my memory is very fuzzy, at best. so i will hopefully remember everything.
dave had just dropped me off at the er and had gone home to drop ian off with our friend nickie (who, bless her heart, was also very pregnant), and pack up some things for us. a nurse had gotten me from the er and taken me to triage in l&d. i was given my bracelets- name and allergy- which they put on very loosely for me, thank goodness. when i got into triage, my bp was taken again and the top number was in the 190s. i was immediately started on an iv of magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures and given my first exam so they could try and figure out where baby was. the nurse couldn't "find any presenting parts", so they had to call someone in to do a quick ultrasound to find out whether or not she was head down. luckily, she was. i sat in the room alone in triage for a while and i remember the tv not working and a guy came in to try and fix it for me, but nothing happened. so i just remember waiting alone and bored for dave. my phone had died while we were at dinner and i was all alone. dave finally showed up and i was moved into an actual l&d room because they were going to start the induction at midnight. so at midnight on june 16, 2013, it was father's day, i turned 32 and my labor began. since i wasn't dilated any more than a 1, i had to be given cervadil to soften up my cervix before the real stuff would begin. that was pretty much the worst thing ever. i pretty much had to be pinned down to be given the dose- it was awful. i was induced (by choice) with Ian, and after having him and learning more about pregnancy and delivery I had decided that i absolutely did not want to be induced again- i wanted to go into labor on my own and have this baby on my own. that was the first of many things that just didn't work out for this delivery- but then again- nothing was going the way i had planned. sometime after the cervadil i was given a catheter b\c my urine output had to be monitored b\c of the preeclamsia. that pretty much ties cervadil for the worst thing ever. i had blood taken, which started 5 straight days of having blood taken 2x a day from the same place in my arm (also awful). i am pretty sure we were able to sleep a little bit after this- the magnesium sulfate made me pretty drowsy, so it's hard to really know.
my parents arrived sunday afternoon. that day my friend kristen also came and gave my disgusting feet a pedicure. i remember her making jokes about how gross my feet were before i passed out. i also had my 2nd dose of cervadil at noon. during all of this, i wasn't able to eat- so no birthday cake, which made me really unhappy. at some point, i managed to talk a nurse into bringing me food- and i got a turkey sandwich from the nurses lounge. when i ate this thing, it was like i hadn't eaten in years. i still joke with dave about how it was the best turkey sandwich ever. nurses kept changing shifts, and every time one would leave me, i would be so sad because i was going to have someone new. at some point on sunday i decided i would also have an epidural. this was another thing i had not planned on- i really wanted to wait and play things by ear with my un-induced delivery. by sunday afternoon i was exhausted and in a lot of pain from the catheter, and the cervadil- i hoped the epidural would help something and it did- after getting it, i felt the most alert and awake i had been since arriving. i think i had dilated to a 2 around this point and i may have started the pitocin (or maybe it was monday). my blood pressure remained high, which i knew because i had to have it taken EVERY 15 MINUTES. :(
my sister in law and brother in law had picked ian up at our house and taken him to fathers' day brunch and to hang out at their house for a few days. this kept me from worrying and freaking out about where he was going to be, and he probably forgot we existed.
dumb side story- it was sometime during this day that i had found out that kim kardashian had delivered her baby. i remember i found out that she was pregnant shortly after i found out that i was pregnant and that she was due around the same time i was. i knew she had to be delivering as early as i was- and i remember seeing that terrible picture of her swollen feet during the summer. so we had the same thing at the same time and delivered a day apart. too bad she has done little to nothing to bring awareness to pre-e.
i will have to finish this in a part 3 because i'm tired now. here are some photos from my 2nd day in the hospital...
me in my l&d room. hooked up to a blood pressure monitor and magnesium sulfate drip. i am so swollen.
i think as a pregnant person, i thought the rest of me looked like me. when i see these pictures, i can hardly recognize myself. my face is so swollen i can hardly smile. even my arms and hand look huge.
preeclampsia gets a big ol thumbs down.
seriously. my giant face. i am so swollen that i just have slits for eyes. ugh.
i think i'm napping here. or faking my arm bracelets keep getting tighter b\c i keep getting more and more swollen.
i feel like crying when i see my feet... and what used to be my ankle.
ow.
i'll try not to take 3 months to write the next part...
. we read parts of it after they had started the induction and were in tears over some of the ridiculous things in there. the nurses probably thought we were crazy. i read the rest of the book (when i could stay awake) during middle of the night feedings, and on more than one occasion i scared ian by laughing like the crazed, sleep-deprived woman i was. i'd definitely recommend it to all new mom's, and i plan on reading again when ian is a year old to see how true it really is.
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