This birth story certainly looks a lot different to Leonie’s Birth Story. It’s much more complicated, complex and stressful. But in the end we were given Henri Hans so it was all worth it. Bare with me as I feel like we need to start a couple of weeks before the birth… And be prepared, it’s a long one.
On Thursday, November 18th, I started having a pain on the top right side of my stomach. I figured baby was just up against my ribs so I really didn’t think too much of it. It also wasn’t anything super painful, just kind of there. I also started getting a mild headache on this day but again I wasn’t concerned because I figured it was just stress and fluctuating hormones.
Sunday came and I still had the pain and headache so I was getting a little more concerned. I figured we would phone the doctor on Monday when they opened to get their opinion.
On Monday, when I called the doctor and explained what was going on, they wanted me to come in immediately to be seen or go straight to the hospital. It was decided that I would come to them first. This really freaked me out because I just figured these were pregnancy symptoms.
Nevertheless, I headed to the doctors office where they drew blood, did my blood pressure and took a urine sample. I had protein in my urine and a high white blood cell count. But my blood pressure was fine and the initial blood work came back ok. Also they did a CTG and Baby looked good.
But then my symptoms seemed to get worse. My pulse was so high, even while laying down. I was super lightheaded and dizzy so I went back to the doctor the next day to do another blood draw. I was a bit disappointed because I still hadn’t been seen by the doctor, only the nurse who drew my blood.
The third day, I went back again to get checked and still didn’t get to see the doctor. I explained all my symptoms to the nurse but something felt really off. It was really frustrating because we kept having to find someone to watch Leonie so I could drive all the way to the doctor, only to be seen by the nurse.
I did get a blood pressure cuff and was taking my blood pressure a few times a day at home – it always remained good. If anything it was a bit low.
But on the third day (Wednesday) when I still hadn’t heard from the doctor, Manuel called our midwife and explained everything that was happening. She was super mad that I hadn’t been seen by the doctor or had an ultrasound done. She wanted me to immediately go to the hospital to get checked.
Hospital Trip #1
I really hate going to the hospital, especially with COVID, because I struggle trying to explain everything in German. And Manuel isn’t allowed to come in with me. But for the sake of the baby, I went to get seen.
At the hospital, my CTG, ultrasound and urine were all good. The doctor said I have all the signs of preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome but because my blood pressure was fine, they didn’t think it was that. But my blood work was a bit off so they admitted me to monitor and wanted to draw blood again the next day.
During the night everything started swelling – especially my hands and feet. And so they did another CTG and more blood. Then I was told that I could go home because everything looked ok.
At this point I was almost 36 weeks pregnant and I should have fought to stay because I knew everything certainly wasn’t alright. But it was Thanksgiving and I just wanted to sleep in my own bed and see Leonie so I headed home.
We waited it out until Monday, when I was still having symptoms and they were getting worse, to go back to my normal OBGYN. She wanted to try giving me an IV of paracetamol (Tylenol essentially) to see if that helped anything. I had been talking Tylenol orally and it did nothing for my headache. They also drew my blood again to see if my numbers had changed.
Once I got the IV, it seemed to make everything worse. It made me feel so sick and I was so dizzy that I was afraid to carry Leonie in case I passed out.
Hospital Trip #2
So I went to the hospital for the second time. After they ran all the tests, they told me I could go home. I was really upset because something was wrong and all the doctors seemed to be concerned about was the fact that my blood pressure was never high. Even Manuel called and spoke with the doctor who saw me to argue that I shouldn’t be going home, but he just said I could come back in the morning to give blood again. It was so frustrating. And to make it worse, we were in the middle of a snow storm and it was dark out, so I had to drive myself home going about 30 mph and couldn’t hardly see anything.
The following morning, my doctor called first thing. She said my liver enzymes were steadily rising, and that paired with all my other symptoms, made her diagnose me with preeclampsia. She wanted me back in the hospital immediately and told me I shouldn’t leave until I delivered the baby.
She was so mad that they sent me home the night before that she called the chief of delivery and told them her diagnosis and that I needed to be admitted. The chief of delivery apologized and said I should never have been sent home the prior evening. My OB even filled out a “transfer of care” paper that stated that she could no longer take care of my case and the hospital was responsible.
Hospital Trip #3
So again, we made our way to the hospital (for the third time). Once I was admitted, they did all the standard tests and even did a liver ultrasound which looked good. It was so frustrating because I essentially just sat in my room waiting for news of what was going to happen. My headache also had gotten much worse – it turned into a migraine and I was so exhausted and dizzy.
The next thing they wanted to do was have me meet with a neurologist and have an MRI done to see if they could determine the cause of my migraine.
After meeting with the neurologist, I was formally diagnosed with a migraine and then was made to do the MRI. I always thought it was funny on TV shows how people would freak out when they had to have one done. But it was a scary thing, it felt so claustrophobic and they put headphones on and played super loud noises into them. Which was beyond painful with my migraine. I was so happy when it was finished. And luckily it looked fine.
Possible Induction?
Then everything gets really crazy… and in order to understand what I had been going through, you have to know that I haven’t seen the same doctor twice at the hospital. Each time they change shifts, the new doctor seems to want a new test run or has a new opinion on my condition. And I had to try and re-explain all my symptoms and history (in German, which who knows if anything was getting lost in translation).
Ok, back to the story… the doctor that was currently in the delivery ward wanted to induce me because of my symptoms.
She went through the whole process with me and explained what would happened. I signed all the paperwork, and told Manuel to be prepared. I was just waiting for them to give me the drugs to get started when the doctor came back into the room and asked when my due date was.
I told her it was the 25th of December. She was pretty shocked and thought that it was the 5th of December. She said that she must have accidentally read the date wrong and that she wouldn’t induce me at 36+6.
I was honestly so shaken that I couldn’t stop sobbing. I was pissed, I was exhausted, and I was so sick of all the doctors changing their opinions. It was a huge roller coaster of emotions. The doctor even had to bring in a senior doctor to try and calm me down and explain the situation.
Now, they wanted to try and give me more paracetamol in my IV and manage my symptoms as best as possible to try and prolong the pregnancy. These two doctors didn’t seem to think it was preeclampsia/ HELLP because of my low blood pressure.
So I went back to my room and just felt so emotionally exhausted but tried to get some sleep (is that ever even possible in a hospital? Not to mention that my roommate just had twins so there was no sleep to be had.)
The next day (December 5th), I was way worse. The entire room was spinning, I kept throwing up, and my migraine was intense. They were giving me the max amount of pain medicine they could, which was tricky because I have an allergy to morphine and many of the drugs that are safe for pregnancy are related to morphine so I can’t have them.
Then in the afternoon, the nurse came in and said that my liver enzymes have continued to climb and now my platelets were dropping. She said it looks like I have preeclampsia or HELLP and she was going to notify the doctor right away to review the numbers again.
About an hour later, they came again to take my blood because the doctor didn’t want to wait to make a decision on what to do. When the numbers came back, they decided that they wanted to have another liver ultrasound done. Since it was already late at night, they decided that they would do it first thing in the morning. I was told to not eat or drink anything in case of an emergency c-section.
First thing in the morning (December 6th) I had my blood taken and then went to meet with the doctor. My liver numbers jumped up a ton in the night and my platelets continued to fall.
The doctor was very concerned that if my platelets got too low, it was make a delivery very dangerous because I could bleed out. She wanted to immediately get me in to do a c-section because she was certain that, even without the high blood pressure, I had HELLP.
Delivery
To say I was overwhelmed would have been an understatement. The last thing I wanted was a c-section but I knew that it was what was best for me and the baby. So I called Manuel and he immediately headed to the hospital. I was 37 weeks and 1 day pregnant.
About an hour later, we were wheeled into the OR. Manuel had to wait outside while they gave me the spinal. After they gave it to me, my blood pressure dropped super low and I had to be given medication to bring it back up. It was not a fun feeling and I was super dizzy and nauseous.
Once Manuel was in the room though, I felt much better. And fairly quickly they started with the incision. It was such a strange feeling. I wasn’t in any pain but the pressure and the feelings were intense. I could feel where their hands were and it’s hard to even put into words but it was a crazy feeling. Luckily, Manuel had some positive c-section affirmations ready to go and he was saying those to me while stroking my head.
And just like that we heard a loud cry and around the screen came Henri. I burst into tears because I was so happy that he was out and crying. They took him to the next room to be immediately checked by the pediatrician and Manuel was able to go with them and cut the cord.
It was a bit terrifying being left alone while they were still operating but I had a great midwife with me to keep me calm. And within a few minutes, they brought me my son and laid him on my chest.
I was shocked how much he looked like Leonie when she was born! Everything looked great with him – his APGAR score was a 9. He weighed only 10 grams different then Leonie, even though she was born at 40+5. And he was just perfect.
It took quite a bit longer (or so it seemed) for them to finish and stitch me up. Once they were finished, we were all three moved to a room on the delivery ward and we got to enjoy some blissful moments together.
We even were able to FaceTime with our parents and siblings to introduce them to Henri. And while I wasn’t in any pain yet, my skin was so incredibly itchy. I guess that can be a side effect of the spinal but I had no idea why I wanted to itch my face off in the moment haha.
After about an hour it was time for us to go back to my room. Manuel had to leave us at this point due to COVID rules. And it was rather terrifying being left with a newborn when I still couldn’t move my lower body. But the nurses were a great help and the night went fairly well. I was given some pain meds when the pain got worse but for the most part I felt ok.
They monitored us in the hospital for the next 3 days, and continued to take my blood to make sure that my numbers were going in the right directions.
Leaving the Hospital
After leaving the hospital, I still had to go give blood the following day at my OBs office because my liver enzymes were still elevated. We are going to do another blood draw at my 6 week appointment and I hope by then that everything is back to normal!
Upon writing this, I have been out of the hospital for a little over a week. And healing at home from a c-section certainly looks different then my vaginal birth. I have had to have lots of help, especially with Leonie because I can’t lift her. Luckily, Manuel and his parents have been so amazing in helping.
My stitches have now been removed (not so bad), and I had to remove the surgical tape over the incision myself (and almost passed out in the shower from it). The incision doesn’t hurt that much but my stomach, around my belly button is so sore. My midwife said it’s probably bruised on the inside and that it’s normal to be sore.
While it wasn’t the birth story that I had in mind, I’m so happy that we are both healthy and home. I think it will still take me some time to process it all and it does make me nervous for future pregnancies. But ultimately I am feeling very blessed to be a family of four!
Read Leonie’s Birth Story here!
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