I had a normal pregnancy other than the fact that I was hyperemic in the |
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I had a "normal" pregnancy other than the fact that I was hyperemic in the first trimester. I was considered an "elderly" OB at the time because I was 34 years old. I did not gain a great deal of weight during the pregnancy, only 28 pounds. I led an active life working as the Supervisor of a small hospital Blood Bank. I had expected my baby to be born sometime early in June. It was still May and the doctor seemed content with the progression of the pregnancy, in fact he worked at my hospital, so I felt secure that if anything would happen I would be in good hands. My glucose test had come back slightly elevated at the prescribed 29 week check, so I submitted a GTT test and the results came back in the normal range. The only unusual thing that happened was that in May I began to notice swelling and numbness in my hands. I was also a bit concerned when the doctor had run out of measuring tape when measuring my belly at the last visit. He said not to worry, that I was progressing just fine. I went to work feeling a bit unusual. I had a headache and just attributed that to late pregnancy discomfort. As the morning progressed, I began to feel worse and my secretary insisted on taking my blood pressure. It was 140/90. During the pregnancy I always ran 100/70. She told me I needed to notify my doctor, so I paged him and expected him to tell me to rest. Instead, he called and told me to go home immediately and that I was on strict bed rest from now until delivery. He also told me that I could no longer work. Needless to say that concerned me, but I followed orders. That weekend I obediently recorded my blood pressure 3 times a day and rested. However, one evening I was walking down the hall, lost my balance, and fell in the doorway to a room, breaking my glasses and scratching my head, causing the baby to "ball up" and be very still. He started moving within the hour and I called the doctor. He told me to come to the office that Monday morning. At that point, he did a pelvic exam, said that I was 75% effaced and that he wanted me to be induced the next morning. He was concerned about my blood pressure. The induction didn't work very well, I never progressed more than 2 cm, and at noon they broke my water and noted meconium staining. At midnight I received an epidural with hopes that it would precipitate dilation. It didn't, and the next morning my temperature went up and the doctor said he was going to perform a C-section. The C-section went well and I remember the doctor looking over the drape, telling me that my son could have "walked out" since he was 9.5 pounds and 22" long! According to my husband, he started crying immediately when he was pulled out. His Apgar was excellent. The anesthesiologist decided I needed some rest and slipped something in my IV and I didn't wake until 4 hours later. Unfortunately, I had so much pitocin that I was still having labor pains and passing clots as large as my fist. My hemoglobin was 9.0 and I had lost a great deal of blood. I received a transfusion of 2 units of blood and felt much better. My son was healthy and well, but I had never expected such a large baby. The doctor informed me that he thought I had actually had eclampsia and could have lost my son or had a stroke had they not induced me and taken my son by C-section. He also told me that my son was larger than expected and that I might have had undiagnosed pregnancy induced diabetes. That was a bit of a shock, but I felt like it had been handled properly and that I would think about that if I were to consider another pregnancy. He told me that he would recommend I automatically schedule a C-section should I have another baby. I never had another child and my son is now 15 and healthy. I have not had any other related health problems. |
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