a year ago today...

...I was 28 weeks and 4 days pregnant and I was diagnosed with preeclampsia.

The day started like any other. I was going to the hospital that day in Alpine to have some labs done, my gestational diabetes test to be exact. Also I was going to drop off the two big jugs that I had been collecting my urine in for the past 24 hours. A doctors appointment earlier in the week showed me having high-ish (140s/90s) blood pressure again, 3 appointments in a row I believe, so my doc wanted to get the 24 hr urine done to rule out (or not) preeclampsia.

Iffy went with me that day because he was off, and I am so very glad he was there. After I had my diabetes test we went out to breakfast around 11ish. I hadn't eaten anything that day due to the fact that I was supposed to fast for the test. By the time we got to the restaurant for brunch, weird things were happening to me. We ordered then sat down to wait for our food. I was feeling more and more cold, clammy and sweaty. I wanted to go to the bathroom, but I really believed that if I went off anywhere by myself I was going to pass out. So I stayed at the table and felt more and more faint. When my vision started getting blacked out I decided that maybe we should get back to the hospital. So we walked out leaving our food being prepared and uneaten. I leaned on Iffy more and more as we walked out. If he wasn't there, I know that I absolutely would have collapsed in the middle of the restaurant.

As soon as we got back in the car to go back to the hospital I was feeling better and better. They gave me an attitude at the hospital like "well duh, you need to eat something.." That's what I was trying to do...

So we went back to the restaurant, but our food had since been eaten by the staff, since they figured we were gone for good. But we did end up getting some food after all. I ate oatmeal.

We had a couple hours to kill before going to the doctor to get the results of the tests. We went to visit our friend Leah who was in Alpine at the time. I remember how I was talking about how I was so sure that I didn't have preeclampsia, and that the tests were all going to come back fine.

When we went to my doctor appointment I remember being left in the room for a while talking to his young doctor in training that was following him around. Little did I know that the doctor was off in the other room on the phone with the perinatal guy in Odessa discussing my fate.

When he came in the room he started with the good news, that I didn't have gestational diabetes, BUT... I had preeclampsia, and I needed to go to the hospital, and maybe even stay there until I had the baby. All I said was " you mean right now?" Yep.

So he talked us out of the Alpine hospital, and we set off to Odessa. I got checked into the labor and delivery room. I remember it was such a bizarre feeling to be in that room. The room was all set up for the delivery of a baby; monitors, absorbent sheets on the bed, little baby bed complete with aspirator, little baby stethoscope and little baby pink and blue striped hat. The only thing that didn't belong there was me, because it was too early.

I only stayed in that room for a couple hours before I got moved to a postpartum room where I would stay until something happened, namely my baby was born. At this time I was envisioning being in the hospital for 12 weeks, because that's how much of the pregnancy was left. It was not a good feeling to think that I was going to be laying in a hospital bed for 12 weeks.

I ended the day with the first of two steroid shots, the purpose of which was to boost Sara's lung development in the event of an early delivery. It was a Thursday, and I was told to just settle in and get used to being there, 'cause I wasn't going anywhere, most certainly not back to the far away land whence I came.

I wouldn't see the doctors in charge of me again until Monday cause they were leaving for the weekend. One of them had to go take his boat out of the water (p.s if your a doctor, give your patients a more noble sounding excuse for your absence in their time of need) and I don't know where the other one was going. Maybe to clean his Porsche.

So Iffy and I settled into the hospital room, a little scared and very uncertain of what was to come.