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I was just turning 20 years old and had been married for just 8 months. |
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I was just turning 20 years old and had been married for just 8 months. My pregnancy was High risk from the start, I had high levels of protein in my urine, levels ranging from 3+-5+. To top it all off I had suffered for a very severe form of ecoli called HemoliticUremicSyndrome at a young age of 15 months old. I had thought all my problems from the sickness were gone, until I got pregnant that is. I had an appointment with my regular Dr. every 2-3 weeks and had to see a Kidney specialist every 3 months. Around my 30th week of pregnancy I was put on partial bed rest due to protein levels and severe edema. By my 34th week I had begun suffering loss of appetite, nausea, and awful headaches. I called my physician at home one night and he prescribed Vicadin for the weekend so I could get some rest and maybe be able to eat something. By Monday nothing had really changed, at my 35 week appointment that day my blood pressure levels were pretty high. The hospital here in Mountain Home is not equipped for high risk pregnancies so I was sent to a larger hospital in Boise where I was hooked up to monitors and on constant supervision. I woke the next morning with a small headache but my blood pressure was fine. They decided to keep me until after lunch. Just as they served lunch I came down with the worst headache I had in a long time so they checked my blood pressure and it was 150/100. "Sorry honey, it doesn't look like you get to go home, we have to induce you immediately!!" is all I remember hearing. I was stuck with an IV ( finally after 4 tries!!) and given Magnesium Sulfate to control my BP and to hopefully keep me from having any seizures. They broke my bag of water then an hour later Added Pitocin to my IV to bring on more active labor. An hour later I asked for pain relief and was given a dose of Saydol (demoral), then after a nice four hour nap, I pushed for 20 minutes and gave birth to a 5lb. 3oz little boy who we named Jordan. My fight was now over and it was my helpless childs turn to fight. Thanks to my husband I was able to hold him for about 2 seconds before they rushed him to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Once there he was placed on all sorts of monitors and had to be placed on oxygen as he was grunting with labored breathing. I was taken upstairs to the same floor where all the women that had a normal pregnancy were placed. They had to keep me on the magnesium for another 2 days, it made me so sick. Every time I got up to go visit with my son, I would get sick, I actually made it to his warming bed once for about 2 seconds before I felt the urge to vomit, thankfully I was able to hold it until we got to the elevator. Finally on almost the 3rd day my magnesium bag was removed but the IV needle was left in place, just in case. I was finally keeping food down and able to go visit my son for the first time. They had found that his PDA, the artery with which the baby breathes while in the uterus and usually closes with the first gasps of air, had not closed. A few doses of medicine and on day number four he was off the oxygen and we were able to hold our son for the first time. It was so great. On day number 8 we were able to take our son home at 4lbs 14oz., along with him came a car bed, a heart monitor which we had for almost 4 months, and a dose of caffeine which had to be administered three times daily for almost 6 months. When I think back on this whole ordeal, my worst memory is sitting in that bed and having to shut my door so I could cry after watching the girl across the hall pick her little girl up to hold and nurse. I don't know how many times I asked to be moved to another floor. It was so hard to watch that lady be able to hold her child, while my little boy was 2 floors down fighting for his life, and we had to fight to touch him let alone wait 4 days to hold him. Jordan is now a normal 2 year old little boy who talks on the same level and sometimes better that his 3 year old cousin, and does everything that he should be doing at his age plus more. My husband and I want so badly to have another child, but are so afraid because we have been told yes by some Dr.'s and NO by others. My plan is to lose some weight and get in shape and do everything in my power to have a normal pregnancy so I can give my son the one thing he asks me for almost every day since I quit sitting my friends 4 month old little girl, "I want a Sunshine of my own mommy, a yittle gurl, mommy." |
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