Life with a baby sure is different than life without.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Home Sweet Home
Well, Luke arrived on Thursday, January 31 at 7:03 pm by emergency C-section.
After an entirely healthy pregnancy, we still aren't sure what brought it on, but I developed HELLP syndrome. On the 30th, I woke up with a mild headache. While I ate my breakfast, I noticed some flashing lights in my peripheral vision. Thinking it was nothing, I took it easy all day and decided to call the doctor in the morning if it hadn't subsided.
After 2 Tylenol and a good nights' sleep, it was still there on Thursday morning.
My appointment at the doctor's office showed that my blood pressure was mildly elevated, so they ordered some bloodwork to see if anything else was going on, as well as an ultrasound to check on Luke.
At around 2:00 that afternoon, the doctor called. My liver enzyme was slightly elevated, and everything else seemed ok...but they had "discussed it, and it's time to have a baby! What time can you be at the hospital?"
I arrived at 4. They did more bloodwork. In the 5 hours since my appointment, my enzyme had gone up even further, my platelets were very low, and my blood pressure was reaching seizure magnitude.
My husband arrived at 5. By 6:30, I was being prepped for surgery and our beautiful baby was born about a half hour later.
We were both scared to death. The plan was to have as natural a birth as possible, but my doctor did make it clear that if I attempted that, there was a good chance I would seize and neither Luke nor I would survive. The C-section was the obvious way to go, and I am thankful that my doctor was honest enough to lay it out like that.
We spent 6 days in the hospital. On Thursday evening, after my surgery, I was put on a magnesium sulfate drip and had a catheter hooked up, and was ordered on bed rest for 36 hours--with nothing to eat or drink. The mag tends to cause nausea and vomiting, and they were afraid that I'd aspirate it in my sleep and complicate things further. Luckily, I do very well on meds that cause nausea and vomiting, and I did have permission to have ice and ice water. I also was taken off the drip and catheter after 24 hours! But alas, my blood pressure and enzymes kept going the wrong way, and I was back on the mag drip by Sunday morning.
Things finally started turning around when I had everyone I know praying for us and that we would get a good report so we could go home and start our new lives as a family. It worked! We were allowed to go home late Wednesday morning.
I am currently on blood pressure medication until tests reveal that I don't need it, which hopefully will be soon. It's not an inconvenience at all, but a healthy 29-year-old woman shouldn't be on that.
With all the stress and horror of the last week, it was totally worth it.
After an entirely healthy pregnancy, we still aren't sure what brought it on, but I developed HELLP syndrome. On the 30th, I woke up with a mild headache. While I ate my breakfast, I noticed some flashing lights in my peripheral vision. Thinking it was nothing, I took it easy all day and decided to call the doctor in the morning if it hadn't subsided.
After 2 Tylenol and a good nights' sleep, it was still there on Thursday morning.
My appointment at the doctor's office showed that my blood pressure was mildly elevated, so they ordered some bloodwork to see if anything else was going on, as well as an ultrasound to check on Luke.
At around 2:00 that afternoon, the doctor called. My liver enzyme was slightly elevated, and everything else seemed ok...but they had "discussed it, and it's time to have a baby! What time can you be at the hospital?"
I arrived at 4. They did more bloodwork. In the 5 hours since my appointment, my enzyme had gone up even further, my platelets were very low, and my blood pressure was reaching seizure magnitude.
My husband arrived at 5. By 6:30, I was being prepped for surgery and our beautiful baby was born about a half hour later.
We were both scared to death. The plan was to have as natural a birth as possible, but my doctor did make it clear that if I attempted that, there was a good chance I would seize and neither Luke nor I would survive. The C-section was the obvious way to go, and I am thankful that my doctor was honest enough to lay it out like that.
We spent 6 days in the hospital. On Thursday evening, after my surgery, I was put on a magnesium sulfate drip and had a catheter hooked up, and was ordered on bed rest for 36 hours--with nothing to eat or drink. The mag tends to cause nausea and vomiting, and they were afraid that I'd aspirate it in my sleep and complicate things further. Luckily, I do very well on meds that cause nausea and vomiting, and I did have permission to have ice and ice water. I also was taken off the drip and catheter after 24 hours! But alas, my blood pressure and enzymes kept going the wrong way, and I was back on the mag drip by Sunday morning.
Things finally started turning around when I had everyone I know praying for us and that we would get a good report so we could go home and start our new lives as a family. It worked! We were allowed to go home late Wednesday morning.
I am currently on blood pressure medication until tests reveal that I don't need it, which hopefully will be soon. It's not an inconvenience at all, but a healthy 29-year-old woman shouldn't be on that.
With all the stress and horror of the last week, it was totally worth it.
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