Riley's Birth Story - part two

We left off at me being admitted and the doctors and nurses trying to get my blood pressure under control in order to keep me pregnant as long as possible. (Read part one)

After getting put on magnesium to keep from having a stroke and blood pressure meds (very very high dosages!) my blood pressure was still extremely and dangerously high and they were not able to get it under control. The new doctor (shift change) came in and let me know that for my safety we had to start labor and the process of delivering Riley. We had only had time to get one steroid shot in but they couldn't wait any longer. The only known "cure" for pre-eclampsia is delivery so that is what we had to do.

At this point my number one wish was to avoid a c-section and be able to have a vaginal delivery. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist was called in to do an ultrasound and take a detailed look at Riley to see if I was a candidate to deliver vaginally. Luckily Riley looked great! She was head down in the birthing position, her heart rate and bp was very good and she was already engaged and I was slightly dilated. The doctor gave her blessing and the next step was starting me on Pitocin.

I want to mention now the incredible staff in Labor and Delivery at Medical City Dallas. Everybody was fully present, talking us through every scenario and decision and listening to me and my wishes and taking them seriously and not just brushing them off. At the shift change I also got a new nurse who was a complete and total angel! I would not have made it through the next several hours without her and I am eternally grateful to her. A true blessing in the midst of complete and utter chaos.

So here I am, 32 weeks pregnant, on lots of magnesium which makes you very very loopy and drugged up feeling. I was not allowed to get out of bed because of the magnesium. I was extremely swollen and was having trouble breathing through my nose which was making me very panicky. I had a blood pressure cuff permanently on my arm and going off every 20 minutes in addition to these pump things on my legs to keep my blood moving and prevent any clots from forming. I was a real sight and all of these things were also making me very claustrophobic! I could barely even hold on to things because my hands were SO swollen! The Pitocin started to kick in and contractions were starting to come pretty regularly and they were already very strong. After some discussion with the medical team it was determined that I would have to get an epidural because the contractions and surges in pain would only keep my blood pressure high. I was not thrilled about this but since I was unable to get out of bed and really work through the contractions I decided I was ok with it.

I labored for several hours trying to hold off on the epidural for as long as possible. It finally got to the point that I couldn't make my way through the contractions laid up in bed so I made the call. The anesthesiologist came in and got me all set up for the epidural. They told me that the epidural might actually help my blood pressure lower, what they didn't tell me is what when your blood pressure drops significantly in a very short amount of time (less than a min) it can make you very sick feeling. As soon as the needle came out I started throwing up everywhere. The massive drop threw my body for a loop! Super fun. Poor Chase, I am sure it was quite the scene for him to be witnessing.

After the epidural I was able to get some sleep for a couple hours which was good. I had been awake at this point for more than 24 hours so I needed to rest. I also couldn't eat anything on the magnesium so I was feeling weak from hunger too. After being asleep for a couple hours I woke up to a lot of pain and pressure. I called the nurse in and she checked me, I was at a 7. She turned me on my side to help the progress and I tried to rest a little more. I couldn't get any more rest, contractions were coming every minute and it was extremely painful. Come to find out, the way my epidural was set up I had to push a button to get more...I didn't know that and it had worn off at this point. Epidural rookie! I called the nurse back in within 30 minutes of her changing my position and she checked me again, fully dilated! I was ready to have our baby!

At this point I got really scared. I started wondering what she would look like, how small she would be, would she be ok, would she cry? It all hit me at once and while I was excited to meet our baby I was also incredibly nervous. They also let me know that I might not get to hold her which broke my heart.

The nurse called the doctor in and the NICU team. The doctor got there right away and prepped everything for delivery. She checked me and said she could see Riley's head. I wanted to push so bad but I had to wait for the NICU team to get fully setup so they could get her as soon as she was born. I was trying so hard not to push and finally the doctor just said, "NICU team, get it together. We aren't waiting anymore, she is going to push." The doctor gave me the green light and as soon as the next contraction hit I started to push. It took three contractions and then I felt my body deliver her. I was able to look down and see her be born and the doctor held her up and let me lean forward to touch her and see her before the NICU team had to take her. She was perfect. So beautiful! Our rainbow baby, the baby I had been praying for and wishing for was here. And she was crying! Loud, wonderful, powerful cries! Such an incredible feeling. A miracle.

The NICU team took her and checked her out. Chase went over to her so he could see her, touch her, be by her side. She was doing great right away! No immediate complications, breathing great, good color etc. In fact she was so good that I was able to hold her. I really didn't think I would be able to so this was such a special moment. They wrapped her up and put her in my arms. We locked eyes and I was instantly so in love. I got 2 minutes with her before they had to take her back and get her up to the NICU floor. It was the best 2 minutes. We were able to get a quick family picture and I whispered to her how proud we were, how much we love her and told her to be strong and fight!

They whisked her off up stairs and Chase accompanied her. I didn't want her to be alone. Now it was just me, my doctor and my nurse. I started to cry, everything I had been holding in for the past 48 hrs just came pouring out. My amazing nurse held me, told me it was ok and then prayed over me. Thank God for her.

Riley Logan Vincent | June 28, 2018 | 3lbs 10oz | 16.5" | 10:38pm | 32.5 weeks gestation

Our journey with our little girl was just beginning but we were so excited, happy and felt so blessed. It would turn out that I wouldn't be able to see her again for 2 days because of my own complications. But she was a fighter and was doing so great! More to come on our NICU journey and my recovery. Once again, not what we expected and some more challenges but we could handle it.

Riley's Birth Story - part one

We had just returned home from a babymoon to Nashville and a quick trip to Oklahoma City for my brother's birthday and were settling in to enjoy the next 7ish weeks until Riley would be arriving. I had plans to soak in every kick, every squirm, every doctor appointment, every cuddle with my bigs and just have some nice family time before things got turned upside down.

It was a normal Tuesday and I had a regular check-up and last ultrasound with my OB. I took Molly and Ellie so they could see their baby sister on the ultrasound. Everything checked out great and the girls thought it was so fun to see Riley moving and squirming and sucking on her hands in my belly. After the ultrasound my OB told me that there was some protein showing up in my urine so she wanted me to do a 24 hr urine collection. She said it was nothing to be too concerned about because everything else was great so I didn't think much of it. I hauled my bag of urine collection containers, made my next appointment for the following week and headed out.

The following day in the early afternoon I got a call from my OB's office, when I picked up it was my doctor herself which is not normal. I was instantly afraid something was wrong. She notified me that my blood tests showed that my liver enzymes were high and between that and the protein in my urine this was pointing to early pre-eclampsia. It was an instant game changer in my pregnancy and I was immediately overwhelmed. Since my blood pressure had been fine at the appointment we were now in monitoring mode. She let me know that at this point our goal was to get to 36 or 37 weeks and that I most likely would not be able to let labor happen on its own. I was so upset. She gave me orders to start taking my blood pressure at home a few times a day to keep an eye on it and that I would now be needing to go into her office 2x a week to more closely monitor myself and the baby. I was shocked and just caught off guard...my other two pregnancies had zero issues so this was a total surprise. For her too!

That evening Chase brought home a blood pressure cuff so we could take my blood pressure readings at home. Around 9:30pm I decided to take my blood pressure. I felt fine other than my massively swollen feet but thought I should follow doctors orders. I took my blood pressure twice. Both times it was reading my bp at 190s over 100s (my OB told me she didn't want it higher than 140/80). Not so good. Chase immediately said we needed to go to the hospital. I, being not medically knowledgeable about blood pressure numbers, was not convinced. I told him I would call my OB office emergency line. Almost immediately the on call doctor returned my call and agreed that we needed to go into labor and delivery triage to at least get monitored for a bit. I made a few phone calls to friends to help watch the girls while we went to the hospital. I was pretty confident that we would be back home in an hour or two. That would not turn out to be the case.

We arrived at the hospital and were checked in to the triage area. A nurse got me set up on the automated blood pressure machine (it would auto start to take my bp every 10 min). She left only to return pretty quickly when the bp registered at 240s over 120s. She looked at me almost in shock and asked me if I felt okay. I honestly felt completely fine. She thought it might have misread so she let it run a few more times, all of the readings were in the same general area. After calling the OB on call she came to let us know that we would be getting admitted to the hospital in the labor and delivery unit. I slipped on a super cool hospital gown and we made our way to a new room. At this point I still didn't realize how serious things were. I still felt normal and thought we would get monitored for longer and then get to go home. Ha!

After they got me situated in the labor and delivery room the on call OB came by. It was actually my former OB who had delivered Molly. I felt like that was totally and completely a God thing because I trusted her and felt comfortable with her. She walked in, came up to me, put her hand on my shoulder and calmly let me know that we would not be leaving the hospital without a baby. My blood pressure was very dangerously high and they needed to start administering magnesium right away to prevent me from having a stroke. From that point on things started to happen very quickly with lots of doctors and nurses in and out of the room. It finally hit me...this was very serious.

The goal at this point was to start meds to get my blood pressure under control and try to keep me pregnant as long as possible. I was 32.5 weeks along. The next priority was getting several steroid injections administered over the next 24-48 hours so that Riley's lungs could rapidly develop making her healthier when delivered. I was in total disbelief and was instantly very scared, 32.5 weeks was way too early!!

It was now almost midnight and things were about to get even crazier!

Part two coming...