Preeclampsia

So, I thought I would share a little more about Clara's early arrival.  On Tuesday evening, July 22nd, I was unable to sleep because of pain in my upper right chest.  After trying to deal with it for two hours, I decided to call the doctor on call at my hospital.  After talking with her, she suggested I go in to Labor & Delivery to get things looked at.  I woke Rob up and we headed in.  Once I was there they started several test and I was in for the night.  In the morning the doctor came in and explained that my blood pressure was high and I had a few other signs of preeclampsia and they were sending me to Dartmouth.  The only cure for preeclampsia is to have the baby,

I got to take a lovely ambulance ride to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.  Before I left the hospital in Plymouth, I was given a steroid to help Clara's lungs since we knew she would be coming early.  The goal was to get another steroid shot the next day and as long as I was in stable okay shape to give Clara as long as possible to stay in.

I got the second steroid shot Thursday morning and at that point the doctors said I would have somewhere between 24-78 hours before things would go bad again.  I had a good day Friday and then on Saturday around 2pm, the pain returned.  Around 8pm, my blood pressure was really bad again and that is when they started the preparation for the C-section.

Clara Jane Arey arrived at 10:52 pm.  The first thing she did was cry!
Weight: 1560 grams = 3 lbs 7 oz
Length: 17 inches

Clara was taken off to the Intensive Care Nursery where Rob joined her.  Once I was out of surgery, I got to go see her as well.  I continued to have high bold pressure numbers for the first 24 hours after she was born and had to stay in bed.  However, once I started recovering I did well and I was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, July 30th.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and support.  Also thanks to my parents for being there for me and Rob.  Finally to my darling husband, you are my support and true love!  Thanks for just being you and being there for me!  I love you!

August 3, 2014