He’s here!

This has been quite a week. I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my baby boy and he is finally here. He is definitely earlier than expected but things happened and we had to make sure he would come into this world the safest way possible. I went for my doctor’s appointment on the 24th of July for a normal pregnancy check – up and by that evening, we had to make a change of plans. All week I had a dull headache, a pain under my right breast that went around to my back, a little more swelling in my feet and it was hard to lay down to sleep. I was taking Tylenol just to be able to sleep at night because I was in so much pain. Nothing really clicked to call the doctor because I had been having aches and pains and this just seemed like more of that. When I went into my appointment, I definitely did not feel right. I have never been to the doctor feeling “bad.” I know that sounds strange but I am usually not sick and having to run to the doctor about it. Once I described my symptoms to her, I noticed she had been looking at me a little longer than usual and she eventually comments that my face is puffier than usual. I knew my eyes felt swollen but I put that on the fact that I had not been able to sleep. I ended up having to do some lab work before leaving the office. That evening the doctor got my results and called to tell us to head to the hospital and go ahead and take my things with me; a plan of treatment would be discussed when I got there.

I was confused and had no idea what they were talking about. I had Aida get her bag of goodies that she’d packed the week before. I put the last few items I needed into my bag and gathered up the bag for the baby. I was not sure if Aida and Denard would need a bag or not. I think he brought one just in case, or maybe he went back to get it… I cannot even remember. I was nervous. We get to the hospital and they hook up to monitors and check my vitals. The baby is fine; his heartbeat is steady and strong. With only a few weeks to go, at 37 weeks pregnant, I was told I had developed HELLP syndrome. My blood pressure was astronomically high. my platelet count was low…I had all of the symptoms. After explaining to me what it was, they decided it would be best to go ahead and deliver baby boy once they got my pressure down. It was not the natural VBAC experience that I had been hoping and preparing for, so that hit me hard;  no matter what though, my number one priority was making sure I had a healthy little boy. I was so happy when I heard him crying immediately after they’d gotten him out. He was so red and little and I could not believe that he was finally here.

I am grateful beyond words to have a healthy baby. I really wanted him to continue growing and stay safely inside my womb as long as possible but circumstances changed and we had to make a decision. I can admit it was a pretty scary time and I am just glad all turned out to be okay.