Sidelines National Support Network  / Volunteer Spotlight  / May_Volunteer

Volunteer of the Month
May 2008
Lana Merewether

Sidelines Volunteer Lana Merewether with her son, Ian, who is two-and-a-half years old

Name: Lana Merewether
Home: Belen, New Mexico
Husband's Name: Dan
Child's Name: Ian, age 2 1/2

"(I remember) being scared and bored at the same time. Wanting it to be over and yet not wanting it to be over because I wanted Ian to be healthy, and knowing I couldn't have both things at once. So many conflicting emotions hitting me simultaneously."

Sidelines volunteer Lana Merewether is an information technology manager who also teaches night classes at the University of New Mexico's Anderson Schools of Business and helps her husband, who raises goats and farms alfalfa, when she can. In addition, she is mom to two-and-a-half year old Ian—and that in alone is a full-time job!

Chasing after her busy toddler is a labor of love for Lana, who brought Ian into the world with the support of her own Sidelines volunteer.

"I was 'older' when I had Ian—36 at the time—and most of my friends had already experienced multiple normal pregnancies," she said. "I did not know anyone who had ever experienced extended bed rest. I had never been hospitalized on an extended stay. I had no neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience. The whole thing was really overwhelming, and Sidelines was there for me."

Lana said that her first pregnancy, with daughter Molly, was "picture perfect normal until I hit 17 weeks, and the world caved in." Lana began bleeding spontaneously and went into early labor, her water broke, and she experienced placental abruption, all within 24 hours. Molly was stillborn that weekend, and she and her husband, Dan, were in total shock.

As the months went by, Lana went through many tests, but there were no answers as to why the tragedy had occurred. "My doctors finally came to the conclusion that it was a fluke, that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and they gave us the green light to try again," she said.

When she became pregnant with Ian, her pregnancy was monitored very carefully. She experienced minor bleeding and serious morning sickness from the very beginning. Her doctor told her to take an aspirin each day, and she had regular ultrasounds.

"Everything looked great except for a positive result on the AFP (alpha fetal protein) test. We were told that Ian might have Down Syndrome, but we opted out of any further testing since I had PROM (premature rupture of membranes) with my first pregnancy and didn’t want to rock the boat," she said. "Terminating the pregnancy was not an option for us, so additional testing would probably not have served a purpose."

At 19 weeks, the bleeding increased, and Lana went into labor. She was put on immediate bedrest in the hospital, where she was treated with magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions and given steroid injections to help the baby’s lungs develop. Then, she was sent home on modified bedrest and oral terbutaline. The doctors eventually moved her to a terbutaline pump to make the dosing more regular, put her on a home monitor for contractions, and had a nurse visit her once a week to administer progesterone injections.

"The early labor had shortened my cervix and the contractions continued off and on during bed rest. At the end of the two months, my cervix was REALLY short and the doctors moved me to bed rest at the hospital so that I would be closer to the NICU," she remembers. "Ian was born at 28 weeks after four weeks of bed rest at the hospital; he weighed 2 pounds and 15 ounces. He does not have Down Syndrome, so the AFP test was a false positive reading. He had lots of minor ups and downs in the NICU but no serious issues. He came home on oxygen--and today he is doing great developmentally!"

During the delivery, Lana's doctor discovered that she had placenta accreta. She hemorrhaged during the delivery and had to have a blood transfusion. Lana narrowly avoided having to have a hysterectomy, and she said that her doctors believe that this may have been the problem affecting Molly as well as any future pregnancies.

Lana joined Sidelines in 2006 because she didn't want other women to feel like they were alone when experiencing a complicated pregnancy.

"I didn't know what piece of my experience might be useful for someone else to hear about, but if there was a useful piece, I wanted to make the story available to someone who could use a lift during a crazy and stressful time," Lana said.

One of Lana's most memorable referrals was a mom who was rearing a young son with Down Syndrome while on bedrest with a problem pregnancy. Lana describes her as a "strong and incredible person" and notes that she is "in awe of what women do when they have to!"

Lana says that she encourages her referrals to be sad when they need to be sad and tells them not to feel weak if they get depressed. She urges them to focus on the end goal and why they are doing what they’re doing for their baby and family.

"Keep in mind that the situation is temporary. But don't be afraid to say you are scared and sad and angry! Those are normal feelings in this situation and they are ok. Accept those emotions as being normal--and then focus your love and talent and positive energy on the little one," she tells them. "Being strong doesn't mean you never feel overwhelmed! And if you are on bed rest in the hospital, never ever be afraid to ask if you can order off the menu!! If you crave something, ask them for it!"