Madeline and Molly's Birth Story: Part 1

After my first stay in labor & delivery at 26 weeks I was placed on strict bed rest with the option of moving to modified bed rest at 30 or 32 weeks.  Bed rest with a toddler under two years old is really a misnomer; there was not much bed resting going on, although I never picked him up.  My mother in law would take him to and from school on Monday and Wednesday, although I was still on my own with him in the mornings and afternoons.  My mom would come over to help on Tuesdays and Carter would go stay with my in laws on Thursdays and Fridays.  Carter is in a very clingy stage where he really wants me to do everything, which only compounded the bed rest issue.  But I was determined to make it to 36 weeks with this pregnancy (a week further than I made it with Carter) so I did my very best to take it easy and let things go.

On Monday, February 10 at my 31-week appointment things were looking great.  I had been on bed rest for 5 weeks with minor contractions, but my cervix still looked great! At this point I was receiving ultrasounds weekly and also got my second round of steroids.  I was really anxious to make it to my appointment the following week so I could officially be moved to modified bed rest, even though that's what I was pretty much doing already.

On Wednesday, February 12 I noticed some swelling in my feet and lower legs that reminded me a lot of the swelling I had with Carter at the time of delivery.  I spent most of that night in the bathtub, drinking water, elevating my feet and using my essential oils for swelling and preeclampsia.

On Thursday, February 13 the swelling was still there in the morning (red flag #1) so I called Nana to bring over a blood pressure cuff on her way to pick up Carter.  Around 10am I took my blood pressure and it was 150/102 (red flag #2.)  I immediately called Dr P's nurse to tell her what was happening and made an appointment for a couple of hours later.  I spent the rest of that time packing my hospital bag and cleaning up the house.

When I got to the office they started with a weight check, blood pressure check, and urine test.  I had steadily been gaining about a pound per week the entire pregnancy, and now I had gained 4 pounds since my appointment on Monday.  My blood pressure was 145/95 and my urine test came back positive for protein.  Swelling + high BP + weight gain + protein in my urine = preeclampsia.  Shit.  This is not at all what I wanted to hear and spent several minutes crying when Dr P came into my room to tell me the news.  She reassured me that as long as my BP didn't spike any higher, my blood work came back okay, and my protein levels were low enough that I could stay pregnant awhile longer.  However, if my test results came back and she didn't like my numbers we would have to go ahead and deliver the girls that night.  I don't think I have ever prayed so hard as I drove myself to the hospital for monitoring.  I remember being really calm as I called Matt, my mom and Nana, but when those phone calls were over I broke down in a big way.  I did NOT want to deliver the twins at 31 weeks. I did NOT want to have preeclampsia again.  I especially did NOT want the pre-e to turn into HELLP Syndrome like last time.  And I really did NOT want to deliver the girls on Sara's birthday, a day she holds sacred.  There was a lot of bargaining with God for the rest of the day as I waited for test results.

I got to the hospital and they took me to triage where I was hooked up to the monitors for a non-stress test, they re-did my urinalysis and performed blood work.  The results from the blood work were the most important as they would tell if my liver and platelet levels were too high or low, which would be an immediate determinant for delivery.  All of this took several hours and, eventually, Matt was able to leave work to come meet me.  He was especially freaking out so by that time I had to be in control enough to comfort him.

Thankfully, my test results came back in the early evening and everything was stable enough that I could go home.  My BP was high but stable, and I needed to continue to monitor that as well as change my BP medicine.  The urinalysis came back with only trace levels of protein so I needed to come back on Friday for a 24-hour urine test.  And my blood work came back perfect, so we were not yet worried about HELLP Syndrome.  At this point Dr P felt it was more important to keep me pregnant with frequent monitoring than deliver, and I agreed.  I wanted to stay pregnant as long as possible.

Thursday and Friday I completely my 24-hour urine collection and turned that back into the hospital, along with more monitoring.  Again everything looked manageable so I left with strict instructions to stay in bed all weekend and come back for my appointment on Monday.

Over the weekend I never changed out of my pajamas and rested as much as possible.  I took my BP every 4 hours and averaged about 135/95 pressures.  I never experienced headaches, blurred vision, or saw spots, all signs of preeclampsia.

On Monday, February 17 I went into see Dr P for my 32-week checkup.  All of my symptoms were still the same...swelling, more weight gain, higher than normal BP, and positive protein test.  She sent me in for more monitoring and blood work.  They came back within normal ranges and Tuesday I repeated my 24-hour urine test.

I spent the day on Wednesday, February 19 finishing some last-minute things around the house and getting my hospital bag completely packed.  It took me several hours to do this as I would only let myself out of bed for 15 minutes at a time.

To be continued...