The Full Story

Okay peeps, here's the whole story...

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I went to the O.B. on Friday, April 6th, for a routine checkup... all was going well until Dr. Robinette looked at my chart and saw that I had lots of protein in my urine (gross), my bp was 168/98 (way high), I had 'gross swelling' of my feet and hands (I couldn't even make a fist), and I had gained 8 pounds in one week. All of these are symptoms of pre-eclampsia, so he sent me to Southwest Medical Center with the words, "We need to find a reason not to deliver this baby today!" My first thought was, "I have nothing packed," and my second thought was, "Oh my gosh, my sister is going to be pissed!" The one thing she's kept saying throughout my pregnancy is "Don't have the baby on Emily's birthday!" Which is, of course, April 6th.

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I ran home, threw a bunch of crap in my suitcase, took a shower, cried over the laundry basket for 10 minutes because I couldn't find the pants I wanted to pack for the baby, finally got his bag packed (with said pants), and had Adam drive me to the hospital. My dad met me at the door, and we went up to Labor and Delivery. The CEO of the hospital stopped by to congratulate dad, but of course didn't come in to say a word to me... Dad was cracking jokes about how lucky I was to be escorted to my room by the Chief of Medicine of the whole hospital - his new post as of January. He thinks he's a laugh riot! The nurse came in and shot my arm full of lidocaine - I'm a hard stick in the first place, and with massive swelling it's just that much harder... She ended up digging in my arm for quite awhile - I'm really glad it was numb! Then the lab tests came back. Apparently they found a reason not to deliver him, and sent me home. I was to be on bed rest, and if I had any symptoms, such as seeing spots, dizziness, headaches, etc., I was to come back to L&D immediately. I also had to do yet another 24 hour urine collection.

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Once at home, I cried my eyes out - I had been soooo close to seeing my baby! I felt like I had failed. I called mom, and she laughed and said I should be grateful he's able to cook a little bit longer - famous last words...

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Saturday night, by the end of the 24 hours of the pee in a bucket test, I was so miserable and had such a horrid headache that I took the pee in myself instead of having Adam take it in for me, and asked them to check my bp just in case. They admitted me as soon as they did a stick test with my fresh cup o' pee (why they didn't just use the huge jug I'd brought them, I don't know). Dr. Robinette was called, and he scheduled my c-section for 7:30 that next morning. He said it was getting to dangerous with the pre-eclampsia to wait any longer. So no more cooking for Baby Dolton!

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I spent a miserable night in the hospital - uncomfortable and feeling like crap. They gave me a sleeping pill, which worked for all of 20 minutes, and then I was up the rest of the night. I'd forgotten how bad late night T.V. is when you don't have digital cable! The next morning, Mom and Dad came before I was taken to surgery. I was hungry, thirsty, and more than a little scared. Dr. Robinette let both of them come into the O.R. with me, which was really cool. They gave me a spinal block, and then we got the show on the road... Dolton was born at 8:18 Easter morning! Dr. Robinette held him up over the curtain for us to see, and he was beautiful. Then they took him away to get him all cleaned up, and after what felt like hours (but was probably more like 3 minutes) brought him over to me so I could see him close up. I got to kiss his tiny head before they whisked him off to the nursery so I could be put back together.

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I'm kind of iffy on the rest of the details since I received more pain medicine once Dolton was delivered, but once I was back in my room, Sandy and Adam were waiting for me with Mom and Dad. A nurse brought my precious baby in to me, and it was the best feeling in the world to look into this tiny face that I had grown for the last (almost) nine months. He had ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes (I counted), lots and lots of light brown hair, big dark blue eyes (we think they're going to turn brown like mine), and I fell totally in love.

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Many people stopped by to see him, but as I was in a haze of percocet most of the time I'm not sure exactly who! Stephanie, Anissa, Wendy, Beth and Mydia, and Donna and Britian all left gifts and cards, so I know they were there, and Mom, Dad, Kelly and Emily, Adam and Ryan, and Sandy were there often. Liz told me she and her sister Mary came by, but I'll have to take her word on that! If I'm forgetting anyone, I'm sorry!

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We were discharged on Wednesday, April 11th, but were told to come back the next day because Dolton was a little bit jaundiced. His bilirubin level was 13.5, which is a little bit high. The Thursday test came back with a level of 14 - Dr. Harvey said that if it didn't go down by Friday, he would have to have photo therapy, where they shine special lights on the babies to get the bilirubin to go down. Luckily, his Friday test came back with a level of 13.2, so no lights for this baby!

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We're home now, and things are going well - we're both doing better with the nursing, and while we aren't on a schedule yet, we're at least on the same page most of the time. Dolton is really a very good baby!

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His first check up was on Monday, and he's doing great. His umbilical cord came off at the doctor's office - Dolton's first milestone! All of his reflexes were good, and he weighed in at 5 pounds, 12 ounces. He's gained 3 ounces since Wednesday! I was so proud. He had also grown taller, and was up to 18 whole inches! My little Easter Egg is growing so fast. We're supposed to stop back in next Monday to check his weight, and our next appointment is on the 30th of April. I'll let everyone know how he does!