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Welcoming a Baby into the World

Preeclampsia view

By Samantha StraithPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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Us our first day at home

I was thirty-three weeks pregnant, when I went to my regular doctors appointment. I was told that I had to go to Labor and Delivery at the local hospital. My blood pressure was extremely high, that I had time to pick up my husband then be there sooner rather than later. We went to the hospital, knowing that I was staying overnight for observation. The nurses was really worried about my blood pressure it was not coming down at all. The on-call doctor came and told us that he is admitting me, that I am not leaving the hospital until I become a new mother. Let me explain something, at thirty-three weeks that was scary the baby’s lungs not fully developed yet, it’s the last thing to be develop. They did diagnose me as having preeclampsia.

The thoughts in my mind was going about a hundred miles per hour, thinking what’s going to happen with my baby boy. Is he going to be okay? Is he going to breathe on his own? How long will he be in neonatal intensive care unit? My husband was trying to calm me down, telling me everything will be okay. They gave me steroids shots to help with the baby’s growth. During this time, I was just sitting in the hospital bed on bedrest until a week later. I was told that I was being induced at thirty-four week mark. It could be earlier if my blood pressure was to lose control. So, you could imagine my thought process with this going on.

We made it to the thirty-four week mark, they put me on magnesium to help prevent me having seizures with my blood pressure being so high. They told me I will be on this during the induction and twenty-four hours after the delivery as well. I would not be able to hold my baby boy until twenty-four hours after as well, since the magnesium acted like a muscle relaxer. They told me that I couldn’t eat or drink while on this medication. Also, that I was not allowed to get out of the bed to use the restroom, I had a catheter put in. I know it was so embarrassing, I was a nervous wreck about what was going to happen. I was mentally prepared for this moment. I was ready to have my baby boy here, as long both of us was healthy. I was wheeled down to the labor and delivery floor, to start the induction at midnight.

They started the induction process by giving me two pills to get things moving. About seven hours later, they put a bulb in to get it going more. About three hours later, my water broke. I was finally getting ready to have this baby out of me. However, plans do not always go your way. It was about ten in the evening, before I was even ready to begin pushing! The thought going through my mind was, “Holy crap, this has been going on twenty hours. How much longer do I have to go through this?” Mind you, the magnesium acts like a muscle relaxer, so my legs was like jello. The doctor said, “Get ready to start pushing whenever you feel a contraction.” “Yes, ma’am will do.” My husband had one leg and the nurse had the other leg, helping me holding them. I kept on pushing going on at least two hours. The doctor was monitoring my baby noticing that his heart rate kept dropping when I was having contractions.

At this time, baby boy’s head was there but kept getting stuck didn’t want to come out yet. So, the doctor called in the neonatal intensive care unit to get ready to take him soon he’s born. The reason being where I was on magnesium, he would have that in his system and also this would delay him from breathing for about a minute. She looked straight at me and said, “soon you get ready to push let us know, we have to pull him out with forceps so he won’t get stuck. He will be okay just remember to breathe and let us do our jobs to help him.” “Yes, ma’am.” Next thing I know, the room went from two nurses and a doctor to about twenty doctors all at once. This is when I realized things got real. “I’m ready…now!” As I am giving the most hardest push I have done this evening, going on two and half hours, he came out. I looked at my husband in relief that I went through this and happy that it’s over, however worried I have not heard baby boy cried yet. We were waiting very patiently, it’s going on about three minutes now, I’m starting to feel that loss. The thoughts in my mind was the worst, “what if I lost him?” Soon I said that in mind, I heard him cry. Of course, I cried and saw him being wheeled off in an incubator to NICU. Next think I knew, I passed out.

I woke up to the nurses changing my gown and bed to be put in another bed to my room. As they rolled me back to my room, I was so exhausted I just wanted to sleep and see my baby boy. As the next day came and go, laying in the bed watching television and sleeping that’s all I could’ve done. I sent my husband down to the NICU to send me pictures and videos of our baby boy. He was on oxygen, IV fluids and a feeding tube. I knew that he was in a safe environment surrounded by nurses and doctors that was taking care of him. After twenty-four hours around one in the morning, they took me off my medicines. After a hour later, the nurses made me get up to use the restroom and walk for the first time in fifty hours! Let me tell you, that was so hard not to fall, trying to move my own legs was like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time.

Later that morning, the nurses got me in a wheelchair and rolled me down to the NCIU and I got to see my baby boy for the first time. I saw him in the incubator and I just looked at him crying, I couldn’t stop crying. His nurses asked me if I wanted to hold him, of course I said yes. As I am holding him, I was looking down at him weighing all of four pounds so tiny. I kept thinking how tiny he is, I was afraid I would hurt him. I looked at my husband and said I can’t believe that we made this tiny little baby. I never thought my heart could be more full than before but boy was I wrong. I had spent about a hour with him that morning, I had to go back to my room. Around four that afternoon, I called down to the NCIU and wanted an update. They told me that he was off of oxygen! Remind you, his lungs was the last to develop and only been on oxygen about two days was an improvement! I was excited to say the least.

I was released the next day. My baby boy had to stay in NICU for a little while to get better and ready to be home. I went up to the hospital every day except three days, due to weather being bad. Each day I was either calling like two to three times a day, or up at the hospital with him. The nurses had a little train with cabooses that had little goals such as temperature, feeding, oxygen, safe sleep, and growing. Once he hits all of them he gets to come home. The first one done was oxygen within two days. The next one was temperature, then growing, safe sleep and lastly feeding. The feeding was last because of the feeding tube, he had to take a bottle each round for forty-eight hours consecutive. He also had to pass a car seat test, the concept behind this is to make sure the oxygen levels stays up. Most premature babies that is born earlier than thirty-four weeks require oxygen longer, sometimes. Those babies typically have harder time passing the car seat part, if they fail it they try again in twenty-four hours.

One afternoon, I called in to check in on him. The nurse said, “are you ready to pick up your son today?” I was shocked it has been only seventeen days, “of course, be there soon!” As my husband and I head to the hospital, we couldn’t imagine any better news than this. We were just in awe that we get to bring him home. We didn’t expect this soon, we were told around his due date which was four more weeks. We thanked all the nurses that took great care of him. I put him in the car seat and walked out of the hospital for the last time, for this reasoning. I sat in the back seat with him, as he snoozing away looking at him just being blessed. I was thinking the experience that we have conquered together and couldn’t be more blessed to be called mom.

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