I imagined a pregnancy where I gained a healthy amount of weight, where I glowed with happiness, and where I had a calm, peaceful delivery without any assistance from pain meds or drugs. I was determined to do everything as natural as possible.
I was on the path to living this dream pregnancy for about 27 weeks. I only gained 5 pounds during the first 1.5 trimesters (in fact I dropped nearly 10 pounds during my first trimester), I didn't have a single pregnancy craving, no morning sickness, I could handle even the worst of smells, and best of all my body did not want anything to do with sweets. Other than having to endure two 3-hour glucose tests, I was experiencing the smoothest pregnancy of anyone I knew.
Then our ultrasound happened at around week 27. Baby Bug looked wonderful, she still had all ten toes and fingers, she had a strong heartbeat, and she was growing right on target. But the doctor brought me into an exam room and told me that my blood pressure was higher than they liked. He told me that he was concerned that I was developing preeclampsia and ordered a 24 hour urine test and scheduled a follow up appointment with my OB for the following Monday (this was Tuesday).
I did the urine test as ordered and figured it would be like the glucose tests, inconvenient and gross, but the results would be normal. That's when I received the notification from my online medical chart that told me the results were in and without even seeing my doctor's note about the test, I knew my levels were fairly high, especially for my stage of pregnancy.
Now most women don't freak about something like this right away, but we have family history of preeclampsia and this caused me to worry more than I normally would. But I tried to remain calm until I heard from my doctor.
That Monday I met with my doctor and she confirmed that I had preeclampsia, but that it was a mild case at this point and didn't seem to be effecting any of my organs. We discussed our plan of action and agreed that we were still planning on allowing things to run their course, but that I needed to start coming in every week for a check up and to have my lab work done to make sure all of my numbers stayed in check. She also ordered me to monitor my blood pressure at home with strict orders to go to the hospital at the first sign of an elevated blood pressure.
We went on this way for a few weeks without any worries, but then in August my lab work started to show a few elevated levels so we agreed that I would start coming in for weekly check ups and would also start coming in for weekly non-stress tests to monitor that baby's heart rate.
With all of this, I was still having an amazing pregnancy. The only exception being that I was rapidly putting on weight. This originally concerned me because my doctor had given me that goal of keeping my weight gain under 15 pounds and I was skyrocketing past 20 pounds and quickly approaching 30 and I wasn't even in the final stretch yet. But my doctor assured me that this was due to water retention and swelling from the preeclampsia and that it would all fall off pretty quickly.
This was my last belly picture.
The middle of August arrived and that is when I was first admitted to the hospital for a 3 day visit. My blood pressure went up, my vision blurred, and I was beyond swollen. Thankfully everything looked safe for baby to stick around for a bit longer and continue to cook and grow, but they gave me steroid shots just in case.
I was allowed to go back to work, but I had to promise to stay sitting most of the day, with only light walking. I wasn't able to lift over 10 pounds and jumping was prohibited, making storytimes tricky. I also had to closely monitor my blood pressure and visit my doctor for non-stress tests twice a week.
I continued this way for another two weeks, until the fateful Thursday when my picture perfect pregnancy ended and the scariest 2 days of my life began. I was right at the end of week 34 when I went into the hospital with a blood pressure reading of 160/108 and a massive headache that just wouldn't go away. I assumed that I would be sent home on bed rest and not able to return to work, but I was admitted for observation with the warning that I would probably be stuck there until my induction date (nesarly 3 weeks away). Knowing that I would just be sitting in a bed being woke up throughout the night by nurses, I sent Daniel home to be with the dogs with plans to see him the next day before he went to work (if I wasn't released 🤞).
The next morning a doctor, whose name I don't know, came in and told me that I needed to have my husband come in because we were going to be having a baby! I immediately broke down crying and shaking. It was too soon, she was too little, we didn't even have a crib, I hadn't had my baby shower yet and I wanted my enormous belly for my baby shower. They were mistaken and I was going home still pregnant until we were ready. But because of my crazy high blood pressure readings, my insane migraine that was not getting better, and the risk of seizures, we were having a baby.
Now, my phone had died that night so the only way I could communicate with Daniel was though the Facebook app on the hospital tablet, which did not go with me to the labor and delivery room. I sent him a quick message, he freaked out, and once I was in my L&D room I called him and assured him that he had time before he was a daddy.
And that is when my crazy labor began...
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