Early (long post)

On Friday July 2th I had a routine doctors visit. This was the first of the 4 weekly appointments I would have before little Chandler was due. Everything seemed normal to me until the nurse took my blood pressure. She normally takes it and tells me what it is, this time she took it and then just looked at the floor for a minute. I asked if it was high and she said she was going to have me sit here for a bit and take it again. This of course meant it was high. Once again after a bit of resting she took my blood pressure and again she just sat there silent after. I had to ask again if it was still high. She said yes and got the doctor...

By this time I am kind of scared since my nurse didn't really talk to me much about it other then saying that most likely the doctor will send me to the hospital to have them monitor me and the baby. That is always something fun to hear! After a short visit with my doctor I headed over to the hospital where I was put in bed, had blood drawn, hooked up to a blood pressure monitor and hooked up to a monitor for the babies heart beat and one for contractions. I spent about an hour and a half laying there listening to little Chandler's heart beat. That is something that was actually enjoyable know he was doing well and getting to listen to him for an hour straight!

After the visit they decided to let me go home but said I needed to do a 24 hour urine test and come back tomorrow. This meant that I had to collect all my urine for 24 hours and bring it back for testing. I did as I was told until about 7am the next morning when the jug they gave me was full, at this point I called it good and returned the urine to the hospital. I was then told it wasn't a full 24 hours worth and I would have to start over. I started to cry when they said they would be discarding my urine, I know that sounds so stupid but it really is a pain to collect it for that long and then for them to tell you they are going to throw it away with out testing it and that you will have to do it all again it really did hurt. I had also begun spotting for the first time so I was really nervous, because of this they monitored me again for an hour and then told me to go home and stay down as much as possible.

Sunday afternoon after filling 2 jugs, I returned to the hospital and was again hooked up to all the machines while they tested my urine. Everything on the monitors looked great including my blood pressure so I was sure we were good to go when the nurse returned with the urine tests and informed me that I indeed had pre-eclampsia and was ordered to bed rest!

On Tuesday, July 2nd I went into see my doctor. He told me that he would be inducing me on Friday, the day I hit 37 weeks. I had a bit of a panic attack since i wasn't really ready to have a baby in 4 weeks let along a couple of days! We discussed how it would happen and headed home. About an hour later the nurse called and said... "the doctor feels like tomorrow would be better, will that work for you" I had to ask her if she meant tomorrow to induce, she laughed and said yes. Of course I said yes, what was I suppose to say no, I would like to risk mine and my babies life and wait until Friday?

Tuesday night Grant gave me a blessing and I started to feel a little calmer although still in a panic. The next day at 3:30 we were admitted to the hospital. I was given my IV and patosin to get things going. I can't even begin to explain the kind of pain I began to feel as the contractions began to get stronger and closer together. Finally when I was in tears the nurse said I think it is time for an epidural and I full heartily agreed. At this point "I was officially not having fun anymore". After the epidural it was smooth sailing, why did I ever worry about that it was my favorite part!!!

After 12 hours of contractions it was time to push. I pushed for 28 minutes before our little Chandler was born at 2:43 am on Thursday, July 8th. He didn't cry at first so I was in a bit of a panic but after a bit they got a little cry out of him and put him on my chest. It was an incredible moments between me, Chandler, and Grant. Our little baby was finally here. That moment didn't last long because as soon as Grant cut the cord the special respiratory team was called in and they began working on him. He was still not crying or breathing very well. My doctor tried to shield me from the frantic nurses working with him but that is all I could focus on. They finally got him stable and him and Grant were gone down stairs to the nursery. I felt so alone, there went my new little family and I had no idea how my baby was. Thank fully I had my mom and my sister to help me focus and getting down there to be with them. There is much more to say as far as the next week of Chandlers life but I will save that for another post.