8.14.2012

Getting a little personal here.

My sweet baby boy turns 5 months old today. Now, I don't usually get too personal on this blog. I keep most of the boring personal junk to myself. However today I'm finally feeling like I want to share something personal. I'm sharing this story not for sympathy. I'm sharing this story because I want it to be a warning, if you or anyone you know goes through anything like this please have them go to the Dr. and get checked. I've become more aware of these issues lately and I do not want to hear of anyone passing away from something that may have been able to be prevented.
When I gave birth to my daughter, almost 5 years ago my labor was very long and very hard. Because of that I was in no hurry at all to have a second child. With my second child my pregnancy was quite easy. I had a lot of energy and was able to work until about 3 hours before my water broke. My labor and delivery were very much easier than the first time around. 
Below is the post from my personal blog, the post that I shared when my baby was about 3 weeks old. (This post below is 4 months old, we are all now perfectly fine.)

I was able to go home from the hospital the next day and felt great! So great that I went back to work 4 days later. At day 5 I took Brayden to have his hearing checked, when we were at the hospital I decided to stop by my Dr.'s office and have him check me out. I had been having a little chest pain and it didn't seem quite right.  When I went there and mentioned it to the Dr. he decided that he wanted to run some tests. Since he wanted to make sure I didn't have a blood clot in my lungs. So they sent me to the lab and drew some blood. We then went home, a little while later I got a call from the Dr.'s office telling me that my blood work did come back bad and I needed to have a CT. So I headed right back to the hospital for that.  Later that day I got my results, the CT came back good, there was no blood clot in my lungs.  Wednesday was his one week check up, when we went the Dr. was more concerned with my breathing and the bad blood tests. So they did a few more tests, checked my blood pressure and a few other things. My blood pressure at that point was 190/130. Way too high. The Dr. immediately called started me on blood pressure meds and called a specialist. The specialist said that my blood pressure was so high that the best thing would be to admit me to the hospital and put me on IV blood pressure meds and also because it was so high they were worried about me having seizures. So they put me on anti seizure meds for 24 hours. The meds were really weird and made me feel really gross. They also made me pee a lot! Like I think I peed at least every hour while I was there. I had already lost all of my baby weight when I had him but I lost an additional ten pounds while being on these meds. My blood pressure went right down while I was there and has since stayed down.  When I was released from the hospital on Thursday Brad and I headed to Provo to have an Eco-cardiogram, the blood work that I had done suggested that I was also having cardiomyopathy, I think that's how you spell it, or postpartum congestive heart failure. Those tests came back and everything checked out great.  

This week we went to the Dr. again and the Dr. talked to me about what had happened, he told me that it was all very strange that I had these things happen, his final diagnosis was Postpartum Toxemia with some slight cardiomopathy. I am no longer taking any meds and feel really good. It was a little bit scary there for a day or two but I'm so thankful that Brad is amazing with our kids, the night that I spent in the hospital he came home and took care of both Chesney and Brayden by himself and then when I was home he totally took care of me as well. We also have great families on both sides that were very helpful with Chesney and Brayden and helped us out so much.

I'm also so thankful for modern medicine, I'm so glad that it can make me feel so much better! :)

Oh, and did I mention that I have always had freaky veins, no one can ever draw my blood or start an IV without some sort of issues, so between giving birth, getting an epidural and then all of the test and IV's in the hospital I was poked 17 times and now, almost three weeks later I still have some nasty bruises. 
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15 comments:

  1. Oh my! Hugs dear one and so thankful it all had a happy ending.

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  2. I am glad that everything worked out for you and that everyone is healthy now. After my son was born I got sick for a year and lost a lot of weight, for me it was yeast allergies, but it made me sick as a dog. I am on a special diet now but pregnancy can bring out problems.

    Debbie

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  3. I'm so glad you are doing okay...how scary what can happen. Birth is hard on our bodies. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. That is scary! I'm glad you're doing fine now:)

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  5. Oh my... I had no idea. I am so glad you shared this. My family has had some scary hospital visits and it always feels better to share and get it out in hopes of helping others that might be going through the same thing. I am glad you are feeling better. Take care of yourself and those precious kiddos. <3

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  6. We should all listen to our bodies and we are thankful that you did and went to the doctor. Too many people just think it is a pain of childbirth. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope it will make others listen to what their body is telling them.

    I am glad that you are well now and enjoying your dear little ones!!!!

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  7. I had the almost the exact same thing happen after the birth of my son. About a week after he was born I had this massive headache, migraine like, got worse throughout the day so I went to the ER, my BP was 161/101. I was in the hospital for 2 days, one of which was Magnesium Sulfate, that was HORRIBLE! The normal course for that is 24 hrs, I was able to come off it after 14, the next was spent on Labetalol, which made my scalp tingle like crazy.

    Never had an issue with my BP since, and I too was diagnosed with postpartum pre-eclampsia. My sister had the same thing last year when she delivered my nephew.

    Must be a thing with boys, huh? ;)

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  8. So scary Natalia. I am glad to hear everything turned out well and everyone is happy and healthy :)

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  9. Thank you for sharing your experiences. You are helping to make us, new and old moms, aware of this medical condition. I urge all new moms and future new moms to make a mental note of this condition.
    I am so glad that you are doing well and wish you and your family the best for the future.

    Have a super great sewing, stitching, quilting, and healthy day!

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  10. Wow, so glad you went to the doctor and pursued this and all is well!! glad you shared.

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  11. Thanks for sharing...it just tells us when we have strange symptoms, to be sure and get them checked out. I am recovering a combo bronchitis and pneumonia. ♥♥♥

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  12. What a frightening experience, I am so glad that everything turned out well and you are feeling well. Thanks for sharing and blessings to you and family. Sandra

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  13. Glad you are on the mend, this same thing happened to a friend of mine, she ended up in ICU for over a week. How blessed you are to have a hubby that can step up to the plate and take over.

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  14. Oh Natalia, what a scare. I'm so glad you are ok. Brad did a great job with the kids and you, so rest when your body tells you you need a break.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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