Emerson's Birth Story

[kandrze1]

So I decided to try and write down what I remembered since I never wrote one at the time last year. ETA: Sorry for all the crazy code! I copy and pasted from word.

My pregnancy started out as a very high-risk pregnancy (I’m
type 1 diabetic with a history of DKA) and luckily by the end of the first
trimester I was not considered such a high risk. 

Around week 34 I woke up in the middle of the night with a
very low blood sugar (I think it was 23). I was dizzy, sweating, felt cramping and
couldn’t physically move myself out of bed. Luckily I sleep with sugar pills
and my glucometer next to my bed. I was able to eat the sugar pills and get my
sugar back up. I didn’t think it was a big deal especially since I was seeing
my dietician the next morning. When I mentioned the low blood sugar to her she
called my endo and OB. My OB sent me to L &D to monitor to make sure I
wasn’t having contractions. I spent the day and night in L&D where my blood
sugar continued to drop low.  I was not having contractions and everything looked good with the baby so they sent me
home in the morning. I was pulled out of work and was told at 36 weeks they
would do an amnio to check for lung development and if the lungs were developed
enough I would immediately have a C-section. They decided my blood sugars were
out of control because of the pregnancy (apparently it has to do with the
placenta and the baby getting the glucose they needed. I don’t remember all of
the medical terms) and it was getting too risky for me to continue much longer.

I was really against the 36-week amnio plan so I started to
obsess over my blood sugars. I took my blood sugar every half hour to see if I
was getting too low. I woke myself up almost every other hour at night to do
the same thing.

After my trip to L&D I started to see a Neonatal
specialist who had a background with diabetic mothers at the hospital in
addition to seeing my OB. The neonatal specialist was happy with how I was
tracking my blood sugar readings and the baby was measuring big, but not so big
that the specialist saw any need to push a 36-week amnio or C-section prior to 39
weeks. My OB insisted I take it week by week. I ended up making it until 38
weeks. At my 37-week appointment my OB examined me and I wasn’t even slightly dilated.
Based on the measurements from the neonatal specialist she wanted me to
schedule an induction or C-section for 38 weeks. The baby was measuring at 8lbs.,
8 oz. (the baby was also starting to show growth characteristics of a baby with
a diabetic mother that are not favorable) so she thought I could try an
induction if I wanted. I was on the fence so I went home to think about it.<o:p></o:p>

The next morning I was in bed still when my OB called me and
asked me how I felt about scheduling a C-section and not trying to induce. She
was concerned about me laboring and the effects it would have on my blood
sugar. She told me she would have me induced at 7pm on April 10^th
and if I hadn’t progressed enough by morning she would want me to have a C-section.
She felt pretty sure I was going to end up with a C-section, so I agreed to
just schedule a C-section.<o:p></o:p>

On April 11^th, we went to the hospital at 8 am. I
waited for a while for the anesthesiologist and an operating room. L & D was
FULL when I was there.

Emerson was born at 11:25. She was 9lbs. 6oz. and 21.5
inches long. I was able to nurse her in the recovery room. I just remember
being really loopy from the pain meds and kept asking the nurse if it was okay
that I couldn’t feel my shoulders. They took Emerson to get checked out while I
was moving rooms. Her blood sugar dropped pretty low and she ended up staying
in the nursery for almost ten hours before I saw her again. The pediatrician
who was seeing Emerson came in to explain this to me. I was upset at first, but
then he told me that if I had been in less control of my blood sugar she would
have ended up in the NICU. That made me feel a little better because of how
obsessed I had been with checking my sugars and keeping them perfect the last
month of my pregnancy.

 I had a pretty easy recovery and Emerson didn't have any other issues with her blood sugar. I got to see her and nurse her around 10:30 pm the first night.

Newborn Pictures:

One quick one from this morning:

[melis74]

Thanks for sharing, I'm sure that was scary for you. E is adorable and she was such a sweet little newborn!

[skiesthelimit]

What an interesting story, glad everything turned out good. What a cutie!

[musiclover]

Great story, and great job mama. She is soooo cute!

[helicase]

Thank goodness you checked your blood sugars so religiously. Thanks for sharing your story!

[teamhayes]

Wow what a hard way to end your pregnancy. I love the little boy hats they give girls, darling.

[mrsjaymay]

Wow, great story! You should definitely be proud of all the strict monitoring you did at the end!

And Emerson is just as cute as can be! Love the hat pic from the hospital!

[angiekay84]

Wow, great story and I'm so impressed with your heart work. Such a doll baby, too. Emerson is so cute!

[kkfeb04]

Great job!

[thedahliharpa]

You did a good job keeping both of you healthy mama! She was a really cute newborn!

[silverjm]

Thank you for sharing. I had no idea pregnancy could be so challenging for a diabetic.

[Deleted]

Great story and great job keeping everything in check! I can't imagine how disciplined you had to be. I know it was worth it for that sweet girl! She is precious! ! Happy birthday!

[ruby412]

I didn't know you were a Type 1 Diabetic and dealt with all of that. How stressful! It sounds like you handled things perfectly and Emerson doing so well is proof of that!

[rxbeth]

You did a great job! Happy birthday, E!