Anyway, this will be long!
I had a pretty rough pregnancy! When you imagine being pregnant you expect total pregnancy bliss-the glow, cravings, a cute bump, baby showers, shopping and decorating the nursery.
Dieting, bed rest and a preemie baby are not on the radar!
From the day we found out that I was with child the nerves set in. Having just went through a miscarriage, I was a nervous wreck hoping my dream wouldn't come crashing down again. There were quite a few scares in those first several weeks. But then we finally made it to the "honeymoon" trimester, and I was able to relax a bit! My 2nd trimester really was awesome. Besides having to pack and moving 1000 miles north just to turn around and move back south again, all while 20 weeks pregnant, it really was an easy peasy time in my pregnancy.
20 weeks pregnant
And then the 3rd trimester hit. My dr started noticing my blood pressure was rising, so we had to be cautious of Pre-eclampsia. She ran several labs, and I was in the clear for a while. At 27 weeks I had to take the routine 1hour glucose tolerance test, which to my complete surprise I failed. I had to go on to do a long, boring, torturous 3 hour test. Making a pregnant woman fast for 12 hours and then sit in room for 3 hours getting periodic blood draws is just wrong! Lol. Well I failed that test too, which brought along the dreaded diagnosis-Gestational Diabetes. Now when I thought about diabetes all I could think is I'm going to freaking starve having to eat salad and water all the time! How's that for torturing a pregnant lady!!! In reality though, following a diabetic diet was much more manageable than I expected, and it turned out to be great for me because I was learning ways to eat a more healthy balanced diet. Plus it helped me not gain TOO much weight (12lbs total I might add! :o) ). So I accepted this new challenge of changing my eating habits and pricking my fingers 4x a day.
30 weeks and my last bump photo!
Well 31 weeks came along and again we are dealing with blood pressure issues. At my appointment my blood pressure was too high and I ended up being admitted to labor and delivery that day. They wanted to monitor my pressures and run some more labs. Those lab results didn't have such great news. I was officially diagnosed with Pre-eclampsia. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, google it-it's a pretty scary situation for both mom and baby. The L&D nurses started having the "preemie talk" with me, preparing me for a possible delivery THAT DAY. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my life, I was so worried about my baby. After more monitoring and a long chat with my dr, I was able to be discharged home on strict bed rest through the remainder of the pregnancy. Our goal was to make it to 37 weeks, but at the very least 34 weeks as the outcome for babies of that gestation was much better.
So home I went. Stuck in bed. I got so sick of hearing people tell me how lucky I was and how nice it must be to be able to relax and be lazy...anyone that's ever been on bed rest for any reason can attest that it sucks! On top of that, I was supposed to be enjoying my pregnancy, having fun preparing for my baby. Instead I was confined to a bed, saying my prayers that myself and my son would be ok.
Each day closer we got to 34 weeks was a blessing! I was so happy at my 34 week appt.
Two days later my BP shot up again! I was again sent to L&D for monitoring and labs. Little did I know this time I was not leaving that hospital without a baby!
My mom was with me and we went down and checked in and I got hooked up to the monitors. It was about 1pm by the time I got all settled. Then we waited for lab results. Apparently they were not good! The Pre-e had progressed to severe, and my blood pressure was reaching scary high levels. I was told my dr (who was out of town) and the on call dr were discussing a "plan of action." I will never forget the moment I knew this baby was coming-the nurse asked me "where is your husband?" I said he is on his way and she replied "ok that's good." Panic set in! At about 2:45 the drs came in to tell me that I would need to deliver the baby ASAP, and that I needed to have a c-section. I was terrified to say the least. I've never had a surgery. All of the unknowns about the health of our son was daunting. They sent a NICU dr up to talk to me about what would happen with him. Drs and nurses were coming in and out getting paperwork, introducing themselves. It's kind of a blur!
Eric finally got to the hospital at 3:15, and at 3:30 I was being wheeled back to the OR. The spinal block was done, and surgery started. Ill never ever ever forget the whole experience. C-sections feel WEIRD. When they pulled my baby out, I remember being so nervous waiting to hear him cry. And then he did. Dr. Brantley held him up and we got to see him and it was absolutely amazing. They took him to be evaluated, then Eric was able to bring him over to see me briefly.
Evan Robert-June 7, 2013 @4:01pm
5lb 3oz 19in.
He was then whisked off to the NICU. Eric went with him, and I was left in the OR to be stitched up. I will also never forget hearing the dr tell me that the placenta didn't look good, it was starting to deteriorate. If we had waited much longer to deliver there's no telling what would happen to my sweet boy. Thank God.
After I got back to my recovery room I was started on some serious meds administered to Pre eclampsia patients to prevent seizure. 24 hours of a mag drip and no getting out of bed...and that medicine is killer! It was no joke and was an interesting 24 hours. I was super out of it-in fact I am still reading text conversations I never knew I had that night lol.
The best part about my whole birth story is how incredibly amazing my son is.
3 days later we were BOTH discharged home. I'm still in awe of the fact that I was able to take my 34 weeker baby home with me. We still had/have some struggles as he is still a preemie baby who should still be in the womb, but he's amazing and I am so thankful he's home and healthy.
Blessed is an understatement to how I feel.
