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It was January 5, 2009. I was 26 weeks pregnant and I had just |
| It was January 5, 2009. I was 26 weeks pregnant and I had just had a blah day at work. I bought something quick and easy to make for dinner, went home and took a nap. Around 6:30 pm, right after I put dinner in the oven, the pains started. I would have thought nothing of them, it was just a weird feeling at top of my abdomen, but something told me that it wasn't good. I made a deal that if they didn't go away within ten minutes, I would call my husband and tell him to rush home so I could go to the hospital. Five minutes later, they were still there and I didn't wait to call him. He was close to home so we were able to rush to the hospital right away. The pains went away by the time we got to there but they wanted to observe me anyway. My blood pressure was high (which was no shocker, it had been high in the previous month) and this time, I failed my labs - there was protein in my urine. The doctor said the magic word "preeclampsia" and my heart dropped. I had always been afraid of preeclampsia, ever since that episode of ER (anyone who watched the show, remembers the episode where the happy couple anxiously await the arrival of their baby only to have the mother seize and eventually die). So now I have it and now I have to be treated as a high risk pregnancy and my nice little community based hospital couldn't handle that. I was treated to a 2:30 am ambulance ride into the city where I met the high risk OB. Within an hour of tests and ultrasounds, it was official - I would have to deliver immediately. So, at 5:33 am, Julia Grace was brought into the world - a full three months and six days before she was due. She weighed 1 lb, 7 oz and was 13 inches long. It was the scariest 11 hours of my life only to be followed by an agonizing 83 days in the NICU. Today, she is almost 15 months old and perfect. You would never know how early and small she was. It truly was a miracle. No one is sure why this happened so suddenly, so early and so severely. No one can tell me about the possibility of future pregnancies. What I can say, I can do so with certainty - Julia and I would not be here today if it weren't for the doctors and nurses at the Hospital. We owe them everything. If my story can provide hope for any parents out there who have had a similar experience, it's the least I can do. |
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