Titus King Kramer 7lbs 2 oz. 19.5 inches 11/19/12 6:06am
My heart is so full it brings me to tears. These past couple of weeks have been the hardest yet most rewarding in my life since our sweet little Titus joined our family. Here is his birth story:
It all started a few weeks before he was born. My blood pressure at my pregnancy appointments kept getting higher and higher. I was still working full time so I just thought it was from working so much and being under a lot of stress at the office. On Nov 13th Dr Dabling sent me home from work on bed rest. I had to do a 24 hr urine test to see if there was any protein in my urine to check for preeclampsia. My test came back a little high, but not high enough to be considered to have preeclampsia. I was kept on bed rest and went to Perinatologist appointments and Non-Stress Tests to make sure the baby was doing ok. At each appt Ti looked good, but they were still worried about me and my levels. The doctors knew I was going to have preeclampsia, they just didn’t know when it would actually hit. My OB Dr Dabling said it was like she was watching me go into preeclampsia in slow motion.
Saturday 11/17: I wasn’t feeling so good. I was nauseous all day and it kept getting worse. Marnie and Pops came home from dinner and I guess I didn’t look so good. Pops took my blood pressure and it was 145/98. I texted Dabling and she called immediately and told me to go to labor and delivery for monitoring. I didn’t pack bags and of course it was the one day I showered but didn’t shave my legs, dry my hair, put on any make up or paint my nails. As soon as brad and I got to the hospital and checked in I realized I wasn’t going home any time soon. Dabling had already called L&D and let them know I was coming. One of the perks of working for your OB. That night they had me hooked up to monitors to see if I was having contractions, watching if the baby's heart was ok, taking my blood pressure every 3 minutes and blood work every couple of hours. Awesome nights sleep...not!
Sunday 11/18:The morning came and I had some more blood work. My BP was still high and my platelets were dropping. Dabling then told me we needed to start my IV and place my epidural if I wanted one for delivery. I guess something happens with your blood not being able to clot with low platelets. So at 10am I got my epidural by Jay. Super nice guy. He was pretty funny and said usually women are having contractions to distract them from the pain of getting the epidural placed but since I wasn’t having any it was just going to feel like a "bad mosquito bite". It wasn’t that bad, but just felt like a lot of pressure. After it was placed I was only allowed to lie on my sides and would have to have Brad switch my BP cuff each time I rolled over. At that time I was finally diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. That’s when the craziness really started. The way to cure preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome is to deliver the baby. That’s when they started me on magnesium. The mag was so I wouldn’t have seizures. Holy cow that stuff kicked my trash! They started me off on a high dose. My IV drip said 8/200. They left it that high for 30 minutes. Immediately I felt like I was going to barf, my face was super hot and I felt awful and out of it. The rest of that day I spent with Brad and Ky watching TV (food network), laying on only my left and right sides, all sorts of monitors and cords everywhere and brad having to help me to the bathroom. That morning they also had placed Cervidil to help me to start to dilate. They had planned to do 2 12 hr doses of Cervidil so I sent brad home to sleep in our bed that night. When Dr. Dabling checked on me at about 11 I was in bad shape. I had started to get a bad headache, it was hurting to breath and I was super uncomfortable. Dabling told me to call brad and have him come back. At that point she checked me and I was dilated to a 2. She took out my Cervidil, and dosed my epidural and then she broke my water and started me on pitocin.
Monday 11/19: The nurse came in and checked me at 3:30am I was at a 3 1/2. At this point I could feel my contractions, I had pushed my epidural button for more meds, but still could feel my feet, bum and what was going on. 30 minutes later I called in my nurse and I told her I feel like I need to push. I think she thought I was crazy cause it had only been 30 minutes, but she was nice and checked me and I was a 10 and fully effaced. She couldn’t believe it so another nurse came in and checked me just to make sure she was right. Sure enough it was baby time. They called Dabling and said I could start pushing. I started to push for about 2 hrs. Dr Dabling showed up around 5:30 and I was so tired. One of the side effects of mag is it makes you tired. I honestly had my eyes closed the whole time. I couldn’t keep them open I felt seriously drugged. Dabling told me I had a few more pushes and we could use forceps and if that didn’t work we were going to go in for a c section (which they didn’t want to do cause my platelets were still dropping and my blood wouldn’t clot.) So one push with the forceps and he was half way out. That hurt so bad. They were trying to wait for another contraction for me to push again but I couldn’t wait. I just wanted him out and the pain to stop so another push and he was out. Brad went with Titus to watch him be weighed etc. Dabling then stitched me up for awhile. Luckily Ky randomly showed up at 6:30am and stayed with me while brad went to the nursery with Titus. The rest of that morning is a blur for me. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Everyone has cute pics of right after delivery with mom dad and baby, and in our pictures I look legit dead. I have zero color and don’t even have my eyes open. Those pics are terrible and make my heart hurt. The nurses were trying to get me to move down to mother baby and they had me sitting on the edge of my hospital bed. The nurse went to get another nurse to put me in a wheel chair. Next thing I knew I felt like I was going to throw up and all the noises in the room were getting far away. After that I just remember lying down, legit couldn’t open my eyes, but I could hear Dr Dabling, Dr Glenn, my dad and the nurses. It felt like a movie I could hear them but I couldn’t respond. They did more blood tests and waited for results. I guess they were worried I had had too much mag. I do recall Glenn saying, "don’t let her stop breathing" and giving orders to the nurses. I'm so lucky Kylie was there with me otherwise I would of been alone. Once I woke up again they watched me for a while longer. My mom finally showed up and then they wheeled my bed down to mother baby at about 10am. That’s when I finally got to hold my little Titus and feed him. He was so perfect. It’s amazing that he was completely healthy and didn’t have any problems and was 3 weeks early, a mag baby and a forceps delivery.
The recovery:Since I had HELLP syndrome they kept my IV in and I still had to be on magnesium. I also wasn’t allowed to get up and so I had a catheter. They kept those in me until Tues. night when I finally got a shower! It was fabulous. One of the poor nurses was practically in the shower with me...she deserves a raise! I got to go home on weds. My Dr said that she shouldn’t let me go home until Thurs but since I was staying at my parents she felt ok with me going home since my dad is a doctor.
Brad:What a saint! I owe him the world. He did everything those first few days. I couldn’t get out of bed he changed all of Titus' diapers and took care of everything. He also helped me brush my teeth camping style with cups, get my deodorant, blew dry my hair; get me drinks, magazines and anything I needed. I am so thankful for him I cant express my gratitude towards him enough.
Titus:Ti is now 6 wks old. It is crazy how much he has grown already. At his 2-month appointment in a couple of weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if he weighed 9 lbs cause that kid CAN EAT. He seriously eats so much. It's been so great to see him change and grow, and actually respond now to Brad and I talking to him. He's even learned to smile already. His favorite things are sleeping on his tummy, sitting on Brad's lap and staring at everything, and holding both hands up by his face.Titus is such a blessing in our lives already. He has brought us so much joy and made our relationship stronger. We love him and spend hours just admiring him and watching him grow.
