Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to be a mom. I carried my baby dolls all over the place. I wanted three kids and to be just like my mom. (Hi Mom! Love you!) When Sam and I got together, we actually made a list of baby names we liked. None of which we actually used for either of our children.
In February 2021 I found out I was pregnant with our first baby. She wasn’t planned but she was so wanted. Sam and I had a conversation and were on the same page that we wanted to be legally married before we had her. We had been together 7 years and the plan was to get engaged in October of that year. As we learned, thanks to an amazing quote from my favorite undergrad professor, “Man plans and God laughs”. We pivoted from our fall engagement/wedding dreams and embraced our fall baby!
We got married in June of 2021 and honeymooned in Columbus, Ohio. We spent our honeymoon watching movies and documentaries, going to the Columbus Zoo, and Cosi, a science museum.
August 2021 rolls around and I am getting closer and closer to having more frequent doctor’s appointments. Then, I said the cursed words that I will never utter while pregnant ever again, “I wish doctors would fuss over me.” For Labor Day weekend, my in-laws rented a pontoon boat to take out onto a lake in Columbus to have some family time as school was starting back up. Sam’s grandma made a comment about my swollen ankles and that got us onto the topic of the heat, how my appointments were going and I explained that everything felt so impersonal and rushed.
“I wish someone would fuss over me,” I groaned to her jokingly.
“Well, Sam fussed over you.”
“It’s not the same. I want a doctor to fuss over me.”
Oh, Emily, it’s like saying the Q-word in the hospital’s ER. That Monday I went to the doctor for my 34-week appointment. As I was getting my vitals, they recorded a higher-than-average blood pressure. I wasn’t all that concerned because it was the end of August and I had opted for the stairs rather than the elevator. They had me sit in the exam room for 15 minutes before taking it again. It went down, but not enough to make them happy. They told me to go across the street to the hospital and up to L&D triage.
I called Sam in absolute tears because I had no idea what was going on. I got checked in and stayed in that triage room from 9am-1pm. I updated Sam, his mom, and my mom as much as I could. My favorite doctor in the practice, Dr. Ortiz, was on call that day and came to see me. He told me I had preeclampsia and there were some things to look out for. (IF YOU’RE A PREGNANT WOMAN, OR A PERSON WITH A PREGNANT WOMAN IN THEIR LIFE TAKE NOTES)
- high BP (100/150 got me sent to the hospital for birth)
- Swollen legs & ankles (it was my party trick that you could push on my ankle and leave a dent)
- abdominal pain around your liver
- headache that isn’t remedied with medication
Tuesday at 4am I woke up with the worst headache. We didn’t have any Tylenol so we ran to the only 24-hour Walgreens near us. After taking the medicine, drinking my body weight in water, and panicking, my headache didn’t subside. We called the doctor and they told us to come in. We spent from 6am-2pm at the hospital I got strict instructions to take it easy and they were going to induce me at 37 weeks. They also took the initiative to give me a steroid shot to help promote baby girl’s lungs to develop a bit faster.
Wednesday rolled around and I went to work. I was taking my blood pressure throughout the day and it was not terrible, but elevated. Then, at 4pm, I retook it. 100/150. I called the nurse. She said she would stay late, I needed to wait 30 minutes, walk away from my desk and take it again. Same result. She told me to come to the hospital ASAP.
During this time, Sam was in school for his apprenticeship. He wouldn’t get out of school and to the hospital until 9pm. I was alone in that hospital room from 5-9pm. It was awful. On top of that, my mom, who I wanted to be with me while I was in labor, found out a student of hers dad tested positive for Covid before he had a major surgery. She couldn’t be in the hospital with me. Sam’s amazing mother was at a football game for his brother and sister’s high school (they were in the marching band). He called her to explain the situation and she came to the hospital and was there up until we had our little lady.
They started my induction using Cytotec, a pill that goes through your cervix to make it more favorable to begin labor. Believe me when I tell you that was THE MOST PAINFUL THING I have ever experienced! I was having contractions that were registering on the monitors, but my cervix was doing nothing & I could not feel the contractions. After 24 hours of painful Cytotech placements and cervical checks, I asked for them to cut her out.
I was brought back at 12 to get prepped. During the spinal placement, I had a panic attack because I didn’t have Sam or my mom there with me, just some OR nurses. I hate needles so I started hyperventilating. Wearing a mask made it worse because, with every breath, the mask would get sucked into my mouth. They got my spinal placed, Sam came in, and I was ready to deliver our girl via the sunroof.
Sam and I prayed through the entire c-section that we hear her cry. We were told that if she cried as she was born she wouldn’t need additional oxygen. At 12:45pm our sweet Sophia was born at 4lbs 11.7oz screaming at the top of her lungs.
She is now a healthy, strong, sassy, and smart 3-year-old. We wouldn’t want to have anyone else as our first baby.