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I was 27 years old. This was my first pregnancy. We were having |
| I was 27 years old. This was my first pregnancy. We were having a little girl and may husband and I were so excited. I had the best pregnancy up until week 29. No morning sickness, felt great. And then I started just not feeling right. And my whole body swelled up. Well I had been reading the "What to expect when your expecting book" and the section I had just read talked about Preeclampsia. I started getting really nervous thinking that it sounded like what I was experiencing. I was supposed to see the doctor that friday but on tuesday I called and told them what was happening and they asked me to come in and have my blood pressure checked the next day. So on wednesday I went in. All the Drs. were busy in the delivery room so the nurse checked my blood pressure and it was up a little but not enough to be worried. By my appointment on friday, I had gained 10 lbs (of fluid) and my blood pressure had sky rocketed. The doctor sent me home on bedrest and had me do a 24 hour unine collection to test for protein. She told me to call her if I developed any other symptoms. Saturday evening I developed a severe headache and tried taking medicine to get rid of it. Well it wouldn't go away. So Sunday we called my doctor and she admitted me to the hospital for tests. We live in a small town and our hospital does not have a NICU so a couple of hours after being admitted I was sent by ambulance to a nearby city with a highly rated NICU facility. Before being transported I was hooked up to an IV for the Magnesium Sulfate (to keep me from having seizures). M y protein level was at 9 grams (the highest my doctor had ever seen and she ran the test more than once). After being admitted to the other hospital, I was hooked up to monitors and they did an ultrasound of the baby. I was in the special care facility for 2 days. Finally my blood pressure stabalized and they took me off of the magnesium sulfate and moved me into a room. Where I spent another 2 days then I had a reaction to a medicine they gave me to sleep which caused my blood pressure to go back up and another headache to start in. Nothing they gave me made the headache go away. I was back on the magnesium sulfate and they decided to induce labor. This was 2 am. Probably around 4pm I was moved into a delivery/operating room. Where they tried 4 times to give me an epidural. They had trouble because I couldn't sit up withouth passing out and the baby's heart rate dropping. The 4th one took, kind of, and it was time to push. At about 7:30 that night my little girl was born weiging only 2lbs 13oz. She was born at 30 weeks and 5 days. She was rushed away to the NICU. My husband was able to see her for only a second before they rushed her off. I had to stay on the Magnesium Sulfate for another 24 hours. My husband brought me pictures of our little girl who was hooked up to a CPAP machine for about 10 hours. It was a terrible sight. All I wanted was to get out of bed and be with her. Finally after 24 hours they took me off of the mag sulfate. It took me three hours to get out of bed and get into a wheel chair. I hadn't been out of a hospital bed in 5 days. It took me another 3 days before I was able to walk well and build some muscle back up in my legs. I spent 5 days in the hospital after giving birth. The medications they gave me to bring my blood pressure down were not working. I had broken a blood vessel in my eye during delivery so I had to see an eye doctor. I also had to have an electorcardiogram and an EKG to make sure that the severe preeclampsia didn't cause any other damage. No other damage was caused. But it took about 8 weeks before my blood pressure returned to normal. I started weening off of the blood pressure medication at about week 6 and then completly off at week 8. My little girl, Kayla, spent 5 weeks in the hospital. No major complications. She spent 2 weeks in an incubator until she was able to hold her own body temperature. She then spent another 3 weeks learning how to eat and trying to not have an A' and B so that she could come home. Kayla is now 2 1/2 years old and has no signs of being a premature baby. In fact she is taller then most 3 year olds. We are now trying to get pregnant again. It is a scary thought to think we might have to go through this agin. I pray that everything goes well this time. |
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