A Year Ago...

This week has been so full of emotions for me.  It's E's Birthday Week!  I can't believe it's been a year.  I wanted to write about what was going on in my life at this time last year.   

A year ago today I was 38 weeks pregnant with E.  I went to my weekly prenatal checkup with everything being normal and left with orders to go on bed rest.  The past few visits my blood pressure was high and this week it was extremely high.  They were concerned about preeclampsia so they thought bed rest was the best option to lower my blood pressure.  I remember not thinking anything of it.  I would be on bed rest the rest of the week and be back at work on Tuesday.  I went back to work to check in with my boss and team and grab my computer so I could stay caught up on work while I was gone.  I made a quick stop at Costco to stock up for the week since we wouldn't be out and about much.  Looking back, I realized I didn't take orders very well.  Bed rest meant go home and rest, not go grocery shopping! 

I felt fine so I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the couch and watching TV enjoying an excuse to do nothing.  The next day I did the same thing still feeling fine.  That night I woke up around 2am with a sharp pain in my right shoulder and upper right abdomen.  It was so painful I couldn't get back to sleep.  I woke up Mike to tell him what was going on and he asked if I wanted to call the hospital.  I said no because I didn't think it was contractions so I tried going back to sleep.  About an hour later I still couldn't sleep and was still having pain.  I got up and Googled my symptoms.  After doing some reading I decided I should call the hospital.  Since I was put on bed rest for preeclampsia they wanted me to come in right away.  So I woke up Mike again and we headed to the hospital.  Thankfully the hospital is in our same town so it was a quick 10 minute drive.

When we finished checking in and got settled in a triage room, it was about 4am.  They took my blood pressure and it was still very high.  They drew blood and put me on a magnesium sulfate drip which made me feel intoxicated, blurry vision and foggy brain...awful!  Mike and I just sat there in silence, neither one of us knew what to think.  I was feeling a little worried but glad we had made the decision to come to the hospital.  If anything was wrong, we were in the right place.

Finally around 7am it was determined that I did have preeclampsia and my blood pressure showed no signs of going down.  The Dr. came in and asked “How do you feel about having a baby today?”  Mike and I looked at each other and the reaction on both of our faces was the same, this is really happening.  The Dr. went on to explain the only way to “cure” preeclampsia was to get the baby out.  Since I was 38 weeks along, the baby was developed enough that the probability of complications for him or her were minimal.  I remember asking if we could call our parents because if this was it, I wanted them there.  Mike went out to the hall and called my mom and then his mom and explained what was going on and that they should probably come.

When Mike came back into the room the nurse told us she would get us into a delivery room and they would start me on an IV to induce labor.  While they were getting our room ready, Mike went home to let Josie out, poor puppy had been in her kennel for a long time by this point.  Of course I didn't have a bag packed so I tried to rattle off things to Mike that I would need and where he could find them. 

Around 10am I was settled in our new room and I was thinking great, just in time to watch Hoda and Kathy Lee!  Since I was still on bed rest, I wasn't allowed to get up and walk except to go to the bathroom.  I was also on a liquid diet so I couldn't eat anything and I was starving!  I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before.  My parents arrived around noon and Mike’s shortly after.  We got everyone up to speed and then they left to go wait in the waiting room while Mike and I tried to get some rest.  It was a long afternoon.  I finally had some broth and jello for dinner and then tried to sleep more.  I woke up every 2 hours or so that night to go to the bathroom.  Poor Mike had to get up with me every time to help since I was hooked up to an IV. 

The next morning, Saturday, there was minimal progression but enough where they broke my water.  I was then able to shower which felt so good.  Then there was more waiting.  Thankfully our family was there so Mike could take some breaks and get some food.  I was starting to feel pretty weak, probably from all the drugs and lack of food…I was living off cherry popsicles and water.  Between 6 and 7pm, I started to feel some mild contractions.  I got excited, finally something was happening!  Unfortunately, I had also developed HELLP syndrome and my platelets were dropping.  The Dr. started to talk C-Section.  Nothing in my birth plan had gone the way I wanted it to and a C-Section was definitely not in my plan.  But at this point it had been 36 hours and I was ready to be done.  Mike agreed so we got ready for the C-Section.  It was finally time, we were going to meet our baby.