Victoria Alexandra Plaxton (a.k.a. Mariquita) was born around 8:20AM on May 31, 2003.
Her story began in Sainte Emilion, France on October 27, 2003. It was there, in the middle of wine country, that she decided to announce her existence. Her father, brother, and I were vacationing in France and she had decided it was too big a trip to miss.

I started a new job as soon as we returned from our trip -- on November 4th. I had stayed home for Nathan's first 21 months so it was his first time in daycare and the beginning of winter season. Needless to say, he got sick. By the end of the first week, he was admitted into the hospital for febrile seizures. The tone was set for the rest of Mariquita's gestational period. An incredibly bad Cedar season, long hours at work, and Nathan's ongoing health issues left me completely sleep deprived and drained. I imagine it must have been rough on her as well.

On May 8th, I was admitted to the hospital for a ruptured membrane. I had been experiencing occassional fluid
discharges for a little over a week but the tests for amniotic fluid kept coming back negative. By May 7th, there was no longer a doubt. Mariquita was 31 weeks at the time we were admitted. It was a very scary and hard period for the whole family. The plan/hope was to keep me hospitalized and on bed rest until she turned at least 34 weeks. My little fighter did great. She hung in there (with virtually no amniotic fluid) for four weeks. Although it was a difficult period, I now look back on it as a good bonding period for Mariquita and I. My focus had been on my son and work until that time so I welcomed the opportunity to focus on my little girl for a change.

As a premature baby, it was important that Alex sleep as much as possible. She therefore had to finish drinking her milk within a half hour and had to work her way up to 50cc before she would be sent home. Meeting that thirty minute deadline was a real challenge for Alex. It took her a week to reach that goal. Feeding Little Gal has continued to be a challenge but we're managing. She's still too slow and weak to breast feed so I'm continuing to pump and feed her with a bottle.

Mariquita has changed quite a bit physically over the last month. Since she had such little amniotic fluid around her and I was on bed rest and only allowed to lie down on my left side (her heart rate would sometimes go down too low otherwise), Alex was somewhat wedged. As a result, her nose was crooked, her chin set back, and her head looked as though it had been in a vice. Her nose is quite straight now and her head is rounding out very nicely. Her chin apears to be moving into position also.

She's doing really well... We're so blessed and thankful to have our healthy little girl home.

First Month

Last Updated June 23, 2003