Lurker Introducing Herself!
Hi all!
I've been lurking on this board since my son was born on November 22 at 29 weeks. Here's our story so far, as quick as I can tell i.
I had VERY sudden, VERY severe Pre-eclampsia. We went to the hospital in the middle of the night on a Thursday night because I was having terrible upper gastric pain. Once we got up to OB, my BP was 225/115, platelettes were 40,000...and my liver and kidneys were shutting down. Just THAT DAY I had been to a normal doctor's appointment and everything was fine! They transferred me to a nearby hospital that had a great NICU (both hospitals are Cleveland Clinic hospitals...we are lucky) where I was put on magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures, and I was given my first steroid shot. I was able to get the second shot 24 hours later and still wait another 24 hours for that to be passed to my son.
During those 48 hours my platelettes rebounded and I was able to have a spinal and a C-section. Our son Finnegan James was born screaming! He weighed 2 pounds 8.5 ounces, and he was 15 inches long. He did not need a ventilator but had a CPAP the first day with room air. He also received surfactent. He was breathing on his own and tolerating both breastmilk and his IV well for 2 weeks, then we had an infection scare where he was put on oxygen with a canula, and started on antibiotics and caffeine. It turned out to be no infection, just "being a preemie".
He was weaned off the oxygen, then we had ANOTHER infection scare a week after the first scare. They took out his IV and started a CPAP with oxygen, and more antibiotics...and again, so luckily, no infection. More "being a preemie".
On December 19 he started bolus feeding, and he was doing so well with his pacifier that he also was able to try breastfeeding and nippling!
And really, that's basically where we stand today. We are just waiting for him to be ready to come home. The sucking/swallowing/breathing thing still hasn't clicked for him yet, but he is doing well! His spells are not too bad. He pulls himself out of it and has never turned blue, but he will come home on a monitor. We know we have been very, VERY lucky. He's such a sweet boy. And today, he's weighing in at 3 pounds 12 ounces!
It is nice to "meet" you all!
Re: Lurker Introducing Herself!
Yeah, the doctors did mention HELLP but really it seemed like they were less worried about giving me a diagnosis and more worried about treating me since the treatments were all going to be the same - GET BABY OUT! It was so scary but I'm so glad we're OK now.
I am guessing down the road I'll be getting myself to a MFM to see what the chances are that this would happen again in a subsequent pregnancy. I would think it would be pretty high...but my OB seems to think that I could be managed well by a high-risk OB, bedrest, getting my blood-pressure under control before TTC, etc. That's down the road of course...but is it crazy that it's on my mind already????
LOL. At that point you're at pp, I was definately thinking "never again" on the baby thing. There's a post below about HELLP and TTC for a second time. My MFM told me it was a bad idea, since I went into DIC. Did you need a transfusion? He said the recurrence rate is 30-40% if it occurs in the 3rd trimester the first time.
I had the same situation...I felt fine, had epigastric pain and after I got to the hospital, they took my son out within an hour. A few months later I looked back and thought "what the hell happened?"
@ SBM - what is an MFM? I have been meaning to ask since I see the term used so frequently on this board.
tia!
MFM stands for Maternal Fetal Medicine. Its a perinatologist.
No, I didn't need a transfusion. They just put me on the mag and put me in bed. There were a few times when my blood pressure got too high and they gave me a few doses of blood pressure medication...but then it would go down again and I'd be fine. There were actually a few times in those 48 hours where they thought they'd need to do the CSection RIGHT NOW...but all those times my body rebounded somehow.
I'm definitely still in "What-the-hell-happened" shock, but with my post-partum OB appointment coming up, I'm thinking "birth control" since I do want to have sex again, and I want to have a more clear understanding of what would happen if I happened to get pregnant again.
Welcome, congrats and nice to meet you!
Welcome out of the dark.
I'm another pre-e/hellper. I didn't quite get a full 48 hours in before they took him, but he got about 45 hours, which was at least something. My labs weren't terrible (yet, I guess) but my symptoms started going crazy (seeing stars, throbbing head etc) and they decided we couldn't wait any more.
It's amazing he's done so well.. I hope he's home soon!
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Brady Phoenix, 8.29.09
Claire Zoe, 10.26.10
Hi
Another pre-e hellp mom too. Our story is also pretty similar. I was 30w 4 d and Ella was 2.b 5 oz and 14 in long. Ella had a few scares too but pretty much plugged along in the nicu. She had spells all the time but always were self resolving. My NICU does not send babies home on monitors so we were there for a while waiting for that to clear up. Welcome. Glad to hear your son is doing so well.