Delivery Day

I woke up feeling great this morning. Dylan and I had breakfast together and did a crossword puzzle in the book that Stacie brought me. We were laughing and having a good time. It was an uneventful morning so far so Dylan decided at about 10am to run home, check on the dog, get some clothes, clean up, and then come back to the hospital. Shortly after he left, the day nurse came in and said, "have you eaten breakfast already." I had and told her so - just raisin bran and a piece of toast. I asked why - and she told me I was having a c-section in 20 minutes. 20 MINUTES!!!!! Holy cow. I started calling family - Dylan, Melody, my Dad, my Mom, and asked Dylan to call his Dad. They started prepping me for surgery - changed my IV fluids, shaved my belly and pubic area, inserted a catheter, and wheeled me into the c-section OR. I got onto the operating table and started getting prepared for anesthesia. They put the mask over my face and asked me to take 5-6 deep breaths. I did and by the fifth one I could smell the gas. The anesthesiologist asked me if I was getting sleepy - I said, "yessssssssss" and was out. I woke up in recovery with reflux pain and asked for bicitra. The nurse gave me hot packs and the PCA (patient controlled analgesia) button. I hit that a few times and got a nice shot of pain meds - but had to wait for the bicitra for the pain to go away. I snoozed on and off while there and waited for my room to become ready. Mel, my Mom, Dylan, my Dad and Justin, and others came to visit me. They wheeled me in to see Aidan, but I was so groggy and couldn't remember much. They took me again to see him before they wheeled me up to my room on the 8th floor. I touched his feet and watched him - he looked so small and vulnerable.

I got up to my room and slept a little while, then Dylan got comfy on the pull out bed and slept there overnight too. I had some jello and juice and slept on and off through the night.

T minus 1 day and counting...

Friday morning...
I woke up after much unrestful sleep and had my blood drawn and had some breakfast. Not much going on this morning - just waiting more and more waiting. My father-in-law came and visited for awhile which was so nice. We chatted for awhile, and then he went back to work. My dad came up for awhile, and my sister showed up after work. I started to get that reflux again and asked for some pain meds. I got a dose of Nubain, which made me super groggy and drowsy - and it wore off quickly. I got another dose and konked out for awhile. But again the pain came back. So I asked for something to make it go away. They gave me a protonix (acid reflux/GERD drug) and then some Bicitra - my happy medicine. It nutralizes all the acid in your stomach and finally made it all go away! But I was drugged and groggy all afternoon. During that time Dylan's Dad and Stepmom showed up, my sister stayed for awhile, my step sister Stacie showed up to visit and brought me a gift, and our friend Travis showed up for a little bit. Dylan came and stayed the night with me. I got my second shot of steroids and hoped for an uneventful night. The nurse came to draw my blood again and check levels of platelets and red blood cells. As this disease progresses, in addition to protein in my urine, high blood pressure, swelling, and elevated liver enzyme levels, you also get a break down of red blood cells and platelets which can be cause for alarm for internal bleeding. So they were keeping close tabs on me. We'll see what Saturday brings.

How Quickly Things Change

I took my urine and had my blood drawn yesterday with the test results being given to Dr. Hodges today for my appt. I showed up a few minutes early and drank my glucose for the 1hr glucose test for gestational diabetes. I got called into the office and weighed - 176 lbs - and pee'd in the cup. Jodi tested my urine and saw that there was a large amount of protein in it - a hallmark sign of preeclampsia. Then Dr. Hodges came in and asked Jodi to get my test results. We talked a little and she came back with the papers. Dr. Hodges looked at the papers and said, "oh, shit - it's HELLP Syndrome". Instantly I began to cry - knowing that this means we are in a bad spot. He asked if I was okay, and I said "No". He hugged me and cried and said he didn't want this for us - he was hoping it was all overkill to have me go through all these tests, but he was glad he did because we caught something very serious. I asked what was next, and he said I had to be admitted to the hospital. I cried more - this was really scary. He asked me what I was most worried about - I said, the baby, the house payment, the dog - everything. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. He sort of ran through things with me. He said he wanted to keep me pregnant for a couple of days to get steroids on board to help the baby's lungs - but otherwise I wasn't going to be pregnant for long. I asked him to call Dylan and tell him, since I didn't think I could talk on the phone. Dr. Hodges went and called Dylan and I sat there trying to come to terms with things. I was going to have this baby much sooner than I thought - was he going to be okay, would he live, what is his future like. I didn't even consider the fact that my life was in danger due to this illness. It didn't cross my mind.

Dr. Hodges came back and told me what would happen next. I would drive to St Lukes in Boise - go to the second floor and be admitted to labor and delivery. He would fax over orders for admission. Then he would see me in the morning to run blood tests and see how things were progressing. I was scared, but I drove myself to Boise, and got admitted. They did an admission exam and got me settled into Room 8. I called Dylan and let him know and he came to Boise to comfort me and be strong for me. They started me on Magnesium Sulfate to keep me from having seizures due to my high blood pressure, and gave me the first shot of steroids to help Aidan's lungs. They got him on monitors, and he looked great. I laid there wondering what the next few days would bring.

Trip To The ER

Last night Patty and Joe came over with their kids and we had dinner. Dylan met Joe for the first time and they talked computers for quite some time. A while after dinner I started getting pain in my stomach and heartburn feelings and a pain that shoots down my right shoulder to my elbow. It became really painful, similar to a pain I got on Wednesday the 8th at the craft club meeting at Patty's house. I couldn't get the pain go away and Dylan took me to the St Lukes ER in Meridian. I was writhing and crying the whole way there.

We got to the ER and they took my blood pressure - 166/99 - and sent me up to the labor and delivery floor. I was admitted there and put on monitors. The baby was fine, and they took a urine and blood sample. They did a general exam and saw that I had bad swelling, high blood pressure, and epigastric pain. The nurses called the on-call OB and he said if none of my blood or urine levels were out of normal range, then to send me home with an Ambien and tell me to sleep it off. I asked them to call my doctor - Dr. Hodges - but they said they couldn't. Dr. Hodges told me to call him anytime I went to the hospital.

Long story short... I went home to sleep it off and called The Woman's Clinic in the morning. Dr. Hodges doesn't work on Mondays - so I talked to Dr. Lowder - who told me to go take my blood pressure and call back and spend the day on bed rest to make sure that my bp didn't increase. My blood pressure was 142/94. I made an appt with Dr. Hodges for Tuesday morning. At the appointment he asked me to explain what was going on. I replayed the whole story and told him about the pain in my arm. He told me he hoped it was just high blood pressure and reflux, and gave me some reflux meds - but told me we needed to do tests to make sure it wasn't preeclampsia. He told Dylan and I what the best and worst case scenarios were - best being high bp and reflux - worst being HELLP Syndrome and giving birth in a few days. I took home stuff to do a 24 hour urine collection and was scheduled to see him on Thursday anyhow so I am going to take my urine in to St Lukes in Meridian tomorrow and have blood drawn. Until then I am on the couch with Willow.

More to come...

The swelling begins

So I thought I would make it through this pregnancy unscathed, but it turns out my circulation is turning against me. I am fine all day, walking around, teaching classes, sitting at desks, the whole bit - but by the evening, if I don't sit with my feet at the same level as my hips, or lay down with my feet elevated - I end up with Cankles! Where my ankles are not only as big as my calfs - but even mellon shaped, and my little toes swell up like sausages. It is horrible. I don't think Dylan believed me at first, but I pulled off my socks and showed him - and it was obvious that something was seriously out of shape.

Since my blood pressure is still very normal, there is nothing to worry about with the swelling/edema - but it hurts. I am considering trying some pregnancy compression stockings - something to help keep my fluids from pooling in my feet by the end of the day - how sexy can it get!!!!!

I will chat with the doctor about it on March 16th (my next appt) and see what he thinks!