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Preterm

My story is rather short so here goes... I happened to get pregnant after 3 years of trying. My husband was a Sgt. in the Army and was home for a 2 week R&R from his tour in Afghanistan. My pregnancy was perfect, better than I could have dreamed. It was great, that is, until I hit the 5 month mark. I began to swell so bad that I couldn't wear shoes or even bend my knees without my legs hurting so bad. I went to my reg. checkup and my ob said he was having a very hard time hearing the heartbeat. So they monitored me for over an hour and did one more ultra sound wich showed my baby at 2 weeks behind on head size and a week behind on body size. After no more activity than they got after giving me sugar and caffiene I was sent to the hospital. I was given meds to keep me from going into convulsions and steriod shots for my baby boy. At exactly 32 weeks gestation, having been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia My baby was taken via c -section weighing in at only 2 1/2 pounds and 16 inches long. He was healthy but had a few minor set backs. But today he is a very healthy, rather skinny little munchkin of 16 months old. I was later diagnosed with a blood disorder that caused the problems I got. I wouldn't change a thing though. He is a blessing to both his Daddy and me.

Amanda

Nightmare Pregnancy

Into about my 3 month of pregnancy, I was waking up in the middle of the night with horrible pains in my wrists and eventually lost the feeling in most of my fingers. I was diagnosed with pregnancy induced carpal tunnel. I was fitted for braces to wear at night but I needed them sometimes just to pick things up. As a nurse, I had to go to limited duties. In my 5th month, my blood pressure started to go up and I was required to see my obgyn weekly and do weekly 24 hour urines. At around the same time, I started to have stabbing pain in my right flank. I was then diagnosed as having hydronephrosis (swelling of the kidney) and had a stent put in to drain the extra fluid. I was on pain killers and bed rest for 3 weeks. My blood pressure soon became an issue and was put on medication for that. Now on top of my weekly obgyn visits, I was going for weekly fetal assessments. Needless to say, I was taken off of work in my 27th week. The swelling in my face and feet got so bad that I could barely walk and my blood pressure was increasing despite a doubling of the medication. I was admitted to the hospital and the medication was tripled. That finally got it under control. I was taking my BP 4 times a day and reporting to my obgyn who let me stay at home instead of the hospital because she trusted my assessments because of my job. Baby looked fine this whole time and was much bigger than they expected because high BP and the medication I was on contributes to low birth weight babies. In week 38 I went to the Dr. and I had gained 20 lbs fo fluid in 5 days after only gaining about 15 lbs. the whole pregnancy. My BP was also quite high. She sent me to have a BP panel and to have the first stage of induction. I was called back into the hospital 2 days later for the second stage and had our son on Good Friday. He weighed in at 8lbs. 4oz. So much for a small baby. LOL We are all recovered and doing well.

Ginette

mrs.

at about 28 weeks i was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. i cut pop completely. and i had my sugar under control. but then i had to go to a dietician. she had me eating 2100 calories. then my sugar went way up. so i called my ob and told him that i am back on my own diet and the calories went back down. but not low enough. i was 213 with the dieticians diet.and around 160 with mine. still not low enough. but 213 was high and i always felt sick. the diet they put you on may not always be the best for you.

laura nichols

Fibroids & C-Section

I'm 6 mo pregnant and 41 years old. This is my first pregnancy and is truly a blessing. The pregnancy thus far has been really easy, no signs of any problems with the baby, no vomiting or intense issues of any kind, just minor discomfort - so I thought I was going to get off easy.

No such luck. At my last ultrasound the "high risk" doctor told me that the fibroid that was small and insignificant at the time of conception has grown significantly and is now the size of a 3 month fetus and is blocking my cervix which may make a C-Section inevitable, unless for some reason it moves out of the way. A week later I went to my regular monthly meeting with my doctor and she told me that the fibroid is a serious complication and because of its location would require a C-Section but that it cannot be a bikini cut C-Section, they will have to cut up high in order to avoid touching the fibroid.

Apparently a fibroid is full of blood and, if distrubed, could cause hemmoraging which may result in the need for blood transfusions, an emergency hystorectomy (spelling?) or even death. To say the least this freaked me out a little.

She went on to say that this situation was the leading cause of death in women during childbirth. While I am glad to know what I am facing so that I can deal with it, it really scared me at first - I think what bothered me the most is that the doctor seemed as freaked out about the situation as I did, guess she's not used to this type of thing - she's pretty young.

Since the pregnancy has been going so well I had anticipated working up to my delivery date and returning to work after a short recovery period (6 weeks or so). But now it may end up that I will be on bed rest within the next few months and that my recovery may be a heck of a lot longer because this type of C-Section takes longer to heal, not to mention the recovery time I will have to have if there are complications.

The one thing I can say is that at least my delivery will be "scheduled". I plan on talking to the "high risk" doctor again at my next ultrasound to see which of the doctors in this unit is the best and most experienced at handling my particular situation so that I can make sure to schedule my C-Section when he or she is on duty (I am a military wife by the way so all of this is being handled at the Naval Hospital - I have been getting wonderful care thus far).

I have tried and tried to find something on the internet that deals with my particular situation to no avail. If anyone out there has experienced a similar situation I'd love to hear your story and how it came out in the end.

Melissa

Worried

I am just in my 17th week of pregnancy and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. About two weeks after trying to monitor it with exercise and diet - I was placed on insulin. I am very worried about the birth and health of my baby. But I have been reassured that as long as I eat right and exercise, I have nothing to worry about.

Symone