unexpected chaotic BLISS! NOVEL :)

At my last check up September 18th while I was in the waiting area I got extremely light headed, my heart was beating all funky and I felt like I was going to pass out. Come to find out my blood pressure was up. So I had to do a 24 hour urine collection and they took it the next day to have it tested. Thursday morning my midwife called and said the protein level was high and I needed to come in the next morning to have my blood pressure checked again. Later that afternoon I called my midwife because I was concerned that my baby wasn't moving very much. She had me come in and hooked me up to the monitor just to make sure everything was ok. Again my blood pressure was really high, baby was great though everything sounded good with her. My midwife said she was going to send me to OB and have them monitor my blood pressure. The Dr. on call there would determine what needed to be done, but she said there was a chance I would have to stay overnight and possibly have to have an induction. So off we went to the hospital, I'm thinking I would have to stay for a while but they would get my blood pressure under control and we would go home. No big deal!

Well the Dr. came in (whom I had never met before) and said "Here's the deal, your blood pressure is really high. The protein level in your urine was 360 the cut off is 300. With those two factors that puts you at risk for seizure. Welcome to the world of severe preeclampsia." after that everything was just like a blur.

He put a pill on my cervix that would start dilation (I was only at 1cm) 

My husband had in the meantime run back to the house because he had some work he had brought home and had to take it to his boss since he wasn't sure if he would be able to be at work the next day. Thankfully my parents were there with me and my mom called to tell my husband what was going on. So he was able to get the bags from the house and let the dogs out. 

Finally my husband gets there and at that point I had started contracting slightly. after a couple hours the Dr. stopped back in and I was at 3cm. They were very impressed with how well I was progressing with it being my first pregnancy and all that. I hadn't planned on getting an epidural but wasn't ruling it out and after they broke my water and started pitocin around 11:30 the contractions were obviously harder and closer together. They weren't unbearable but I really just wanted to rest because I knew I had a long night ahead of me. So they gave me some nubane, which did nothing. I didn't get any rest and just felt like I was drunk. After that I decided I would go ahead and get the epidural, in addition to it helping me get rest they said it would help with my blood pressure. At 1:00 am they gave me the epidural, my blood pressure dropped dramatically very quickly so I threw up. I felt quite nauseated for a while but finally started feeling ok. So I decided tried to get some rest and when I was about to finally relax and get some I started feeling tremendous pressure like I had to take a big poo. I called the nurse and told her and she said that is normal and when I start feeling that pressure even after the contraction is over to let her know. We got to that point and they checked me I was at 9cm!! That was around 3:00 or 3:30am. Everyone was totally shocked I had progressed so quickly. Before I knew it I was at 10cm the pressure I was feeling went from discomfort to painful and I felt like I had to push. The nurses assisted me with pushing for about a half hour or so and I got to the point where I was ready to just keep pushing and pushing and pushing. They had to run and get the Dr. and told me to stop pushing. I said "I CAN'T!" so I had to breathe like a panting dog to keep myself from pushing. The nurse said I needed to try and calm down and slow my breathing because the baby's heartbeat had dropped a little, so I somehow managed to calm down enough for her heartbeat to get back to normal. The Dr. walked in and I swear he had a halo on his head. I was so thankful he was there so I could get this done! I pushed for about a half hour and I'm nearly certain the epidural at this point was no good, I felt like someone was ripping my vagina open. lol burning stretching and pressure, wasn't pleasant but I didn't care at this point. He informed me he was going to give me a numbing shot and perform an episiotomy (sp?)

Shortly after that I pushed until I felt like I was going to explode and next thing I knew there was this beautiful creature on my chest. Covered in this white goo. I looked over at my husband and he had tears streaming down his face. I had never seen him cry before. He was so happy. My daughter opened her eyes and was looking right at her daddy. It was a beautiful thing!! 8lb 6oz 21 1/2 inches of pure joy. Born at 5:47 am September 21st. one week before my due date. Which is actually today! She has gained 3 oz since then and is in perfect health!

Sorry this was so long but if you read through it all I appreciate it and thank you for letting me share my story with you! God is amazing and His blessings continue to amaze me everyday. I can't look at my daughter without being grateful!! Although things didn't go as expected it was perfect!