Levi's miracle birth
Wednesday started off like any other day. I had a routine doctors appointment where they again told me everything looked wonderful. I had a completely normal pregnancy with no complications or signs of a problem. Everything was going great, I would have my baby in the next 3 or 4 weeks.?
Around 5:00 p.m. that night. I got a pretty bad headache, but I assumed it was no big deal. I then started getting sharp pains every once in a while under my ribs on the right side. I wasn't sure what that was so I ignored it for a little while. Around 9:00 my husband and I both had a strong feeling that I should call the hospital. At first they didn't sound too concerned, they told me to take a bath and rest. Suddenly the nurse on the phone got a strong feeling as well. She said she wasn't sure anything was wrong, but she felt like I should come in for an examination.
My husband and I got to the hospital around 9:30. They hooked me up to a monitor and found that my blood pressure was dangerously high. They immediately called my Doctor who rushed over. He told me I had severe preeclampsia, and was at risk for seizures and other complications. He then said he wasn't going to take any chances, and they were going to do a c-section right away. I was in shock. This morning I was perfectly healthy, with no signs of a problem and now I had a very serious complication. Even with every thing going on I was surprisingly calm.
A few minutes later they took me into the operating room and gave me a spinal block. My husband held my hand the whole time and comforted me during the c-section. A few minutes later (at 11:06 pm) they lifted up our son. He was perfect. A little premature and very tiny (5 lbs 5 oz), but perfect. They immediately took him into NICU. Seeing my little boy and holding him in my arms was the most celestial experience I could imagine.
I stayed in the hospital for a week while I struggled with extremely high blood pressure, hitting a high of 190/110, putting me back at risk for seizures, liver damage and kidney failure. But because my son was still in NICU, I was kind of glad to be there too. I didn't care about what I ?was going through, I was just concerned about my little one.
I found out later that my baby's umbilical cord was almost completely clotted. If I had waited until the morning to come to the hospital, my son wouldn't have survived. If I had waited until the morning, I would have had a serious seizure during the night. Both my baby's and my life were in serious jeopardy. If it weren't for the prompting that my husband and I felt, the nurse who followed her feelings, and the Doctor who didn't take any chances, we might not have made it. I have never felt so blessed in my life.This experience, as painful and scary as it was, was completely worth it and nothing short of miraculous.?
Re: Levi's miracle birth
Thank God for gut instincts. Mothers know when something is "not right". I am so thankful this story had a great ending.
My son was born at 37 weeks weighing 8lbs 8oz and spent 3 weeks in the NICU for breathing difficulties. My daughter was born at 36 week weighing 5lbs 15 ozs and perfectly healthy, no NICU needed for her.
This is such a wonderful affirmation at the miracles the NICU can do for our kids and what swift thinking and trusting your gut can do to save a mother's life.
What an amazing story! God was definitely watching over you both and it is such a miracle that He led you in the right direction.
I teared up reading this. Congratulations on your son!
I'm so glad that you trusted your gut and went into the hospital. My DD was born 7 weeks early due to pre-e. You should come over to the preemie board if you have any questions. Hopefully your son has a short NICU.
Congratulations again!