Beck’s Birth Story

Beck’s introduction to the world was a bit different then normal deliveries. Here are all the details of Beck’s Birth Story:

On September 29th 2016, I was 32 weeks pregnant, and I felt like something was just not right.  I had an Ultrasound & Dr. Appointment because a week earlier I was in the hospital with some minor complications so they wanted to check back and make sure everything was ok – there was concerned about baby not growing.

We had the Ultrasound first and everything looked great & growth was right on track – we were SO relieved.

Then I had my appointment and before while the nurse took my weight and heart rate, she seemed concerned. She checked it probably 5 times in a row then had me take a urine test to check for protein. While that was processing, we were meeting with the doctor. The conversation was going well and not too stressful until her iPad alerted and she got the results back that there was protein.

Her face dropped. Because their was protein test came back positive and my heart rate was very high, it was likely that I was becoming preeclamptic. Then she started explaining the specifics of Preeclampsia and gave me a kit for a 24 hr urine sample.

That evening, I went to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy and decided to check my blood pressure on the machine there because I just wasn’t feeling right & had a severe headache. It was EXTREMELY HIGH – 160/106. I checked it many times and it stayed around there.

I drove to my parents house to pick something up and when I pulled in, realized I had forgotten the prescription at the pressure checker. I drove back and forth 3 times because I was so confused and couldn’t remember anything. Finally I called the doctors office after-hours and they insisted I go to the hospital right away.

My mom took me down and Jaycob met us there. They ran lots of tests and monitored me and the baby for a while. They moved me to a room that they use for people who will be there on bed rest for a while.

The next morning, my doctor decided that I needed to have a more extensive ultrasound and meet with the Maternal Fetal Medicine team. The ultrasound went well – I accidentally found out the gender and the US Tech’s expression when I thought I saw something, was a giveaway. I didn’t tell anyone what it was though.

The Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist came in and seemed very concerned. She explained that If they don’t get the baby out ASAP, we could both die. She said, “I would rather have baby out so I can help than inside where we just have to wait hand hope.”

This was very frightening new as was only 7 months along in the pregnancy.

 

I was wheeled back up to my room where they gave me a steroid shot to help boost the babies lung development and the second dose was to be administered 48 hrs after the first. I was given something to try and lower my blood pressure, which caused a huge dip. It was the strangest, scariest feeling I’ve ever had. I honestly thought it was the end for me. They stopped that medication & started to induce labor.

I was also started on Magnesium (WORST FEELING EVER) to help reduce the risk of me having a stroke or seizure. The IV came out of the vein a little and the Magnesium started to fill my arm. It was SO painful and my arms started to go ice cold. Through out the night, we were hot packing and trying to keep the IV in since it was very hard to find a good vein with so much swelling. Finally my arm was in so much pain and was dying so they had to pull out the IV and stop the magnesium for a little bit. Finding a new vein took the Anesthesiologist an hour and a half. Once he was finally able to get it to stay, he taped that sucker on basically taping my whole arm so that no one could pull it out.

I could tell my doctor was very concerned but he did a very good job at acting relaxed and talking to me for a few hours straight, keeping me calm. He was checking the monitor frequently just trying to keep the baby in as long as possible. Finally, my contractions were too close together and the baby wasn’t able to get a full break in between. They decided to give me the second lung development steroid at 24 hrs since the first and took me straight into the delivery room.

Because there was a possibility of a C section, they had me deliver in the Operating Room to be safe. That’s also where the NICU team was set up so they could take the baby right away. It was hard because my mom & sister Natalie (all other sisters were out of town ?) had to wait outside but at least Jaycob was able to be in there.

Within 10 min of being wheeled in, I delivered baby. Jaycob was so excited to find out and announce that he was a BOY! Because it was so fast, the NICU team wasn’t quite scrubbed and ready so the nurse was able to let me see him for a little bit before he was whisked away.

Our sweet doctor even took the camera from Jaycob and started taking pictures for us of Jaycob and baby boy.

I had never seen such a tiny baby up close before. He weighed 3 lbs 4 oz. His head was the size of a baseball.

I was wheeled back to my room to recover while my Mom, Jaycob and sister Natalie went to see him in the NICU.  I remember being in my room, alone, and still trying to take in all that had just happened so abruptly. I still felt pregnant. My head couldn’t think straight from the magnesium and I was very confused.

When I was moved down to mother baby, the craziest thing happened:

While being wheeled into my new room, I saw tons of empty rooms. In my new room, it was so tiny that every time the door would open, it would smack my bed. It was super painful because and minor movement or vibration killed my arm with the Magnesium still pumping in. I asked my new nurse if she could ask the charge nurse if their were any other rooms available. First she said that the rooms are all the same size. “Are you sure? I have had a baby here and all 4 of my sisters have too and there were definitely rooms that didn’t have the bed getting hit by the door. I also saw many empty as we came to this room. Will you please ask for me? It’s really painful.”

This definitely bothered her and she replied, “Well, we save the big rooms for people who actually have a baby!”

I couldn’t believe what I heard. It had been just 30 min from me delivering a tiny baby boy he was whisked away to be helped and I didn’t even know if he was going to be ok.  “…For people who ACTUALLY HAVE A BABY” – I was astonished at how insensitive that comment was.

I was soon wheeled up to go see Beck for the first in his new spot in the NICU. I told my mom and Jaycob what the nurse had said and one of the NICU nurses overheard. She was so sweet and apologetic for the other ladies comment. I said it was alright and glad it happened to me and not someone who was even more fragile or had had a rainbow baby.

Beck was on a breathing ventilator and our cute nurse held him up so our family could peek at him through the window. Millie was scared at first but the cute nurse made a motioning sign to her that he looked like an elephant which made Millie laugh.

When I made it back to Mother and Baby floor, my things were moved to a much bigger room. I was amazed – the NICU nurse had talked to the head doctor up there. They felt terrible about the first nurses comment and made arrangements with the charge nurse (who didn’t mind anyway because they had plenty of empty rooms).

The rest of my stay in Mother / Baby went well. I had to stay an extra couple days due to my blood pressure staying high but it was nice not to have to leave him there as early. I was just on a different floor instead of across town.