gilz82
Me, OH & beautiful Noah
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- Oct 20, 2009
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Its taken me over a month to be ready to write Noah's birth story. Now I think i need to write it down to help me stop dwelling on it. I do apologise as this will be really long, there isn't really a short version.
Firstly I have various medical complications, only one kidney which didn't work etc so Noah was supposed to come early but between 36-37 weeks. We never made it to that point.
I was at hospital on 30th March for my routine fortnightly scan and consultant appointment. Everything was fine other than Noah still being breech. Went home but then that night I started to get really bad period type pains. Went to the maternity unit and ended up being admitted with suspected pre-term labour.
Spent the next few days contracting but not progressing and was given two steroid injections to help mature Noah's lungs. By the Sunday night I started to feel really unwell, my kidney pain was unbearable, I now had pain in my liver and I was being sick. By rounds on wednesday my consultant told me that my liver function tests were completely deranged and we were reaching the point that Noah may have to be delivered in the coming days.
I spoke to my OH on the phone that night, he works away from home long term, and advised him that he'd probably need to be coming home at the weekend. I then spent the rest of the night really agitated, twitching and pacing the floor of my hospital room.
Consultant came round on the Thursday morning and I told her about the twitching and agitation and she rushed out of the room. Came back with a reflex hammer and asked if she could test my reflexes. She tested my leg and the reaction was so severe I nearly kicked her in the head
Everything thing was a bit of a blur after that, she checked my latest bloods and told me that I had pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome and required and emergency section that day. I asked if there was anyway to delay as my OH was at least six hours away, but was told no I would be getting taken to the high dependancy unit as soon as I had signed the consent forms and would be put on a magnesium sulphate drip to try to prevent me having seizures.
Immediately phoned my OH who got straight in the car to come home, knowing there was no chance he'd make it in time. I managed to grab a quick conversation with a neonatal consultant to explain what would happen with Noah given I was only 33w+4 days.
In high dependancy got rushed into a gown, catheter put in
and then the magnesium sulphate drip. That was so horrible it makes you feel really warm and sick, on top of the panic I was already feeling I spent most of the hour crying.
Got taken round to theatre and Noah was delivered at 14:15 on 7th April. He weighed 5lbs 8oz but he was very bloated due to the steroid injections. He was whisked away to special care and I was sown up.
I was taken back to high dependancy and within the hour my OH arrived. I sent him straight round to check on Noah. Because of my epidural and the hospital refusing to take my round in my bed I didn't get to see Noah until almost 10:30pm. He was absolutely perfect but not breathing well on his own.
Noah spent 20 days in neonatal between high dependancy and then special care, and has been home now with us for almost a fortnight. At my consultant debrief last week she that if the HELLP syndrome had occurred when I was at home there's a large chance I could have died as I didn't have high blood pressure which is what any community midwife would have been looking for and that theres a 75-80% chance the HELLP would reoccur in any subsequent pregnancies. So I think it'll just be me, OH and Noah as our little family.
Firstly I have various medical complications, only one kidney which didn't work etc so Noah was supposed to come early but between 36-37 weeks. We never made it to that point.
I was at hospital on 30th March for my routine fortnightly scan and consultant appointment. Everything was fine other than Noah still being breech. Went home but then that night I started to get really bad period type pains. Went to the maternity unit and ended up being admitted with suspected pre-term labour.
Spent the next few days contracting but not progressing and was given two steroid injections to help mature Noah's lungs. By the Sunday night I started to feel really unwell, my kidney pain was unbearable, I now had pain in my liver and I was being sick. By rounds on wednesday my consultant told me that my liver function tests were completely deranged and we were reaching the point that Noah may have to be delivered in the coming days.
I spoke to my OH on the phone that night, he works away from home long term, and advised him that he'd probably need to be coming home at the weekend. I then spent the rest of the night really agitated, twitching and pacing the floor of my hospital room.
Consultant came round on the Thursday morning and I told her about the twitching and agitation and she rushed out of the room. Came back with a reflex hammer and asked if she could test my reflexes. She tested my leg and the reaction was so severe I nearly kicked her in the head
Everything thing was a bit of a blur after that, she checked my latest bloods and told me that I had pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome and required and emergency section that day. I asked if there was anyway to delay as my OH was at least six hours away, but was told no I would be getting taken to the high dependancy unit as soon as I had signed the consent forms and would be put on a magnesium sulphate drip to try to prevent me having seizures.
Immediately phoned my OH who got straight in the car to come home, knowing there was no chance he'd make it in time. I managed to grab a quick conversation with a neonatal consultant to explain what would happen with Noah given I was only 33w+4 days.
In high dependancy got rushed into a gown, catheter put in
and then the magnesium sulphate drip. That was so horrible it makes you feel really warm and sick, on top of the panic I was already feeling I spent most of the hour crying. Got taken round to theatre and Noah was delivered at 14:15 on 7th April. He weighed 5lbs 8oz but he was very bloated due to the steroid injections. He was whisked away to special care and I was sown up.
I was taken back to high dependancy and within the hour my OH arrived. I sent him straight round to check on Noah. Because of my epidural and the hospital refusing to take my round in my bed I didn't get to see Noah until almost 10:30pm. He was absolutely perfect but not breathing well on his own.
Noah spent 20 days in neonatal between high dependancy and then special care, and has been home now with us for almost a fortnight. At my consultant debrief last week she that if the HELLP syndrome had occurred when I was at home there's a large chance I could have died as I didn't have high blood pressure which is what any community midwife would have been looking for and that theres a 75-80% chance the HELLP would reoccur in any subsequent pregnancies. So I think it'll just be me, OH and Noah as our little family.
) x
