So I was diagnosed a few years ago with PCOS and then a year later Adenomyosis as well. So when my husband and I decided to start our family we knew we needed some help. We started clomid and got pregnant. I found out at 8dpo that I was pregnant and at 5 weeks I had started bleeding. We went to the hospital and had ultrasounds and I was told it was twins but I was losing one and most likely would lose the other. A week later I went to the doctor and there was still 1 heartbeat but it was very slow and was told to come back in a week because I’d be losing baby by then. The next week I came back and baby looked healthy and heart rate was perfect. 2 weeks later I was diagnosed with hyperemisis gravidarum and was throwing up 20-30 times a day. I had 10 hospital stays for dehydration and malnutrition and then at 28 weeks had a picc line placed. At my 36 week appointment which was a Wednesday I was told my bp was a little high and I had trace amounts of protein in my urine. The next day, Thursday I went to the hospital because of a headache and my bp was higher and I had 2+ protein in urine. They sent me home to do a 24 hour urine test. Friday morning I went back to the hospital and was told I had preeclampsia and that they would start induction Wednesday night with cervadil at 37 weeks and then pitocin the next day. Well I had an appointment Tuesday morning for a growth scan and NST and when I went my BP was so high they sent me straight to the hospital to start induction that day. I had a growth scan at the hospital and it was determined that baby had stopped growing and had Intrauterine Growth Restriction. He was only measuring at 33 weeks. We started cervadil and I started not feeling right. I sent my mom and husband home to get rest since nothing would be starting till the next day when they would do pitocin but 2 hours after they left my water broke. I called them to come back and got an epidural. My epidural took 4 tries to get in and ended up not even working. It was leaking and I was in a lot of pain. The next morning we started pitocin and baby kept going into distress so they would start and stop it. Eventually it was determined that we needed an emergency c section. I told Anesthesiologists that my epidural wasn’t working but they said it would be fine and that they would just do my spinal block through it. Well we got into the OR and when they started cutting I felt it all! I started screaming at the top of my lungs and they had to drug me because they didn’t have time to put me to sleep. They got baby out and him and my husband were taken away while they finished surgery. I vaguely remember asking how much he weighed and if baby was okay. I later got to see him in the recovery room. He was only 4lb 11oz but was doing really well. He is such a little fighter and I’ve never been more in love.

Braeden Christopher Ritchie

2/13/19

17” 4lbs 11oz