Home Away from Home

This journey all started 8 months ago when my husband and I found out we were pregnant. We struggled with infertility and when we found out we were expecting we knew our little one was truly a miracle and a gift from God. I felt an immediate love so strong for this little embryo in my belly that was almost beyond my control. I followed all the typical pregnancy rules...no bubbly champagne to celebrate, no caffeine (how would I survive without my morning coffee?!), no sushi (this will be torture!)??? But I knew she would be worth it and I was willing to do anything to make sure our baby was safe and sound.

Fast forward 8 months and here we are at our new home away from home...the hospital.

Thursday, February 14th, 2013 started out as a typical day...laundry in the morning, checked a few work emails and headed to my OB check up at 9:45. After being called in to meet with the doc, she checked my vitals and with eyes wide open she proceeded to tell me I needed to go to the hospital to be monitored for high blood pressure. High blood pressure I thought...I'll be fine! Clearly nothing is wrong with me and I was sure it was nothing a few hours at home on the sofa won't cure! I told her I had a conference call meeting at noon and I would head over after. She insisted I cancel my meeting or at the very least I go straight to the hospital after my call. I said fine and still didn't understand what was so urgent about high blood pressure...I mean, I felt fine and little Jayden's heartbeat was perfect during my appointment.

After leaving the doctors office, I felt compelled to contact my potential client and see if it was even possible to reschedule our call to the following week. Turns out my main contact was also pregnant and was completely understanding! She insisted I head to the hospital and we could reschedule.

So there I was, headed to the hospital to get monitored for "high blood pressure" (again I thought this was no big deal and I would be home in time to clean up and make a yummy Valentines Day dinner for my hubby). I insisted my husband, Jonathan, stay at work as I was told I would only be monitored for an hour, maybe two, so there was nothing urgent and I would be just fine.

I walked into the labor and delivery department thinking everyone was completely over reacting and I could be at home working. They had me change into one of those horrible hospital gowns and hooked me up to a blood pressure machine, baby monitor to check for her heartbeat and contractions and the nurse took some blood and urine samples for a few standard tests. After they took my blood pressure again, she looked at me amazed as my results were 170/112 (yikes). Ok so I still didn't know what that meant for Jayden and how that could impact her.

A few hours later, my blood and urine results came in and it turns out I had symptoms of preeclampsia. The nurse said they will be admitting me into the hospital and not to plan on leaving anytime soon! WHAT? I have nothing with me...I had come straight from the doctors office and now I'm not allowed to leave :-( I called Jonathan and he immediately left work, went home to grab some stuff for me and headed to the hospital.

After being observed for 48 hours now, they have confirmed I have pregnancy induced hypertension/preeclampsia. So now we are stuck at the hospital...our new home away from home and I will be here until I deliver little Jayden! The doctors are hoping I stay stable enough to carry to at least 34 weeks and best case scenario 35/36 weeks.... Meaning I will be stuck here on bed rest for a veryyyyy longgggg time.

Good news is that little Jayden is doing awesome and my lab results are stable. My urine protein level is pretty high at 2400 (which should be around only 300), my blood pressure is high normal at 140/80ish, creatinine kidney blood test came back at .8 one day and .9 the second day (a little worse but still stable) and my platelet count is 140k.

Luckily, God was watching over us and pointed me in the direction of the hospital. And what amazing doctors we have! Praise God for their passion, their knowledge and their kindness! Not once have I felt like an inconvenience or a pain by asking what seems like a million questions! They all come in and are more than accommodating.

We just continue to pray God watches over us and protects our little miracle.