Bookmark and Share

I became pregnant with my first son when I was 18 and newly married, delivering

Posted On Wednesday, August 14, 2002  by Rocio
I became pregnant with my first son when I was 18 and newly married, delivering a couple months after my 19th birthday. Due to the fact I had no insurance I went to a low cost clinic at a local hospital. I saw a resident on every other appointment and in between I saw the nurse practioner. At my 34-week appointment (I saw the nurse practioner) I pointed out to her that I was having some severe swelling and was very uncomfortable. She told me that was normal and advised me to continue everything as I normally would. I was a Manager at a fast food restaurant working 50-60 hours a week, and obviously did not sit often.

At 36 weeks I returned for my regularly scheduled appointment (this one with a resident). My swelling had gotten even worse and apparently my blood pressure was up. He did an exam at that time to see if my cervix would be susceptible for induction, just in case. At that time I was not dilated. Since this was the hospital clinic, they sent me upstairs to the labor and delivery triage for blood tests, urinalysis and to monitor the baby for a while. At this point the seriousness of this had not been explained to me and I was unsure what any of these tests were for.

I was sent home on bed rest that evening, and was set for an appointment 1 week later. This pattern continued for the next 3 weeks. Everytime I went in for my appointment my blood pressure was higher and I would be sent upstairs for the same tests, only to be sent home.

Finally at 39 weeks they decided I was ready for induction. I was given the gel they put on your cervix to ripen it then sent to the high-risk ante-partum ward to sleep overnight. My husband went home at midnight. At 3 am they called him back in because they were moving me down to labor ad delivery. My contractions were 45 seconds apart and I was dilated to a 3. (This was 16 hours after the first gel was inserted). By 9 am I was dilated enough to have an epidural. The labor progressed pretty uneventfully. Unfortunately due to the lack of knowledge (resident doctors) my induction was never successfully followed through on
Views(160)
Please login to write comment

Featured

Make a Difference

Help us continue our vital research, education and advocacy programs.

Join Our Mailing List

Email Address: