There is not really any pregnancy that has no problems, no uncomfortable days. I know at the beginning of this pregnancy I was super sick. That happens. I had to take the super long glucose test, which turned out exceptional. And there was that day I had heat exhaustion at camp. Pregnant in a heat wave, it happens. So I consider that a relatively normal pregnancy. I had been feeling great, Micah is moving and squirming around, growing like he is supposed to be doing. Nesting set in and I was on a cleaning streak.
On Thursday morning I woke up not feeling quite right. I figured I would switch from mad cleaning to a full day of doing my school work, and maybe treat the kids to a walk for some candy if they let me work in peace. It was not uncomfortably hot, so when I barely made it to the bathroom with super amounts of swelling I was surprised. By the time I got to the kitchen I could not make a fist because my hands were so swollen, and my toes were not. Odd, but so is pregnancy.
I did school for a while, still not feeling well. I decided to lay down on my left side as so commonly told to do in pregnancy. When my mom stopped over my whole face was swollen. I took the kids to Giant Eagle for their snack, and checked my blood pressure. I was high,but the machine was not working correctly so I was not sure. By the time Andy came home my eyes were almost swollen shut.
We headed to our chiropractor appointment, figuring I would check my blood pressure at Walmart and sit on the bench while Andy got groceries for supper. My first reading was cause for concern, and the readings kept creeping up over the time I spent waiting and checking. When it read 170/99 I knew I had to be seen. We stopped to grab food at the closest drive through. By the time we hit Johnstown I was pretty out of it. My head was hurting very bad, I could see thumping spots, and was super sick to my stomach. I was not entirely convinced I would be ok, but we had the kids with us so I did not say too much.
Andy had to drop me off at the ER and go park. I was taken straight up to Labor and Delivery. Andy sat in the waiting room with the kids, keeping in touch by text, until I saw the doctor. I was feeling worse by the minute. The doctor came in, looked at me, and called for a nurse to start the IV. I told Andy, who came in to get a list of what I would need for short stay. As soon as he left to drop of the kids and grab my stuff it got interesting.
The IV nurse came in to do initial blood work and the second the needle hit my arm I been convulsing. She hit an alarm, and nurses came running. The doctor came in. I heard them talking, got a shot, and then was told I had taken a seizure because my blood pressure spiked to 190/110. I was put on a magnesium drip, which made me hot, itchy, and sick. Several times I had to get shots for vomiting, they did blood work every few hours.
After about an hour, the doctor ordered shots to help boost the baby's lungs. If I was not doing better soon they wanted to induce at 33 weeks. I began to cry. Throughout the night my blood pressure was taken every 15 minutes, spiking quite high and then dropping dangerously low. At one point I was told it dropped as low as 88/50, at which point I had another seizure. Then more meds.
I was taken off the magnesium drip after 12 hours. It felt like 12 days. They were running constant blood work, and urinalysis for 24 hours. After coming off the IV I could not walk. I could not stand without shaking. For the first time in my life I was on my knees sobbing for help and had to hit the alarm to call for the nurse.
After a long 24 hours, the tests came back borderline. I was not diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, but with sudden onset pregnancy induced high blood pressure. I was sent home feeling only slightly better than when I arrived. I cried the whole way home. I was terrified to leave the nurses and the consoling fact that if something happened they knew right away. It is about a 45 minute drive, an eternity in an emergency. And yet I so badly wanted to hold my kids. By the time I got to my mothers to pick them up I could hardly move. A splitting headache, swelling beginning, and sick to my stomach. I was ready to go right back to the ER when I could not walk myself to the van. Andy and my Dad had to get me there, after I had to ask for help for the second time that day.
I crawled up to my room. Bed rest until Monday. We have an ultrasound to check the little man's size, and my check up to know what is going on with my blood pressure. It needs to be regulated through my medicine or they will have no choice but to induce early. If today is any indicator, so far the medicine is not working. I can not stand up at all without my blood pressure spiking high enough to effect my ability to walk. Trips to the bathroom are quite an ordeal. There are side effects to both the magnesium and the new medicine I have to take, so hopefully in a few days this will even out.
Please be in prayer for us. As much as I want to meet my little guy, I need him to be safe more. He needs more time, and I need to be okay enough to give it to him. I also need to keep trucking on the cleaning up, my school work, and the fun of preparing for meeting Mr. Micah.
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