The whole story

So I'm finally going to tell the whole story. Or as much of it as I can anyway. I was drugged and in severe pain for a lot of it.

Mabel Mae Keele was born at 5:54 PM Monday. She was 5lbs 8 oz; 17.5 inches and she was 28 days early.

Mabel came into this world via emergency C-Section because I had preeclampsia, also known as toxemia.

I guess the problem with toxemia has been going on for a while now but we didn't know I had it because a few of the big signs were completely absent for me. I had swelling in my feet but I didn't have high blood pressure (till last weekend) and I didn't have any protein in my urine. This stuff is checked routinely at doctor's visits because it's so important to catch it early. I had a pain in my right side under my rib cage that I was attributing to normal pregnancy pain having never been pregnant before.

The pain in my side would come and go and it was getting worse and coming more often. Sunday night when Eric got home from work at 1 AM I was in so much pain I couldn't sleep and I started to feel scared. I called the midwife on call and she told me it was probably a gallstone (also common in pregnancy) and told me to go to the emergency room and have it checked out. They would probably just do an ultrasound and give me some medication to get rid of them.

When we got to the ER they checked my blood pressure and it was through the roof. A few other signs told them it was not my gallbladder it was my liver that was causing me the pain.

I remember getting IVs for pain and getting into a hospital bed. The doctor and nurses still weren't sure what was wrong with me because my symptoms weren't adding up so they ran a blood test which showed that I had severe preeclampsia. They told me I would probably have to be induced and have the baby in the next 48 hours.

This wasn't too scary because I had been assured over and over that Mabel was just fine. When they ran my blood again they found that my liver platelets were too low and I would have to have a C-Section ASAP to prevent seizure, coma and possibly death.

At this point it was about 3 PM and most of my family had arrived at the hospital. At the time, I had no idea how serious my condition was but my family did. I found out later that they were all very scared for me but they didn't want to show it because the goal was to keep me calm.

I had to wait for the doctor to get to the hospital for a few hours because he was doing a C-Section for another couple who were trying not to lose their baby. I had a lot of compassion for them because I knew my baby was going to be ok even if I wasn't.

My body was shaking and I felt very cold. I remember I kept crying a lot. The biggest goal was to keep me calm and my blood pressure low. The highest I remember it going was 167 over 142. I tried breathing exercises and people took turns holding my hand.

I had to be taken off the pain medicine I was on for the last couple of hours because it was slowing Mabel's heart. The pain cleared my mind a bit and I was able to talk to my family and I learned that I would have to be put under general anesthesia for the surgery because they don't want to get too near nerve endings and the spinal cord with an epidural when the liver platelets are low because it could cause paralysis. Because I was going to be put under, I had to go into surgery alone. This was not something I was prepared for. Eric had been with me the whole time and I was counting on the fact that I would not go into surgery alone.

They don't let loved ones go into surgery when the patient goes out because it's very scary for loved ones and they become a liability because they can panic or pass out.

The doctor finally arrived and I said good-bye to my family and Eric kissed me one last time and they wheeled me out.

Everything after that point is even more hazy. Mostly I just remember being so scared and wanting the pain to end. They put my arms out straight to the side and put an oxygen mask and told me to breath deep.

Two and a half hours later I woke up a mommy and alone except for one nurse in the room. Eric filled me in later and told me that they wouldn't let me see me that whole time but that he was able to see Mabel. He picked out her first pink bow and she was sleeping in the Special Care Nursery. Mabel did great. She regulated her own heat well and her oxygen levels were great. I asked to see my baby as soon as I was with Eric again but they told me they couldn't let me go anywhere yet because my blood pressure was still too high.

So my family said goodnight and left and Eric and I were left too sleep in a small room. Someone came in to check on me every hour and I had my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes.

The next day my blood work came back worse so I still wasn't able to see my baby. I was hooked up to more machines than ever. I had a machine on both my legs moving pressure to make sure I didn't get blood clots, an oxygen machine on my toe, a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure cuff, IVs in both arms and a catheter. Plus, I kept having to get my blood taken. I am now very afraid of needles. The high blood pressure made my veins collapse so I had to get stuck several times every time they needed something.

After that things got better. They wheeled me to the nursery with Eric to see Mabel at about 11 AM Tuesday. It was quite the trip with all my cords and wires on metal poles. I'm very grateful to the hospital for letting me go see Mabel as soon as they did. Someone handed her to me and I just cried. Eric sat in a chair next to me and we just looked at her and tried to decide who's features she had. I think Eric and I told each other "I love you" more times this week than in the whole first year of our marriage. I'm so grateful to have him.

Mabel was actually born on August 2 which was our two year anniversary. We think this is pretty funny considering she was due on my birthday and took our anniversary instead. We still need to celebrate our anniversary but right now was are just happy to have our family home together.

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes, prayers, blessings, flowers, texts, calls, and meals. I feel so grateful and so frustrated that I can't adequately tell you all what your support means to us. We have been so blessed.

We are more available for visitors now and we are excited for everyone to meet Mae. Thank you again and I hope to follow this post with lots of more light hearted ones. :)