There and back again...

Hello everyone...It's been a while, I know. Let me catch you up to date on what has been going on with me. As most of you know I got home from the hospital on the 23rd of August, on the 25th of August I woke up very early in the morning (around 1:00) and the baby was crying, and needing to be fed. I could tell that something wasn't right, and I wasn't feeling well at all, so I gave the baby to Jeremy and went to the kitchen and took my blood pressure. My BP was 176/107 or somewhere around that. A normal BP is somewhere near 120/80. The lower number (107) was dangerously high. I called the doctors office, and they had a message saying if you had an emergency go straight to the emergency room. Me and Jeremy loaded up the baby in his carrier and went to the hospital. The emergency waiting room was empty (thank goodness) but so was the office where you sign in. Jeremy was getting very angry that no one was around to help us. My mother-in-law met us at the ER, to help with the baby. Once we finally found someone to check us in the man was telling us how "swamped" they were, and I'm thinking, o.k., but I'm close to a stroke, so can we speed this up a little. The whole time I'm trying not to get too stressed, cause that will not help things. After a while they took me back to one of the little observation rooms, you know the kind with the little curtain (no door) and just a bed in there. They took my BP 2 or 3 times, and then after waiting way too long the ER doctor came by. I told him that I had pre-eclampsia which came back stronger after delivery. He told me that my problem couldn't be pre-eclampsia because it goes away with delivery. -Don't let anyone tell you the cure to pre-eclampsia is delivery, cause that's not always the case.- I kept asking them to call my doctor, because they know what's been going on with my blood pressure, and they'll know better what to do. They decided to give me a pill that would lower my blood pressure, but it takes about an hour to kick in...I waited an hour, my pressure had gone up!!!(192/120) Then, the brilliantly smart people decide to give me another pill,...wait another hour, still no change. Finally I said, "look, my doctor will be making rounds at the hospital this morning, please call them and tell them I'm here in the ER." They got on the phone, and within 3 or 4 minutes my doctor had ordered me put on the magnesuim sulfate (which lowers bp) and I was up on the womens floor (post partum) being taken care of. All in all we spent 11 hours in the ER that day. It was a very long and very un-eventful process that happened after that. They put me on the mag-sulfate, and my bp did lower a little, but a few hours after they stopped it, it shot back up. I had to be moved to ICU because I needed one on one attention from a nurse. I was in ICU over night, and the next day they moved me back to post partum. Once again the blood pressure shot up. Doctor Hennessey came to me and said basically that he'd done all he could do. He was turning me over to an internal medicine doctor, and they would help me with my pressures. I had to go back to one on one nursing, so i was sent to the CCU. I had to have a catheter, had Iv's stuck in my arm, these big things on my legs to keep the circulation going...I couldn't move at all. Thankfully the mag-sulfate made me very sleepy and out of it, or I probablly would have had a panic attack. My pressures still hadn't gone down enough, so the internal med doctor ordered me to be given this pill, plus I had a blood pressure patch on, and for the first time in a week my BP dropped to 117/78. That is a perfect number. It was the first time that I actually felt like i might get better, and get to leave the hospital. The next day they took me off the mag and my BP spiked, so the nurse gave me 2 blood pressure pills. That made my BP drop so low that I almost passed out in the floor. The doctor said I was doing well enough that I could move back to the post partum floor, and I spent on night there, with good BP and they said I could come home Saturday!!! I was very nervous, and anxious about coming home. I was scared that Jakob had gotten into his routine with my family and maybe he wouldn't do well with me. I was scared he didn't know I was his mom anymore. This whole ordeal obviously was in God's plan. I didn't understand it, and I still don't, but I know God has a plan. I thank him so much for allowing me to come home. Through most of this I didn't feel like I was ever gonna get better. I thought I was gonna die in the hospital, and leave my husband (best friend) and new baby to fend for themselves. I just prayed to God to help me, I had no words to say. Some very good things have come out of this little adventure... Jeremy has stepped up and become a man that I had no idea he could be. Not that he wasn't a good guy, he always has been, but he's been my hero through this whole situation. He's run breastmilk back and forth to my mom's house, spent time with the baby everyday, encouraged me and been there for me even when I know he's worn out and tired...he's been awesome. Jakob is perfect. I could not ask for a better baby. I don't think he's forgotten me, he looks at me with such sweet little eyes when he's eating, and I can tell he knows I'm his mama. I've learned that babies are resilient, they are not as fragile or as nerve wracking as I once thought. Jake has been through alot, but he's doing o.k. He's eating and sleeping and pooping just like babies are supposed to do. He even lets me change his diapers sometimes without screaming and crying. My family and friends have been so precious to me. I didn't want visitors at the hospital, I didn't want people telling me I was gonna be alright, when I wasn't sure I was, but I still knew you all were there. I still could feel your prayers. All I can say is thank-you. Thank-you God for helping me to come out of this, thank-you friends for being so caring and understanding. I am getting back into the hang of things, and I think in the next couple of days I'll have my strength back (laying in a hospital bed for a week is hard on your body) and will just continue to get better. I am on BP meds for at least 6 weeks. They are keeping my pressures low. Please pray that after the six weeks this will go away, and I will not have lingering blood pressure problems. Love you all. Can't wait to share more about my precious little boy with you!!! Love, -Me