I think about this a lot, but not sure if i've ever written it down! Caveat to my story- I had hypertension, and my mom had pre-e with 5/6 of her babies, so I was expecting to get it. It's definitely not the norm!
DD was born at 35 + 3 weeks, a healthy 4lb 12 oz.
I showed up on a Monday for my twice a week NST, baby was looking good, but my blood pressure was high. After multiple attempts at taking my Bp, and urine and bloodwork done, it was determined that I had developed sever preeclampsia. My doctor came in and told me I wouldn't be leaving the hospital without a baby in our arms. Once i received the diagnosis, i had 3 nurses, my doctor and a perinatologist all in the room, pumping me with blood pressure meds and starting me on magnesium. As this happened, I was working on calling my husband and parents to let them know what was happening. The bolus dose of magnesium was intense, and the urgency of everyone in the room was alarming. They got my bp stabilized in the triage room, inserted a cath, and from that point I was on seizure risk and not allowed to move from my bed. I was transferred to a birthing room, and everything calmed down a lot from there. Nurses gave me my first steroid shot for babies lungs, and swabbed for GBS right away, then my doctor came in and explained to me what would happen. I was 100% closed and not effaced, so we started with cervadil insertion. DH arrived with our bags which was nice, and my parents were on their way (they are 5 hours away). I sent them all home, including DH for the first night since nothing was happening. Nurses gave me something for sleep, but it didn't work. Magnesium is a beast, and i wasn't able to eat once they started the induction, i'm pretty sure i watched Netflix all night and prayed i'd fall asleep. Day 2 we did more cervidil and cytotec insertions, I was starting to progress a little, but not enough. Glad DH was there for all of those, as they were painful as hell. DH and mom stayed night 2 in hopes there would be some progress. Basically was another sleepless night for me. DD's head kept blocking my cath making it so that my bladder wouldn't empty, which was horrible. Around 10am on day 3 they said i was progressing enough that we could start Pitocin and offered me an epidural, which i immediately said yes too. I honestly wasn't even thinking about labor, just that fact that DD's head on that cath and the cervical checks hurt like a bitch. Epidural was placed around 11am, pitocin worked and was making me progress. My water broke on it's own, then my epidural started failing on my left side. Epidural was replaced probably around 1pm, and was great. I was surprised I could still move my legs, but the contraction pain was 100% gone. My nurse brought me a peanut ball and had me rotating sides for about an hour, and around 2:30 I called her in and told her i felt like i needed to push. She checked me and I was FINALLY ready to go. My doctor was 8 months pregnant, and I honestly didn't think she was going to make it. It took about 15 minutes to get all the peds doctors and nurses in the room since baby was only 35 weeks, my doc was the last one in, basically running in to get her gown and gloves on. I pushed three times and DD was out, screaming her head off. First degree tear, minimal stitches. No nicu time or lasting health issues for DD. On Thursday, exactly 24 hours after she was born I was able to get off the magnesium, get my cath out, shower and finally eat something.
Hoping to have a more normal birth this time around, but also mentally preparing myself for pre-e. Only time will tell I guess!
Re: STM(+) Birth Stories
DD was born at 35 + 3 weeks, a healthy 4lb 12 oz.
I showed up on a Monday for my twice a week NST, baby was looking good, but my blood pressure was high. After multiple attempts at taking my Bp, and urine and bloodwork done, it was determined that I had developed sever preeclampsia. My doctor came in and told me I wouldn't be leaving the hospital without a baby in our arms. Once i received the diagnosis, i had 3 nurses, my doctor and a perinatologist all in the room, pumping me with blood pressure meds and starting me on magnesium. As this happened, I was working on calling my husband and parents to let them know what was happening. The bolus dose of magnesium was intense, and the urgency of everyone in the room was alarming. They got my bp stabilized in the triage room, inserted a cath, and from that point I was on seizure risk and not allowed to move from my bed. I was transferred to a birthing room, and everything calmed down a lot from there. Nurses gave me my first steroid shot for babies lungs, and swabbed for GBS right away, then my doctor came in and explained to me what would happen. I was 100% closed and not effaced, so we started with cervadil insertion. DH arrived with our bags which was nice, and my parents were on their way (they are 5 hours away). I sent them all home, including DH for the first night since nothing was happening. Nurses gave me something for sleep, but it didn't work. Magnesium is a beast, and i wasn't able to eat once they started the induction, i'm pretty sure i watched Netflix all night and prayed i'd fall asleep. Day 2 we did more cervidil and cytotec insertions, I was starting to progress a little, but not enough. Glad DH was there for all of those, as they were painful as hell. DH and mom stayed night 2 in hopes there would be some progress. Basically was another sleepless night for me. DD's head kept blocking my cath making it so that my bladder wouldn't empty, which was horrible. Around 10am on day 3 they said i was progressing enough that we could start Pitocin and offered me an epidural, which i immediately said yes too. I honestly wasn't even thinking about labor, just that fact that DD's head on that cath and the cervical checks hurt like a bitch. Epidural was placed around 11am, pitocin worked and was making me progress. My water broke on it's own, then my epidural started failing on my left side. Epidural was replaced probably around 1pm, and was great. I was surprised I could still move my legs, but the contraction pain was 100% gone. My nurse brought me a peanut ball and had me rotating sides for about an hour, and around 2:30 I called her in and told her i felt like i needed to push. She checked me and I was FINALLY ready to go. My doctor was 8 months pregnant, and I honestly didn't think she was going to make it. It took about 15 minutes to get all the peds doctors and nurses in the room since baby was only 35 weeks, my doc was the last one in, basically running in to get her gown and gloves on. I pushed three times and DD was out, screaming her head off. First degree tear, minimal stitches. No nicu time or lasting health issues for DD. On Thursday, exactly 24 hours after she was born I was able to get off the magnesium, get my cath out, shower and finally eat something.
Hoping to have a more normal birth this time around, but also mentally preparing myself for pre-e. Only time will tell I guess!