Jonah Cash was born on October 1, two weeks early, following a preeclamptic roller coaster. He was tiny (by my standards) at 5lbs, 15oz, but is now 8 weeks old, close to 10 pounds, and doing great! (Ok, not sleeping for awesome chunks of time.. but no complaints!)
Right after turning 37 weeks, my bp just got wacky. It wasn't steady and low like it had been during the pregnancy, and like it always is when I'm not pregnant. It was starting to hover around the 130/80 mark while at rest. On Thursday, 9/27, I went to work but felt funky. I even called my sister and told her I felt like my uric acid levels were going up. (Not something one can actually feel, just a sign of impending preeclampsia, and a strong intuition I was having.) I had one session with a client, but just felt kind of "off." I had a mild headache and felt a touch foggy and confused, just not like myself. I also felt anxious, with a sense of unknown doom. I took my blood pressure after the session and it was high. 142/95. I called my doctor and made a plan to meet at the hospital. Brian came and picked me up - I didn't feel like I could/should drive. I cried. It wasn't supposed to be like this.. again.
In the car, with the Chicago afternoon rush hour picking up, I felt more anxious and more and more off. My bp stayed high as I sat in the car. We live a few blocks from the hospital so we decided to swing by and grab my pre-packed bag, which our sitter put out on the porch for me. It was impossible not to go inside and see the boys, knowing I might be admitted and in the hospital for a while. We spent less than 5 minutes at home, but by the time I got back in the car, and after not resting, my bp shot up to 151/105. It has never been that high in my life, not even when I was in full-blown HELLP syndrome. Long story short, I was in/out of the hospital for 24 hour observation and labs. An amniocentesis showed that Jonah's lungs weren't quite developed enough to risk the c-section given that my labs were all still coming back (just barely) normal. Dr. B. sent me home on strict bedrest, knowing I'd call if anything got worse. I laid in bed feeling anxious and having that "general malaise" feeling. By Sunday afternoon, I just didn't feel right. My resting bp was creeping up further into the hypertensive range. We went back to the hospital. My uric acid had gone up a lot since the previous Friday. They scheduled me for a c-section first thing in the morning.
All-in-all, I feel that the situation was handled really well. The combined efforts of my medical knowledge and intuition, with support/guidance from information on the Preeclampsia Foundation's website - www.preeclampsia.org - and my trusting OB with her balanced but proactive approach kept me from getting sicker while also making sure the baby could stay in my belly as long as possible. I wish all women with preeclampsia had this kind of knowledge, support and outcome.
