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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; C-Section</title>
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	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
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		<title>Preeclampsia: What It&#8217;s Really Like</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/preeclampsia-what-its-really-like/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/preeclampsia-what-its-really-like/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2015 22:40:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health/Fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blood Pressure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[C-Section]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delivery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Preeclampsia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Swelling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6687</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; Don’t you love when someone points out to a pregnant woman that she looks &#8220;terrible&#8221;? Who do they think they are telling you that you’re swollen, puffy, look tired, or even that you look “painful”. I think people who aren’t, especially those who have never been, pregnant say these things as if it&#8217;s somehow comforting for a second or third trimester pregnant lady to be reassured that yes, you actually are pregnant. Well, guess what people; it&#8217;s not comforting! In fact, it sucks and makes us feel like crap! &#160; I felt great during about 90 percent of my pregnancy, but I would actually get both sides of this spectrum. For a while, some people said to me that I looked too thin to be pregnant then others, who knew that I was just petite in nature, would say, wow you’re getting so big so fast! And I have to admit, I wanted to get the “belly”, I wanted to “show” and it wasn’t until about 6 months that I had a significant enough bump for strangers to notice and comment on. But I did notice that everyone loved to point out how “huge” I was getting once the real “growing” started. So when I approached the 9th month of my pregnancy, in the heat of a Carolina summer, I noticed that I actually was starting to really swell up. My feet and ankles would get very puffy, along with my hands and fingers. So I bought new shoes, asked my husband to rub my feet and kept on with life as usual. Then, people told me I looked like I was “in pain” and “puffy” and although it wasn’t the nicest comment I&#8217;d ever received, I summed this up to the heat, the baby, me not taking enough time to rest, but never Preeclampsia. The dreaded Preeclampsia – the jerk of pregnancy! It&#8217;s the little sneak that hijacks your body, inflates you with water weight, and constricts your blood vessels so much that your kidneys can malfunction and your blood pressure soars. It beats on your head like a drum while also making you feel like you’re being spun around on a merry-go-round too fast, when all you really want to do is get off. It’s not fun and loves to make it&#8217;s appearance when you’re least expecting it, 37 weeks to 48 hours post delivery. It&#8217;s the little sneak that hijacks your body, inflates you with water weight, and constricts your blood vessels so much that your kidneys can malfunction and your blood pressure soars. It beats on your head like a drum while also making you feel like you’re being spun around on a merry-go-round too fast, when all you really want to do is get off. Below, I tell the story of my joyride with Preeclampsia along with signs and symptoms that should raise a red flag. So, go ahead, read about my misery…you know you want to! I visited my OB for the typical routine checkups and towards the end, we noticed a trend…high blood pressure. Starting at about 33 weeks, they’d strap on that stupid cuff and it would read around 140/90. It wasn’t that bad (not good either), but normally my BP is very low, so that was pretty high for me. I’d also do the whole pee in a cup thing and my urine never showed signs that anything was wrong (no keytones or proteins). This continued on for weeks but with each visit, I was gaining about 5 pounds, swelling more, and my blood pressure was increasing. I knew there was something wrong; I didn’t feel like my glowing pregnant self anymore. So, what is Preeclampsia? It&#8217;s characterized by having high blood pressure and protein in the urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy (Preclampsia Foundation). Basically, it&#8217;s like a huge, grey storm cloud that suddenly forms over your head and rains on your beautiful pregnancy parade. It is sometimes referred to as Toxemia as well. It&#8217;s like a huge, grey storm cloud that suddenly forms over your head and rains on your beautiful pregnancy parade. &#160; I never, ever, had the protein in my urine, but by the time I was 38 weeks, I had full blown Preeclampsia and my doctors weren’t on top of it until it was almost too late. I found out that it&#8217;s a very progressive condition that is only cured by having the baby. So, to “cure” me, I was induced and eventually had an emergency C-section because my condition kept worsening. This was not what I wanted to do and I was quite frustrated that nobody caught this along the way, but I later learned that it’s typical to not have any signs or symptoms until about 37/38 weeks. Now, ladies, if you’re reading this and you’re pregnant; don’t freak! Preeclampsia only effects about 5-8% of all pregnancies and a little (sometimes even a lot) of swelling is expected with pregnancy. Below, I am going to go through the signs and symptoms to help to distinguish between whats “normal” and what should raise a red flag about this condition. Here are some signs and symptoms to watch for, along with my take on each symptom that I had: 1) The most obvious one – High Blood Pressure. When I’d visit my OB, they’d strap on that stupid cuff at the beginning of each visit. Starting at about 33 weeks, my blood pressure (BP) started to get really high. By the time I was 38 weeks my BP was 190/120 and I was admitted to the hospital. My advice would be to pay close attention to the number from week to week and if it increases a little, it should be alright, but if it ever reaches 140/90 then you should talk to your doctor about it, even if they brush it off. 140/90 is the threshold between normal and “high”, so if you are reaching these numbers tune into your body closely. Because the condition is quite rare, they sometimes assume the high BP is nothing to worry about unless it’s accompanied by protein in the urine. They also would have me lay on my left side to “bring it down”. This is a bad idea and provides a false sense of assurance. I was told that laying on your side helps the blood flow better temporarily and gives you an improved BP reading, but it does not mean the problem is fixed. 2) Protein in the Urine Preeclampsia temporarily changes the way the kidney filters out some proteins from your blood, therefore extra protein can show up in the urine; this is a sign that you may have Preeclampsia. I never had this show up in my urine, not even once, and I think that’s why nobody at my OB’s office took me too seriously. My warning is that you don’t need to have extra proteins show up in your urine to have Preeclampsia. If you are feeling other symptoms and also have high blood pressure, talk to your doctor and if they don’t take you seriously, get a second opinion. 3) Excess Swelling This is technically called Edema and it&#8217;s different than the typical pregnancy, swollen ankles type of thing. This is when your face, eyes, and hands feel so swollen that you might just explode. This is how I felt! And looking back, I did look terrible with a capital “t”, but because it was my first pregnancy, I thought this was just normal. By the time I was admitted to the hospital, I thought my feet were going to get stretch marks because they’d grown so large. The top of my foot almost came up over top of my sausage toes…it was weird, painful, and ugly! Absolutely no shoe fit me, not even slippers, and I had several chins at this point because my face had become so swollen (I’d post pictures, but nobody wants to see that!). If you start to feel like you’re swelling more rapidly than the pace you’d been keeping, talk to your doctor. 4) Headache and Dizziness No matter what kind of headache it is, dull, throbbing or stabbing, if it’s accompanied with high BP and any other symptom listed above, call your OB and schedule a visit right away. This is a sign that your BP is getting too high and your body is not handling it well. Try to rest and prop up your feet, but don’t ignore this symptom. Honestly, it was the only way I knew my blood pressure was high, beside taking an actual reading, because I could feel it in my head, like a pounding headache that would not go away accompanied by dizziness. 5) Rapid Weight Gain Up until about 34 weeks, I’d gained about 25 pounds from my pregnancy. I was doing really well, staying active and even doing some strength training. Then, at my 33 week visit, I had gained about 3 pounds, which wasn’t bad, but more than previous visits. Then I gained 5 at my next visit, then 5 again, and I ended up tacking on almost 25 extra pounds, in the last 5 weeks, due to this condition! 25 pounds in 5 weeks people! It was bad. So, again, if you experience this type of weight gain, it’s not normal. Your baby is not growing THAT much that you should pack on the pounds like this. For me, this was a huge sign of preeclampsia looking back. There are a few other signs and symptoms that you can encounter with this condition and you can read more about them here, but it&#8217;s really important to pay attention to what your body is telling you. I also want to put out there that Preeclampsia can actually have no symptoms, in some cases, because many of the signs resemble regular pregnancy progression type things. Just pay attention to what is normal for you along your entire pregnancy and if this “normal” ever changes, ask your doctor. And if they tell you you’re fine, but you don’t feel that in your gut (no pun intended), ask another doctor. This condition can be serious and lead to seizures or even death, so please just pay attention and watch for little signs. Who gets preeclampsia? Some people are more prone to getting this than others: this list includes, but its not limited to, women who are: Pregnant for the first time Over 40 years old Having multiples Already have a blood pressure condition Overweight The complete list can be found here, and if you fall into one of these categories (and just because its your first pregnancy does not mean you have to freak!), know the signs and pay attention for changes as you progress. &#160; I ended up having to be induced and put on anti-seizure medication because my blood pressure had reached the point where it was dangerous for me and the baby. My baby was fine during the entire course of this, he was happy and healthy with a very strong heartbeat and lots of movement, but it was me that was going downhill quickly. It was important to control the seizure component, because if I had a seizure, the baby could possibly suffer due to lack of oxygen. So, after 26 hours of labor and all was said and done, I had my baby boy and was on my way to being “cured” from this condition. It did take me a few extra days in the hospital and about 3 weeks to actually completely recover, as my blood pressure stayed high and I had headaches and felt dizzy for quite a while (plus the pain from my lovely c-section). I lost that extra 30 lbs I gained towards the end of my pregnancy in about 10 days after giving birth, it was mostly water weight anyway, but losing 30 pounds felt great nonetheless! I lost that extra 30 lbs I gained towards the end of my pregnancy in about 10 days after giving birth, it was mostly water weight anyway, but losing 30 pounds felt great nonetheless! Well, that’s it for you – my preeclampsia story. If you think you might have symptoms, definitely call your doctor or even send me an email and I’ll be glad to talk this over with you personally. I am not qualified to give medical advice, and this article is just for awareness purposes, but I will help anyone in any way that I can. I’ve been through it and it is not fun, but it’s important to know the signs and symptoms and how to handle something like this. Remember, preeclampsia is rare (only 5-8% of pregnancies), so don’t over analyze and pay attention to your symptoms. Most pregnant women will, thankfully, never have to go through this! &#160;]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The C-Section: What It&#8217;s Really Like</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-c-section-what-its-really-like/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-c-section-what-its-really-like/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2015 04:40:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health/Fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Birth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[C-Section]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Delivery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=2989</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Oh, a C-Section? I&#8217;ll take it! Most women think this is the &#8220;easier&#8221; route because you don&#8217;t have a push something the size of a bowling ball out your you-know-what, but I&#8217;m here to tell you a different story. This post is strictly about my personal experience (but a lot of other moms have agreed with me) and I do not have any medical background to support my claims; I’m just talking to you straight. So first off, I need to say that I had pre-eclampsia the last few weeks of my pregnancy, so I was dealing with a whole lot of issues that many other pregnant women don’t face; such as, high blood pressure, EXTREME swelling, rapid weight gain, dizziness and just feeling pretty bad. I was in 26 intense hours of Pitocin induced labor prior to my C-section and hooked up to, what seemed like 10,000 cords as they came in to check my blood pressure every 10 minutes, around the clock! When it came time to check to see how much I’d dilated since my last check several hours ago, I was anxious and hopeful that I had made some progress…wrong! 4 centimeters and that’s it! The baby was fine, but I was not so we had to move quickly or I could have had a seizure from my ever-so-high blood pressure. I was ready to deck someone at this point…I was frustrated, tired and just so ready to meet my little baby boy, but really was quite scared about what would happen next. The doctor told my husband and me that the only way I would get better is if I delivered the baby and that needed to happen via C-section. To be honest, it scared my husband and me to think about baby Mason getting all those drugs and chemicals into his tiny body and we really didn’t want the delivery to happen this way; but we really had no choice. I am definitely a Type-A person, so things going this unplanned almost send me spiraling out of control…this was definitely not in the “birth plan”. So, I agree to the whole thing and immediately a team of about 20 people rushed in to my small delivery room and hooked me up to even more cords, gave me more medicine, provided my husband scrubs to wear so he could come into the room too and then began to push me out the door. Finally, I was going to get all of this over with and meet my sweet baby boy. NOPE! Some other lady had an emergency that was somehow greater than mine, so they wheeled me back into my room and said I’d have to wait an hour…GREAT! So, we waited. And to be completely honest, we were actually quite excited because we love the show “Big Brother” on CBS and it was nearing the end of the season and just about 8:00 pm, so we got to watch the episode while we waited! Anyway, it finally was my turn and they wheeled me into the operating room labeled “C-section Delivery” and it we got to business. Here is a step by step list of what happened next (from what I can remember)… 1)      They moved me from my wheeley bed to this very cold, stainless steel table that had a big drape over it. It was cold, but that part was the least of my worries. 2)      They injected me with this medication that would make me even more numb (I already had the epidural at this point and was pretty numb anyway) but the medication made me shake like Shakira having a seizure! I mean seriously, I was trembling from head to toe and could not stop it for like life of me! I asked why I was shaking and they said it was completely normal…great. 3)      They then sealed up the “curtain” type thing that blocked my view of what was about to happen to me. They tape it to you (I think) and then they tape all around your belly to sanitize and make the area as sterile as possible. This part was fine, but I was still shaking like crazy. 4)      They clamp your arms out to the sides of the table, I guess to keep you from moving or trying to move or brace yourself from what’s about to come. 5)      Then my husband came in and he had our nice camera we’d just got a few months ago…the nurses told him he should take pictures of the whole thing, so he did (I was a little iffy about this, but who cares what I think). 6)      Then, it was the moment of truth, we were about to begin the procedure…the doctor said to me, you shouldn’t feel much, only a little pressure here and there. I said “OK”, but then I yelled out to her, “Please make the incision straight, I can’t stop shaking and don’t want a jagged scar!!” She laughed and proceeded to make the first incision…and I felt it! 7)      I screamed out, “Ouch! I felt that!”…it felt like a plastic butter knife was scraping across my lower abdomen. She said “Is it too much to bear Sara? If it is, we will have to give you more medicine and it will take longer.” Boy, did she set me up for that…like I wanted it to take longer at this point…so I said, “No, I guess not…keep going”. 8)      With every single pass of the blade it felt it, more and more every time. Not necessarily pain, but definitely uncomfortable. I felt like she was going at it for hours…but I’m sure it was only a matter of minutes. But then she got to the part where it was time to pull Baby Mason out, and by this point he was head down but he’d wedged himself into the left side of my belly and was he quite comfortable there. 9)      I felt her shove her hand, then arm(!) into my belly and holy shit, did that hurt! The pressure is indescribable, nothing could explain it…it felt like I was going to burst or something. Then I kind of felt her “digging” around to find a good way to grab him…she was almost up to her elbow inside me and was now using both hands! She finally got a hold of him good enough and pulled that baby right out! He screamed and we all cried but it was incredible…I’m tearing up right now just thinking about it! And the entire time, my husband was watching, talking me through it, holding my hand, but mostly taking pictures of everything (I only posted a few of the least gross ones I had).  I’m glad he did end up taking the photos because I look back at them every now and again and still find the whole process amazing, so if you ever have the chance, definitely let/force your husband to take some pics! 10)   It was not over though… Mason was taken away to be cleaned up, weighed and measured and my husband left my side to be with the baby (which was fine). But then, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck and suddenly I said to the nurse next to me, “I’m going to vomit! I’m going to be sick!” which I guess is another common side effect of all the medication. So, they put cold, wet washcloths on my head and neck and give me a pan just in case I did throw up, but all I could think about was how much it would hurt to flex all those abdominal muscles they just cut into as I vomited in the OR. Thankfully, whatever they did to help me worked and I didn’t get sick but man, it was bad! 11)   My husband brought Mason over me (I’m still shaking and strapped to this cold steel table) and I finally got to meet my baby boy for the first time. He was perfect and had so much color; I was so incredibly happy but also exhausted. They swaddled the baby and put him in a little cart and my husband pushed him out into the hallway and back to our room where my family anxiously waited. I on the other hand, was still on the stupid table getting all cleaned up, delivering my placenta and all that jazz. They finally transferred me back to my wheeley bed and brought me to my little family about 10 minutes later. At this point I was still shaking obnoxiously, but it was starting to slow down a little bit. 12)   The last step of this process is to prepare for the hour of bonding you and your baby are supposed to do right after birth. Skin to skin contact with both the mom and the dad is ideal and this is also when you are supposed to breast feed for the first time. Because it’d been such a long journey for me, I kept falling asleep during this magical hour, but Mason was on my chest and everything that I’d just went through was worth it. So, after telling that story people ask me all the time, if it was that bad, why would you ever do that again? And if you would have asked me 1 week, 1 month even 3 months afterwards, I would have honestly said that I was not sure I wanted to do it again. BUT, motherhood teaches you that it’s not just about you anymore, and if that’s what it takes to deliver another perfect little angel baby, then I will do it. So, yes it was hell, but I wear my six inch, non-jagged, keloid scar on my lower abdomen with pride because it’s a little reminder of how amazing my body is for making it through all that, but more importantly, that my little boy once lived inside me and I created a life; that is what makes me one very happy and proud mama. &#160;]]></description>
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