Pre-eclampsia birth story

[MrsAggie]

On Monday, December 8th, I had a follow up appointment with my OB after being diagnosed with preeclampsia and put on bed rest the previous Wednesday. My doctor was at a delivery but the nurse took my BP and it was 148/102. She had me lay on my left side, rechecked it a little later, and it had come down to 130s/80s. My doctor came in and did an ultrasound to check growth and amniotic fluid levels. Baby was measuring 5 lb 3 oz at 36w3d which was very alarming because he was measuring 5 lb at 32 weeks. My doctor told me it was time to have the baby and it wasn't worth waiting the 4 days until he was term. I asked if I could go home and get my bags and she said no, you're going by wheelchair to L&D right now.

Luckily my mom came with me to the appointment because my husband was working. I would have freaked if I was by myself. Strangely enough I started contracting on my own, probably from the stress, until they started my IV magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures. They started Cytotec to ripen my cervix and I had actually gone from closed to 1 cm since I had been checked in the office. The stress factor is real! I told H to just come after work, around midnight, since nothing was going to happen that night.

The next morning I was still only 1 cm but more effaced at 60%. My doctor broke my water at 8 am and started the pitocin. She told the nurse that I could have my epidural when I made "significant cervical change". I was told this could mean dilating or lots of effacing. Well I was contracting every 2-3 minutes but couldn't feel them for awhile. Then they started to build and build. At one point I was 1 cm but 90% effaced but still no epidural.

The contractions were hell. It was like my pelvis was tearing apart. Stadol made me loopy but didn't do anything for contraction pain. I wanted to scream and cry but felt like that would hurt worse so I just gripped the side rail and breathed through them. Later in the day I lost it and cried to mom because I had been laboring all day but I wasn't dilating so I knew I'd be sectioned for failure to progress. By 6:30 pm I was finally 3 cm and I got my epidural. Apparently my nurse had called the anesthesiologist way earlier because she chewed his ass out when he showed up lol. When he was doing the epidural, I started feeling severe pain in my back. I was stuck a few times, given more numbing medication, and then my BP bottomed out and my nurse had me sniffing things to keep me conscious. I've seen plenty of epidurals given so I know I was one of the lucky ones with a crappy experience. It was still 100% worth it.

My doctor came in an hour later and I was 4 cm so she had me position myself on my left side with "the peanut" between my legs. We called DS peanut throughout my pregnancy so we joke that this was the peanut that brought the peanut. Within an hour and a half I was feeling a little intermittent pressure and I knew I was complete when the nurse didn't even go all the way in to check me. His head was right there! Apparently I was so clamped down from the pain that the epidural was just what I needed to dilate. I just laid on my side and did zero test pushes because DS probably would have been born without a doctor if I did. Within 30 min my doctor and the NICU team were there and ready. My BPs had gone up and I was in a mag fog so it was hard to stay conscious. I pushed 5 series of contractions and W.eston G.eorge was born on December 9th at 9:34pm. He ended up being 6 lb 6 oz and 18 inches long! He was a little slow to perk up because of the mag but didn't need any extra resuscitation. They put him skin to skin after the neonatologist assigned apgars and I ugly cried.

I held him skin to skin for a bit and then tried breastfeeding but he was pretty worked up. All of the sudden I started feeling nauseous, my vision got super blurry, and I had a hard time staying conscious. I lost a bit of blood and my BPs were still up. I handed off DS, threw up, and they doubled my dose of mag. My mom was freaking out because I wasn't very responsive but my nurses did a great job with their game faces to keep my family from freaking out more.

Next thing I knew I was waking up at 4 am and H was asleep on the couch, my parents were gone, and DS was gone. He got to spend the night with some of his wonderful aunties in the NICU who loved on him all night. My parents bottle fed him after the delivery and took lots of pictures. I am so grateful for having family and coworkers who were willing to step in while I was recovering. My little guy is a very healthy and loved baby

Now for some pics of my munchkin and the peanut that brought the peanut! Lol

[Deleted]

He's adorable, congratulations! I'm glad he's finally here and you are both safe.

[sparkythelawyer]

Oh goodness, what a cutie! Sorry you had a rough time of it, glad things are going well now!

[Monica Geller]

Congratulations! He's adorable! Sounds like a scary experience, but also sounds like you were in great hands!

[sarahsas]

Congrats!!!

[achi]

Aw, congrats!

[leeluu]

Wpah you are one tough chick! Congratulations!

[rachelgreen]

He's adorable! I'm sorry you had such a rough go at it!

[nextbigthing]

Congratulations! He is beautiful and I'm so glad everything worked out!

[tacocat]

Congratulations!! He's adorable!! I'm glad everything ended up okay!

[miss.colorado]

What an adventure for you... Glad everything turned out ok! Congrats on your cutie!!

[kams]

He is beautiful and so alert! Congratulations!

[mudslide]

Congrats! He's a cutie. You did great!

[orangeglow]

Congrats momma!! Scary, but you were a trooper!! He is super cute too. How much did he end weighing?

[roo54]

Adorable! Congrats!

[MrsAggie]

Dec 16, 2014 3:28:27 GMT -5 orangeglow said:

Congrats momma!! Scary, but you were a trooper!! He is super cute too. How much did he end weighing?

6 lb 6 oz I'm so thankful the ultrasound measurements were wrong.

[starburst]

Congrats! So glad everything turned out ok!

[bk1]

Congrats!! You did awesome!

[christy082]

Congrats, he's adorable! Sorry you had such a rough experience. Glad you are both okay!

[estrellita]

Sorry everything was so stressful but I'm glad he's here and you're both doing well! Not to mention he's adorable

[luv2rn4fun]

Congrats mama! Sorry you had such a rough delivery but am so glad that both you and your DS are okay! He's absolutely precious!

[626]

He is so cute! Glad you're doing well now and the baby too. Congratulations!

[nmosrob]

Oof, that's a story! Sorry to hear it was a rough one, but so glad you're both doing well! He's adorable!!

[dearprudence]

What a rough couple of days for you. But a great happy ending. Congratulations!

[smiledamnit]

Congratulations!!

[FastHands]

He is absolutely adorable!

I'm pissed for you that they didn't give you the epi sooner! Pllllenty of ppl who are too in pain get an epi and then bam, baby.

[yourmother]

Sorry for the stress. Goodness, is he a cutie!!!