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I started having really bad back pain on Friday. It wasn't the normal back pain |
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I started having really bad back pain on Friday. It wasn't the normal back pain like I had had with my first pregnancy and it didn't feel like contractions. The pains were in the middle of my back and were constant. It felt as if they radiated threw my back into my chest and it was mainly at night. I had the worst time sleeping. I would take Tylenol which would only work for a short time and I switched positions so many times trying to get comfortable. I already had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and they were doing an ultrasound to check on the nutrition of the baby because I was measuring small and also was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the beginning of the pregnancy. So I put up with the pain. On Tuesday the ultrasound showed that everything was fine and the baby measured just right. My weight was up about 8 lbs in a month but I had lost so much that everyone was just happy I was gaining. My blood pressure stayed normal which I monitored closely because I was diagnosed with high blood pressure at 21 and was on BP meds for a short time. When I talked to my nurse practitioner I told her about the pain I was having. I also let her know that I was starting to swell in my feet, hands and face. She requested the results from my urine sample. As soon as I saw the results I had a bad feeling. I had 4+ Protein and my Specific Gravity was 1.3. She sent me home with orders to do a 24 hour urine collection and not to do anything but drink water and sit around the house in the air. She told me that my results could just me from not drinking enough water. On Wednesday I went back to the doctor and again my BP was normal. The nurse was not happy with how much urine I was turning in. She said it just wasn't enough. They also drew some blood and told me I could call the next day for the results if I did not hear from them. I went home Wednesday, still took it easy and sat around the house or outside while my husband did some yard work. I went to bed feeling alright. Around 12:30 I awoke to the same back pain again. I took some Tylenol and laid back down. I finally drifted back to sleep and then awoke again around 2:00. I got up and walked around some then laid back down. I drifted off to sleep again in pain waking again at 3:00. This time the pain was worse.Nothing worked like it usually did. I tried walking, eating, a heating pad, curling up. Finally at 4:00 I laid back down and just cried. I could feel the pain radiating up my neck to my head and it worried me a little but I knew my BP had been alright earlier that day at the doctor. My husband finally woke up to me sitting on the side of the bed crying. He decided enough was enough and told me we were going to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I moved positions constantly. I had started to sweat really badly too. The ER sent me straight up to mother-baby. Once upstairs they hooked me up to monitors and I was not having any contractions and the baby's heartbeat looked good but I was still in the worst pain I had ever been in. When they checked my blood pressure we found the problem. I should have already started seizing or stroked out. My BP was 224/178. They immediately called the doctor and started me on labetelol. My husband said it took them 5 times with the medicine to start bringing it down and all I could do was lay there in pain. I kept telling my husband to just push on my back as hard as he could. After they drew my labs and got the results they came to tell me that I would be going in for a c-section as soon as the Children's transport team arrived. I was in so much pain I don't think it really hit me at first until my husband asked if I wanted him to call my mom. I went into the hospital around 5:00 am and at 7:30am I was wheeled to the c-section room. Ryker Bradley was born at 8:14am. He weighed 2lbs 12oz but he came out crying and looked wonderful. They did vent him and I was able to see/touch him before they took him to Children's. Around 11 that night he was taken off the vent and was breathing on his own. It turned out that they delivered just in time. My labs the next day were worse but my kidney function started coming back so I was finally flushing all the toxins out of my system. The nurses told me that I was very lucky and that my labs were the worst they had seen in years. Four days after delivery I was finally discharged and was able to see my little boy. I was discharged on BP meds with the hope that I will not be on them long term. Our little Ryker is still in the hospital but is doing wonderful. Hopefully he will continue to do great and will be home before we know it!! We were definitely lucky!! |
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