Preeclampsia is evil. It isn't enough that it has caused both my babies to come early, but it is the gift that just won't stop giving.
With Robbie, I started feeling better almost immediately after he was delivered. It was nearly 2 weeks until I could focus on eyes again (I really blamed the mag for that, but in retrospect, it was probably the pre-e.) and 3 weeks of BP meds until it started to regulate, but overall, I *FELT* okay.
This time, even though I didn't get nearly as sick, it seems to be lasting longer. First there was the reaction I had to the mag the day after Charlotte was born. God bless the nurse who finally said "that's it! You're done!" and shut it off a little early. I couldn't take much more. I swelled up like a stuffed sausage that day, too. The covering OB kept commenting on how bad my face looked. Good thing I'm not sensitive to that sort of thing. I was more concerned with my feet as they felt like they might actually explode.
And now that I'm at home, my blood pressures are just not cooperating. They were finally a little better the last day and a half and I thought maybe we'd finally started to regulate (at double the dose I was on after Robbie) but tonight around 7:30 I started to feel a little funny. Took my BP- 170/100.
Laid down an hour, 170/105.
Took my BP meds a few hours early, laid down another hour, 165/99.
Had to page the on-call doc. She had me take another 1/2 dose of meds, discussed a few options and waited an hour. Fortunately that got it down to 145/90, which isn't great, but is livable for the time being.
Of course this is all between also tending to a hungry baby and trying to get a toddler to bed. David was great and took care of everything he possibly could, but at one point Robbie starts yelling "need to snuggle mommy!" and Charlotte was gearing up for her nightly cluster feed, so there are some limits.
I was extremely relieved to avoid the E.R. But it's also frustrating and scary. I don't want to have a stroke. I don't want to feel like crap. I am so, so, so, so, blessed to have two mostly healthy, absolutely amazing children at home. I just want to be able to care for them.
Preeclampsia is a condition of pregnancy. It took the end of my pregnancies from me, so why can't it just leave me alone?
I'm praying this was an isolated event. Since my pressures have been decent the last couple of days, maybe it was pre-e's last gasp. A girl can always hope.
In any case, I would appreciate prayers for healing for me and for all of us. Charlotte has been sneezing a bit tonight. It might be normal newborn sneezing, but Robbie's had this never-ending cold (probably more like two colds or even three in a row. Thank you, daycare.) for the last probably 6 weeks, and I'm scared to death that Charlotte is going to get it. She does have the benefit of immunities from my breastmilk (I've never been so happy to have gotten one of Robbie's colds before) but we have no way of knowing how she would handle a cold. Her lungs seemed great when she came out, but she was still born 5 weeks too soon and she's still very small. If we could put off her getting sick for a while, that would be much, much better.
Trish
Sunday, November 20, 2011
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7 comments:
Pre-e is so evil. Scary. :( really praying it's about to release its hold on you
And weird; usually it;s Alex who has so much in common with Robbie but now it's Will; he's started his third cold in the past 5 weeks. Just won't quit. Praying Robbie handles it OK breathing-wise and even more so for Charlotte.
PE just stinks. With my first, I finally left the hospital on BP meds. It took almost 6 weeks for me to come off the BP meds. I also had the residual swelling from the mag. My feet were so huge that my toes were purple, and my feet would "squeak" on the floor when I walked b/c they were so tight :(
I know it seems crazy to think, but you need to rest and relax as much as possible. I came home from the hospital on 14 days bedrest (which is almost impossible with a newborn baby!!).
I'm praying for you to feel better really, really soon!! I'm so happy that she is here and healthy and can't wait to see more pictures of her cute little face with big brother!!
I've been told its called Post- E. Thats what I had. It actually got worse after I had Ashley. My blood pressure took a few weeks to get back to normal. The swelling stuck around, but what really helped with most of it was DRINK DRINK and DRInK some more! That will help get the swelling down and that helps with your blood pressure to. It does really suck and I'm sorry you are going through this. I also noticed when I would pump my blood pressure would go up more. Not sure why.
The BP is so scary. I really hope that you are feeling better soon.
As for the sneezing, both my kids came out sneezing like crazy and our doctor told us that it's normal for newborns to sneeze out amniotic fluid for up to 3 weeks (and maybe longer for c-section babies since none of it is squeezed out during delivery. Neither of mine were c-sections and they both still sneezed for weeks). Hopefully one less thing for you to worry about.
I'm so sorry it won't just go away. You've paid the price, it should be content with that and leave your life for good!!
I am happy to hear Charlotte is doing well. Hopefully it IS just normal newborn sneezing. I am sure it is scary anyway. You do what you can to keep them well, but can't keep them in a bubble. That is great that you are able to give her breastmilk! So happy that is working for you!!
Will be praying for your sweet little family of four!
Wow. Your story is dramatic and at times traumatic. Hope from here on out everything is boring and predictable. You deserve a break.
My Pre-E stuck around for a long time too - I felt SO much better as soon as James was born, but had the high BP and couldn't go off the meds for almost 3 months!
James also got at cold at 5 days old (I wanted to murder his Pedi for leaving a premature, newborn baby in a waiting room full of sick kids for almost 40 minutes past our appointment time), and he pulled through like a champ. As much as it sucks to have a newborn with a cold, it's actually was kind of a relief to get it overwith. 35 Weeks (36 in my case) is early, but the lungs are pretty mature. I'm sure she would pull through just fine!
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