In the Blink of an Eye

Early Monday morning, I took my specimen into the lab to check for proteinuria and also had my blood drawn.  As you know, these were precautionary measures to find out if I had signs of preeclampsia which can be a life threatening complication of pregnancy.  I called the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic at 4:30 (just before they closed) and they told me they would call me in the morning with the test results.  All day on Monday, I had been feeling my normal pregnancy ickiness along with a light headache thrown in there to mix things up a little.  I took 650 mg of Tylenol to try to keep the headache at bay, but it did nothing for it.  One of they symptoms they told me to look out for before I left my last appointment was a terrible headache that was not effected by Tylenol.  However, I don't know if I would have defined this headache as anything other than nagging, so I decided not to go in.

That night, I was laying on the bed after eating the lovely meal Ryan had made for me (homemade pizza with pineapple and pepperoni--yum!), and noticed that my heart was racing.  I took my blood pressure and found it to be 139/79 with a pulse of 98 which are all elevated values for me.  However, they were similar to what the doctors had found on Thursday at my appointment, so I again decided I would not go in.  Lastly, I started getting ready for bed.  I put on my sexy pregnancy lingerie which consists of a pair of granny panties and an XXXL t-shirt.  I sat down to put some lotion on the parts of my legs I could reach and realized that my legs had been mysteriously replaced by reddish brown tree trunks.  I rushed over to the full length mirror to check out my legs and they looked like they had been drawn and colored by a child with no distinguishable ankles, calves, or knees and a splotchy reddish color all over.  It was time to go get this mess checked out by a professional.  

We packed up what we could quickly and left for the Labor and Delivery unit of the hospital.  The nurse checked my swelling, hooked up a blood pressure monitor and pulse oximeter on me then set up dopplers to monitor each of the babies' heartbeats. As usual, the babies were fantastic.  I, on the other hand, was a mess.  The nurse went to check on my lab results from the earlier that day and found that I did, in fact, have levels of protein in my urine that were indicative of preeclampsia.   Also, while I was waiting for the nurse to get the test results, my blood pressure soared to 161/102.  That was enough to earn me an admission into the hospital.  

They wheeled me down to the birth center where they began preparing me for my hospital stay.  They began by placing an IV to make sure that I was getting plenty of fluids.  The next step was to begin a magnesium sulfate drip.  Preeclampsia, by definition, is a precursor to eclampsia (seizures) and magnesium sulfate is designed to prevent seizures.  They began with a loading dose of the medication, which is simply a higher dosage to get it into my system more quickly.  It took over my body like a fire, beginning at the IV site and coursing it's way through my limbs and trunk.  After the magnesium had gotten it's start, they did a betamethasone shot in my right bum.  Betamethasone is a corticosteroid that is designed to mature the babies' lungs more quickly in the case of pre-term delivery.  The shot stung like crazy and took me right back to my IVF days.  I was just glad someone else was doing it for me and all I had to do was grin and bear it through the pain.  Finally, they placed a catheter to make sure that I stayed put in my bed.  I don't recommend this.  It hurts.

The magnesium sulfate is meant to keep anything from happening to me while we wait for the babies to get the necessary dosages of steroids so that they have a fighting chance if they debut early.  Things that could happen to me at this stage include seizures, ischemia, and resulting brain damage.  Turns out the headache I'm feeling is a sign that the swelling that I am visualizing on my feet and legs is beginning in my brain.  As far as the babies go, they need two steroid shots 24 hours apart prior to delivery.  At this point, they've had both.  They had one on Monday night at midnight and one last night at midnight.  As for me, I'm on the magnesium sulfate until midnight tonight, then we'll see what happens.  They can't leave me on it because long term usage can lead to failure of multiple organ symptoms.  Tonight, we'll see if my symptoms stabilize or if they go crazy.  If my blood pressure sky rockets or my headache intensifies and is not manageable with relatively mild medications, they will check my protein levels in the the morning and make the call about whether or not to deliver the babies via c-section mid-morning tomorrow.  If things stabilize tonight, then I will be in for a stay at the hospital until things do change for the worse.  Unfortunately, the only known "cure" for preeclampsia is delivery of the babies.

Over the past day and a half, I've had multiple blood draws to check for protein and other various things.  I wear a blood pressure cuff constantly and it monitors my BP every 15 minutes. They come around with headache medication every 4 hours.  I have had multiple checks of my lady parts.  I've chatted with the doctor on several occasions.  I suppose the silver lining in this whole event is that we have had multiple ultrasounds and dopplers on the babies and they are all fantastic.  Better than that, really.  They are ahead in development.  They are practicing their breathing.  They are big.  Their hearts are strong.  In fact, in the last ultrasound that we had they were all head up and it looked like they were putting their heads together and facing each other.  I think they're plotting against me to get out.  Either way, it looks like the Manning triplets will be here sooner rather than later.  We'll keep you updated on the event.