E's Birth Story Part 1

In a couple weeks, it will have been a year since my little love E came into this world via C-section. 

she was 4 weeks early

and this is part 1 of her birth story. 

...

I did not have a normal pregnancy. 

At 16 weeks I was diagnosed with gestational hypertension. 

I was stressed and worried that this would cause serious complications for E. 

I went to doctor's appointments every 4 weeks and ultrasounds every 4 weeks as well. 

We got to see E so frequently that it was such a relief. I never had to worry that she wasn't growing properly or if there was some issue. It was truly a blessing. 

At 32 weeks I had to begin going in for non-stress tests every two weeks to make sure that E's heartrate would be affected by me drinking really bad apple juice. They monitored my blood pressure and E's heartrate and watched for any contractions. 

At 34 weeks, the nurse told me that I should probably ask for a blood test as my swelling was astronomical. She was very calm about it and told me that wasn't anything to truly worry about but that I should bring it up to my doctor. 

I went in for an appointment at 35 weeks and mentioned it saying the nurse was concerned and I didn't know if there was a test he could run or something. 

He laughed and said well I guess I could test you for kidney failure 

(that wasn't funny to me) 

I went home annoyed that my doctor had dismissed my request so flippantly. 

Then March 12th happened. COVID-19 hit the fan and the world started to freak out. Schools and Universities were closing and we had just found out that BYU would not have classes the next day, Friday the 13th. My co-worker J was worried since she didn't have a car and needed to go and get supplies in case she needed to hunker down in her apartment (which we all ended up having to do). 

I offered to take her to Wal-Mart after my shift. We got to Wal-Mart and it was crazy. I pulled out some sanitizing wipes and we wiped down the cart and then began to wander through the aisles looking for essentials. I grabbed some extra things and at one point stooped down to grab some propel waters and could feel my belly tighten. I had to stop that. I didn't feel very good after that move.

We finished up and I dropped J and her groceries at her apartment and said goodbye. I drove home a little more anxious than usual since I began to worry what this pandemic would mean for my little girl E that was to be born exactly a month later. 

...

The next day was wonderful. I didn't have any classes and I didn't even struggle to find a parking spot since there was no one at school. 

My shift went by relatively quickly and my boss approached me and told me that I shouldn't come in anymore because of how high risk I was. That was kind of hard but also was a relief because my body physically hurt walking up all the stairs to my job. 

I stopped at a bakery on my way home and bought myself a sandwich and then stopped by my friend's house who had just had a baby. She had some supplies she wanted to give me for postpartum and we talked a little bit before I went home. She herself had been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and at one point had such high blood pressure and that is when her doctor delivered her. 

She said that if at any point I started to feel not myself or just icky that I should take my blood pressure and call my doctor. 

I went home thinking about what she said and decided to take my blood pressure after I ate my sandwich. 

I took my blood pressure and it said 170/110. I freaked. This was not normal! I never had blood pressure readings this high. I texted C and said, umm so my blood pressure might be high. He asked what "might be high" meant and I sent back the number. He too freaked and told me to call my doctor's office. 

I waited a little bit and took my blood pressure again in case there was some crazy error. 

It was 165/90 so not too much of a change there. 

I called my doctor's office and they wanted me to come in at 5:00 pm. 

They told me to keep monitoring my blood pressure until then. 

C came home and we decided that we should probably get all of E's things ready and packed in the car. 

Never would we have imagined that in 48 hours we would have a little girl. 

part 2 coming soon! 

xoxo M