Due date

So today is my EDD (estimated due date). It is so funny to think I would still be preggo. So weird. I was thinking yesterday about everything. Yesterday Inara turned 2 months, and today is my EDD. How different things could have turned out. I have been so thankful that we both ended up healthy and alive! It is crazy to think of the potential that Justin could have buried his wife and daughter. Praise God for his plans for us. With all that being said, I have been wanting to write down the birth story of Inara. I think it would be so great to share it with her every year, as a constant reminded to us all of how blessed we are by God. And I also figured there may be some peeps out there that would like to know the whole story. So here it goes...it's pretty long. So if you know the story...no need to continue reading (unless you wanna thank God for saving us both).



Sunday, November 15th we had some friends over to watch football and clip coupons together (well the girls couponed). Around 8pm I started getting a headache and blurred vision, which I know is a sign of high blood pressure or preeclampsia . I took my blood pressure at home and it was like 150's/90's, which is bad. My pre-pregnancy BP was like 100/60. So I proceeded to freak out. I checked it in a few minutes and it went up (I'm sure my stressing made it go sky high). It was now 170/100. So I called my OB on call and he told me to go to the L&D triage. There they laid me down and checked her heart...she was fine. And seemingly so was I. They drew some labs and everything came back normal. They sent me home on bed rest and told me to follow up Tuesday with more labs and my OB at the office.

Tuesday I get my labs done and go to my OB. All my labs came back fine. They were only waiting on one more. My doctor said he was sure the other would be fine, so I could go back to work and be off bed rest. So as soon as I left, I called my office and told them I was back in the game for the rest of the week. As SOON as I got off the phone with my boss, the doctor called me and told me he got my other lab report back and surprisingly it was no good. He wanted me to go to the hospital right away and get a steroid injection. I knew from nursing school that this medicine helps the baby's lungs mature faster in case the baby needed to come early. I really wasn't that worried because I felt fine. So back to bed rest it was. I had another follow up appointment with my OB on Thursday November 19th.

Thursday morning my dad drove me to the hospital to get my labs done (again). We decided to stop by First Watch for some breakfast. By the time I ordered I started feeling really crappy. I thought I was gonna either throw up (which I had never done in my adult life) or I just had really bad gas. I went to the bathroom, but started to feel worse and neither one of those was the problem. I went out to the booth where my dad was sitting and laid down in the seat. I am sure the people around me thought I was crazy, but I felt horrible. I just knew something wasn't right. I called my awesome hubby, who said I should call the doctor. So I called the office and spoke to a nurse to describe my symptoms (epigastric pain and shortness of breath). She told me to just wait until my appointment at 2pm that day. I said no way Jose, and told her I either needed to see a doctor right away or go to the L&D triage. So she got me an appointment right away :)

My Daddy drove me to the office where Justin met me. I was SOOOO uncomfortable, I couldn't sit still. Pacing didn't help...nothing did! Finally they called me back and I saw one of the Physicians. He looked at my labs from just a few hours prior...he said I would be having this baby soon, probably in the next couple of days. I started to cry. I knew it was too early for her to come. I wasn't ready...she wasn't ready. But the pain really kicked in and I couldn't even focus on worrying because of the pain. They sent me to St. Elizabeth, where a different doctor checked me out. They gave me some medicine to keep my BP down and to keep me from having a seizure (which is a risk with preeclampsia). St. E doesn't keep babies born under 32 weeks (I was 31 weeks 1 day), so they sent me to Good Samaritan Hospital. God was so great to me in the ambulance ride. It was very bumpy and cold, but it was the ONE time where I was pain free.

We arrived at GSH triage and they hooked me up to monitors and drew more blood. Basically they thought I was going into HELLP Syndrome, so they were checking my labs frequently to see if it was getting worse. The only "cure" is delivery. Since I was so early, they wanted to keep me preggers as long as possible. I met with the OB at GSH, he was SO great- Dr. Voss. He was VERY reassuring about their NICU, and had the best bedside manner. They were gonna do a BPP to check on her and see how she was doing.

Well on the way to get the U/S, I started puking my guts up. It was horrible. I was in the hallway in the wheelchair when I got sick. But the staff was so awesome there! They were fast to get me a garbage can and some water to rinse out my mouth. Even the U/S tech was great. She gave us the pics and let me lay in the bed until the transporter came back. So they took me to a room...semi-private might I add. As soon as I got in the bed...puking again. I felt so bad for my roommate, I'm sure she didn't' wanna hear me yakking and moaning from the pain. The nurse brought me in medicine for my nausea, and TYLENOL for pain. If I wasn't so sick I would have argued, because Tylenol is metabolized in the liver and I was having liver problems so shouldn't have had it. Oh well...I was too sick to fight back.

The residents came in and said they will be drawing my blood a few more times to see how things are going. I think I dozed off for about 5 minutes, when they came back. They said my labs have gotten a lot worse and I was gonna have to deliver that night...they were calling in Dr. Voss. Once again tears came, but they left just as fast this time too. I had to sign consents and get prepped. Justin was so great to remind me things would be fine, God was in control.

So into the OR, I went for my emergency C-section (hilariously I wanted a natural childbirth, OH WELL!). I don't remember much because I started to freak out because I wanted to move my legs and I couldn't because of the epidural. And I was shaking like a crazy woman. So the Anesthesiologist gave me Versed which I know would make me go night night. I do remember they were listening to Christmas music, and "Sleigh Ride" was playing when she was born (fun fact). Next thing I remember I am in recovery and SO parched. The nurse said I could only have ice chips, but being the wonderful nurse/patient I am, I ignored her rule and took a few drinks of Justin's drink.

Phew! What a day it was. I went from hoping to be off bed rest at 7 am, to delivering our little lady at 7pm. I did get to see her in the NICU that night. They rolled me past her incubator on my way to my room. I remember she was holding my finger. It was great. So much to be thankful for. So much to remember and praise God for.