i had a busy day planned saturday... and knew i was probably over-doing it... but it was nothing stressful, just a busy, fun saturday--work, a baby shower to go to and a birthday party... fun, right?
well, i met dad at his house before the birthday party... and just happened to take my blood pressure on the cuff he had at his house. uh oh. it was high. REALLY high.
...i wasn't too concerned... i was still on tap for another appointment monday to reevaluate everything. and i couldn't remember what the top & bottom numbers were at the doctors office anyway...
at the birthday party i wasn't feeling great... and i noticed my feet swelling... so, after the advice of everyone who knew what my blood pressure was, i called the on-call dr. to "just let him know what my bp was"... no emergency and i definitely wasn't in labor.
he said it sounded alarmingly high and if i'd come to the hospital, they'd have someone waiting for me to check my bp.
lee was just leaving work--so dad and i hopped in the car to come to rex and sure enough--they were waiting for me... lee met us at the hospital.
they had a loooovely gown and booties to put on and were waiting on me to get there--to check in...
TO CHECK IN?! ...uh, no... i'm just here to get my blood pressure taken...
it was nothing short of a LOOOOOOOOOONG night... they ran 39745927 tests on me and the baby... checking my blood pressure every 5-10 minutes and not letting me off of my left side*...
*there is a special place in my heart for any woman who has ever had to be on bedrest. i. was. miserable. (and my "bedrest" was for 2 days!)
the main test was a 24 hour urine screening to measure the protein in my urine... to test for preeclampsia. which meant i would be at the hospital for at least 24 hours to finish the test...
i already had an idea that things weren't looking great... they'd given me steriods for eden's lung development and had scheduled an ultrasound to check her out in great detail on monday morning... to see where she was developmentally in case they needed to get her out sooner rather than later...
monday morning:
well, my 24 hour screening tests came back... they diagnose you with preeclampsia at 3 grams of protein in your pee... SEVERE preeclampsia is considered 5 grams in your results...
mine? i had 12 grams of protein. uh oh. ...mind you, i found this particularly shocking since i had NONE in there thursday during my dr. appointment (the reason the doc wasn't too alarmed...just high blood pressure--no other symptoms)... talk about "rapid onset!"
the doctors had only seen one or two other women with those sort of numbers... wow.
the ultra sound was great... she was healthy and measuring shy of 4 lbs... but was low on fluids & placenta (fine for what she had right then... but an impossibility to make it to full term--thanks to the preeclampsia)
every test for both eden and i seemed to end in the same result--she was getting "a+"... and i was getting "d-" even though i really didn't feel that bad (or so i thought--i say that now because i'm really starting to feel GREAT again--like "pre-preggo" great!)
we really had no other choice. we had to get her out--given my condition, whether she was healthy or not...
all we could do was pray...
after a c-section, at 12:22pm on monday afternoon, march 1st, 2010...eden caroline was born... i held my breath laying on the table waiting what seemed like an ETERNITY to hear a big hearty cry... i knew if she did that, her lungs were ok (which seemed to be the only concern with the drs.)... well, she let 'er rip! a nice loud cry... ATTA GIRL!!
3lbs 12oz. 18 3/4" long... at 34 weeks gestation (6 weeks early)..
and praise the Lord... she. is. HEALTHY!!!
the doctors, nurses, neonatologists...EVERYONE has been amazed that she's not had the first minute's trouble or shown any signs of being a preemie... no extra oxygen needed, lungs fully developed. what an answered prayer. she's just tiny... like a little doll...
happy birthday, sweet girl... we're so glad you're here!! we love you!
on a funny side note, i got a call on my cell phone late monday afternoon from my ob's office... they were wanting to know if i was ok--since i'd missed my appointment...
uhhh... thanks for calling, but i'm in the hospital and i've just had my baby..."OH! news travels slow here at the office apparently--congratulations, and i guess we won't charge you for a missed visit, huh?!"... HAHAHA...
tuesday, march 2nd:
6 comments:
We are so happy for you guys!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDEN!!!!
Oh Hannah! She is so beautiful! I am just in tears over here. Thanks for sharing your story with us. Hope to see you guys in person in a few months!
Love Kelly Lane.
thank you so much for sharing the story. you are so blessed to have wonderful friends and family, especially that mama of yours for documenting this for you! the videos bring me to tears of joy for your new family. you are staying in my praises and prayers!
I love her pictures and am so happy for you guys!! I'm so glad you're both doing so great! Can't wait to hear about her homecoming.
I am glad I am following your blog, otherwise we'd still be wondering how things are. I am SO grateful for the news of how well she is doing and how well you are doing and how well Lee is doing.
Congratulations Mom & Dad. She is so beautiful, and precious is this blessed moment for all of you. We know this pure joy of a newborn baby girl.
YAY for all of you! I can't wait to see her strolling around the neighborhood
Congratulations you guys!!! I am so glad Eden is healthy and strong. She is just beautiful!!
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