Hello Dolly...May 22, 2011

For those who don't know yet, Miss Dolly is here! People have been asking what happened, why was I in the hospital for so long, etc so I thought blogging her arrival might be a good idea.

On May 21 we had our village movie night...free movie, popcorn & soda and the movie was HOP. I was already having cramps(contractions that I didn't realize were contractions)off and on during the movie and had several people on their toes lol. I made it through the movie and they eventually stopped and I was just really really tired the rest of the day. I woke up probably around 0215-0230 and went to the bathroom and was soon doubled over the toilet in pain. I managed to walk to the living room and wake up my friend Laura who began timing my waves of cramps. It was so intense already I had to lay down and push against my ottoman w/ my feet to breathe through each wave. I think it took maybe 5 min. before she said, "we just need to get you to the hospital" so she ran around trying to throw a bag together for me and trying to throw one together for Lucas. I had literally just said I would pack our bags tomorrow so of course that's when I go into labor! By the time she's loading stuff into the car I was on my hands and knees in my dining room floor trying not to scream and freak Lucas out...he was half asleep and rubbing my back telling me it'd be okay and how he's gonna take care of me. My poor baby he didn't wanna leave me long enough to get in the car but I kept telling him to please get in the car so Laura could help me and take me to the doctor. By the time we drove 5 minutes down the road to the hospital I was in so much pain I could barely speak or see straight...if you don't know this yet I have a really high pain tolerance so I KNEW it wasn't right for me to be feeling like this so quickly. I was wheeled up to L&D by a security guard who literally yelled at the nurses station..."we need a bed here!" LOL poor guy that was so not his job. They took me into a room, pulled Bo's boxers off of me(yep still in pj's)and helped me onto the bed. I remember a nurse picking up my right arm and saying, " Do you want me to put a line on her?" and the nurse between my legs said, " She don't have time for that she's ready to go!" then she tells me she's checking my cervix and next thing I hear is, "you're 9.5 mama start pushing when you feel like it!" OMG WHAAAAT??!??! This is exactly what I said. Apparently I had been in labor all day and the early morning...so about 15 min. later(I was already pushing by the time Laura got Chastity there for Luke and was able to come in w/ me)I had a baby. No drugs had been my plan from the beginning but I didn't even get an IV this time my cooling system was ice packs on my forehead. It was completely insane. After I was nursing her and Lucas got to come in and visit I lose my memory I don't remember going to Mother & Baby(recovery)w/ her all I remember are bits and pieces from the ICU. I remember having an IV port in each arm and not being able to move my hands or feet. I was diagnosed w/ HELLP Syndrome which developed from having un-treated Pre-eclampsia. I'm not very clear on how long I was out of it so maybe Laura can comment here later and fill in some details. I did go to Mother/Baby for a while where I was so sick from Morphine and doped on Phenergren that I don't remember anything...I just remember being told they had to give me Magnesium, them checking my reflexes on my knees and my legs were non-reactive, not being able to control my hands/fingers, I couldn't hold my baby to nurse her, I couldn't talk straight or see for that matter it's like my whole brain was fuzzy. When I could finally comprehend things and stay awake long enough for a conversation the ICU doctor came in and told me about HELLP Syndrom and how dangerous it is and that he's amazed I was able to carry Dolly almost to her due date(she was 10 days early)and she didn't have any complications herself...she was and is completely perfect which is amazing. I think my body gave her everything it had in order to get us both through the pregnancy. Once I finally came off the Magnesium they removed my catheter and the braces they had on my legs to keep my blood circulating since I couldn't move them on my own and I was finally able to go to recovery sometime on the 23rd and shortly after Bo finally arrived. He missed all the traumatic stuff. I was woken up every 6hrs for a blood draw and ended up being given 2 units of blood before they decided to discharge me on May 26th. All this because a bunch of doctors over the course of 9 months(including 2 ER trips)missed the signs of Pre-Eclampsia. However, it's over and now I'm trying to get my house back to being my home and preparing for Bo to be gone again in a few days. Dahlia is perfect and such an easy easy baby and Luke is adjusting well w/ her I think in a couple of weeks when it's just the 3 of us we'll be right back on track w/ where we were before all this craziness happened. I hope this clears up the story for everyone since I haven't really been able to talk to you all yet w/ full updates. Keep an eye out on FB for new pics!