Day 1: Wednesday Jan. 8th
It all started on Wednesday January 8th, when I woke up for the third day in a row with a completely puffy and swollen face. I was so puffy around my eyes that I didn't even look like myself. I did a google search for "swollen face during pregnancy" and found a lot of results for preeclampsia. So, I decided to stop and check my blood pressure at the grocery store on my way into town. I have always had low blood pressure, so I was shocked when it read 167/104. I rechecked it two more times and it was just as high each time.
I called my OB's office and they told me to come for a BP check and to test for protein in my urine. They kept me hooked up to the BP cuff for about an hour, and my BP didn't hardly go down at all. Then they got my urine labs back and told me there were significant amounts of proteins so they were going to contact my doctor to find out what she wanted to do with me. The nurse came back and said they were going to take me to labor and delivery and do a 24-hour urine catch to check my protein levels over time.
When they got me to labor and delivery, they hooked up an IV with Magnesium Sulfate--which helps prevent seizures and helps stabilize the baby's brain. It made me super hot and heavy-headed and made it hard to focus my eyes. I thought it was weird that they would hook me up to an IV when I was going home in the morning...That's when the doctor came in and told me they were going to give me steroid shots to help the baby's lungs develop. Then she told me what I had dreaded hearing--that I would most likely be delivering a preterm baby and would most likely be staying in the hospital until he came. I was in shock! I literally thought I was just stopping by for a blood pressure check and would be on my way. I was only 23 weeks 5 days pregnant...I was not ready to deliver. I never got to that chapter of the book because I was supposed to have 3 1/2 months left to go! Forget about me not being ready. More importantly, my baby was far from being ready to face life outside the womb. I remembered reading that 23-24 weeks was barely the age of viability with over half of babies not surviving. This was what scared me the most.
I knew that my baby and I needed a blessing. Mike's dad gave me a beautiful blessing, and late that night a member of our bishopric and one of our home teachers came and Mike and I each a priesthood blessing. I know that these blessings helped us through the next few weeks.
Day 2: Thursday Jan. 9th
The next day was spent in bed in labor and delivery on Magnesium Sulfate. My 24-hr urine test confirmed the worst. At levels of 7000+ and with my protein so high, I had severe preeclampsia and would have to stay in the hospital on bed rest until the baby came. The doctor told me they wanted to give me the second round of steroids and then hoped to make it at least 24 hours before having to deliver me. Again, I was shocked. I felt totally fine! How could my life be in so much danger that they would have to take my baby away from me and endanger his life in the process???
I determined then and there that I was going to do everything in my power to suffer through hospitalized bed rest and make it to the 28 week mark, which was the next big milestone for the baby. Little did I know that I wouldn't have any control over what would happen.
I wasn't allowed to eat anything except ice chips-- so I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast the day before. They monitored the baby's heart the whole time, and every time I had to go to the bathroom it was a big ordeal unhooking me from half of the stuff and wheeling my IV in with me. I was also hooked up to a BP cuff that would pump up and take my BP every 20 minutes--even all through the night. That afternoon, I got the second round of steroid shots (in the bottom!) and the doctor decided I could eat some clear fluids. So, I went wild and ordered some beef broth and jello to go along with my lemonade-flavored ice chips.
Day 3: Friday Jan. 10th
Every morning of my hospitalized bed rest stay started off with a phlebotemist coming in at 6:30 am to draw my blood for labs, and did I mention I HATE needles! My labs looked normal the next morning--checking for liver and kidney function-- and my BP was being controlled by IV meds, so they decided to move me to a room in ante-partum (which is actually in post-partum). They stopped the Mag and moved me to the other room, which was much smaller--especially Mike's sofa bed. I told Mike to go ahead and go to work because I didn't know how long I was going to be in the hospital. Because his work is only 5 minutes away, I told him to just keep his phone on him and I would call him if anything changed.
I had an appointment with maternal-fetal medicine today. They did a complete ultrasound of the baby to check all of his organs and measurements. He was only measuring 1lb 5oz, but all of his organs were looking good. Dr. Andres came in to talk to me after the ultrasound, and he told me that there was an 80% chance that this time next week I would not be pregnant. My heart sank...but I was still determined to keep this baby inside for as long as possible to give him the best fighting chance.
Days 4-10: Saturday Jan. 11th-Friday Jan. 17th
I could not have made it through the next week of my hospital stay without my mom and Mike. Mike spent every night of my entire 16-night stay in the hospital on the sofa couch beside me. I know it was neither comfortable nor convenient for him, but he never complained. He got up with me multiple times each night to help me to the bathroom, he texted my BP stats to my mom, he helped me get comfortable in my bed, helped me order meals, and he prayed and read the scriptures with me every night. He even helped me shower, shave, and blow dry my hair one time. I feel like we grew closer during this time together. Mike would stay with me in the morning until my mom could get to the hospital. She would stay with me for most of the day until Mike came back at night. She took time away from her work and home to make sure that I was doing ok at the hospital. She helped me order meals, get to the bathroom, shower and blow dry my hair, kept me company, and sat with me while I napped. I am so thankful for the selfless service of my mom and husband, and I know that Heavenly Father will greatly bless them for it.
For the most part the doctors and nurses were able to keep my BP under control with oral and IV meds. They had to keep gradually increasing my oral Labetalol in order to keep from having to give me too much IV Hydralizine. I went through 3 different IV's during this time because my sites kept burning when they flushed them and would go bad. They also began giving me two shots of Heparin a day because Dr. Andres was concerned that I might possibly have a condition called Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome. They did some blood work that was inconclusive and will not be able to officially diagnose until I have a second set of blood work done 12 weeks from the first set. So, until then they will simply treat me as if I have it... which means blood thinner shots--yay more needles! Between the IV's, the lab blood draws every morning, and the Heparin shots, my arms were just covered in giant bruises.
In addition to the bruising, my body started retaining fluids like crazy. This had begun with my facial swelling, but during my first week and a half in the hospital I gained 14 pounds in water weight! Needless to say, I was looking extremely puffy and swollen all over. My legs and feet were so swollen that it was extremely difficult just getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom. I hardly recognized my face and body when I saw it in the mirror. My skin was stretched so fast from the swelling that it basically started tearing and I ended up with all sorts of new stretch marks --even on my ankles, feet, and knees-- and my skin hurt incredibly to touch.
The night of Friday, January 17th I had a bad feeling when I was eating my dinner as my mom was leaving and Mike was getting there. Things just didn't feel quite right. One nurse mentioned that I should pay attention to any feelings of "impending doom," and that is how I would describe how I felt. I couldn't hardly eat anything for dinner, and as I was trying to go to bed I started feeling this sharp pain on the right side of my rib cage. It hurt every time I breathed and I could not fall asleep, so I asked the nurse for an Ambien and tried to go back to sleep. The pain kept getting worse so I told Mike and the nurse about it and the doctor decided to have some blood drawn for lab work. I was upset and crying because I felt terrible and could not sleep, and was even more upset and worried about how my labs would come back. I was so worked up that my blood pressure started rising, and by the time my lab results came back my BP was up around 200/110. On top of that my lab results came back showing that my liver functions were decreasing. At about 4:30 am on Saturday morning, the nurse told me that I would be moving back to labor and delivery. I was so upset--I had failed at keeping my baby safe and now they were going to take him away from me. I could not stop crying and could not be consoled. Mike called family to let them know I was going back to L&D and we tried our best to pack up all of the stuff we had collected in the previous week and a half to move over to another room.
Day 11: Saturday Jan. 18th
Somewhere in all of the commotion of packing stuff to move rooms Mike missed the nurse telling me that they were taking me to L&D to have the baby. He did not realize that the baby was coming today. When the new nurse in L&D told him this once we got all moved, it really sank in to him and we both cried. This was not how we wanted to welcome our first baby into our family, and the situation was overwhelmingly real now.
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