Our Stories
I am 35 years old. This is the story of my first pregnancy with Emily, |
|
I am 35 years old. This is the story of my first pregnancy with Emily, who was born July 29th, 2005. I had a textbook first pregnancy up until the 37th week. Prior to, my BP was normal, no adverse symptoms other than the typical fatigue. I didn't even have morning sickness! I finished full time work (week 36) and at my next weekly check up with the OB/GYN, my BP had shot up and protein in my urine. I was asked to get an ultrasound and do a 24 hour urine collection. All tests came back normal. I had quite a bit of edema in my extremities -- shoes no longer fit, rings had to be taken off, but again felt no hypertensive symptoms. The following checkups (week 38, 39) my BP was elevated but not causing too much concern -- I was told to really take it easy -- it was July 2005 and it was HOT!!!! We had no air conditioning . Going in for my last checkup pre-due date -- my due date was July 29th, check up was July 27th -- my BP was crazy (170/110), but again not demonstrating any other hypertensive symptoms -- the OB told me (and husband) to return home, pack the bags and get back to the hospital. We had a dinner out before checking in that evening. That evening they gave me something to soften my cervix as they were planning to induce labor the next morning -- overnight my water broke naturally, but my condition worsened to a point where they decided to put me on mag sulfate. The next morning they started pitocin at 9:00 am and continued the mag sulfate. They kept increasing pitocin, and I requested an epidural around 2:00pm that afternoon. By late afternoon, no progress had been made on dilation and baby's station, so we settled in for a long haul. Around 6:00pm meconium was found in the amniotic fluid so a uterine lavage was performed and an internal monitor attached to the baby. They also decided to schedule the C-section ASAP -- the baby was strong, but they did not want to take any chances -- neither did we. Unfortunately it was a busy night in surgery and we had to wait for an anesthetist -- we were able to sleep in the meantime. I did feel quite a bit of nausea from the mag sulfate and the epidural. The C-section was performed around midnight, with the delivery happening very early on our due date, July 29th. Emily was a whopping 9lbs 13.8 oz and 22 inches long -- much bigger than anyone had predicted. She was totally healthy. Short of a bit of nausea right after, I was okay too and slept for the following few hours. We stayed in hospital for 5 nights postpartum to recover from the C-section, but my hypertension wasn't resolving itself and my liver enzymes were still all over the map. We were successful in breastfeeding with a bit of supplementation, but came out ok -- I was required to stay in hypertension medication for 1 month postpartum, after which time, my BP normalized. I lost 40 lbs of water in the first 2 weeks postpartum and am still struggling to get the last pounds off -- plus I'd like to drop another 20 before getting pregnant again (plan to next spring) Emily is now a bubbly, busy 14 month old who is walking and starting to talk -- we are so blessed with her. Her health has been spot-on as has mine since then. I feel very fortunate with the level of care we did receive -- although it wasn't my ideal of a delivery, with so many interventions, I'm glad we had professionals who made it so that we weren't afraid and that our recovery went well. |
|
|
Please login to write comment
Featured Story
.jpg)
I hadn’t been feeling well for a few days. I decided I would go in to work super early and give directions to the staff and then go home and go to the doctor. I got home and lay on the couch un...
Read more
Featured
Make a Difference
Help us continue our vital research, education and advocacy programs.
Join Our Mailing List
Copyright © 2013 Preeclampsia
Foundation. All rights reserved.