MY PREGNANCY & BIRTH STORY:
Dislcaimer: I may go into detail about some aspects of labor and delivery... so if you are a dude reading this.... consider this your warning.
I believe that I was supposed to get pregnant when I did. It seemed to happen right after I stopped taking the pill. I was relieved because I was thinking this was going to take at least up to six months if we were lucky. But lo and behold, I immediately felt like I was pregnant. I waited for six weeks though before I tested just to make sure, and yep, also immediately had the feeling that we were going to be blessed with a little girl. Dallin, of course, was hoping for a boy.
Our prayers were answered in so many ways. I had a window of opportunity to get pregnant because my health insurance would end April 28, 2013. (One day after Ella was supposed to be due). I can't get individual health care because as some of you may know, I have Lupus. For those of you unfamiliar with this disease, it is auto-immune which means that normal antibodies turn into auto-antibodies and begin attacking healthy organ systems. I was first diagnosed in April 2006, so this month marks my seven year anniversary. Although I consider myself pretty healthy, insurance companies didn't want to budge.
We were extrememly happy, but I was worried. I was considered a high-risk pregnancy. With that came the constant "what if." Like all expectant mothers, I was worried about miscarriage, still-birth, how much the baby kicked, etc. But my ultimate worry was one that I knew had a good chance of happening, Pre-Eclampsia. Lupus patients are automatically put into high-risk pregnancies because of an increased risk of developing Pre-Eclampsia. Now if you don't know what this condition entails, it is when the blood pressure of the mother becomes too high and there is protein in the urine. The kidneys are ultimately effected and they can shut down. (Kidneys play a key role in controlling blood pressure, and blood pressure, in turn, can affect the health of the kidneys).
Because of Lupus and my high risk condition, I chose to travel back to Heber City to see my doctor for my prenatal care. I think he is a wonderful doctor, I absolutely trust him, and I knew that I would be safe with him because he has been there with me since I was first diagnosed. We also coordinated care with a perinatologist and with my rheumatologist.
Throughout my pregnancy, we were closely monitoring my blood pressure. It was higher to begin with and stayed steady that it wasn't as much of a worry, and there wasn't any protein in my urine during these visits, except for "a trace" at one visit, but we thought it was because I was feeling ill at the time. So besides having morning sickness and popping Zofran until 18 weeks, I was actually feeling fine. I started swelling up around 30 weeks. My ankles, toes, hands, face, etc. I began retaining water and I ballooned up really fast. It became uncomfortable to even sit. (I worked 36-37 hour weeks up until 35 weeks, and I am on my feet and sitting and leaning over people, which wasn't so good on my back or any other joints). Between week 30 and week 35, I had gained 20 lbs. Again, water weight.
Physiology lesson: Blood pressure measures the force of blood against the walls of the blood vessels. Extra fluid in the body increases the amount of fluid in blood vessels and makes blood pressure higher. High blood pressure makes the heart work harder and, over time, can damage blood vessels throughout the body. If the blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged, they may stop removing wastes and extra fluid from the body.
So, right at 35 weeks, my doctor put me on bed rest (we were now back in Logan). My blood pressure was a steady 150/90 over the weekend and would not go down and there was now a trace of protein in my urine. I couldn't work. I had to take it easy and do nothing. If we could make it to at least 37 weeks, my doctor wouldn't be worried about inducing me early. For some reason, this whole thing didn't phase me, and it was odd because I worried about everything. I had all the faith we were going to make it to at least 37 weeks or beyond. I hadn't mentally prepared myself for the possibility of having our baby any earlier, and I think why is because we weren't completely set up for her here at home. I was just looking forward to the big Family/Friend baby shower that I was supposed to have the next weekend and then getting what we still needed after.
I had a Fetal Non-Stress Test and an OB visit scheduled that Friday that I was on bed rest. Dallin couldn't leave right away so I drove myself. I was feeling ok. I packed all my things, plus all our hospital bags because I was planning on living down there the rest of my bed rest. Baby's stress test looked fine. Her heart was beating well and she was responding well to the contractions (which I couldn't feel). They also checked for protein and were monitoring my blood pressure which was still at that time 150/96. The diastolic number was climbling. My OB visit was a few hours later, so I went to my parents house and took a nap. I woke up and drove back to the hospital. I went in and did the usual routine of getting weighed, urine sample, and getting my blood pressure checked. However, this time was a little strange. The nurse had me lie down on the bed to check my blood pressure. She also turned off the lights and asked if I had a headache. I told her no. (My mom also works as a Medical Assistant for my doctor, so she was there). She left the room and I could slightly hear my doctor's conversation on the telephone with another doctor and they were talking about me. I immediately began to worry.
My doctor walked into the room and immediately I knew that something was wrong by the look on his face. He sat down and cleared his throat and calmly told me that my blood pressure was 160/100 and I had 2+ protein in my urine. Now, I could feel the headache coming on. I questioned what that meant, and he responded saying that I needed to deliver the baby this weekend and that I wouldn't be able to do it here because they cannot deliver before 37 weeks without a NICU. I couldn't believe it, my baby shower was supposed to be the follwing day!!! I was petrified, I began to shake uncontrollably. Dallin was still up in Logan without anyway for me to get in contact with him because he had left his phone at my parent's the week before and said he wasn't worried about having it mailed to him. I wasn't sure when he was going to get there. I began to cry because I didn't want to do this without him. I frantically called my mother-in-law in California to see if there was anyway she could reach him.
My doctor had me transferred to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. My mom left work, along with my stepdad and my sister to drive me there. I became so anxious that my heart began to palpate and I felt so dizzy and lightheaded. My mom wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery (they were expecting me) and they quickly got me into my room, dressed in my gown, and began searching for the best place for my IV. My blood pressure at this point was 184/107. Trying to find a vein with my high blood pressure wasn't the problem. The problem was trying to find one that wouldn't blow. IV's hurt like crazy in the first place, but being poked in several different places in my arms and in the back of my hands in hopes that one wouldn't collapse was the worst. I had "battle scars" for a couple weeks. They hooked me up to Magnesium sulfate to help prevent seizures that can come with pre-eclampsia. I felt weak, I had blurry vision especially in my right eye, I had a severe headache, I felt nauseated, and I now had a stuffy nose. Mag is the worst but again does its job. During this time, they had also hooked me up to like four other bags but I cannot recall what they were. With all the fluid being pumped into my body and my body already retaining water, I looked like a balloon!
I had been at the hospital for an hour before Dallin walked in. I was so excited to see him! I needed him to help calm my nerves. My doctor came in and checked my cervix, I was already 2+ cm dilated and 60-70% effaced. I hadn't even been given pitocin yet. So, they hooked me up to pitocin at 10pm. I received my epidural at 12:30 am (which is definitely not just a "mosquito bite" or a "little bit of pressure") and my water broke on it's own at 4am. At this point they had placed heart monitors on my baby's head and my uterine wall. I felt like I needed to start pushing a little after 6am but they wanted me to relax and wait to start pushing at 7am. My contractions were coming closer and closer together, at which point my baby's heart rate began to drop. We didn't begin with "practice pushes"... the doctor came in, suited up, and we began right away. He told me that need to hurry and get this baby out and I need to push as hard as I can. So with each contraction and demands of my doc, nurse, and my hubby I tried with all my might to always push as hard as I could. I was soooo tired from the mag and getting zero sleep I just didn't have the strength. My doc began looking at other options because baby's heart rate would decrease dramatically with pushes. He had O.R. prepped, the NICU team in my room, foreceps ready, but we decided to start with an episiotomy. Now, in other circumstances, I could've easily pushed this baby out without one, but we didnt have the time.
Our miracle was born at 7:32am and at 4lbs 10 oz, healthy and beautiful. Apparently I had a lot of calcifications in my placenta and my doctor said it looked like 42 weeks. It was meant to be in so many ways that she came at this time. My body probably wouldn't have been able to sustain her any longer and something really bad could've happened.
We left Monday morning! I still am battling residual high blood pressure which I'm om medication for. My doc found a heart murmur a few days later. I got an echocardiogram done to make sure there wasn't any other damage and to rule out my lupus having anything to do with it. I wore a holter monitor because I was still having heart palpitations, which have now gone away or I just can't feel them anymore.
