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January 2, 2009, at just 27 weeks pregnant, I went into the hospital with high |
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January 2, 2009, at just 27 weeks pregnant, I went into the hospital with high blood pressure, swelling, and other complications. I was told that I needed to stay overnight to have a urine test and to monitor the baby. After the initial 24 hours they determined that I had preeclampsia. My BP had come down and the nurses thought that maybe I would get to go home but that wasn't the case. I met with the high risk OB and he did an ultrasound to see how our baby was doing. He said that he hadn't grown since the 20 week ultrasound and so I was ordered to stay on bed rest until the birth of my son. Unfortunately that happened a lot sooner then we expected. Just 5 days later, on January 7th, my kidneys shut down. In the middle of the night I started having bad back aches (I thought it was just the hospital bed). A few hours later I finally decided to ask the nurse for some pain meds so I could sleep. She left the room to call the doctor and suddenly the pain got severe. I was curled up in the fetal position when she finally came back with a pill. I don't know what she gave me but it helped right away. I got up and went to the bathroom. I had to call the nurse in because I wasn't sure it was supposed to look that color. It looked like the color of tea. She left the room again quickly and when she returned a few minutes later she informed me I was going to have a baby that day. I was so confused (Later I realized my body was going into shock). The first thing I said to her after that was "I should call my husband, right?" She somewhat chuckled but said to get him here ASAP. Once my husband got to the hospital they threw scrubs at him and ordered him to get dressed. Then I was rushed to the OR for an emergency C-Section. To say the least, we were all very scared. The doctor's were hopeful that as soon as the baby was delivered that my kidneys and liver would start functioning again at their normal level. However, this didn't happen. I was moved to ICU and under went Kidney Dialysis and several blood transfusions. It took 5 days in ICU before I was able to see my son and name him. But the entire time I was trying to get better I knew there were nurses and doctors taking care of my son and trying to help him have a fighting chance. We spent the next 4 1/2 months at his bed side. He was so small when he was born, weighing 1 pound 10 ounces and only 13 inches long. It seemed like every time he made progress there was even more things going wrong. We would take a few steps forward but 3 steps back. He kept getting infections and no one could figure out why. He was checked for everything under the sun and the infectious disease people became our new friends. Eventually, the infections damaged his liver beyond repair. We were told he would die without a transplant but most likely not survive the surgery so it was our choice. We decided we had to give him a chance at life. He received a part of a liver on May 20, 2009. He survived the initial surgery and we spent that evening watching and waiting. The next morning his BP dropped and things started going wrong. He went back into surgery that morning but his little heart couldn't take it. He passed away on May 21st, 2009. It has been a year since TJ passed away. My husband and I have decided to try again. I met with the team of doctors and was told that there was no known cause of my preeclampsia. I don't have issues with my BP any more and have no know blood clot conditions. They don't think it will happen again but I will be closely monitored. The problem now is just getting pregnant. |
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