Update: Intro: Athan is here!

[Bkrepasch2010]

Hi Everyone!

Was hoping it wouldn't be until later this week that I would post this but my handsome little man is here. I made it to 34 weeks and 4 days when the doctors decided my body had enough. My bloodpressures and everything were still fantastic but my bloodwork just kept coming back worse everyday.

Athan Christopher was born on 2/17/12 at 10:04am. He weighed 5lbs 2.7oz and was 17 3/4 inch long. I did have to have a c-section because he was breech. He did not need any help breathing which was fantastic. Our little guy is in the nicu but doing very well. He has experienced a few bradys(spelling?) which is definitely scary when the monitor goes off! But other then that they are weaning him off his IV ( low sugar from my GD). He still has his feeding tube but he has been doing very well at his bottle the last couple of feeds.

I am still in the hospital for now and I know I am going to just break down when it comes time for me to be discharged and my baby is still here. But for now I am trying to spend as much time with him as possible. My doctors are still monitoring me and my bloodwork. As of yesterday my levels were still all pretty elevated. Does it normally take a while for them to come back down? I was on the mag for 24 hours. It wasnt as bad as what I had read. It did make me very hot and sweaty and for the first 24 hours I had trouble just keeping myself awake. Now im just dealing from the pain and discomfort of the c-section.

As soon as I can figure out how to post a pic of my little man I will do so!

-Katie

[trish]

Welcome little Athan! My 36 weeker was almost his exact size. And yes, it was hard to leave the hospital without her even though she was only staying to sunbathe under the bili lights awhile longer. But, you know they will be taking excellent care of him so you can focus on getting YOU better. It will likely be several more days or weeks before things get back to normal in your body after what it's been through with PE.

Looking forward to seeing a pic! Take care.

[caryn]

Welcome Earthside, Athan!

And yes, it's normal for things to get worse for a few days before they start to get better. This is one reason I always freak out at people and chase them into the hospital once they start posting high numbers; odds are they're going even higher for a few days postpartum at least.

I'm looking forward to pictures!

[sam10]

Congratulations! Welcome, little Athan!

The mag did not bother me too much either, and I was drugged pretty well, so that my c-section actually never hurt all that much. If it hurts too much ask the nurse, they might up your pain meds a bit and it'll get easier. The nurses chased me around rather quickly, so I was moving around on day 2 already! Leaving hospital without the baby won't be easy, but he'll be in good hands.

Can't wait to see some pics

[JB]

I'm so glad your little boy is here and doing well! The NICU alarms do take a while to get used to, but you will.

My BP remained very high for a while after delivery. You are so lucky the mag didn't bother you much! I was on the mag for three days before delivery and a few days after. It made me really sick. Also, after delivery they wanted me to remain lying down for a few days while they tried to get my BP to come down. I was still on the mag so my vision was blurry and I was miserably hot. I didn't even get to see my baby for the first time until a day and a half after delivery, when they finally decided I was stable enough to wheel my whole hospital bed down to the NICU. I was released five days after delivery, and although my BP was lower it was still pretty high for several weeks. By about 2 months it was under control with meds. My kidney function and protein levels returned to normal quicker than my BP, maybe within a month (I can't really remember exactly).

In my case my BP didn't really become "normal" until I was taken off the breastfeeding-safe meds (labatalol and some calcium channel blocker I can't remember) and put on regular BP meds (hydrochlorothyazide and lisinopril). I tried pumping for seven weeks while my baby was in the NICU, but I never produced more than 15ml at one session, double pumping. I think a combination of factors from my illness affected my milk production (the early delivery, the c-section, the high BP, the lack of physical contact with my baby for weeks, the stress of having a sick baby in the NICU, etc.). When my daughter was finally released I decided to give up pumping (at that point she was mostly on formula anyway) and my nephrologist switched me to the other meds, which worked much better for me. I only have one kidney so I see a nephrologist annually anyway, but they also treat chronic hypertension. He told me that he has seen a wide range of recovery times from preeclampsia, including patients who require treatment with medication for the rest of their lives. One of his other patients just got off medication one year after her delivery.

My nephrologist was happy enough with my stability on the BP meds that he said I wouldn't need to come back for a year, unless my home BP monitoring showed changes, and then he would adjust my medication. Then I ended up getting pregnant again, so that plan changed. He took me off the meds I was on (not pregnancy safe), and my BP remained low enough to remain off them for now (about 19 weeks off, and BP still stable). He said that is probably because blood pressure drops naturally during the first half of pregnancy. Currently my OB is managing all my care, and she will put me back on pregnancy safe meds if I need them again.

Postpartum OB care usually lasts about 6 weeks, so if your BP remains elevated longer than that you will need to find another doctor to treat it. If that happens, I highly recommend finding an expert in hypertension, such as a nephrologist. Even though I wasn't seeing him for hypertension previously, my nephrologist was much more knowledgeable about my condition than my family practice doctor.

Take care of yourself and try not to worry too much. It is hard leaving your baby in the NICU, but he will be home sooner than you think. For me the tough part was bringing her home. I was so used to all the monitoring equipment telling me how she was doing that it was scary at first to have her home and not have a monitor to tell me if she was doing OK

[lemons]

Congratulations Katie and Welcome Athan!

I am glad to hear that Athan is doing well with his feedings! One step in the right direction. Hope he has been improving these last few days. Dealing with the NICU is hard and leaving the hospital without Athan will be difficult- It is not fair, it is not easy, and it can be hard for other people to understand it. So, please remember to be easy on yourself. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Athan's nurse tells you to bring in his carseat very soon!