Nine years ago today....

Was the beginning of the end of my pregnancy. I had gone to the ER on Dec. 26th of 2000 with what I thought was an ear infection. My ear hurt so bad that it brought me to tears. They took my blood pressure and it was really high. I was 30 wks pregnant and up until 6 days prior, had had very low blood pressure. I'm surprised they didn't admit that night. Instead, they sent me home. No ear infection. I saw my OB the next day and was told no more work, no more much of anything. I had to buy a blood pressure monitor and take my BP twice a day. I had to see a high risk OB for the rest of my pregnancy. I also had to lie on my left side once a day and count how many times the baby moved in a certain amount of time. Talk about stressful. Then the 24 hour urine tests started the next week to check the level of protein in my urine. I never imagined that I wasn't going to make it to term-the thought of delivery early still never crossed my mind. So, on the morning of January 15th, Mike and I went to my regular OB for a stress test and to deliver my latest 24 urine test. The stress test was fine and I left without knowing the results of the protein test. My parents had come in to town and picked me up. I was going to spend the night in London and go to my dentist the next day. I had on a white t-shirt, black leggings and a big denim shirt of Mike's. Isn't that funny how I remember exactly what I was wearing? We went to the Dutch Kitchen in Plain City for lunch and when we got to their house, I was feeling kind of weird and hit the couch. I think about 4:30 I decided I needed to take my blood pressure. Well, it was the highest it had ever been. About 160/110. I called Mike crying and he in turn called Dr. Essig, my regular OB. He said that I HAD to go to OSU Medical Ctr. right now. So, my mom and dad got back in their van and drove me back to Columbus where Mike met us. In the ER my BP was 180/110. They took me right up to Labor and Delivery and I didn't leave the hospital until January 21st. Turns out that the urine test I had just taken and delivered that morning was, in their terms, "spilling" protein. If I hadn't called the doctor's office, they would of called me. At that point we were dealing with preeclampsia. They stuck a catheter in me, said I couldn't get out of bed and started me on magnesium sulfate, something to help prevent seizures so they would have time to give me the steroid shots that would help Evan's lung in case of early delivery. The resident on call told me it would make me feel like I had a bad case of the flu. Well, let me tell you. I've never had a flu that has made me feel as though I was paralyzed! It got to a point where I couldn't move my limbs. Anyhow, so it began. The next two days were somewhat of a blur. I couldn't get comfortable. I couldn't read, watch TV, etc. Mom and Mike took turns staying with me. Mom had to call all my friends and tell them my baby shower, scheduled for January 20th, was going to be postponed. (I never had it). The main goal of the next couple days was to get my pressure down and keep him in there as long as possible but there were no guarantees that anything would work. We were scheduled that week for a tour of the maternity floor-surprise,we were there! I was suppose to go visit a pediatrician's office. I didn't have time to be in the hospital! I still really didn't think this would be the week that Evan would be born. I thought they'd get things under control and that maybe I'd go home or just stay in the hospital until his due date in March. Well, by Tuesday night (I was admitted Monday), they talked about trying to induce me. They used some type of suppository that ended up not working AT ALL. I thought, see, it's not time and my body knows it. Unfortunately, by Wednesday night, the decision was made to deliver via c-section on Thursday morning. They were not able to control my blood pressure and things were getting critical. I did receive the steroid shots for his lungs and was told his weight was good so everything should be fine. I remember Dr. Essig being at the foot of my bed telling me he had to come out and I just cried and said it's not time, it's not time......