Unplanned c-section due to HELLP syndrome

userdeleted · March 2009

5 months later I'm writing this all down because I don't want to forget anything that happened!

10/13/2008: I went in for a routine appointment at 35w5d. My husband decided to come with me to this appointment because we were going to have a growth U/S, which would be the last chance to see the baby before he was born. We were both really excited to see how big he was, and to see if I had made any progress with dilation/effacement.

The medical assistant took us back, had me give my urine sample, and took my blood pressure. I could immediately tell something was wrong. My blood pressure is usually normal and I hadn't had issues during the pregnancy, but she asked a nurse to come take it for her again. When they still didn't like what they saw they got another cuff, asked me if I was feeling well, and then had me lay down on my left side in a dark room for another blood pressure check, take a non-stress test, and get my blood drawn.

The doctor came in and said that there was a tiny bit of protein in my urine, and my blood pressure was a little high (which I had figured out by this point). He was thinking I might be developing pre-ecclampsia, and told me to go home on modified bed rest and come back in two days later for another check. My husband mentioned that we had a blood pressure monitor at home, and asked if we should use it to check mine. The doctor said that was a good idea and told us to call if the "lower number" wouldn't go below 100 even with bed rest.

10/14/2008: Surprise surprise, my blood pressure didn't seem to want to go down. The diastolic reading (the lower number) was hovering around 100 and wouldn't go down. When my husband came home for lunch he insisted that I call the nurse line, and a few hours later they called back and told me to come in. At this point I was pretty sure I had pre-ecclampsia, and I expected that I'd end up on hospital bedrest for another week or so, before possibly being induced early.

When I arrived the nurses seemed really concerned. They kept saying things like "you're not feeling so hot are you honey" and asking if I was having a "rough time." The took me straight back to a dark, quiet room and had me lay down, took my blood pressure and it was 150/110. The doctor came in, and told me that my blood work had come back and it turned out that I had something called HELLP syndrome, and we were going to need to deliver the baby right away. I asked if it was going to have to be a c-section, and he said yes.

At this point I starting to become slightly hysterical. During pregnancy for reasons unknown to me (hormones?) I had developed this really obnoxiously loud, high pitched, almost comical cry (I had never done it before, and haven't done it since giving birth). I started doing this, uncontrollably, while the doctor explained that the medications they were going to give me to prevent seizures made a successful induction pretty unlikely, and my condition was severe enough that time was of the essence. The nurse at first tried to comfort me, and when it became obvious that I was really losing it she told me to "get a grip," haha, which actually really helped.

They wheeled me straight over to the hospital (though I did get a glimpse of the couple waiting outside my room that I had terrified with my hysterical crying), hooked me up to all kinds of IV's that made me totally loopy, and only four hours after coming into the office Leo Keith was born, at 7:43pm, 6lbs 6oz, 19in. I only saw half his face before they took him away to the nursery while my OB stitched me up.

After I was done with surgery they took me back to my room and I waited for my husband and the baby. Unfortunately my husband came back with the bad news that Leo was having some difficulty breathing, and that he would need to go to the NICU. He'd gotten the nurses to agree to bring him to me for just a few minutes before they took him, and I got to hold him briefly. After that I couldn't see him for 24hrs because I was on complete bed rest, still hooked up to different medications.

Leo spent 10 days in the NICU. His breathing problems worked themselves out after the first few days (not before a remarkably "sensitive" neonatalogist told us that he might have pneumonia, but we shouldn't worry because 90% of those babies are able to "pull through"), and he spent the rest of his time there learning to eat. He learned his lesson incredibly well, because he is now a giganta-baby, weighing about 20lbs at only 5 months!

Phew, that was long. I think I'm going to print this out and put it in the baby book. Thanks for reading, anyone who made it this far!