rmbrasher
08-24-2008, 07:50 PM
I've been unable to make it to the computer for the past couple weeks, but my baby made it here 8/14/08 at 34 weeks. We're doing fine now! Here's her birth story:
On Sunday (10th) I was feeling kind of lousy - nauseous and weak. I thought it was some bad fish I'd ate at my cousin's wedding the night before. That night I was in terrible pain in my back and my upper abdomen. I was in tears in the middle of the night and I was told by the on-call nurse to take some tylenol and go to bed. Which I did. I relaxed all day Monday and went to the doctor on Tuesday. They did a lot of tests because I had protein in my urine which is one sign of pre-eclampsia. They weren't too worried, though, because my blood pressure was just fine. However, they wanted me to collect my urine for a 24 hour period in a huge jug. Unsure of how I was going to keep that jug at work (that would have been nice in the community fridge!), I went home. I woke up pain again that night. I went to work but ended up going to the doctor because the pain wouldn't go away. The nurse practitioner wasn't too concerned - I forget now what reasons she gave for the pain, but they were silly. A nurse saw me before we left, though, and said I looked terrible. She suggested we go up to the hospital "just in case". So we did. By the time I got there, my blood pressure was 160/90 and rising. That's bad, considering my blood pressure is usually 110/60. They admitted me for observation.
That night I was in so much pain that I was almost climbing up the walls. They kept telling me it was 'heartburn' or 'the baby pushing on my back'. They gave me lortab and a shot of nubane before I finally could go to sleep.
My doctor finally saw me the next morning, and low and behold, when the test results came back, they discovered the pain was from my liver swelling and my kidneys shutting down. Ouch! I later learned I was entering "HELLP Syndrome" which is a form of pre-eclamsia that affects the liver, kidneys, and blood pressure. If not treated immediately, it can lead to coma and death. Treatment is the delivery of the baby.
So, they decided to do a emergency c-section, and Elise made it here at 11:50am, crying and a whole 3lbs 13oz. I passed out soon after she was born. I don't remember much after that.
She did great for such a small baby born at 34 weeks and two days. The NICU doctor said sometimes when a mom's body is in distress, it will speed up the growing process so that the baby will have a better chance of survival. She didn't need oxygen, she did well keeping her body temp, and she did fine digesting milk.
As for me - I didn't fare so well. They started me on a magnesium drip that made me nauseous and like my skin was on fire. I couldn't get out of bed for two days. (which meant no shower for four days straight - yuck!). They tried to control my blood pressure with different medications. The first one caused my heart to race and nose bleeds. I'm now on two different blood pressure meds which are, for the most part, keeping it at a bearable level. Supposedly they will wean me off of them in the next couple months. Until then I keep getting wicked headaches. I wasn't released for almost a week while they tried to get my body under control. I'm doing much better now!
And Elise is doing very well and should be home this week. Yea!
Here's her picture:
http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/images/1/cab6ef277b48692a460caf95d3fbe920.jpg (http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/images/1/cab6ef277b48692a460caf95d3fbe920.jpg)
On Sunday (10th) I was feeling kind of lousy - nauseous and weak. I thought it was some bad fish I'd ate at my cousin's wedding the night before. That night I was in terrible pain in my back and my upper abdomen. I was in tears in the middle of the night and I was told by the on-call nurse to take some tylenol and go to bed. Which I did. I relaxed all day Monday and went to the doctor on Tuesday. They did a lot of tests because I had protein in my urine which is one sign of pre-eclampsia. They weren't too worried, though, because my blood pressure was just fine. However, they wanted me to collect my urine for a 24 hour period in a huge jug. Unsure of how I was going to keep that jug at work (that would have been nice in the community fridge!), I went home. I woke up pain again that night. I went to work but ended up going to the doctor because the pain wouldn't go away. The nurse practitioner wasn't too concerned - I forget now what reasons she gave for the pain, but they were silly. A nurse saw me before we left, though, and said I looked terrible. She suggested we go up to the hospital "just in case". So we did. By the time I got there, my blood pressure was 160/90 and rising. That's bad, considering my blood pressure is usually 110/60. They admitted me for observation.
That night I was in so much pain that I was almost climbing up the walls. They kept telling me it was 'heartburn' or 'the baby pushing on my back'. They gave me lortab and a shot of nubane before I finally could go to sleep.
My doctor finally saw me the next morning, and low and behold, when the test results came back, they discovered the pain was from my liver swelling and my kidneys shutting down. Ouch! I later learned I was entering "HELLP Syndrome" which is a form of pre-eclamsia that affects the liver, kidneys, and blood pressure. If not treated immediately, it can lead to coma and death. Treatment is the delivery of the baby.
So, they decided to do a emergency c-section, and Elise made it here at 11:50am, crying and a whole 3lbs 13oz. I passed out soon after she was born. I don't remember much after that.
She did great for such a small baby born at 34 weeks and two days. The NICU doctor said sometimes when a mom's body is in distress, it will speed up the growing process so that the baby will have a better chance of survival. She didn't need oxygen, she did well keeping her body temp, and she did fine digesting milk.
As for me - I didn't fare so well. They started me on a magnesium drip that made me nauseous and like my skin was on fire. I couldn't get out of bed for two days. (which meant no shower for four days straight - yuck!). They tried to control my blood pressure with different medications. The first one caused my heart to race and nose bleeds. I'm now on two different blood pressure meds which are, for the most part, keeping it at a bearable level. Supposedly they will wean me off of them in the next couple months. Until then I keep getting wicked headaches. I wasn't released for almost a week while they tried to get my body under control. I'm doing much better now!
And Elise is doing very well and should be home this week. Yea!
Here's her picture:
http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/images/1/cab6ef277b48692a460caf95d3fbe920.jpg (http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/images/1/cab6ef277b48692a460caf95d3fbe920.jpg)
