She's Here!

During the last month, I''ve felt like I am on a roller coaster...that's been sucked into a tornado. I will do my best to fill in details later, but here is a timeline of Gemma Rose's birth story.

Wednesday, May 28: Routine 35 week check-up, at 35 weeks and six days, actually. My blood pressure was high and there was a tiny bit of protein in my urine. I was sent to triage, and my doctor told me that he may need to do the C-section that day or the next. I was crushed. I knew that 35 weeks was much further than 29, but I had hoped all along to make it to 36 weeks and to June. I immediately started having contractions, but once in triage, a shot of terbuteline stopped the contractions, my BP came down and my blood work came back clear, so they sent me home on modified bed rest.

Thursday, May 29:  Using my home blood pressure cuff, I could tell that my BP was not good unless I was laying down, so I put myself on pretty strict bed rest. The rest of the weekend was the same, and I told Jason that I was pretty sure she was coming when I had my next appointment that Monday.

Monday, June 2: 36 weeks and 3 days, made it to June, BP still up, more protein in my urine. The nurse practitioner I saw that day seemed ready to send me home, but I asked her to call my high-risk doctor for his opinion. No hesitation on his part, he wanted me in labor and delivery immediately. I got checked in over there about Noon and was scheduled for 4:30, when the last of the food I had eaten would be out of my system. They ran a little late and took me back at 5:30.

At 6:02 p.m. on 6/02, Gemma Rose Burkett entered the world, crying loudly. I was able to touch and kiss her almost immediately. Her APGAR went from an 8 to a 9, and she seemed to be doing well. 7 lb, 1 oz (huge for a 36-week baby!) and 19.5 inches long.

About an hour and a half later, while in recovery, Dr. Coates, the same neonatologist who was there when Kyran and Karyssa were born, came in to tell me that she had fluid on her lungs and would be going to the NICU to be put on CPAP. Again, I was devastated. This was supposed to be my full-term baby who would come home with me from the hospital, and here he was talking about her due date on June 27.

I was wheeled through the NICU on my way to my postpartum room (which would have otherwise been a nesting room), and got to touch her feet and see her laying in the isolette. The rest of the night was a blur.

Tuesday, June 3: I was able to get up and shower so that they would let me go see her again. My blood pressure was still elevated, so I could only stay briefly. I began to pump that day to try to get her some milk as soon as possible.

Wednesday, June 4: I was able to hold her for the first time. She was still on CPAP and was having issues with the first formula they tried with her. My BP was still pretty high unless I was laying down.

Thursday, June 5: Again, I was discharged from the hospital without a baby (or babies). My BP had been very high unless I was laying down, but I was sent home with signs and symptoms to look for. Gemma was finally off CPAP and they let me try to nurse her for the first time.

Friday, June 6: Spent most of the day in the NICU with Gemma, and the lactation consultant came in to help with nursing. I had still been pretty obsessive with checking my BP, and that evening it went up to 180/110. I called the on-call doctor who told me to take my medicine and lay down for a half hour before calling to let her know how it was. After that time, it had gone down slightly, so she told me to continue to take it easy and that we could increase the medication if that happened again.

Saturday, June 7: With Gemma off all oxygen, we decided it would be the best time for the one-time sibling visit, so Kyran and Karyssa got to meet their baby sister! It was amazing! I stayed there for the rest of the day, laying on the couch in her room when I wasn't nursing. That evening, my BP went up to 180/110 again. The doctor said to increase the meds and lay down for an hour. After an hour (and a short nap), my BP was 190/110, so it was off to the ER for me. Again, blood work came back normal, but my BP wouldn't come down, so they made plans to admit me. Around midnight, I got to my room and was put on a 24-hour magnesium sulfate drip. If you've never been on "Mag" or been around someone on it, it's the closest thing I can imagine to the feeling of your body dying. This time wasn't as much as the two times with Kyran and Karyssa, but it was still enough to make me feel like I was going to die.

Sunday, June 8: I made up my mind that I would still pump every three hours at night and two hours during the day while I was in the hospital. I was able to see Gemma twice briefly that day, and the BP was doing better on the mag.

Monday, June 9: Once off the mag drip, my BP started going back up. I was still able to see Gemma twice that day, and try to nurse once, but I was not feeling well. Finally a new doctor came in who seemed to know what she was doing. Since I had been on Procardia through half of my pregnancy, and then they switched my meds after, she put me back on Procardia and said it was most likely a Procardia rebound effect. Well, that did the trick, because my BP started lowering immediately. It still wasn't ideal, but they planned to send me home the next day.

Tuesday, June 10: I was discharged from the high-risk unit, and sat with Gemma until Jason got off work that day. My BP was definitely lower and I was feeling more like myself.

Wednesday, June 11-Thursday, June 12: More of the same sitting with Gemma all day. At this point, all I wanted to do was take her home. Thursday afternoon, though, she went back on a little bit of oxygen and I was convinced she would be there another week or two.

Friday, June 13: I stayed with her all day and they let me nurse three times in a row. She did very well, so the nurse asked the doctor if they could increase feeds and he said that if I was there, I could nurse her. So, I quickly put plans in place to spend the night and nurse her at every feeding. That night at home, Kyran got a stomach bug.

Saturday June 14: She did great all night and when I woke up, the doctor was in the room checking her out. He said he had to talk to the other doctor, but that unless he was missing something, she was good to go home...THAT DAY!!! She passed her car seat test, got her Hep B shot and we were ready to go!

Sunday, June 15: Gemma's first outing to our church, where everyone gushed, but no one touched. :) That afternoon, Jason and Karyssa got the bug.

Monday, June 16: Still feeling lousy, Jason stayed home from work while I tried to keep a routine with Gemma.

Tuesday, June 17: I had a BP check that showed things were continuing to get better and Gemma had her first doctor's appointment. Dr. B. said that she was perfect, and that we could treat that appointment as her two-week appointment. She was up past her birth weight (7 lb, 2.1 oz) and we could stop waking her up to eat at night. And you probably guessed it, I got the bug too. But, knowing that I was developing the antibodies in my system, I made sure to pump milk so that Jason could give her the bottle with the good stuff in it. Later that night, when I started feeling better, I was able to nurse again. 

Wednesday, June 18: I pretty much laid in bed all day, just getting up to feed Gemma. (Thank God for my mom during all of this time, who had my kids almost every single day, including taking off all but her very last day of her last week of school.) That night, we let her sleep and she went 6 hours between feedings.

Thursday, June 19: The day we would have come home from the hospital if she had been born on her scheduled date, and the first day I really felt human since May 28. Last night, she went 7 hours between feedings.

Friday, June 20: Today, I am happy to have my baby girl home and healthy. I am happy to be almost three weeks removed from my C-section and to have my BP under control. I am happy that I am producing more than enough milk to provide for my daughter. I am happy that Kyran and Karyssa cannot get enough of their baby sister.

Today, I am happy.