This is coming a good 2+ years after his birth, so forgive me if I don't remember every detail.
Up until about my 32 week, my pregnancy was pretty normal. Then we hit that 32nd week, and my blood pressure started to creep up. It became a routine, the nurse would do all of the pre-exam tests, and my blood pressure would be high. Dr. Shaheen (typically, once Dr. Thomas) would come in and have my blood pressure checked at the end of the appointment, it would be a little lower, and we'd chalk it up to Monroeville traffic or driving in crappy weather, stress from work.
I hit 36 weeks and had my baby shower on a Sunday. More than one person told me I looked like crap (thanks!). I had to wear slippers at my shower because my feet were swelling, which I thought nothing of, being that hey I"m pregnant, feet swell. After my shower was over, I took my slippers off to put my shoes on....my feet were so swollen they were numb and I had ridges all over where the slippers had been. Hmm...
**MEDICAL GIRL TALK AHEAD...TURN BACK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT**
On Tuesday, I went to my doctor appointment. The nurse took my blood pressure, looked at me, didn't say anything much, and left the room. Dr. Shaheen (my most favorite doctor in the world, and no you can't have her) came in and wanted to take my blood pressure. I could see the concern in her eyes, and started to worry. She laid it out for Rob and I. My blood pressure was definitely registering high, and I had elevated proteins in my urine. She wanted me to go to the hospital for some more tests. Being that my blood pressure had been playing games for a few weeks, she thought we'd probably be home later that evening.
Hearing that, we went straight to Magee. I had my purse. Rob had his wallet.
I expected to hit emergency and wait, but we were quickly (really quickly) shuffled into a sort of holding area, where they put me in a gown and started hooking me up to machines. My blood pressure was being taken every few minutes. Enter in an insanely old nurse. They needed to do a clean urine catch. I thought I'd be peeing into a cup. Um no. They needed to insert a catheter. Without an epidural or spinal. The nurse says, "I haven't put one of these in in over 2 years." Yeah and it hurt like it.
An hour or so later (no I'm not kidding) another of my OB's comes into the room and makes a remark about probably not leaving without a baby. Um, what??? I thought we were going home tonight!! Well, she wanted us to stay overnight, and have me do a 24 hour urine catch. FYI, it was almost 11:30 by the time we got to my room, which meant 24 hours put me at almost midnight the next day! OMG. Do you know how boring this many days in the hospital is???
Finally, my 24 hours has passed. It's early Thursday morning when the same OB I saw in the ER came into my room. She told me I had classic pre-eclampsia. She also said that it was bad, they were worried about it going into eclampsia, and the only treatment was delivery. I'd be 37 weeks the next day, so we'd be proceeding Friday.
I don't think we really had time for things to sink in. Friday morning. The doctors ordered an ultrasound. Even though they were sure they were inducing labor, they had to check and make sure his lungs were developed enough. I was wheeled down (not allowed to walk) to ultrasound. The tech measured Dexter and said he was measuring at 9lb. 12oz. OMG.
My hippie doctor (as I call her) comes to see me and says they're going to induce me. I'm wheeled to labor and delivery and they start my induction. We call our parents, as I'm not dilated at all, and they're anticipating 36 hours before there is any action, and tell them to stay home, no big deal. 20 minutes into the induction, there is a shift change. Rob has gone to get something to eat. Dr. Shaheen enters my room, sits beside me to chat. She saw the ultrasound and is concerned that a natural birth, with the pre-eclampsia, and the size of Dexter would be putting too much strain on him. She was concerned about him having a broken collarbone, or dislocated shoulders. She was also concerned I'd be in labor for that long, and end up with a c-section. Her recommendation was to do the c-section now. Rob walks in the room literally minutes later, having forgotten his cell phone. We talk about what she suggested, and decide it's the best choice.
We're told that there is only one other person on the schedule, so I'd be having a baby within the hour. We frantically call our parents saying, um, change of plans, get down here. My brother and his family also want to head down. My doctor comes back in. The woman ahead of me is having a change of heart, not sure she wants a c-section, so it's go time for me. The anesthesiologist comes in to talk to me about my spinal. The next thing I know, I'm walking to the OR. My spinal is in, the curtain is up, and Rob is beside my head before I can even think about what's going on. We hear Dr. Shaheen and the resident talking, but don't really know what's going on.
meds. The next thing I know, there's a little baby face popped up over the curtain and we here Dr. Shaheen say, "Hi Guys! I"ll be right back!" They take Dexter over and clean him up. They take pictures and bring him to Rob. I'm stitched up, Rob leaves, they move me to my bed, and wheel me back to labor and delivery.
I never had a chance to be scared. Everything happened so quickly. I continued to have blood pressure problems even after delivery. It was a crazy few days. I never truly understood how emergent the situation was. I'm glad that at the time, I didn't. I didn't realize how severe the pre-eclampsia was. Severe pre-eclampsia is diagnosed with a blood pressure over 160/110. My blood pressure was 197/110. My urine proteins were over 1000 mg. I can't remember the exact number, but it was ridiculous.
We were very lucky that they caught it when they did and that Dexter was just perfect. I had slight hypertension during the pregnancy, but thankfully, that's all it was and it passed after delivery.
With Annie, I had so much time to worry, and no emergency situation. With Dexter, we had an emergency, but no time to worry. I don't wish the situation on anyone. Ever. We are blessed with our two wonderful children and choose to look at just that.
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