well that was unexpected, part two

So where was I?  Oh yeah, collecting my pee.

So the next day was Friday and we had signed Emma up for a Sibling Preparation Class at the hospital.  It's just a little class for kids where they watch a video about babies and learn how to hold babies and change their diapers.  Then they color a picture for the baby.  It was really cute.  We dropped off the lovely jug of pee and headed home.

Things were going peachy.  With the blood pressure thing I'm supposed to check once a day, preferably in the morning.  But I'm a curious creature so around 10 o'clock Friday night I checked my blood pressure again just to see where I was at.  I was at 160/101.  Just to give you an idea, normal readings should be below 120/80.  I called the perinatal nurse and they said COME IN NOW.

So for the second time in a week we were off to labor & delivery.  We called my parents and they met us there so they could take Emma home with them and let her get some sleep.  We fully expected just to be sent home in a few hours because when we were in the day before the doctors talked about how even though at 37 weeks the baby is considered full term they still prefer not to deliver if it's not necessary.

To rule out pre-eclampsia they take another urine sample and a blood sample to check for proteins.  From what I understand the placenta is releasing these proteins that can cause damage to your liver and kidneys.  Pre-eclampsia is the beginning stages, eclampsia can result in seizures and the only cure for it is to deliver the placenta.  Generally, eclampsia can occur from 32 weeks on.  The bright side for us was that I was at 37 weeks.  Olivia had a much better chance if we had to deliver right then.

When the results came back they determined that my protein levels were climbing and they would need to deliver the baby.  So deliver her we did.  She was born at 6:23 in the morning and she was sooooooo tiny.  More than 2 pounds and 2 inches smaller than Emma was!  The c-section was much more relaxed and a lot less painful than the first one I had.  Because there wasn't a time issue they took things much slower to make sure everything went very smoothly.  They went over the previous section scar and looking at it now it actually looks better than it did before!  Everyone, nurses, the doctors & anesthesiologist were so nice and personable.  It was a completely different experience.  I was scared going in, but I didn't feel a thing this time and that was awesome.

Because of the pre-eclampsia I had to take magnesium sulfate for 24 hours after delivery.  That meant I had to stay in bed for those 24 hours.  Not really a bad deal, right?

But Olivia is perfect.  Teeny tiny, but perfect.  She had a little bit of jaundice, but that worked itself out and now she's just trying to pack on some weight.  It's surreal to have her here and at the same time pass by the calendar to see this:

Not that I'm complaining that she's here!  I'm enjoying every minute with her, especially knowing this is the last time we'll have a baby in the house.  And we're lucky so far, she only wakes up around 4 or 5 in the morning, eats and then goes back to sleep...we'll see how long that lasts!  Emma started sleeping through the night at 2 weeks.  I don't think we'll be that lucky again, but it's okay.

For now we're just enjoying this.