My sister was able to make me a siggy from pics my DH took. I haven't been able to see any of the other ones but I'll try and post more when I get home. The Dr. is saying tomorrow which is good because it's my other dd's 5th birthday and I still need to buy her a present.

First I have to start by saying all the good things with this pregnancy compared to my last. First, I got the steroid shots a full week before she was born to help her lungs. They got me into the OR before she came, even if just barely. My dh was there I got an epidural. No tearing. no HELLP syndrome. No hemorhaging. Easy delivery.

A lot of you know that this baby was not supposed to be here. After my 28 weeker we agreed no more babies and I was supposed to have my tubes tied but couldn't because of epidural complications so I was on birth control. Did you know the nuvoring is supposed to be refridgerated? So I wasn't sure of my due date. By LMP I should have been due 3/11 but by Ultrasound it said I was due 3/15 I am glad my Dr. is smarter than me. I really questioned why he was giving me the steroid shots so early as I was told they are best if given 1-2 weeks before the baby is born and I just knew she wasn't coming until January. I found out later he didn't tell me a lot of my lab results and what was going on for fear it would make my pressures worse. Smart Doctor. With my history of pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, he was being extremely over cautious.

I went in for a normal appointment on Tuesday (12/3). Baby was breech but heartrate of 145 and all looked good. Blood pressures were high again (156/105) so my Perinatologist decided it best to admit me. I stayed the day in labor and delivery and then they moved me to antepartum because my pressures were stable. Wednesday I hung out all day just watching tv, nothing new. They drew labs and started a 24hr urine. Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up with a really bad headache. Blood pressure laying down was 187/105. I then started having pain in my shoulder that went down my arm and 3 of my fingers were numb. They moved me back over to labor and delivery to monitor the baby and drew more labs. They kept telling me it was for observation but by 3am I knew something was going on and I asked them if I should call my dh. They finally told me yes that I should call him so he could have someone take care of our kids and come in (over an hour away). They were thinking c-section since baby was breech but I told them I had felt her kicking higher so they did an ultrasound to check and she had flipped head down. She must have known before me too.

4am they put the first cytotec in. I was already 25% effaced and a fingertip dilated. I started having contractions around 5am but not bad at all. Headache was much worse though and I was then seeing double. I also began having trouble breathing. They gave me a bolus of magnesium and switched me to an insulin drip. Things sort of got fuzzy right about here because of the magnesium. The anesthesiologist came in at the peris request. They wanted me to have an epidural in case I had to have a c-section and he assured me he could get one in without hitting the scar tissue I have in my back. Somewhere in there they put a catheter in and I remember them commenting on no urine output. A nephrologist came in but I can't remember what he said other then something about pulmonary edema. Next thing I remember they had some sort of cardiac monitor on me and oxygen. I have no idea if I was dilated at all when they decided to put the epidural in. I wasn't having bad contractions, just what felt like braxton hicks. I have to say, the anesthesiologist was determined. He ended up putting the epidural in 2 spaces above where they usually put it. It also hurt a lot more than I remember the other epidurals I've had. He said he could feel the scar tissue but that he got it in. I was given an oral cytotec sometime around 10am. I vaguely remember telling them that once I got to a 3 they better move me to the OR (room connected to the NICU). I remember my nurse being there the whole night holding the monitor on the baby, She kept moving all over the place. They broke my water somewhere in there (3cm) and put an electrode on the baby's head but for some reason, it wasn't picking up her heartrate so my nurse stayed the whole time by my bed. I remember getting scared because each time I had a contraction I could hear the baby's heartrate drop and at one point the nurse called in the Dr. because her heartrate dropped to 30 but by the time he got there it had gone back up again. I also remember them doing an ekg on me but I had no idea why.

I'm not sure what time it was but when they checked me again, I was 5cm. The nurse called the Dr. and we headed over to the OR. At that point, the epidural had worn off and I told the nurse I could feel the baby. The anesthesiologist came in and gave something else to me right before the baby came so I only felt pressure. The Dr rushed in just minutes before and as it turned out, things were labeled wrong and they couldn't find clamps so the nurse ended up holding my leg down as the Dr. held the baby in until they could find the clamps. I never pushed. The Dr. told me to stop pushing after she came out but I never started. I remember them saying it was 16:31 and someone asking what it was and me saying it's a girl. Boy was I loopy. I asked my DH how she looked and he told me good then joked that she was bald. Later I found out that she had lots of hair and was purple when she was born but he didn't want to scare me.

After I got back to my room, they sent me down for a CAT scan to make sure I didn't have any blood clots in my brain from my pressures being so high. Everything looked good. While I was doing that my DH went to check on baby and found out her apgars were 3 and 7. He also had to sign some papers because she needed a blood transfusion although he didn't tell me about it until the next morning.

I didn't sleep too much that night. Blood pressure checks every hour, labs every 2 hours. By morning I begged the Dr. to turn down the mag because I was so out of it I had no idea what anyone was saying. Turns out I had 4 IVs going of various things. They were giving me calcium, magnesium, potassium, insulin and electrolytes. They were going to send me to cardiac ICU but it was
determined they could monitor me remotely and kept me in L&D. I talked to the NICU that morning and was told she was being weaned off dopemine (for blood pressures) and was on a ventilator with 22% oxygen. I was also told she was 1lb 13oz and 13inches long.

Most of the next day I spent trying to sleep. I had 3 more EKG's and continued blood pressure and lab checks. By 4pm (12/6) they had me off everything but the mag. They moved me to the post partum floor and by 5pm they turned off the mag. At 7:30 I finally got to see my baby girl. Turns out I
developed severe preeclampsia with strange lab results. They had to give me calcium and potassium because my body had dumped it's stores and I was having muscle spasms down my arm, in my head and my eyes kept twitching. They were afraid my heart would start spasming so they had me on a remote
cardiac monitor. The nephrologist came back later and explained that maybe 1 in 400 people that have preeclampsia will have this happen and they don't know why. Just my luck I guess.

So that's my LONG birth story. They are saying my labs are 100% better so hopefully I'll be released tomorrow and can spend some time with my family.
I'll try and keep everyone updated as things progress. Please keep our little nameless baby in your prayers.

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