January 23, 2009
I woke up on this Friday morning...my 3rd day in the hospital. My blood pressure had come down, but was not in a "normal range" (even though I was taking 3 times as much medicine as when I entered). Even though my bp numbers weren't great, they were stable and remained about the same.
About 2:00 pm, my OBGYN came into the room. She was coming to check in on me, which was normal, but the look on her face was not normal. She said that my high blood pressure was putting my health, and the babies health, in danger. I will never forget her next sentence, "I think we can take better care of him outside of the womb than we can inside...we are going to deliver this afternoon." I can't explain my feelings in words!! Dread, terror, and helpless are the closest words I can think of. I started to cry and hyperventilate!! She said I needed to call Heath because they weren't going to wait long...and then offered to make the call for me because I could barely breath (much less talk).
Heath got to the hospital in record time (thanks for driving him Chris) and things were set in motion. Being a diabetic...these type situations can cause your blood sugar to drop FAST! The last thing I remember was sitting on my hospital bed in my pajamas and the nurse asking if I was ready. The next thing I know I am downstairs in a prep room, wearing a hospital gown (nothing else), and many doctors surrounding me that I didn't know!! However, I was in good hands.
Following the epidural, I was taken in to the delivery room for an emergency C-section (thanks to my friend Jeri for having my back and making sure the anesthesiologist took great care of me). A few minutes later, I hear this faint, weak, short cry and the doctors said he was out. As the nurses whisked him off to the NICU, she stopped for a second to let me see him. I don't really remember much of that part, but I do remember just how small he looked in her arms. Heath followed Garrett up to the NICU while the doctors fixed me up.
Garrett was born at 5:03 pm, weighing 1 lb 5 oz and was 12 inches long. I got to go by and see him on my way to my recovery room. He was so small, had almost transparent skin, but was beautiful!!!! They wanted as little stimulation as possible, but allowed me lay there on my gurney and look at him as long as I wanted. This was the start of our 4 month stay in the NICU at Dallas Presby!
1 comment:
I remember that Sara, Evie, Conner & I had just visited you in your room that morning. Then we went to eat lunch after our visit. We were getting back in the car when we got the call that Garrett would be born and came right back. I was glad we were still in the area. I remember Sara saying "you're going to have to tell me where to go"...and I said "we'll figure it out". Then Evie & Conner played on the hospital waiting room floor while we were all waiting & Sara & I just told ourselves that it was clean. ;)
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