Wow, we have been on a crazy ride it feels like for the last couple of weeks and we appreciate all of you who were praying.
On May 19th I was not feeling well at all (horrible headache) and I was at school and decided I should check my blood pressure due to the fact that for the last few weeks it had been steadily rising. It was the highest it had been I think around 148/101. I called the dr. and they wanted me to come in so they could check it at the office. I left my classroom with our assistant and went to the dr and he then informed me I was not to go back to school he was putting me on bedrest. I also got my first steroid shot. At this appointment they also scheduled me for a non stress test the next day. I rested the remainder of the day.
May 20th I went to my non stress test and then after my blood pressure was still high at this office Dr. Killeen decided he wanted to admit me to the hospital for some lab work and observation along with a 24 hr. urine test. Well, all was going okay minus the fact that Peter had gone to work because we really didn't think things were too bad. Peter was unable to take off the next day either. As the day progressed I continued to have non stress tests (I think I had 4 total that day). When Dr. Hales PA came to see me she was worried about how jumpy I was and that my reflexes were going crazy. We were rushed in for a sonogram that afternoon.
That evening I got really worried when the nurses came in to pad my side rails of the bed because they "didn't want me to hurt myself if I seizured" WHAT- come to find out my uric acid level was at a 7.3 and you can seizure at 8. Oh, I also had the second steroid shot because if things didn't start getting better we would meet Brayden on Friday, May 22nd.
May 21st - Dr. Killen came in to see me and told me that we would wait until he got the results of the 24 hour urine test and those results weren't supposed to be ready until about 2:30 or 3:00 that day. About 20 minutes after he left the nurse came in and said, "YOU ARE SCHEDULED FOR A C-SECTION AT 4:00 TODAY." What- Peter wasn't there and the nerves hit big time. Dr. Killeen had looked at the results of the sonogram and decided we couldn't wait any longer and my uric acid had gone up to a 7.7! When Dr. Killeen told us that if we didn't take him that day we could risk him being still born my family and I realized just how sick the dr.'s kept saying I was. We called Peter and he was rushing back from work as fast as he could. Oh, I almost forgot - I don't know how that my magnesium level was also really low and they started me on a magnesium sulfate drip through my iv. THAT IS SOME HORRIBLE STUFF! I FELT ABSOLUTELY AWFUL THE WHOLE TIME I WAS ON IT!!
After 3:30 when they hadn't come to get me I was getting more and more nervous. I think we finally got to go to the operating room around 5:15 or 5:30 and things were pretty fast after that. Brayden entered the world at 5:56pm on May 21st weighing 4lbs. 8.7 oz.
I was doing much better afterwards except my blood pressure was still a little high.
Peter got to walk Brayden to NICU and show all of our friends and family in the waiting room on the way.
I was sent home on Monday, May 25th. That was one of the hardest things I ever had to do was leave the hospital without my baby! I bawled all the way home that day. We were back a couple of hours later when NICU was open back up for visiting hours and cried again all the way home after that too. It did get a little easier each day that we went back to visit. Most days I was at the hospital 5 times a day to visit.
Brayden was on the ventilator for 6 days, under the oxygen tent for about 2 days and then had his feeding tube until Monday, June 1st. He started taking a bottle and breastfeeding after that and did really well and then he was released to come home on Thursday, June 4th. He left the hospital weighing exactly the same as when he was born!
We've had a great couple of days at home and Emily came over yesterday to start our 15 day visitation this month. She absolutely adores her little brother and is always wanting to help and hold him. We are very blessed!
I am so blessed to be this adorable little boy's mom and a step mom to such a precious girl as Emily and couldn't be luckier to be married to a great man like Peter.
(I do need to brag about how great he has been about doing laundry and cleaning house since he has been on vacation since Thursday)
THANK YOU PETER - I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!
Here are some pics of the last two weeks. Sorry for the long post!
I had a few more pictures to post but it is not letting me. I've probably gone a little overboard anyway! You can't tell we are proud can you?
I'm sure there will be lots and lots more to come soon.
For those of you who made it through this whole post - thanks!
