So I've decided to try blogging. I've been a total blog stalker lately, so I thought I would give it a shot. I'm not technologically inclined so who knows how long it will last : )
Anywho, today our little guy is
six months old, so I thought I would share his birth story. Sorry if its a little long...It was much longer before.
On November 3, 2010, Brad and I went to our routine doctor's appointment. They told us everything looked great. The nurse was actually talking about how normal and perfect our pregnancy was going. We were on track to have our little one in 3 or 4 weeks.
Later on in the day I started getting a funny pain on my right side. Considering all of the aches and pains I had during the last few months, it didn't seem like a big deal. I had never felt a single contraction so I figured it was one. After a while I started getting this feeling that I needed to go to the hospital. I ignored it for a while and then Brad and I decided that if I still felt funny in the morning, I would go in...that was until a voice as clear as day told me to go now. We decided to call the hospital. I spoke with a nurse who didn't seem too concerned. She told me to relax and take a bath when suddenly she said, "Actually you should come in now. I'm not sure why, but I think you should come in right away."
We arrived at the hospital a little after 9:30 p.m. and they got me all hooked up to the monitors and started on my vitals. The nurse turned white when she told me my blood pressure was 195/110 and rising. She called my Doctor and he came in immediately. When he came into the room he told us that I had severe Pre-eclampsia and the only cure was to deliver the baby. They were going to do an emergency c-section in just a few minutes. Brad and I were shocked to say the least. They kept telling me to relax, but then I heard nurses say things like liver damage, kidney failure, seizure, stroke, cardiac arrest and death. After a minute of relaxing I realized they were talking about what could happen to me.
After about 10 nurses came in the room to start me on seizure medication, draw blood, and do a mess load of other things to prep me for surgery, I was wheeled into the operating room. After the spinal block I was so numb that I couldn't even feel my face, but Brad held my hand anyway. He wasn't down with the idea of watching the c-section. After a few minutes of poking around my uterus, they pulled out a beautiful 5 pound, 5 ounce baby boy at 11:06 p.m. He was so tiny, but beyond perfect. Levi was brought into the NICU where Brad went and held our son for the first time.
Over the next few days Levi stayed in the NICU where I fed him and held him as often as they would let me. They practically had to pry my son out of my arms to get me back into bed. After a few days my Pre-eclampsia got worse, which is pretty rare seeing that I wasn't pregnant anymore. About 5 percent of pregnant women get Pre-eclampsia and about 2 percent of those women get it as bad as I had it. (I should start buying lottery tickets.) I was put back on bed rest and given a whole bunch of drugs to prevent seizures, strokes and all of that fun stuff. This was the only time that I cried during this ordeal. I was so devastated that I wouldn't be able to go see my son for a couple of days. Luckily I had Brad to comfort me and bring me news and pictures of our little guy. Every day the Doctor would say I would probably be able to go home the next day. The next day would come and I would have a new problem. Whether it was a fever or a problem with my blood work, there was always something going on. After 8 days Levi and I were both released from the hospital. I'm pretty sure my body wouldn't let me go home without him.
Before we left a nurse came in our room. She told me that she was the nurse that I spoke with on the phone who had told me to come in. She told me that the Holy Ghost told her that I needed to come in and be examined, (only in Rexburg : )). Because of the Pre-eclampsia Levi's cord was almost completely clotted and my blood pressure was causing other pregnancy complications. We were told that neither of us would have survived the night. I couldn't be more grateful. The Spirit that told me to go to the hospital, the sweet husband who comforted me, the perfect son that we were blessed with, the medical staff who didn't take any chances, and the family and friends who prayed for us, all contributed to the miracle of our sweet little boy.
We couldn't be more blessed.