Tuesday, July 6th I had what I thought would be a routine dr. appointment. Things seemed to be looking well except my blood pressure was up and after a brief urine test my protein levels were high. From there I was instructed to do a 24 hour urine to check the levels of my protein (which if they were high meant I would be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia). Literally, the day I turned in my specimen (July 8th), I received a phone call from my doctor telling me that my levels were extremely high and that I needed to check into Mercy Hospital to have a steroid shot to help develop the babies lungs and to prevent bleeding on their brain. She also said pack an overnight bag just in case they want you to stay the night. Chris and I checked in and they started right away with the blood pressure and my blood pressure was so high they had to start me on IV meds to get it to come down and to prevent a seizure. I received my steroid shot and was then told they would be transferring me to Abbott Northwestern by ambulance because if they had to deliver the babies early they had a NICU. From there I was terrified and knew the babies would come early but never thought of the possibility of them coming this early!!!!!
Once at Abbott it was a long, long night. The babies were constantly being monitored the nurses were constantly checking on me and my blood pressure and the IV meds were flowing. The good news was that with all that was going on with my body, the babies were doing well and tolerating everything. On Friday, July 9th I received my second steroid shot to help the babies. The doctors were optimistic being that being on bed rest at the hospital seemed to be going well and my body seemed to be a little bit happier until....... Early Saturday morning (July 10th) I started having contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart. The doctors got me on new blood pressure medication and gave me a shot to stop the contractions, and then things seemed to be going well again until.......Sunday evening (July 11th), my blood pressure was not happy and was going up again and with the meds my body started to react differently, my blood pressure would drop and then my heart rate would get extremely high. This was the first evening I was by myself, Chris had gone home to go back to work and I was frightened and all alone, and of course the night he goes home things started to go wrong.
The following morning (July 12th) the doctor did his usual rounds and discussed with me that the way my body was reacting was a sign that my body wasn't tolerating the pregnancy any longer and that if it happened again we would talk delivery! I asked "how much notice would I get" and responded with "not much." So the morning routine started to come around with my breakfast and daily meds. As soon as I took my meds and started to eat, something felt off. I started to get extremely sweaty and my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest!!! The nurse came in and asked how I was doing, and I said I just do not feel right. She checked my blood pressure it was great but my pulse was about 150 bpm!!! She started to monitor the babies to see how they were doing, and they were doing just fine. I called Chris at that moment and said I think you need to come to the hospital, and of course he was confused as to why and I said "I think the babies will be coming today!" A few moments later while I was still on the phone with him, the nurse came in and said "is your husband on his way and how fast can he get here?" I told her he was on his way and that he would be there soon and she responded with "good cuz your c-section is at 11:00 am" and I looked at the clock and it was a little after 10:00 am. When the doctor said short notice he wasn't kidding! From there I called my mom and told her to call in sick to work and things just started to happen really fast from the doctors explaining the surgery and me signing paper work, the CRNA came in and explained the spinal, nurses coming in scrubbed up, Chris arrived and got his scrubs and then I was taken away to the operating room.
I never had a c-section before and all I can say was it was a completely different experience. The biggest thoughts that were going thru my mind were are the babies going to be ok! And at 11:28am Brielynn was born and I heard a sweet little cry. At 11:30am Ashton was born and I heard nothing! I was scared but hoping for the best and just kept squeezing Chris's hand. A few moments later the Neonatologist came out and said both babies were doing great and breathing on their own. From there I was relieved and happy, but also I knew that things would be ok, but a long journey would be ahead of us.
We are so happy to announce our new additions born July 12th, 2010:
Brielynn Lee
11:28 am
weighing 2lbs 5oz
13 inches
Ashton Russell
11:30 am
weighing 1lb 10oz
14 inches
