Update on Lily

Lily has had three great days and nights! Her oxygen levels are right were they should be, she's eating, and is doing really well. We are so thankful.

I on the other hand do not have such good news to report. Beginning on Thursday I just did not feel like myself. I thought it was probably exhaustion, I did just have a baby and am under quite a bit of stress. This is all new to me so I wasn't sure what was "normal" and what wasn't. Thursday and Friday I had a severe headache that I at first chalked it up to just delivering a baby and lack of sleep. I've had a hard time shutting my brain down even when I know I should be resting. I'm sure every new mom can relate. On Friday I decided to stop in at the Special Delivery Unit (SDU) where I delivered Lily just to talk to them about my headache. My head hurt worse than it did after pushing for an hour and a half during my delivery. My blood pressure was very high and they ordered me straight to bed to rest. I rested all of Friday afternoon but could barely sleep because my head was hurting so badly. I just knew something wasn't right. When Lee and I went back to the hospital that evening and I stopped in the SDU, it was decided upon that I needed to go to the ER. This is the unfortunate thing about the SDU. Even though I was just discharged less than 48 hours ago, they can not readmit me. They do not do see patients for any postpartum issues. So even though they all know me, my history, and are quite capable of taking care of me (not to mention my baby is down the hall) they could not help me. It was extremely frustrating. I had to go to Pennsylvania Hospital since that is where my regular obstetrician works. Lee and I spent the majority of Friday night at the hospital while they tried to figure out what was causing my blood pressure to spike and my headache. After getting my blood work back, it appeared to be preeclampsia. This is a disorder that affects 5-8% of pregnant or postpartum women. Severe headaches, blurry vision, swelling, high blood pressure are all signs. I would have to be on medicine and bed rest for 24 hours. This was just awful news being that Lily's surgery is scheduled for Monday, I wanted to spend every minute I could with her. I was just devastated. But I learned that preeclampsia is a very serious condition that could cause seizures and/or strokes and is not something to be taken lightly. I had no choice plus I was feeling very sick and needed some relief. I knew I needed to be strong for Lily and me getting sick would only complicate matters.

Poor Lee, both of his girls were in hospitals across the city from each other. Lee visited with me early Saturday morning but we both wanted him to be with Lily so my mom and Annie came to stay with me. I was mostly trying to rest and was finally able to sleep Saturday night. Lee had a pretty incredible day bonding with Lily. He was able to feed her a few bottles, change her, and even picked out a cute outfit for her. Leave it to Lee to have her first outfit an Eagles jersey ( even though it was size 6-9 months) he made sure she was supporting her team. He constantly sent me picture updates and I was just so happy he had such a special day with her.

I am feeling much much better now and am waiting to be discharged so I can see my baby girl.