a better than average pregnancy... or not

Last August, I found out I was pregnant with our 4th child. I decided from day 1, or maybe it was day 2, that this was going to be the best pregnancy ever. I wasn't going to gain a ton of weight, and I was going to eat healthy, and I was going to exercise. Woo hoo!

At the time, I was also working at the nursing home as a CNA. So that counted as exercise. Wouldn't you think? Heavy lifting, LOTS of walking, not much time to snack on junk, etc. Well, around week 7 the morning sickness hit. I had never been so sick with any of the other kids. It was horrible! As soon as I woke up, I'd have to run for the toilet. I would try to fight it, and it made it worse. One time, I fought it for so long, that I spewed chunks on the wall before I hit the toilet. I know you wanted to know that. It was just horrible. I would brush my teeth, and that would immediately be pointless. The only thing I managed to keep down was trail mix and apples. Interesting huh? At least it was healthy. So I survived off trail mix and apples during my first trimester. I was actually so sick, my weight gain was actually a weight loss. I had lost 9 pounds in the first 12 weeks. I was so proud of myself for losing weight. Too bad it wasn't the healthy way to do it. The second trimester seemed to go better. From about 14 weeks to 26 weeks, it was smooth sailing. I wasn't hardly sick, still the occaional wave of nauseousness, but nothing like it was before. I had even gained back the 9 pounds I had lost, plus 4. So, I had gained 4 pounds in 26 weeks. I was on a roll!

My next appointment was scheduled for 29 weeks. At week 27, I felt very swollen, very fat, and just all around puffy. I was like, "here comes the aches and pains and awkwardness".

During this time, I had been keeping in touch with my sister, Heather, like I always do, and learned that she was having some troubles with her pregnancy due to high blood pressure. I felt concerned and tried to focus on her and wanting to be there with her and offering support where I could.

I hadn't worked in a couple weeks, just because thats how I wanted it. I went to work on a Monday. It was Monday February 8th. Everyone was wondering how'd I'd been, where I was, etc. Later that night, when I came back from break, I knew something was wrong. I was entirely too shaky, and too puffy. I sat down, took my blood pressure. 180/110. Ok, not good. I took it again. This time it was higher. My eyes got real wide, and the nurse working that night told me to call my doctor ASAP in the morning.

The next morning, first thing, I called my doctor. He called me back an hour or so later, asking if I could come in before lunch. I drove my butt to Dumas, a 45 minute drive, to my OB doctor. My blood pressure there was NOT any better in the least. There was also protein in my urine and I had gained 25 pounds.... say what? Twenty five pounds?! Yes. 25 pounds in 3 weeks. Holy crap. I was freakin out. I knew I had pre eclampsia. I knew it. I know the signs and the symptoms. I got pre eclampsia in week 39 with Audrey.

My doctor admitted me to the Dumas hospital for "observation". He just wanted to keep an eye on my blood pressure and see what happened. Well, over the course of the next two hours of me just laying there on my back, staring at the ceiling, my blood pressure went no where. After some phone calls from his colleagues, my doctor decided it would be best to ambulance me down to Amarillo (90 minutes from Dalhart, 40 minutes from Dumas). He obviously knew the baby would be arriving soon.

My first ambulance ride! And it better had been my last. It was a very bumpy ride. And long. And lonely. No lights or sirens either. Bummer.

(Jayson was of course informed of what was going on. He was in shock. He couldn't believe that a routine appointment could go as haywire as it did. He was working on getting to Amarillo, but had the kids and was trying to get a babysitter.)

I was admitted to Northwest Hospital in Amarillo on Tuesday in the evening. They hooked me up to all the monitors, started asking me the 20 question game, which seemed more like the 134 question game, and flipped off the lights to help with my blood pressure. Which didn't work by the way.

For the next 24 hours, my blood pressure was monitored, and my pee was collected in a bag and all contained in a 24 hour jug, all prepared for the lab by my wonderful nurses. Once my lab work came back, and 24 hours of pee had been collected, and analyzed by the laboratory, it was determined I had severe PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension = super high blood pressure due to pregnancy). By this point it was about 10:30 at night. By 10:45pm, it was determined I would be going in for the c-section, immediately.

(Oh and by this point, Jayson had arrived. He came in during the early evening I believe.)

Jayson was actually really funny. Before the nurses came in to make their announcement, Jayson was lying on the couch. He was so tired. Poor man. The nurses came in, told us we were going to do the c-section "now". And Jayson jumped up, and said, "Like, now, now?" And the nurse said, "Yes, now, now." I just had to laugh.

So I was wheeled into surgery, and had the c-section. This was my 4th c-section. Every single c-section prior to this one, the blue screen that was draped over my chest to prevent me from seeing anything, was always a mile high. They didn't want ANYONE seeing anything. But this time, it was only about 6 inches up, enough to hide my eyes from seeing anything ... (because apparently watching your own innards coming out isn't pleasant scene to watch...) and low enough to allow Jayson to watch. If he wanted. So he did. And he actually did really well. He didn't pass out, and the entire time I kept asking him if he was okay. He assured me he was fine. And for some reason, the only time he needed to walk away was when they were taking out my placenta. Not sure why *that* would gross him out. Sheesh.

After Emily was born, she was taken by the nurses to be evaluated and taken immediately to the NICU.

Now, before all this, all I was feeling was terror and shock and excitement. Excitement at the idea of not being pregnant anymore. Terror and shock at the thought that my 28 week old baby was still supposed to be cooking inside me. It was way too early. Would she survive??

While I was laying there, getting stitched up, the nurse quickly showed me my baby, before they whisked her away. Emily was wrapped up, burrito style, and the only thing running thru my mind when I saw her was, "oh... my... word... she's the size of a football...." And she was! Take a football, and hold it. That was how little she was. Her head was the size of a small orange. The only thing she really had going for her, was that when she was born, she was pink. The nurses all said that was a good thing.

After the c-section, and after Emily was taken to the NICU, I was taken back to my room.

My blood pressure to this day still continues to be a battle. I was in the hospital for 8 days, 3 for the c-section recovery and 5 more just because my BP wasn't going down. I was put on meds, and after 2 weeks was allowed to discontinue the drugs. But even now, I think my BP is border line dangerous.

It was a full 24 hours before I was allowed to see Emily. Jayson went and saw her, and would report to me how she was and all the medical terminology. It was a very depressing time for me. The doctors were kind enough to take a picture of her and print it off for me. This was my first picture of her. I looked at it all the time.

I'll blog later about the NICU and the time spent there.

Goodnight!