Birth Story Q&A

This post is long overdue, but here we finally are! As most of you know, our son, Davis, was born six weeks early and two weeks later was diagnosed with hydrocephalus and required brain surgery. Since his birth was not a typical labor and delivery process, I wanted to format this post as a Q&A since I know so many of you had questions about all that has happened.

Keep in mind that I (obviously) am not a doctor, so my explanations of the medical terms might be a little off, but I will do my best from my understanding! I will try to format the questions in order to the best of my abilities.

BIRTH STORY Q&A

Pregnancy/Pre-Delivery

Why was Davis born premature? How many weeks were you?

Davis was born premature due to me having Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome. He was born at 34 weeks and 3 days on July 2.

Were there complications during your pregnancy?

We had some complications in the first couple of weeks that I do not want to go into full detail with for privacy reasons, but they had nothing to do with me having Preeclampsia/HELLP or him having Hydrocephalus.

Did you have high blood pressures during your pregnancy?

At the doctors’ office during my first trimester, I remember the nurses who take my BPs saying they looked high a few times, but just blamed it on nerves and then they went away during my second trimester (this can happen with Preeclampsia).

Were you on the lookout for Preeclampsia?

Nope. Had never even heard of it until two days before he was born.

How did you know to go to the hospital?

On June 30th on Instagram I had posted a picture of my swollen feet (the picture seen here is my swollen feet 2 days before Davis was born and my feet about 4 weeks postpartum once the swelling went back down). A fellow blogger messaged me saying she had what was called Preeclampsia and that I should take my blood pressure if I am able to. I had purchased a BP machine because of those higher BPS early on, but never really used it. When I took my BP it was 168/115.

At this point it was around 10:00pm on a Sunday so I was pretty hesitant on taking any action. After talking to Cody, we decided to call one of my parents’ best friend’s who is a top high risk OB doctor just to make sure this wasn’t anything serious. Turns out that it was.

After telling her my symptoms of very swollen hands, feet and face that all had gotten much significant over the weekend, high blood pressure and I had “seen stars” a few times that past week, she said I needed to pack ALL of our bags (yes, even baby’s bags) and immediately get to our hospital.

Needless to say that at this point we were in shock. Before talking to her, it never once crossed our minds that this could possibly be time to deliver. After getting to the hospital, they took labs and only saw that my platelets were low (a sign of HELLP Syndrome) and that I had a high BP and decided to send me home. I did not feel good about this decision.

Around 5:00am I woke up with extreme pain. It felt like my bra was on too tight and blocking my ability to breath (I wasn’t even wearing a bra). I got out of bed and just went to sit on the couch and about an hour later the same doctor from last night called to check in and when I told him I had pain he said to immediately get back to the hospital. When I checked back in I explained that the doctor called me at 6:00am this morning to follow up and the nurses said they are not supposed to do follow up calls. We believe that insurance told this doctor to send me home and he knew that that was not the right call, which is why he called me probably as soon as he got off of his shift.

At this point, they finally checked me in to labor & delivery to hopefully see one of my doctors that day. We still were not sure if we would be leaving the hospital with a baby or not. By about 3:00pm, we still had not seen a doctor. Our friend coached me through this whole process and had me call my doctors office and demand that my doctor come see me. At this point, it was clear that I had Preeclampsia and was on my way to having HELLP. We finally got a hold of one of the four doctors from my OB/GYN and he was in no rush to take any action. He wanted to keep an eye on me for the next 48 hours and MAYBE then start the induction process.

Our friend from home was not at all happy with their plan and said she would take care of it. Well she did something because my same doctor came back about 20 minutes later saying he changed his mind and wanted to start the induction process immediately. Keep in mind that the only cure to Preeclampsia and HELLP is delivery. At this point I was also put on Magnesium to prevent seizures due to my high blood pressure.

When did you find out you had Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome?

We found out about the Preeclampsia fairly soon after being checked in to labor & delivery. I was not officially diagnosed with HELLP because of how quickly we started the induction process, but I was rapidly on my way there due to the numbers from my labs that they took every 4 hours.

What is Preeclampsia?

Click here to read more about Preeclampsia from the American Pregnancy Association.

How common is Preeclampsia and when should you call your doctor?

Again, I would refer to this article to answer these questions. My advice would be to advocate for yourself to your doctor if you have ANY of the symptoms throughout your pregnancy (mainly high BPs or very swollen feet).

What is HELLP Syndrome?

Click here to read more about HELLP Syndrome from the American Pregnancy Association. It effects about 0.2-0.6 of pregnancies and is life threatening to both the mother and baby. I didn’t even look into what HELLP Syndrome was until about a month after delivery because I knew it was very serious and I was scared to come to terms with the risk we were at.

What is the recovery like for Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome?

This is different for everyone due to when you deliver, when you are diagnosed, how severely it effect the mom, etc. Thankfully for me, by blood pressure and labs went back to normal almost immediately after deliver but that is not always the case. Some moms have to have blood transfusions, have their uterus removed, have kidney and liver failure, etc.

Are you able to have more children and if so, are you at a higher risk for Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome?

Yes, I can have more children! Thankfully I did not have any permanent damage that would cause me not to be able to have more children. Unfortunately, I am most likely to have Preeclampsia and potentially HELLP Syndrome with my next pregnancy, but at least we will be fully aware of it and will be proactive to keep baby and I stable and safe.

Labor & Delivery

Did you get an epidural and if so, was that your plan?

Yes and yes! I was SET on getting an epidural. If my platelets had dropped any lower than they were, I would not have been able to get an epidural. Thankfully I was able to get one in time!

What was your intended birth plan vs the reality?

When people would ask me what my birth plan was while I was pregnant I would just respond with “getting an epidural and doing what the doctors tell me to do.” Cody and I both went in with an “ignorance is bliss” attitude and just honestly didn’t want to know too many details of what all goes on during delivery. Before finding out about my sickness, I was very trusting of doctors and willing to just do what they say. That mindset has definitely changed now.

Thankfully I was still able to have a natural birth. I was induced the same day I checked in There was a lot of talk right before Davis arrived about an emergency C-section because his heart rate kept dropping so low, but then he flew right out!

Here’s my thing with birth plans… you can have as much of a birth plan as you want, but what I’ve learned in my experience is that that may not always go as planned. For me, my plan will always be doing whatever it is necessary to delivery my baby safely.

What is something you recommend for the nurses to do better in your situation?

Honestly my nurses were all wonderful (except for one night nurse who literally had no idea what she was doing, but I try to block her out haha!). I have a new appreciation for nurses, especially NICU nurses!

How was labor? Were you scared?

I was scared leading up to it, but once it was go time, I was just ready it done! I was scared during labor, but not for typical reasons such as fear of pain and the process. I was scared that he wasn’t going to make it because of how drastically his heart rate kept dropping before he was delivered. But for anyone that is pregnant and is scared, you are going to be on such an adrenaline rush once it’s time! Do not be scared. Try to take it all in!

Was there anything that surprised you during labor?

I was surprised how quickly he came out. I only had to push twice. I think from the time I started pushing to the time he was delivered was probably less than 5 minutes. Obviously that’s not the case for most, but I always thought I’d be pushing for hours!

Did you listen to music during labor?

I turned on worship music at one point when his heart rate kept dropping, but then turned it off when it was time to push. We had Wimbledon on the TV during labor though, lol!

What was your first real meal after labor?

Mcallister’s club! I had been wanting this my whole pregnancy, but wasn’t eating deli meat!

How’s your recovery been? Both physically and mentally?

Physically, it wasn’t pleasant the first couple weeks because I did have to get some stitches and I had a laceration (basically an open wound that they wouldn’t stitch) and then a few days after delivery I got a UTI. Once that was all cleared up, I was fine!

Mentally, I think I’ve been doing really well considering all things. This experience has caused me to become closer to God and trust him in everything I do. My faith is what has gotten me through all of this.

How was postpartum bleeding? Did it last long?

I’ve never been much of a bleeder. Mine lasted probably 2 weeks total, but was significantly less after a few days.

How to prepare mentally and physically for labor?

Again, I went in “ignorance is bliss,” so I didn’t do much preparing! I don’t regret going into it this way. It worked for Cody and I. And honestly, I think if I had known more, it could have stressed me out even more due to our complications.

What would you want to do or know that you didn’t know?

I wish I would have advocated more for myself early on in my pregnancy when I had high blood pressures to make sure I shouldn’t be concerned. I guess I wish I would have taken more action when something seemed off. For example, when my feet began swelling up – I didn’t even mention it to my doctors at first because I figured it was just a normal pregnancy symptom. My advice: listen to your body and if something doesn’t seem normal, advocate for yourself and make sure everything is okay!

Davis & Hydrocephalous

In terms of his developmental milestones, will you refer to his due date or his actual birth date?

We will mostly be referring to his birth date AKA his “adjusted age.” I think after his first year or so of life, he will be mostly caught up with other kids his age in terms of development. Being born six weeks early isn’t THAT premature compared to other premature births, so he should be able to catch up.

How did you find out about Davis’ Hydrocephalous? How did you react to the diagnosis?

On Friday, July 19 (he was born on July 2), one of his night nurses said she thought she could feel the beginning signs of hydrocephalous on his head. They did not tell me about this and kept an eye on it over the weekend. On Monday morning, I came in to feed him and had a head on collision with people leaving his room with an ultra sound machine telling me they had just done an ultra sound on his brain. Again, the nurses and doctors at this hospital did not tell me anything about this before, so needless to say I immediately started to panic. Keep in mind, my mom had left the night before and Cody was back at work. This was my first time going to see him on my own.

His nurse and pediatrician immediately came into his room and started to explain to me what they believed was going on. I think I asked a minimum of 20 times what the name was of what they thought he had (Hydrocephalous). I was so upset and couldn’t think clearly at all. They told me they would have more information after 15 minutes to look at the ultra sound and that I should call my husband and have him come here ASAP.

After Cody arrived, they came back telling us that they found excess fluid in his brain and that his head had gone from the 20th to 90th percentile in just days. You can see in this picture below how swollen his forehead is from the excess liquid. These pictures were just days apart. The picture on the right was from the day he had his ultrasound.

We were then immediately transferred to Dallas Children’s Hospital where he had an MRI and was officially diagnosed with Hydrocephalous. On Thursday, July 25 he had brain surgery to instal a shunt that will drain the excess liquid to his stomach cavity.

Is the shunt in his brain permanent?

Yes. He was able to get a shunt that has enough slack to grow with him instead of having to get it replaced as he grows since there is a tube from his brain to his stomach cavity.

How will this effect Davis’ development?

We were able to confirm that there was no damage to his brain from the liquid, so we are very hopeful that his Hydrocephalous will not effect his development. We were also able to confirm that this did not start in the womb. I guess if it starts in the womb, that is significantly worse. We feel very thankful we were able to catch it very early.

How did you get through this emotionally?

My faith. That’s all I can say. People keep saying I am so strong and that they are so proud of how we have handled this. Cody and I often talk about how we do not understand how people get through things like this or worse without having faith in God. We were completely at peace with trusting God’s plan for Davis.

How long were you in the NICU?

We were in the first NICU for 20 days and in the second NICU for 28. Total of 48 VERY long days.

THANK YOU

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all of your prayers and support. This experience has been one of the hardest times of our life and are so grateful that Davis is here with us and doing well. Having all of your support made this experience so much easier and we truly felt all of your prayers that came our way.