Admitted an induction for PIH and then C-section for Preeclampsia

Longish...

May 6 2019 I was 40 weeks and that was my due date. I went to the Dr for my 40 week check up and my BP was 150/90 .. not good and it was getting higher (but everything else was tracking as good). So my Dr said she wanted to induce due to “pregnancy induced hypertension”. The hospital couldn’t get get us in until 1130pm so hubs and I just took it easy for the 12 hour wait we had and ran some last minute errands. Got admitted and the ball rolling with a folly bulb monitors (I was already having contractions and had been for a while evidently) and went to sleep.

The next morning (May 7) around 7 am the Dr came in and removed the folly bulb (which it turns out only moved me from a starting 1/2 cm to a whopping 2cm) and started the pitocin and fluids. My plan to be mobile and walking went out the window with the pitocin because of the IV pole. Around 9am with no real improvement my waters were broken. I didn’t know a body could hold that much fluid lol. My hubby said you could visibly see my stomach deflate. The nurse was even impressed lol. At this point they increased the pitocin and asked if I wanted any pain meds. I was doing ok so declined. At about 12pm I asked if I could have some nitrous and that was actually really nice for about 2 hours definitely felt like I had a whole bottle of wine. They cranked the pitocin at this point and increased fluids. At this point my contractions definitely became the Hollywood kind where you cry and want to tell everyone to go away while also holding onto your SO for dear life. I was told around 2pm that it was only going to get stronger because I was still only around 3 cm and they didn’t want to back off on the pitocin. So I caved and asked for the epidural. The took about an hour to order prep and get in place so they gave me staydol(sp?) to hold me over. Once the epidural was in place everything calmed back down a bit, the anesthesiologist was not great ... she threw away something the nurse needed and did not stay to see if the epidural was in the right spot (spoilers it was not). I was able to get some sleep from about 330-6pm or so but every time I had a really strong contraction I would wake up and have to breath through it and have a death grip on whoever’s hand was closest ( hubs mostly but alternately one of my parents or his or his siblings as they were all taking turns visiting). The epidural had failed and I could feel EVERYTHING on my right side only.

At 6pm my doctor came in and did an exam. She said that I was still only at 4cm and she was starting to get concerned over the baby’s heart rate (I was only able to lay on my left side and if I moved it dropped) and the fact that my most recent pee test had come back positive for protein ... combined with my swelling and high BP she was not comfortable going past 7pm if bigger changes had not been made due to the risk of preeclampsia. We all agreed that if by 7pm I had not made at least 5cm I would be having a caesarean (and really I think my doctor was preparing to argue for one anyway).

7pm arrived and I was still sitting at 4cm so we started prepping for a caesarean for 730pm. They pretty much stopped the pitocin immediately and had a new anesthesiologist come in. He wanted to know if I wanted a bigger epidural dose or to switch to a spinal. My nurse was amazing and had already told me she was not going to let him leave without getting me a spinal if she had to yell at them to do it lol. Mid near argument between them and the anesthesiologist asking me questions I had to tell him to hold on because I couldn’t concentrate through the contractions. His got pretty quiet at that point and said “so a total failure then?” And my nurse was like “umm yeah she’s been like this for hours”. Orders for a spinal were written and that was that. I was given Tylenol and then an anti acid, which I was told to shoot back like a shot (nastiest shot ever btw) which I threw up about 10 minutes later. I was told they would just give it to me again in my IV in the OR.

At this point a started to panic a bit and got pretty scared. This is where the nurses really showed just how amazing they really were. One of them stayed with me the whole time and held my hand all the way through. My hubs held my hand the whole time he was allowed too, but there was always a nurse with me and at one point she was even wiping my panic tears out of my eyes. So we get to the OR and I basically can’t move my lower half by myself anymore due to all the different meds and I am trying to use self deprecating humor to feel better. The spinal went in and worked really well (although strangely effecting my right side much slower than my left). My hubs was allowed in after about 20 min and sat right by my left ear. I was shaking so bad because of the meds that they almost had to strap my arms down to the table and were asking if I could feel anything. I thought they were still prepping me when all of a sudden there was the most amazing sound. My little man screaming at the top of his lungs! They whisked him out of the room to the Apgar tests and to weigh him, I told my hubs to follow him immediately but he was told to sit tight for a minute (so they could do something idk things here start to get a bit fuzzy for me). After a min or so he is allowed to go see our little one and then the nurse is right above me telling me how great I did. I asked if I could have a small dose of some anti anxiety meds which they promptly administered while I was being sewn up. My hubs came back and I was able to hold my little man while they finished fixing me up. Hubs held him while they transferred me to a different bed and then I was handed him back. We went to a post op room and they re did the Apgar and all that good stuff Vitamin K and the rest. After an hour or so we went up to our postpartum room and our families were allowed up.

The next few days were hard but we have been getting along so well now! I can’t believe how amazing our experience was and how thankful I am for the amazing nurses and surgeon team at our hospital especially with the sudden and unexpected preeclampsia that I developed while in labor. We am also eternally thankful to my hubs for not leaving my side with exception to use the bathroom and while I was being prepared for surgery. I am over the moon in love with my little man and can’t imagine my life without him now ❤

️right after arriving and screaming!

1 day old!

6 weeks 3 days old!