And a quick disclaimer: If you don't like reading about birthing stories, just go ahead and skip this post.
Hunter's birth was trickier than we expected. Quite a bit trickier, actually.
My blood pressure began ticking up in the middle of June, right about the time my feet and ankles began taking on the "sausage" appearance. I had some blood pressure issues with Carson, so I wasn't too concerned, but this was my first time experiencing swelling. At every visit, they began testing me for preeclampsia, but every test came back with a negative result. I borrowed my neighbor's blood pressure cuff, we started tossing around the possibility of an induction before the due date, and that was that. I also started going for non-stress tests every week to check on Mr. Hunter specifically, and make sure he was still doing okay. I actually went for one of those tests on July 20th, and of course it was the only day that I didn't get my little preeclampsia test. I wasn't too pushy about it ( I should have been), but peeing in a cup at 38 weeks pregnant ain't exactly easy, so I let it slide. I went home and rested some in the afternoon, but slowly began feeling not so well. I actually got excited because I thought it meant that I was going into labor, but then I actually began to feel really sick - really sick. Lots of nausea, I couldn't catch my breath, and the feeling that little Hunter's feet were going to break the ribs on my right side. I called Tim at work (thank goodness he was working in Burlington that day and wasn't far away) and we laid on the bathroom floor together for a bit and then decided that a trip to the hospital was best. I knew that I wasn't in labor, but I knew that something was wrong.
After we got to the hospital, I got my trusty little cup to pee in, and I had vaulted myself right into severe preeclampsia. I still really didn't appreciate the seriousness of it all - I was just glad when they told me 1) you will stay and have this baby tonight and 2) we are injecting your IV with morphene to take care of that stabbing rib pain you're dealing with.
So, I was hooked up to some pitocin to get the ball rolling, as well as some magnesium sulfate to keep me from having seizures on account of the preeclampsia. The "mag" as they call it, was pretty nasty stuff. It makes you feel as if you have the flu - exactly what you want to feel like when you're in labor. Around midnight, I was then given the news that I also was experiencing HELLP syndrome, and things were taking an even more serious turn. My liver enzymes were way up, platelets were way down, and that epidural that I ordered thirty minutes ago was not going to happen. Since my platelets were so low, I had lost the ability to clot my blood, and thus, if the anethesiologist pricked me the wrong way, they would not be able to stop the bleeding in my spine. Yay.
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So, after quite a bit of pushing, Hunter arrived at 6:23 in the a.m. We were so thankful to have him out healthy and strong and glad that the uphill climb was over. I had to stay on the magnesium sulfate for another 24 hours, which combined with the effects of the preeclampsia and HELLP, made me swell like a Thanksgiving Day parade balloon, have double vision, and feel all over yucky. I didn't get to hold Hunter very much that first day - only to nurse him. Of course, when I sat up in bed to do that, my double vision would set in strong and my eyes would swell shut. You can only imagine how glad I was to see that nurse disconnect the IV the next morning!
On the morning of the 22nd, I got breakfast (hadn't been allowed to eat since entering the hospital), a new gown, and a new room. I immediately started feeling better after "the mag" was out of my system, and I was finally able to start enjoying my little boy. We got to come home on Friday afternoon, and I boo-hooed when I left the hospital - thankful for a healthy baby, and thankful that I was still able to take care of him.
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