The story of Eleanora- Preparing for her arrival

May 18th, 2015 part 2- The only treatment for pre-eclampsia is birth. Pre-eclampsia (once called Toxemia) is a condition in pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure, sometimes with fluid retention/swelling and protein in the urine. Also, there is nothing that can be done to prevent pre-eclampsia. 

But once more...my first thought was, "Of course this would happen to me!" Maybe I'm totally oblivious, but I had no indications that anything was wrong. Yes, my wedding ring no longer fit on my finger, yes my shoes were a little tight...but swelling can be a very normal pregnancy symptom and I honestly didn't think it was anything. When I was home in Wisconsin for my baby shower, my feet were noticeably swollen at the end of the day. I just thought it was probably because I had been hot and walking on them all day long. My mom assured me that it was nothing to be concerned about, but later admitted to me that she was honestly quite worried about me because of it. 

Pre-eclampsia was not allowing my arteries to carry a sufficient amount of blood to my placenta. Because of this, Eleanora was receiving less oxygen and fewer nutrients, which is why she was not growing adequately (IUGR). This is why I needed to be induced right away and not just placed on bed rest. She was not getting the nutrition that she needed from my placenta, my blood pressure was extremely high and both of our lives would just become more endangered if we waited any longer for her to be born. If you watch Downton Abbey, (SPOILERS AHEAD) Pre-eclampsia was the reason for Sybil's death. 

The first thing they did was put a medicine called Magnesium Sulfate "Mag" (=Epsom Salt) through my IV. This was meant to lower my blood pressure and stop me from potentially having seizures. One of the side effects was that it made me feel incredibly hot. We turned the fans on full blast and I had a cold washcloth on my head. It also made me shake uncontrollably, which actually scared me quite a bit. Additionally, I felt more and more unfocused, dizzy, and unbearably tired the longer I was on it. Overall, I just felt really "doped up".

 Graphic warning (slightly): Because I hadn't received my Group B Strep test yet (usually done at 36 weeks), they also put antibiotics through my IV. As I said before, I had the NST fetal monitor hooked up to my stomach to make sure Eleanora's vitals were ok. I had a BP cuff on my arm, set to go off at regular intervals. I also had a "massage" type machine on my legs to keep my blood moving and stop it from clotting. Because of my Gestational Diabetes, someone was also coming in every few hours to prick my finger and check my blood sugar. I didn't realize it at the time, but the Mag was making it difficult for them to get blood, so they ended up having to prick my fingers like 5 times before blood would actually come out. With all of these machines, exams, beeps, and medicines, I was really starting to feel a little like a robot. 

But if I'm being honest, I didn't feel overly anxious. I felt that I was exactly where I needed to be- with people taking excellent care of me and my baby, and Jared right by my side. I felt pretty much completely at peace through the entire experience and I knew that our families were praying like crazy and that God was in control of the whole situation. 

I had been very excited to have a natural birth with the help of a midwife and my Mom. My mom gave birth to 7 healthy babies with no complications, 4 of which (myself included) were born at home with a midwife. I had always said things like, "hopefully it is hereditary and I will have easy, uncomplicated births". Clearly that wasn't meant to be. The midwives at the Birthing Center located in the hospital were still willing to take me through my Gestational Diabetes diagnosis, but obviously when I was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia and the situation turned into an emergency, I risked out of having an unmedicated, natural birth. 

My birth- at home

 However, (and this part is a little blurry) the midwives at the birthing center have a relationship with some OBGYNs in the area for situations like mine- when the patient is high-risk, but would like to avoid unnecessary medical interventions if possible and safe. They called in one of the OBGYNs who has a private practice at a nearby hospital and she came in to attend my labor and delivery. 

Graphic warning: She showed up sometime in the afternoon of the 5th to begin my induction. The first thing she did was talk to me about different options to induce labor. Then she checked my cervix. If I'm being honest, that was pretty painful and made me bleed quite a bit. She was excited to find that I was already dilated to about 1.5, was 60% effaced, and Eleanora's head was engaged. She said that considering I wanted to have a vaginal delivery (and was less than 35 weeks pregnant), that was GREAT NEWS. Together, she and I decided to use a "cervix softening/ripening agent" called Cervidil. It looked kind of like a shoelace and she inserted it immediately (also quite painful). She said that she thought this would be the best option because it would give my mom time to get to the hospital, and since Eleanora wasn't in distress it was not an emergent situation yet.

Jared had called my parents as soon as we found out that they were going to induce (because I knew that as soon I started talking to them, I would be crying too hard to understand), and told them that if they wanted to make it in time, they had better start the drive from Wisconsin to St. Louis. They (Mom, Dad, and little sister Sophie) got to the hospital around 3:00 am the morning of May 6th. They left so quickly that they all ended up eventually having to run out and buy clothes because they didn't take the time to pack them! As soon as they arrived, I caught them up on all the machines I was hooked up to, we prayed together, and my Dad and Sophie left to go back to our house and sleep. 

Sophie later told me that when they got there and saw all the baby books, clothes, and gear everywhere, my dad started crying at the thought of how horrible and devastating it would be if I had to come home to that and my baby didn't survive. 

Jared and Mom slept in my hospital room the entire night. I was so happy listening to them sleep because I knew that I would need both of them the next day to have energy for me. By this point, I was feeling totally weak because not only could I not sleep, I hadn't eaten ANYTHING since my granola bar around 10am. They put me on a liquid diet, so the only thing I had all day on the 5th and into the 6th was broth and juice.

Throughout the night, I was almost constantly examined and poked. I had blood labs drawn a few more times, my vitals being checked, my finger being jabbed to check my blood sugar, my blood pressure cuff squeezing my arm every few minutes, my IV alarm going off anytime one needed to be changed, etc. I also wasn't allowed to walk at all because the Magnesium Sulfate could potentially make me lose control of my muscles, not to mention I needed to stay hooked up to about 37 (only a slight exaggeration) monitors. What this meant was that I had to pee in a little portable toilet with the help of a nurse- only the beginning of the embarrassment... I didn't feel any "contractions" all night long, even though the monitor said that I was having small ones here and there. In the few minutes between all of this excitement, I would lay wide awake wondering what the next few hours had in store for me. I did not sleep for 1 minute that night.