Friends I am currently sitting at the hospital about to have this baby. Let me tell you how we got here because I’m currently in a little bit of disbelief and I have time to kill since my husband is sleeping on the couch near me.
Last week I mentioned that my blood pressure was slightly elevated and I had fluttering in my chest. Well it was actually more than elevated and for me that’s a huge deal. I’m normally around under to normal for my BP. Before my staff holiday party I wasn’t feeling great so I ran to get my blood pressure done and it was high once again that week and my heart rate was elevated despite not doing much of anything. Next time I’m pregnant I will absolutely wear my Fitbit again because it’s been so helpful in tracking my heart rate and how I”m feeling. After I checked my blood pressure I went to the staff holiday party despite not feeling too great. I had some dinner, sat with friends and said happy holidays for my boss since they were going on vacation for a week. It’s funny to me now because my boss kind of called it, he said goodbye, merry Christmas and good luck. I was brushed it off saying oh I’ll be in next week and see you when you’re back from vacation. Jokes on me, I went back to work the day after Christmas and then didn’t return. He was right haha.
Anyway, I went home, told my husband how I was feeling and we were debating on what to do because my inlaws were coming. We decided to just leave things as they were and if I really wasn’t feeling great then I could head home to go to bed since we had a full day of activities planned. Saturday came and we spent the morning cleaning and lounging. When Conor’s parents arrived in the afternoon we went into Center City, did a bus and walking tour to see all the Christmas spots and then went to spend a lot of time in the Christmas Village. By the time that we were done with the village, my feet were killing me, my head was hurting and I was a little lightheaded. We went to the restaurant and I was thrilled because I just wanted to be warm and sit down. The restaurant was beautiful and it had a 360 view of the city which was impressive. When we finally went home I passed out nearly immediately. The next day we did brunch and then his parents left, leaving us for our first Christmas as just the two of us.
Christmas was quiet and relaxing. We exchanged our gifts, had hot cocoa and snuggled together. I had very low energy all day but signed it off as I’m nearing the end of this pregnancy. I remember though that I felt very swollen and puffy on Christmas. It was weird because I was never swollen during my pregnancy. Again, I brushed it off as normal and we just went about our Christmas day. I went to work the next day and all morning I felt like I was having an anxiety attack.
I called my doctors office and spoke to the nurse. My next appointment wasn’t until the next day but after sharing how I was feeling, my blood pressure the past week and how I’ve been feeling really swollen and puffy, the nurse told me to come in for an early appointment. It was set for 10am so I packed up my stuff and headed to my doctors appointment. On the way I called my husband who was getting fillings at the dentist and I did grab breakfast on the way at Starbucks so I could eat it after my appointment.
The moment that I got there they brought me back into the office. They had me do a normal urine sample, weight and blood pressure. They did my blood pressure twice and that should have been my red flag. The doctor took a few minutes to come in which wasn’t typical and I heard them discussing my previous urine analysis’ (which were basically normal) and my blood pressure. My doctor came in, checked the babys heart rate and retook my blood pressure. She sat down and explained to me that I’m full term today and I need to be admitted to be evaluated further and get some testing done but it looks like we’re going to have a baby today because my BP was so elevated. She said more to me but I was in shock and scared. She gave me a form, I went to the desk to check out and they told me how to get to the maternity wing. I was in such shock that I didn’t remember a word the nurse said and I got lost in the hospital until I found security to help me.
I did stop and sit down before approaching the maternity wing. I called my manager at work and just explained that I was being admitted for testing but I’d be back later. I remember that they were surprised that I even called and was just like, take care of what you need to it’s fine. I eventually got to the maternity ward, they had me fill out a ton of paperwork for admission and for delivery. Yes you read that right, for delivery! I was panicking at this point. I was alone and scared. I was not prepared mentally for this at all. I thought I was heading to the doctor today to be told that I will need to go home and sit with my legs up for a week or something.
The nurses gave me a gown and told me to settle in and that I couldn’t eat so there goes my breakfast sandwich and cakepop that I was so looking forward to. They took urine, blood, my BP and all the standard tests. They checked on baby and I sat there working on my laptop while I waited for my husband to arrive. I did call him after I left my appointment in total tears because I was panicking at that point. Conor finally arrived and I couldn’t help but laugh because he couldn’t talk much and half his face was numb from getting his fillings. My Dr came in and thought there was something wrong with him since his check and jaw was a little droopy. We were there for hours and my husband ate all my goodies. My Doctor explained that my blood pressure was too high for comfort and baby was term anyway so I’m being induced today. Yes, TODAY. I shared that I didn’t feel prepared and I wanted to go home and get some things, take a shower and close out my stuff at work. Thankfully she let me. The only reason why she did was because my health insurance would have been fine with me leaving and coming back otherwise it would have been against medical advice us leaving.
They told me to come back at 6pm and I drove straight to work. I didn’t tell anyone I was getting induced. I just said that I wasn’t feeling great and had to get more testing done. At this point I was in complete denial of what was going on. It didn’t click yet. After I finished up working for an additional two hours, I went home, packed and took a shower. Conor got everything out and into the car and went to pick us up some dinner since I wouldn’t get to eat once I got to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I stopped at Starbucks to replace my cake pop. They asked how I was doing and I told them so score! I got a free cake pop and the whole store telling me congrats for my baby coming soon.
We arrived at the hospital, got checked in and here we are. It’s getting late and I’m all hooked up to machines, I found out that I actually have preeclampsia. Conor is napping and we’re just waiting for next steps, but I’m about to have our baby and it’s kind of blowing my mind right now. I still can’t believe it.
