Ashleigh's Story.

Ashleigh is a brand new mom. She developed preeclampsia in week 36 and had to be induced. She delivered her baby Tuesday, April 29, 2008. After spending several days in Central Baptist Hospital's NICU, her baby boy is finally home!

Tell us about your preeclampsia. "There were several times I felt really short of breath and my heart would start racing. I thought it was from the weight gain, so I just overlooked it. The further along I got, the worse it got. At my 36 week appointment my doctor put me on bed rest. Unfortunately, my blood pressure continued to climb. I was hospitalized. They ran some blood work and found out my liver was out of the ordinary. The doctor kept me overnight and monitored my blood pressure. It continued to climb. The following Monday I was scheduled for an induction."

Who is your healthcare provider? "Dr. Randal Owen at Lexington OBGYN - he is an awesome doctor. I have been going to Dr. Owen for several years now. Even though I live in Mt. Sterling there was not question about who we wanted to deliver our baby."

What about the delivery? "I felt so scared, mostly because I was early and I knew my blood pressure was out of control and I was afraid for my baby. Although I trusted Dr. Owen - I was terrified. This being my first baby I had no idea what labor was going to be like. At 11am, they started my pitocin and then broke my water at 1:30pm. Once my water broke the contractions increased, and each hour continued to hurt a little more. I have to admit as bad as I thought it was, it was nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated. My husband got me through the worse part with breathing exercises we learned in class. A little advice - the breathing does work! Once I was dilated to 4 cm they gave me the epidural, which was around 8pm. From there, I dilated about a centimeter an hour. Around 1:30am I started feeling a major amount of pressure. We called the nurse in and told her I wanted to push. She checked me and sure enough it was time to push. At 1:45am I started pushing. My husband and my mother-in-law were my coaches and they were great. After a couple of practice pushes I figured out what I was doing. To me this was the best part because with all of the pressure it felt good to push. About 6-7 pushes later - at 2:11am - Colten was born!"

What went wrong? "After being born, Colten did not cry for several minutes. I knew something was wrong. I got to hold him for only a couple of minutes before he had to get checked out. My husband went with him. We found out that his lungs were under-developed even though he was full term. This meant he would be spending several days to several weeks in the NICU. The doctors weren't sure. We felt hopeless. You have this planned out in your mind for weeks prior to delivery and the last thing you think is that something is going to go wrong. I will never forget seeing him hooked up to all those monitors. We couldn't hold him or even feed him. It was emotionally draining. Each day though he made leaps and bounds and after just 7 days of treatment he was able to come home! OUR PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED!"

Was your pregnancy what you thought it would be? "I dealt with a lot of emotions (crying for no reason) and lots of morning sickness. For the most part I loved being pregnant - knowing I had a life growing inside me gave me a whole new meaning."

Did you crave any particular food? "My first few weeks after finding out I was pregnant I craved egg, cheese and mustard sandwiches."

What were some resources or books you would recommend? "What to Expect When You're Expecting was a great resource for me. It told me month by month what exactly was going on with my body and the baby. I also used Babycenter.com. I really liked how I got updates each week through email."

What are you looking forward to as a new mom? "I've only been a mom for about a week now and so far I've realized the smallest things are the best things. Watching my son sleep so peacefully, holding him in my arms, seeing him smile can make you feel like you are on top of the world. Having a wonderful husband who I know is going to be an awesome daddy and my gorgeous little boy - I feel like the luckiest woman alive!"

Any other thoughts? "Without the support of our friends and family, I don't think we would have made it through. We really appreciate everyone. My co-workers at Drayer Physical Therapy have been wonderful. They came to see me during labor and helped me laugh through the pain. During the entire pregnancy they were all so supportive. They even took care of my grandmother while we had to stay at the hospital with our baby. We really appreciate everyone's prayers and support."

Thank You to Lexington Aesthetics for sponsoring free gifts for our Mom of the Month!