RJ and I recently added to our family, it was 3 months early however and RJ had to come home from Afghanistan, it wasn't exactly how anyone would want things to go down, but here is the story of how things transpired. I noticed the night of the 3rd of August that my legs and feet were puffy...I didn't notice until I was getting into the bath that night after we had gone to an event thrown by Lincoln Military Housing. so once I got out of the tub I tried to take my bp with my own little blood pressure cuff I have had since my pregnancy with Bryen. When I was pregnant with Kyle I got hypertension and they hospitalized me for a week and so when we found ou...t we were pregnant with Bryen up in Iceland I bought the cuff so that I can monitor my own bp at home...nothing ever really went wrong with Bryen's pregnancy...it was totally fine, but I still had this cuff, which turns out to be a good thing for the events prior to Marcus. Anyhow, I "tried" to take my bp, but it wouldn't for some reason, I thought maybe it was the batteries so I pulled out some new ones put them in and tried it again...still didn't work. Okay, so I w...as pissed, I knew it had to be high, couldn't figure out why the stupid thing was working, but I knew from the symptoms that my bp had to be high just like when I was pregnant with Kyle. SO...I gave up and went to bed, and the next morning, I woke up, still puffy, found the instructions for the bp cuff, and read in the instructions that the reason it was doing what it was doing was because it wasn't inflated enough...another confirmation to me that it was high...so I tried it again, inflating it ALOT more than I normally have to...and it read...150/117,(that isn't the exact numbers but it is really close)your average bp should be something like 120/75 so...you can see from that how freaking high my bp was!(later RJ told me when I was actually admitted to the hospital that my bp was 178/126)they start to freak when your bp gets high because you could have a stroke or a siezure...I am glad that I kind of freaked about being puffy and called the doc after seeing what my bp cuff read. OKAY, so...I went to my OB's office that morning, and they took my bp numerous times, and after checking everything out they sent me over to the Labor and Delivery there in the hospital so that they could monitor my bp for a few hours(I am so lucky to have great friends that help me out when I get in a bind...NAMELY Jennifer Maldonado, THANK YOU SO MUCH JEN FOR HAVING MY BOYS THROUGH ALL OF THIS!)So...they monitored me for a few hours, and after a little bit, they gave me a bp medication called Labeatolol and sent me home with strict orders for bedrest, no housework, NOTHING, and then they wanted me to come back to the doctors office the next morning, so...I did the best I could...freaking out all the while cuz RJ is in Afghanistan and they're telling me to do bedrest, school is about to start and I have to go school shopping still and I have 2 children to take care of virtually impossible to do when you're not supposed to do anything..but I thought I would wait and see what happens at the appointment the next morning. I went to that appointment and of course the bp pill they gave me did NOTHING, so they freaked out a little, Dr. Hanna sent me with a perscription for bp meds to take daily and xanax, I went to the front desk and they were on the phone scheduling me an appointment with the specialist that I was seeing for my ultrasounds he was the specialist on the baby in utero and they got me an appointment that day at 1pm at this point it was already 11am so...I had to go try to find out what I could about putting in a red cross call for RJ to see if they might send him home to help me out having to be on bed rest...so I did that, got information that is needed for that, and intiated the call to the Red Cross while on my way to the appointment with Dr. Jidali (the specialist) I couldn't help when I put in the call to the red cross but to break down crying to the lady taking the call...it really wasn't something I wanted to be happening, I was thinking about what happened with Kyle's pregnancy and I knew I couldn't afford being hospitalized...didn't want that to happen! Anyway, I went to Jidali's office, they took my bp...still high of course...they did an ultrasound checked the baby he was fine just hangin' out in there, and then...when the doctor came in, he was tripping out a little and sent me straight away to the hospital, he didn't even let me drive myself, he made one of his girls take me there....went to Labor and Delivery again, and they admitted me and started Magnesium Sulfate to keep me from having a seizure or stroke and amidst all of the buzzing in and out and injections and blood draws and pokes and pokes and pokes of constant trying to get my iv, and giving me shots of steroids to help the baby's lungs mature faster...I caught a chance to ask one of the nurses how long I was supposed to be in the hospital...and she said "I think it's until the baby is born" I knew at that point, RJ HAD TO COME HOME...so I contacted the red cross again to let them know the update on what is happening with me...luckily I got the chance to do that before I really started feeling like I wanted to die, I did get to the point where I wanted to just die, it was the most miserable I have ever been in my entire life, and I would NEVER wish it on my worst enemy! I don't recall much except for really feeling miserable and that my friends were popping in to check on me and try to make me feel better, there were occasions where I was coherant enough to carry on conversations, but mostly I was out of it, and felt like death. As the doctor explained it to me, I was the babies ICU, as long as they could keep him in me, the better because he was doing well in there, and it would be far more difficult for him out of me...honestly, I would rather be the one to suffer...thinking about it now, I did get to a point where I was saying "THEY JUST NEED TO TAKE THE BABY" I wish I had never said that...but even if I hadn't things still would have gone this way Okay, so now...I'm there in the hospital feeling like death, wishing this wasn't happening wondering what was happening with my husband, if he'll be able to come home, what is gonna happen with me, why I was feeling so miserable (that magne...sium sulfate is HORRIBLE STUFF) and all the while my sweet friends were coming and helping me with things, bringing me things, trying to make me feel better. Sarah, my newfound sweetheart, asked me if I would like to have a blessing from the priesthood holders in my church (I know some of you won't understand this...let's just say...they comfort, bless the sick to get well, etc...and it is based alot on FAITH...but faith and hope is what alot of us hold on to and it is something I will never live without) because I know what I know I accepted Sarah's offer to help me out to recieve a blessing of comfort from them and they came in and did it for me...I can tell you, I did feel better, knowing that I had recieved the blessing but also because I felt the love of my Heavenly Father so strongly then and I knew he was watching over me. Now...after all of this, I got called from RJ saying he was on his way home, and I knew he would be a few days because it takes a while to get here from there...I started to feel even worse..physically, and I knew that it wasn't going to be long before things really went down and I think deep down I knew that I was going to have a premature baby...I just didn't know how long I was gonna be able to make it. The 5th day I was there, my husband came into the room, first time I have seen him in 4 months and I look like HELL but he was there! He came and said hello to me, let me know he was there, and then went to get his boys from our dear friend who had kept them for us while I was in the hospital. 6 hours after he got back, and was with our boys, they came in and told me that I had protein in my urine and that they were going to do a c section and take the baby because my body ICU wasn't gonna do it anymore...my only thought was "CALL MY HUSBAND" I so desperately wanted him there for the birth and I was so happy he able to be here! They called him back, he came and they took me in for surgery, all that prep stuff, drugged me up real good and took out my little 28 week gestation baby...yet another amazing thing I remember hearing the doctor say "OH, whatever doubts I had about doing this are now gone because she was starting an abruption" RJ got home, hours before my body said OK, time to go...I think there was most certainly a higher power at work with how things transpired, I really do. I feel so blessed that things weren't worse and I feel sooooo very blessed to have angels watching over me, up above as well as here on earth, I have some of the best people in my life, and I want you all to know how greatful I am to have you in my life.
