HELLP .. one of the Fordham Five is falling down... and its not one of the babies!"... The birth story from mama's perspective. Well I hope that this entry does not disappoint anyone who is waiting on the next entry from the proud new dad. He has been absolutely amazing and I am very impressed with how he is keeping up with this blog..{now the pictures he chose of me... well lets just say if I didn't need HELLP .. he would not have gotten away with posting so many "lovely" ones ( yes I am referring to the girl with the swollen, pale face) I have a feeling that this is just one of the many instances where I will have to "take one for the team" so everyone can enjoy pictures of our family}. Okay back to my story....
HELLP.. Anyone who knows me.. knows that asking for help is one of my least favorite things to do. But over the last 7 months I have learned to do just that, have tried to accept it graciously and was amazed, honored and overwhelmed by the love & support of our families, friends, co-workers, UPS man (online shopping).. you name it. Since June 1st when I started bed rest, there was an overflow of support that still amazes me. Well HELLP took a whole new meaning on July 21st (7 weeks to the day of bed rest and my father's birthday!!!). Everything seemed to be going pretty well. We had a growth scan of the babies.. all seemed to be measuring right around 3 1/2 lbs. Rhett and I went from that ultrasound to the OB's office where I got a slightly high blood pressure reading and in turn was sent for a "little lab work".. thinking no big deal. Got home, took 1 hour nap, got call from OB's office.."labs slightly off, we would like to have you go in overnight for observation". Rhett had dropped me off and was heading out to work.. so "its no big deal I will get Jean and Dad to drive me to hospital for overnight stay (just what Dad wants to do on his Birthday!!)
Okay here is where the clarity of things starts to fade a little... 1 day seems like it is 4 days (that might be because they prick you at all times of the night). But here is the jist of things.. my liver enzymes were slightly elevated, my platelets were a little low and my blood pressure was a little high. My 24 hr urine came back at 400 (too high). So now we are thinking pre-eclampsia .. never formally diagnosed with HELLP .. a form of preeclampsia but it means H-Hemolysis, EL- elevated liver enzymes, LP - low platelets. So there you go.. now it was just a waiting game.. we were told that this syndrome only gets better after delivery.. due to the placentas being a major (if not the #1 factor) in creating problems especially for ME. So here is where I get back to one of the "Fordham Five is down" .. never did I think it was going to be me that was going to cause this pregnancy come to a pretty abrupt halt. I just assumed the babies were the "fragile ones" .. don't get me wrong they still are but this reason for delivery was just something I never really gave much thought to. It was an emotional couple of days with labs every 12 hrs (or more) waiting to see when they would be "bad" enough to deliver. That time came at 6:00 am (or so.. its blurry) on July 26th .. "we need to deliver and it is going to be in about a hour in half". Again.. forgive me but it is all a haze.. I had to ask Rhett to go over it with me again .. play by play.. but still blurry (I guess that is how women get tricked into doing this thing a second & third time.. don't worry about me.. my experience is not THAT blurry)
Everyone in the OR was great, Rhett was great, I was shaking like a leaf.. actually shaking uncontrollably, the NICU team was great.. We got to see the babies, hear them cry and it was truly an amazing, yet surreal experience.
Thank you to everyone who was here for us, our loving families never left us, our friends who wanted updates.. thank you for your care, concern and patience with us while we adjust. Because that HELLP syndrome well.. it continues to cause some problems for at least a couple of days post-partum. I had really low hematocrit (pale face), swelling (face, feet, hands, you name it) & mildly elevated blood pressure. I am just now getting on me feet again.. don't get me started on that awful stuff called Magnesium used to help treat it.. that is a blog by itself.
Again thank you for all you support, concern and prayers. We still have a long journey in the NICU and we will do our best to keep everyone posted.
On that same note...
Our precious babies are still very fragile even though they are doing great for "31 weekers". One of the main reasons for this blog is to keep everyone informed (both close friends/families and others. I know that I got a lot of comfort and past a lot of time of bedrest reading blogs).
We will (Rhett will..) continue to post pictures and let you know how they are. We know that many people would like to "see" them and we love to show them off (cuz they are so cute.. biased). However, the NICU has some "rules" about visitation so if you can just check with Rhett or myself about that ... we don't want anyone getting disappointed about "visiting" .
Much love and hugs to everyone..
KT
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