Part 3

I spent most of that second night trying to sleep but between the nurses in the corner of my room staring at me.  I don't think they left the room (seizure watch perhaps?).  Anyway I was awake when the herd came to round the next morning.  They reported that I was holding steady and the plan was to keep me pregnant until 48 hours after my first steroid shot (beta complete).  I don't think that I noted that I was getting blood drawn every 4 hours to check my platelet levels, kidney and liver function.  Pretty much they were waiting for my levels to get bad enough that it was too dangerous to be pregnant.  So as of really early o'clock I was doing fine (well as fine as one is with severe pre-eclampsia).  

Around 9 am the herd returned which I took as a bad sign.  It turned out that my liver and kidneys decided to crap out on me.  The time had come.  I woke Shazam up before they told us what was going to happen and we sat together to hear the plan.  Pretty much we were told we were having a baby asap I was next in line they said.  There was some urgency as the doctor told us that I was getting much to sick to stay pregnant.  I called my bff and told her the news and asked her to come.  Shazam called our parents and they started on there way to Boston.  We realized that we had no camera and my dad at some point ran to his car to get his.  We were already to go.  

Then hospital time happened.  We waited for about 3 hours.  When the mfm and the resident finally came in to talk to us before the c-section I had to make fun of the resident who told me 3 hours ago that things were going to happen fast.  Turns out there were two other women/babies that were more critical than me and bumped me out of line.  Quite frankly I will wait three hours if it means I was only the 3rd sickest person on the floor.  Since I was pretty sick at this point they must have been in rough shape.  At this point I was scared shitless but I decided that I was going to put no energy into stressing out and or trying to control what was going to happen.  At this point what ever was going to happen would happen.  The only request that I had for the doctor when she checked in with me before the section was that she go and get herself into a good place.  Her response was that in the operating room she is always in a good place.  Exactly what I needed to hear.  I wanted only positive energy when the baby was born.  They took me back to the OR and Shazam stayed back to change into her scrubs.

Back in operating room I got my spinal from the anesthesiologist.  She then told me that she had sent a resident to go find my husband.  I told her the poor boy would be looking for a while since I had a wife.  Once I was numbed up and laying on the table Shazam came in and things got started.  I must say it was one of the strangest experiences of my life.  I couldn't feel anything from my chest down but I could tell they were moving me around since my shoulders were moving around.  Wacky.  We were told that the baby might not cry when he/she came out and were happy to hear our feisty little one cry  when she was born.  We had been team green until this point and were so happy to know that we had a daughter!  The nicu team was working on her and told Shazam she could go over and see her and take a picture.  That would have required Shazam to walk on the other side of the curtain and to keep from adding a third patient in the room she stayed put.  So the Neo took our camera and snapped a few pictures of of Little E pretty much at her littlest. 

Getting some help breathing a few minutes old.

First Kiss

 After a Little E was checked out by the nicu team they brought her over for a quick kiss and then she was brought to the nicu.  I later learned by reading her chart that she scored a 2 and a 4 on her apgars.  I am very glad that I didn't know that at the time.  I think I would have flipped out.  Once E was on her way things in the OR were pretty light.  My theory was if the doctors could chat and make jokes then things we going ok.  After being sewn up I was returned to my room and waited to be transferred to the to the maternity floor.  We didn't get to go until about 8 pm since we needed to wait for the nurse shift change.  They wheeled my gurney into the nicu and I finally got a good look at my girl.  She was intubated at that point and had both an umbilical line and peripheral iv in her hand.  She looked so wiped out but already had little curls on her head.  Her preemie diaper was huge on her and the tape flaps that attach the diaper on each side actually overlapped.

on the vent resting on her nest

my first good look

It took me another week to get discharged.  I still wasn't right.  I knew it but the chief resident really didn't listen.  I ended up back in labor triage 2 times and was almost readmitted that many times.  I had to get my bp checked everyday at the clinic for about 2 weeks and was on my bp medication for 9 months.  Little E would spend the next 69 days in the nicu with all the ups and downs that entails.  There were great times and horrible ones.  Days were they pull you in a room with serious faces and tell you they were concerned about this or that.  Others were we got to do regular mommy things like give our baby a bath.  We learned to just go with it, and now three years later, we have this funny little curly haired little girl. We call her the mayor and she chats with everyone.  She is pretty proud to be three and is doing great.  How far we have come in three years!