Yesterday I celebrated another birthday. No, I will not tell you how old I am. Not because I have some strange fear of getting older, but because the more information I give you, the less anonymous this bog is.
Since this is the day after my birthday, I can officially say that my brother and I are the same age. We will continue to be the same age for another month and a half. Yes, that's right, my brother and I were born 10 and a half months apart. Please refrain from commenting about how my mom really likes sex.
Ew.
Amazingly, I had the option of giving birth on my birthday. How appropriate would that have been?! I decided against it because A) It's my birthday... I don't want to be in labor. B) Then she would never have a special day all to herself.
As it turns out, along with still smoking (yeah, I know, shutthefuckupkthxbai) I have further endangered my baby by having gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. This means that my body isn't producing the right amount of insulin, and my kidneys, liver, and other organs are being damaged.
I was given the option to be induced right away, but we discussed the risks and benefits-- together, my doctor and I decided that we would wait a little bit longer. She said that if the damage looks like it is going to be irreparable, they will induce immediately without hesitation. We want to see if she can at least make it to 37 weeks (which, depending on which date you go with, she already is...)
The absolute last date I will be allowed to carry her will be July 5th. As much as I want a 4th of July baby, I'm not sure that she will be able to hold on that long.
When making this decision, my doctor did not make me fully aware of the dangers associated with my situation. As it turns out, preeclampsia runs in my family and is one of the leading causes of death during pregnancy. For the mother and the baby.
Now, many women with preeclampsia deliver normally and have no trouble at all. The thing is... this apparently runs in my family (which my mom neglected to tell me until yesterday. Happy birthday to me!)
I totally understand her choice and understand why she didn't want to bring it up, but it woud have been nice to let the doctor know right away rather than waiting until my appointment on Friday.
As it turns out, several women in my family have died during childbirth due to preeclampisa. Many of the babies have not survived, even if the mother did. My cousin almost bled to death when she delivered her first child due to complications assosiated with preeclampsia.
One story involves a lady going to her doctor for a high-risk pregnancy checkup in the morning and then, only a few hours later, finding out that her baby had passed without her even knowing.
How is that not supposed to freak me out?
Right now I am counting on all of my hopes and prayers to make sure that this little girl is born safe and healthy and that we both have a wonderful experience. Really, that's the only thing I want for my birthday. I don't mind waiting as long as I can get what I truly want.
7 comments:
As I've said before - my cousin Sara developed preeclampsia and it almost killed her and her baby. Sydney was born at 32 weeks and was 2 pounds, and Sara almost had a stroke, and had some liver failure. Her doctors said that they made a mistake and she should have delivered the week before. Sara has to be on meds now because of it. Sydney is doing fine.
If I were you (and I hate saying this) - but - I would meet up with my doc and schedule a c-section as soon as possible. With your health problems as they are - and with this on top - once labor starts, or is induced, or you are cut open - your body goes into shock of sorts. This WILL NOT help your situation.
(God - I don't mean to sound like some crazy, scary person here. Forgive me!)
The medical community has come leaps and bounds in helping keep babies alive. If you are past 32 weeks the odds are in your daughters favor. The longer she stays in you, however, may not be in YOUR favor. YOU are looking at long term damage, and if you are recovering from a c-section on top of it? Oh, girl.
So - I know a date is a date is a date - let's make it to 37 weeks blahblahblah. Bella came at 36 weeks and she was almost 8 pounds and healthy. AND - she was probably born on her due date. If you figure that you are closer to delivery than what they are saying - please schedule something soon.
I'm only saying this because I saw what my cousin looked like after she gave birth. Her face was so puffy due to her liver that she couldn't see. She had to wait almost 3 days to even hold her child due to being on the verge of a stroke. Her blood pressure was 240/180.
Keep care of you and your baby! Sometimes we have to demand that the doctors listen to US.
*sorry for the rant - love you!*
Oh - and Sydney came on Sara's birthday. *laughs* Sara actually thinks that it is cool and that they have this great connection now because of it. I was secretly hoping that Bella would have come on my birthday.
But - when you say - we want to see if she can make it to 37 weeks...
....well - we need to see if you can make it to 37 weeks. That little girl stands no chance if her mamma is sick.
When I went to the hospital and they kept me over night (when I thought I could be in labor) - they kept me because they were afraid I had preeclampsia. If I had it they were going to induce me on the spot (I was 35 weeks). I had gained 40 pounds of fluid and I was on the verge. He induced me the next week - to be on the safe side.
I hope your doctors will do the same for you.
Thank you so much for sharing! I hate that your cousin had to go through that, but I'm glad that you were able to share her experience with me.
I really think that I'm going to request to either deliver now (while my blood pressure is doing better and my organs are still moderately healthy) or to go on bedrest that way I can have as little stress as possible if they want to wait a few more weeks.
The fact that I've kept my weight down so much is probably the biggest reason I haven't delivered yet. I'm actually still about 5 pounds below where I started and the doctor says that I've probably lost 15 to 20 lbs and the rest of it is just baby.
I really, really, really do not want a c-section. I would much rather have a long labor (as long as we can handle it) than have to go through that recovery. I do NOT do well with recovery.
In a way, I'm afraid that I'm going to go for my visit on Tuesday and have them tell me that I have to deliver now. We aren't ready and I want my mom to be there... I need at least enough time for her to get on a plane. Even with my wonderful husband, I still need my mommy.
Well - if they have to induce you and break your water it was no big deal, actually. I had an epidural and I'm sure that helped A LOT. It helped keep my blood pressure down and kept me relaxed until I was around 10 centimeters. When they had me push (if you can deliver naturally - and I hope you can - my cousin needed an emergency c-section - but her blood pressure was waaaaaaay too bad) the pushing was not too bad.
With the epidural it was kinda hard to know if I was doing it right. Then I got into the groove of just pushing like I was having a bowel movement, and they said that was the way to go. The breaking of the water did not hurt at all - it just felt weird when it came gushing out.
Now - if they induce you and put you on the drip - make sure you are already full of good drugs because the contractions come QUICK! Thankfully my epidural took beautifully so I didn't really feel most of my hard core contractions. They just all felt like that tight pressure - but no pain.
Now - when I hit around 10 centimeters and they were about to wheel me out for my c-section - I REALLY finally started to feel contractions. And damn does that hurt! You have this over whelming urge to push out of your butt (there is no other way to say it) and they are just stacked on top of each other. It also feels like your anus is ripping.
About that time the morphine kicked in and I was wheeled in.
IF YOU HAVE TO HAVE A C-SECTION: You are awake. You FEEL it - you just don't feel pain. If you are in crazy pain you need more meds. But you do feel it. There was some pain at the end when they were pulling me back together...yet there was no real pain/pressure up to that point.
Have they checked to see if you have dilated at all yet?
They haven't checked for dilation yet. These doctors are a little weird, so it doesn't shock me at all.
Honestly, if they have to do a c-section, I think I would rather be unconscious. Just the thought of being cut open, having my baby removed, and then being sewn up is terrifying.
Gah!
Honey...I really, REALLY agree with Biffah on this one. It is time, I have seen a lot of women dealing with PE through LLL and the longer you wait the worse and more scary it gets. Are her lungs doing well? I would demand another u/s to check if you have not had one, and if all looks good, then go on and get that baby out. Just so you know, MOST induced labors in up in a csec anyway, and you will recover SOOO much faster if you have not had to go through hours of labor first.
C-secs are not fun, but they have definite advantages too! Longer maternity leave, less stretched out vagina (yeah for that!) less bladder incontinence issues, no risk if episiotomy, nice drugs for ouchy early breastfeeding issues, a cool scar to point at when ever your kid is being a brat ("I did THIS for you!")
Anyway, we are praying for you. Love ya.
Eep! Happy belated birthday...this weekend was so busy with us having a garage sale with my parents and Matt's parents visiting that I forgot to call you!
If the docs think it's time, do not hesitate. Many babies are born early, and with modern medicine, they are healthy and happy like Sydney. Most of my friends have had C-sections after trying to have natural births. It is a safe way to delivery babies when mom or baby has health issues. Don't worry...just trust the docs on this one. They've done this a million times and have your best interests in mind.
HUGS!
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