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In the beginning All started 10am (ish) 7th Nov 2005 with Janet going to the hospital for a routine checkup (it is routine to have regular checkups when the mother is overdue). During the scan the doctor noticed there wasn't enough amniotic fluid. The doctor suspected the presence of meconium (poo) in the fluid. This can turn to infection, so in an attempt to kick start the labour he had Janet admitted to the Labour and Delivery ward (not the Birthing Centre as we had planned) so that her membranes could be ruptured. | ||||||||
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| Molly was taken away to ICU. After we got over the initial disppointment of Molly going to ICU we started to make phone calls to grandparents, and I started to pack up for our move to the postpartum ward. Janet at this stage seemed very well - for a women who had just spent 17-18 hours labouring. | ||||||||
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Once in the postpartum ward Janet wanted to go and see Molly. So I wheeled Janet in a wheel chair, dragging along with us her pitocin drip. Once there Janet tried to breast feed Molly. Good and bad. The good, Molly latched on almost immediately. The bad: Janet started to suffer from horrid upper abdominal pains - so bad in fact that she had to hand Molly to me as she thought she was going to black out from the pain. Back to the ward. During all this, Janet noticed that her right leg was very weak (we thought probably from the epidural). The nurse took her blood pressure and it was high (unusual for Janet, as she usually has low blood preossure). Enter the house doctor. At one stage or another, Janet sufferd from the following symptons: upper abdominal pain, blurred vision, high blood pressure. The doctor started to worry about eclampsia (seizure). Blood was taken for testing. The nurse took Janet off the pitocin, and was given Tylenol and an antacid. Within half an hour Janet was feeling much better. At about 9pm we both went to see Molly, where Janet was able to breast fed - this time all was well. Unfortunately, the doctor turned up with her lab reports - they indicated liver and kidney problems! The doctor wanted to treat her for HELP syndrome, to prevent an episode of eclampsia. This involved complete bed rest for 24 hours, on a magnesium drip. Eclampsia is most dangerous in and around the day of birth. Magnesium is awful - just before, Janet was fine, or at least appeared fine, but during that 24 hours whilst on magnesium she developed severe flu like symptions. Worst of all, she was not allowed to move, and Molly wasn't allowed out of Intensive Care - Janet wasn't allowed to see Molly. | |||||||
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Once in the postpartum ward Janet wanted to go and see Molly. So I wheeled Janet in a wheel chair, dragging along with us her pitocin drip. Once there Janet tried to breast feed Molly. Good and bad. The good, Molly latched on almost immediately. The bad: Janet started to suffer from horrid upper abdominal pains - so bad in fact that she had to hand Molly to me as she thought she was going to black out from the pain. Back to the ward. During all this, Janet noticed that her right leg was very weak (we thought probably from the epidural). The nurse took her blood pressure and it was high (unusual for Janet, as she usually has low blood pressure). Enter the house doctor. At one stage or another, Janet sufferd from the following symptons: upper abdominal pain, blurred vision, high blood pressure. The doctor started to worry about eclampsia (seizure). Blood was taken for testing. The nurse took Janet off the pitocin, and was given Tylenol and an antacid. Within half an hour Janet was feeling much better. At about 9pm we both went to see Molly, where Janet was able to breast fed - this time all was well. Unfortunately, the doctor turned up with her lab reports - they indicated liver and kidney problems! The doctor wanted to treat her for HELP syndrome, to prevent an episode of eclampsia. This involved complete bed rest for 24 hours, on a magnesium drip. Eclampsia is most dangerous in and around the day of birth. Magnesium is awful - just before, Janet was fine, or at least appeared fine, but during that 24 hours whilst on magnesium she developed severe flu like symptions. Worst of all, she was not allowed to move, and Molly wasn't allowed out of Intensive Care - Janet wasn't allowed to see Molly. | |||||||
| This meant I was able to feed and change Molly - which was nice for me at least. Janet took comfort from this, but I knew she was hurting inside. | ||||||||