Author:  Katie

     On February 12, 2007, I woke up not feeling well. I went down to the basement to get laundry out of the dryer, by the time I got back to my bedroom I was breathing so heavy that I had to sit down. My husband was still home and decided he was going to go to my appointment, that I was scheduled to have that morning. I continued getting ready and found myself in tears several times. I just did not feel well and did not want to go to work. I was 32 weeks gestation. 
      We got to the clinic fine. When I was weighed, I had gained 30 lbs. in 7 days. My blood pressure was extremely high. The only number I remember was 190 Systolic and I had protein in my urine. My doctors nurse got me on my left side and had me rest for 15 minutes. At the same time, my doctor was in the room almost immediately. She educated my husband and I on what might be going on but not to the point of scaring me. Before I left the clinic, she told us to go upstairs for ultrasound, told us to monitor headaches, gave me a pail to collect 24 hour urine, and put me on full bedrest. Still, I was not scared or felt I needed to be too worried.
        As Tuesday, February 13th progressed, I began to get a severe headache. I called the nurse, who instructed me to take my migraine meds first and if it did not get better in the hour, to call her back. Ten minutes after taking them, I threw them up!
I called my husband to let him know I wasn't feeling well and wasn't sure what to do. The symptoms felt like a migraine. He yelled at me to call the nurse back. When I called her back, she told me to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. My husband got home in record time and just left the truck in a snowbank and got me into my car. On the way to the hospital, my husband just kept saying....."I will make better time next time. This is just a practice run."
         We were admitted that night. My protein in my urine was three times the amount it was supposed to be, my blood pressure continued to be to high, and my kidneys were beginning to become affected. The doctor on-call put me on Magnesium Sulfate to prevent seizures. That stuff is nasty. I felt it disperse into my body. I became warm and flushed. The worst part was probably the nurses just trying to get an IV into me. I was so swollen, they could not get a vein. They, also, had the baby on a continuous heart monitor. He sounded great. That sound kept me calm most of the night.
           My doctor came in the next morning at 5 a.m. She sat down next to me and explained to us what the concerns were and that my lab work was not changing. The only thing helping me at that time was the Magnesium. Our only option at that point, to take the baby. Option 1 was to deliver @ that hospital and my son transferred to the closest NICU (45 minutes away), or Option 2, transfer me and we could be in the same place. We automatically chose Option 2. There was sometime when nobody was really sure when the ambulance would be there. That drove me husband to the brink of insanity. I saw my husband cry for the first time that morning.
           I arrived at the other hospital around 12 p.m. I don't remember much from that time to when they took me into the O.R. I can tell, you my son, Hunter Joseph, was born at 2:26 p.m. on February 14, 2007. He was 7 weeks early. They whisked him away to get oxygen on him and have the neonatologist check him over. My husband followed along. Our families were there to take his first pictures. They brought pictures into show me, as soon as the nurses let them. The hardest part at that time, was I had to remain on the Magnesium for 24 more hours. 
         By 8 o'clock that evening, he was on room air. My husband would not hold him until I got to. The nurse agreed to bring him over to my room to touch him and kiss him. Then, again, they whisked him away so he didn't burn to many calories. Hunter had to stay in the hospital when I got discharged. We drove, 1 hour each way, everyday to see him. He was there for 16 days. We brought him home in a snow storm. 
          Hunter is 2 1/2 years old now. He is a little peanut, but he is the sweetest little boy you will ever meet. He is joined, now, by his sister, Megan. I was watched closely during my pregnancy with her and was on modified bedrest for 6 weeks. I was able to deliver her at 38 weeks, fullterm. My son and I are survivors!