am. After being hooked up to an NST, I was told that since I was not having any contractions, they would try to hold off delivery as long as possible, and that they would keep me in the hospital and monitor me for signs of infection for probably a few days, which I thought was strange, as most often at home, the baby is delivered within 24 hours of water breaking. They drew blood to check for infection, and put me in a room to wait. I started having contractions at 10:00 am, and by 11:00 am, the blood test results came back that I had an elevated white blood cell count (although this was more probably due to my arthritis than anything with the baby.) At 11:30, the cheif surgeon came in to talk to me, and told me that they I would have the c-section that afternoon.
They took me in at 2:00 pm to prep me for surgery. I have to admit, I was petrified, but mostly because DS was early, and should have stayed in for a few more weeks. I had a spinal, and they had to insert the needle twice, because of my weird back, and they had a hard time getting my back to curve properly to insert the anesthesia. Things went pretty quickly from there, they put up the tent, DH came into the room, they told me that they would start, and in a very short amount of time, I heard a scream, which of course, left me in tears. Since DS was a preemie, they rushed him off right away, which caused me to be even more frightened. Our little Ryan was born at 2:44 pm on Dec. 2nd, at 35 weeks 3 days. He weighed 3100 grams and was 48.5 cm long.
While I was stitched up, DH went to meet DS. When they finished with me, they wheeled me to the recovery room. Along the way, they stopped us in the hall, and took DS out of his isolette, and put him on my chest for probably 2 minutes. He was so sweet and tiny. The nurses assured me that he was quite healthy.
I had to wait in the recovery room for about 2 hours, and then, was brought to my hospital room. I still had to wait another 3 hours until I could go see DS- it was torture. DS was in the special care nursery. He had no difficulty breathing, which was really reassuring. He had low glucose, so he was receiving IV glucose for the first 2 days. The biggest challenge became eating, and that was only after 4 days in the nursery. He needed a feeding tube, which he pulled out himself, twice. Despite the reassurances that it was not bothering him, it clearly did bother him. It was really a struggle to get DS to eat more than 30 ml at a time. He was on a feeding tube for 4 days, but needed to stay in the hospital longer because he was meeting the requirements for drinking and not gaining weight.
I was released from the hospital after 5 days, because my recovery was really quite easy. From there, I was allowed to stay in the "guest suite," for mothers of babies in the neonatal unit. It was really intense to be able to be with DS all the time, but I am so thankful that I was allowed to stay at the hospital, I have no idea how I would have gone home without DS. After 10 days, on the 12th, Ryan was moved into a different room, one with no machines or monitors, and just a little plastic bassinet. The nurse explained that they needed his bed for sicker babies, which made my heart flip. A few hours later, three doctors and at least 5 nurses came into the room where Ryan was, and told me that although Ryan was not eating the proper amount (70- 80 ml 6 times a day,) he had gained weight, and that he would be leaving the hospital at the latest on the 15th. We discussed when would be the best time for Ryan to be released, and we decided on Dec. 14th.
So, on Dec. 14th, after 12 days in the hospital, we brought ctbaby home. He has done incredibly well. After a few days at home, he started eating TONS! He now is drinking between 80-160 ml every three hours and is gaining lots of weight. He is a chubby baby now, and is alert and adorable. We love being home with our little guy, and are so very proud of him!
Re: @A very belated ctbabyingermany birth story
Congratulations!! And here I thought I had just missed your birth story! What hospital did you deliver at? I'm so glad to hear that Ryan's doing well and had no major issues.
DD also had to stay in for 16 days for feeding issues (had to have a feeding tube, too), and just as Ryan, she was also not eating the "right" amount but at least was gaining well when they decided to release us. I'm glad to hear that Ryan has caught up to what "normal" babies drink, though. DD is still waaaay behind that. We've never moved up to the bigger bottles. The 5oz Medelas still work fine. And even still, she's doing great, so don't worry too much about comparing him to other babies! :-)