Another preemie mommy intro...kinda late

christinaa722

christinaa...Joined on 11-29-201156 Posts1,068 PointsToday SHOULD have been the big day....So May 4th, this was supposed to have been the big day, the big reveal of our besutiful baby and even more the most monumental moment of my life yet to come. I was so excited when I found out I was pregnant and quickly began a day by day countdown of when I'd get to see our child. Unfortunately, my pregnancy wasn't the happiest, most amazing time of my life much like I thought and even hoped it would be. Today I share with all of you my birth story, since I didn't get a chance to post before, during, or even after...until now! So at week 32 in my pregnancy I had gone in to L&D with having bleeding and kidney stones. I ended up gaining like 30lbs in those two weeks from my last appointment and I knew something was up....My BP started out on the rise and the following week they ordered a 24 hr urine, that was the start to my 34th week of pregnancy...I might add that my doctor also mentioned that bc of my now high BP,my swelling-- I couldnt wear any shoes, flip flops were even too tight, I could barely move and my legs and feet were unrecognizable. Needless to say, I wasn't a beautiful, glowing pregnant women excited bout her journey of pregnancy. The Monday following my 24hr urine my doctor ordered me off work until delivery and she ordered I be on bed rest, but also requested I come to the office that day and later that week for the NST, blood work, BP check, and we would repeat the urine collection every week. I had asked my mother to take me to the doctor that day since the office is about 45 minutes from my house, but she seemed to be annoyed by my request, so naturally I drove myself. Upon my arrival at the clinic, the NST'd me for about an hour and checked my BP every 20 minutes...it kept coming back high. They sent me over to triage to keep me hooked up tithe monitors and keep an eye on my ever climbing BP. I spent most of my afternoon there with the impression I would be going home o resume my bed rest in, well, my own bed. Sadly, I discovered I would be staying the night which meant I needed to now actually call my husband and mother and tell them the news...I chose not to call anyone until now bc I didn't want to worry anyone.Now brings Tuesday, my husband had come and stayed the night in the hospital with me and then decided to stay with me on Tuesday, we were do excited to get out of there and get in our own surroundings. False.  7am and now one of the octopus from my office has come and gone sharing with us that I would in fact not be leaving the hospital until I had a baby in my arms. For most this would be a thrill, but for me it was panic, fear, and well at least 3 more weeks in the hospital. They wanted to keep me pregnant until 37 weeks, that would be our new little goal, Friday April 13th that was our new goal in mind. The week went on with the nurses and staff being amazing, and understanding of my all day crying. Everyone did their best to keep me calm and provide me much needed hugs and laughs. All my doctors agreed with the 37 week induction based on my protein ,BP, swelling, and general condition of my health remaining at a level of stasis.  Hello Friday and one of my doctors, he has just informed us that today, at 35 weeks, would be the day start the induction process. Flabbergasted, shocked, and scared are only a few of the emotions I felt that morning... And oh btw, we had to pack our bags immediately to move to what would be our delivery suite... We showered and on we went to starting this journey. The started the induction process  at 10:30am and slowly we progressed. It was assumed this would a long slow road.As hours passed by and the process continued within hours of the start we already starting to have trouble. My precious baby's heart rate kept dramatically dropping, and thy would immediately rush in, put me on oxygen, move me all around, and try to make sure our angel was safe. This happened the rest of the dy and into the night. My doctor was adamant about not wanting to put me through a c- section, which to this day I'm thankful.Saturday morning, and I'm still in labor. They've busted my water, inserted my catheter, and oh yeah, this was the morning of our much anticipated baby shower...that we would obviously not be attending. I got my epidural and the continuation of difficulties goes on. Baby's heart rate continued to drop and mine was hitting the roof. It was clear, this would be the hardest thing I'd ever experience. The contractions got stronger and of ourse my epidural had run out. I began to push with all my strength and continued for what felt like an eternity. It was nothing like what I've seen on tv, a team of doctors and nurses and my husband feeding me ice chips cheering me on and holding my hand. Again false. It was me, hubs, and Liz, the amazing nurse. Just the three musketeers traversing through this awful, eventful, and turns out stressful delivery. The pushing and pain became more real and so did my baby's duress. After 90 minutes of pushing, the doctor walked in like a knight in shining scrubs, guaranteed me in would be over in the next three minutes, and at that moment we had a deal...get this done. Three eternal minutes later, the appearance of mystery baby hd been revealed...boy!! Our little boy was here early, presumably healthy, but here no less!! That was 5:05 pm. Yep, that means 31 hours of slow, terrible, and scary labor but that was behind us and now more stress entered our world. Baby was healthy at 4lb 11 oz and born 5 weeks early. It was a miracle he didnt spend time inNICU, breathed on his own, and was a real trooper. Mommy however was doing less than fine. With pre-e they give medication in labor to control BP and keep it low from preventing stroke or seizure.I was now experiencing stroke level BP that could not be controlled and my husband and I were a wreck to say the least. This had become my scariest moment, thus superseding all the prior scares in delivery. I didn't have my baby around and bc of my state they wouldn't bring him down. After about 12 hours of being at stroke level hey found something to control it, but I still wasn't right. To fast forward, we ended up going home four days later... it was amazing and exciting but the reality sank in, we were taking to a home that was not quite ready for baby yet. I remind you our shower went on while I was in the throws of labor so now I had to del with gifts. I'm at least honest to say I was overwhelmed and definitely depressed. Most of my pregnancy I pent very sick and on my couch. I'd had no nesting instincts and just not mentally ready to deal with bringing home a premature baby. My husband was amazing and cared for our angel with new daddy prestige. He took care of me and let me cry my way through this journey. Here we are 5 weeks later, and we are doing amazing. I lay here in bed with my little boy, Grayson, who now weighs a whopping 7lbs even. He's precious, looking exactly like my husband and carrying on my sassy attitude. All in all, five weeks early or not, it was the most amazing thing that could have happened to us. While May 4th should have been this pinnacle of excitement and greatness, we agree that March 31 is all of that and so much more in our world. And this ladies, is the birth story of Grayon. I'm not sorry for the length, bc while the story was long the experience was that much more. Good luck to all of those who have nd have not yet welcomed in their little angels.