I intended on documenting everything on this blog during my pregnancy so I could look back and tell Dixon how he got here. Well, as you can see, I have barely made a dent in the 40 weeks of pregnancy. Speaking of 40 weeks, I should be 40 weeks pregnant this Wednesday, July 13. Instead, I have a 6 week old beautiful baby boy at home.
It all started in May. I started swelling in my legs and feet. Normal pregnancy things but combined with slight increases in my blood pressure. On May 18, I swelled head to toe, my blood pressure was up and I felt pretty yucky. My doctor sent me to the emergency room. My lab work was normal, my blood pressure and swelling went down while I was lying down, so they sent me home. I followed up with my doctor the next week and she just told me to watch out for certain symptoms and call if I had any issues. I continued to swell, but this time the swelling did not get better by lying down or propping my feet up. I tried everything like forcing fluids, reducing salt intake, and resting. Nothing helped.
Memorial day weekend came around and we went to the lake house. We considered this our last vacation before the baby arrived. We had our family and some friends up for the weekend. I wasn't too keen on riding in the boat but I wanted to have fun and enjoy the nice weather. Unfortunately, I was really swollen. As soon as I got up in the morning, within minutes, my feet and ankles doubled in size. My hands swelled but I attributed that to heat. My face was swollen but I didn't even realize because our renovation weren't finished yet in our lake house and we didn't have a mirror in the bathroom yet! Anyway, we went out on the lake on Sunday. I got to wear my cute maternity swimsuit;) By the time we got back to the dock, my legs and feet were so swollen that I could hardly walk. We had company so I was trying to fake it till I made it. I finally got to rest a little as soon as they left. The next morning I woke up with terrible heartburn. Well, it was more like terrible indigestion mixed with terrible heartburn. In the back of my mind I was thinking that this is one of those symptoms that warrants going back to the emergency room. but, I talked myself out of being sick. I ate probably 10 Tums and nothing helped. We came home from the lake that evening and I still had stomach pain. I couldn't get comfortable and the pain was getting worse. I called the on call doctor and he sent me to the emergency room.
We checked in at Centennial Women's hospital emergency room and my blood pressure was ridiculous. It was running 170's-180's over 90's. I couldn't believe my BP was that high. I didn't want to admit what was happening because denial is always the best option, right? The ER doctor spoke with my doctor and decided to admit me to the hospital. They needed to do a 24 hour urine test to see if I had preeclampsia. My lab work was slightly different from the tests they ran 3 weeks earlier but the definitive test was the 24 hour urine. So they started an IV and took away all food and drink (not a nice thing for a pregnant lady) and sent me to the high risk floor of the hospital. Now, I have to stop right here and say that I had the BEST nurses in the world during my hospital stay. I'm talking true angels. Krystalynn and Adrienne were heaven sent and truly saved my life.
So, back to the story, I was admitted to the hospital for a 24 hour urine test. I had multiple blood tests done. My platelets started to drop which could have been preeclampsia or my ITP acting up. My BP continued to stay high and my swelling got worse. I was on bed rest, nothing to eat or drink, and could only get up to use the bathroom. The next morning when the high risk doctor came around, she started me on magnesium which can only be described as the life sucker. It literally sucked the life right out of me. The magnesium was started to avoid seizures which can happen when your BP is high. I was told that if my urine test came back above 300 then the baby would have to be delivered. I received a steroid shot for the baby's lungs and had to wear those sexy TED hose to ward off any blood clots and compression boots to increase circulation as I was on complete bed rest. The magnesium really took it out of me. I felt terrible. They said it would feel like the flu but since I have never had the flu I could only equate it to the worst hangover in the world's history. I couldn't move, all my muscles felt like mush, I couldn't focus on anything, I was one sick girl. Later that day I got a headache. This was a major sign that things were going downhill fast. I took 3 different medicines, all of which increased in strength and narcotic, and nothing touched my headache. My head was only hurting on the right side of my head and my eye started turning black. Then the baby's heart rate dropped. I was put on oxygen and the nurse called the doctor. He said, get her ready I will be there in a minute, we will have this baby in an hour. So they wheeled me up to surgery. I got a spinal block. That was nerve wracking because I knew what was going on. I was so glad that they got it in fast. The doctor came in and cut me open and I heard the best sound in the world, my baby's cry. He came out crying and peeing. His APGAR scores were perfect. Dixon Wyatt Johnson was born June 1, 2011 at 3:50 pm weighing 4 pounds and measuring 17.5 inches. He went straight to the NICU since he was only 34 weeks. I got to see him and hold him for about 30 seconds before they took him to the NICU. He stopped crying and immediately calmed down when I held him and talked to him. I was so scared. They kept telling me that he was going to be fine, that 34 weeks was really good but the nurse in me was anxious. Amazingly enough, I know the Holy Spirit calmed my spirit so I could make it through all of this. Even though I was scared, I was calm and I knew he was ok.
I spent the whole net day on complete bed rest with a catheter and the magnesium. I started third spacing, meaning all the fluid in my body started leaking into my tissues making me even more swollen and totally changing the shape of my body. I was like double my normal size. Luckily a lot of that fluid was gone by the time I left the hospital a week later. I was finally able to go see my baby that afternoon when they shut off the magnesium and took out the catheter. It was so emotional seeing him in the NICU hooked up to an IV and a monitor and in an isolete. I was able to hold him and I couldn't stop crying. A mother's love is amazing. I almost died for him and I didn't care, I just wanted him to be ok.
Dixon spent a month in the NICU. He had to gain weight, eat all of his milk by mouth (not feeding tube), maintain his temperature outside of the isolete, and not have any apnea spells for 5 days. It took exactly a month for him to reach all those goals. We came home on July 1 and he is doing great. We prayed him here and now we have our miracle. Praise God!
It all started in May. I started swelling in my legs and feet. Normal pregnancy things but combined with slight increases in my blood pressure. On May 18, I swelled head to toe, my blood pressure was up and I felt pretty yucky. My doctor sent me to the emergency room. My lab work was normal, my blood pressure and swelling went down while I was lying down, so they sent me home. I followed up with my doctor the next week and she just told me to watch out for certain symptoms and call if I had any issues. I continued to swell, but this time the swelling did not get better by lying down or propping my feet up. I tried everything like forcing fluids, reducing salt intake, and resting. Nothing helped.
Memorial day weekend came around and we went to the lake house. We considered this our last vacation before the baby arrived. We had our family and some friends up for the weekend. I wasn't too keen on riding in the boat but I wanted to have fun and enjoy the nice weather. Unfortunately, I was really swollen. As soon as I got up in the morning, within minutes, my feet and ankles doubled in size. My hands swelled but I attributed that to heat. My face was swollen but I didn't even realize because our renovation weren't finished yet in our lake house and we didn't have a mirror in the bathroom yet! Anyway, we went out on the lake on Sunday. I got to wear my cute maternity swimsuit;) By the time we got back to the dock, my legs and feet were so swollen that I could hardly walk. We had company so I was trying to fake it till I made it. I finally got to rest a little as soon as they left. The next morning I woke up with terrible heartburn. Well, it was more like terrible indigestion mixed with terrible heartburn. In the back of my mind I was thinking that this is one of those symptoms that warrants going back to the emergency room. but, I talked myself out of being sick. I ate probably 10 Tums and nothing helped. We came home from the lake that evening and I still had stomach pain. I couldn't get comfortable and the pain was getting worse. I called the on call doctor and he sent me to the emergency room.
We checked in at Centennial Women's hospital emergency room and my blood pressure was ridiculous. It was running 170's-180's over 90's. I couldn't believe my BP was that high. I didn't want to admit what was happening because denial is always the best option, right? The ER doctor spoke with my doctor and decided to admit me to the hospital. They needed to do a 24 hour urine test to see if I had preeclampsia. My lab work was slightly different from the tests they ran 3 weeks earlier but the definitive test was the 24 hour urine. So they started an IV and took away all food and drink (not a nice thing for a pregnant lady) and sent me to the high risk floor of the hospital. Now, I have to stop right here and say that I had the BEST nurses in the world during my hospital stay. I'm talking true angels. Krystalynn and Adrienne were heaven sent and truly saved my life.
So, back to the story, I was admitted to the hospital for a 24 hour urine test. I had multiple blood tests done. My platelets started to drop which could have been preeclampsia or my ITP acting up. My BP continued to stay high and my swelling got worse. I was on bed rest, nothing to eat or drink, and could only get up to use the bathroom. The next morning when the high risk doctor came around, she started me on magnesium which can only be described as the life sucker. It literally sucked the life right out of me. The magnesium was started to avoid seizures which can happen when your BP is high. I was told that if my urine test came back above 300 then the baby would have to be delivered. I received a steroid shot for the baby's lungs and had to wear those sexy TED hose to ward off any blood clots and compression boots to increase circulation as I was on complete bed rest. The magnesium really took it out of me. I felt terrible. They said it would feel like the flu but since I have never had the flu I could only equate it to the worst hangover in the world's history. I couldn't move, all my muscles felt like mush, I couldn't focus on anything, I was one sick girl. Later that day I got a headache. This was a major sign that things were going downhill fast. I took 3 different medicines, all of which increased in strength and narcotic, and nothing touched my headache. My head was only hurting on the right side of my head and my eye started turning black. Then the baby's heart rate dropped. I was put on oxygen and the nurse called the doctor. He said, get her ready I will be there in a minute, we will have this baby in an hour. So they wheeled me up to surgery. I got a spinal block. That was nerve wracking because I knew what was going on. I was so glad that they got it in fast. The doctor came in and cut me open and I heard the best sound in the world, my baby's cry. He came out crying and peeing. His APGAR scores were perfect. Dixon Wyatt Johnson was born June 1, 2011 at 3:50 pm weighing 4 pounds and measuring 17.5 inches. He went straight to the NICU since he was only 34 weeks. I got to see him and hold him for about 30 seconds before they took him to the NICU. He stopped crying and immediately calmed down when I held him and talked to him. I was so scared. They kept telling me that he was going to be fine, that 34 weeks was really good but the nurse in me was anxious. Amazingly enough, I know the Holy Spirit calmed my spirit so I could make it through all of this. Even though I was scared, I was calm and I knew he was ok.
I spent the whole net day on complete bed rest with a catheter and the magnesium. I started third spacing, meaning all the fluid in my body started leaking into my tissues making me even more swollen and totally changing the shape of my body. I was like double my normal size. Luckily a lot of that fluid was gone by the time I left the hospital a week later. I was finally able to go see my baby that afternoon when they shut off the magnesium and took out the catheter. It was so emotional seeing him in the NICU hooked up to an IV and a monitor and in an isolete. I was able to hold him and I couldn't stop crying. A mother's love is amazing. I almost died for him and I didn't care, I just wanted him to be ok.
Dixon spent a month in the NICU. He had to gain weight, eat all of his milk by mouth (not feeding tube), maintain his temperature outside of the isolete, and not have any apnea spells for 5 days. It took exactly a month for him to reach all those goals. We came home on July 1 and he is doing great. We prayed him here and now we have our miracle. Praise God!
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