On February 18th I went in for a routine prenatal exam. (Or what I thought would be routine.) I had my 4 year old daughter, Eva, with me. My husband had been planning on coming, but got caught up between work and traffic, I told him, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."
Every visit starts the same; weight, urine, and blood pressure, followed by a list of questions I had begun to memorize. My blood pressure was high, the CNA asked me if it was normally high, and then said the Dr would double check when she came in. The Dr comes in and asks me questions, and double checks my blood pressure. Still high. She then measures my stomach (I was a little small for how far along I was.) and asks if she can check to see if I'm dilated. Then she checks my blood pressure again. Still high. She tells me that she wants to send me over to Labor and Delivery for observation, that they might prescribe bed rest or delivery.
I start crying, I am not ready for this. I am a very active person, I have 3 kids, I manage a business, I have bills to pay and a house to run...who has time for bed rest. And delivery? Please, my mom and sisters didn't have any problems with pregnancies, I am not about to change that trend. Not too mention the baby would be 5 1/2 weeks early, I need that time to mentally prepare.
Eva and I walk over to Labor and Delivery (walking should do wonders for high blood pressure right?) and find out that children under 12 years of age are not allowed due to the flu. I understood why, but at that moment I was frustrated. My life would be changing, and I had no control, nor did I know what to expect. The let me keep Eva with me in the room, but I had to have a plan for her. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to be here for just a couple hours so they can watch my blood pressure come down. So of course I didn't see what the big deal was. I had called my husband who was picking up the big kids from school and then coming to be with me. He had called his mom to see if she could come get Eva. They get me all hooked up to the machine and check my blood pressure every 15 minutes. (If you have ever been through this, it is not relaxing.)
Multiple Dr's come in and introduce themselves to me, asking me question after question. They check my urine again, and all the while I'm trying to stay calm for Eva so that she doesn't get stressed out. My mother-in-law comes to pick Eva up. My husband shows up and we're both thinking this is going to be a quick in and out visit. At most over night. He is with me when they take me to another more permanent room (that should have been my first warning.) and is great, he talks to me and reassures me. They are still checking my blood pressure every 15 minutes, and have mentioned multiple times my swollen feet. I have now had my blood drawn a couple times, and had an IV put in with a magnesium sulfate drip. I have to have help going to the bathroom, they're ordering an ultrasound, and more Dr's come in. During the ultrasound they notice that the baby is breech, and that my fluid level is lower than it should be, but the baby is okay.
My husband leaves, we're both still thinking this will end with me being on bed rest. At 11:30 that night 3 Dr's come in and tell me that my blood pressure is not going down after 9 hours of bed rest. They recommend delivery, and I have two options 1. vaginal or 2. cesarean. If I opted for a vaginal delivery they would have to try to manipulate the baby with their hands to get him in the right position, (he had his feet down) with no guarantee that he would stay that way, because I would be induced it could be anywhere from 3-5 days before I actually gave birth. Keep in mind we have no idea what any of this will do to my blood pressure, or how the baby will handle that kind of stress. If I opt for a cesarean delivery I would have to deal with a 6 week recovery period, surgery and trusting someone to cut into my stomach, and everything else that comes with a major surgery.
I call my husband as soon as the Dr's leave my room and tell him he needs to come to the hospital now. I'm emotional, he's levelheaded and takes charge, finding someone to stay with the kids and planning ahead. He gets to the hospital around 12:30 on Wednesday February 19th. He and I talk for a little bit and then the Dr's come in to explain things to my husband. He and I talk things over and pray about our options. This is not something we wanted to decide on a whim. Not only was there my health to think about, but the health of our baby. We decide to move forward with a cesarean delivery, and at 3:30am I am wheeled back for them to start.
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