Dave, Tiff, & Afton: April 2012

I’ve been thinking about this post for a long time. Things I wanted to include and other things I wanted to keep private or not out for the world anyway. I read another mothers blog that was very to the point with details but still great and decided I am ready to share the birth of Afton Paige with you.

The Tuesday morning started out with a 8:50 doctor appointment, I was 37 1/2 weeks along and down to weekly visits. My blood pressure was extra high (it had been creeping up over the past few weeks) and I had a trace of protein in my urine so the doc decided to do a non-stress test, in which the baby looked great, I also had an ultra sound to check the fluid levels where they confirmed fluids were great, heartbeat was great and our little bundle was still in fact a girl. He also completed a blood test just to make sure everything was in fact ok. Other than that the visit was very routine, he checked me and I wasn’t dilated or thinning. Looking back I didn’t feel “great” like all the tests were showing but at the same time I didn’t feel horrible and I had such an excellent pregnancy I figured this was just part of the final weeks. After my appointment I headed home for a nap, when my sister called she could tell I was beat and scheduled me an appointment for a pedicure soon after my pampering there was a few last minute items I needed at the mall so I met my mom to pick those up (yes I realize I was suppose to be on bed rest). My mom and I were sharing a pretzel when I grabbed my phone because it was almost 5 and I knew David would be calling on his way home from work. Just as I got my phone out of my purse David called and in a panicked voice asked where I was, what I was doing, and why I wasn’t answering my doctor’s phone call. I laughed. I really thought he was joking. He immediately said something was wrong and I needed to go straight to the hospital. I hung up the phone with David and my doctor called again. He asked where I was and when I told him the mall he said “great you can meet me at eirmc in 5 minutes” then explained I had a rare but serious condition and he needed to deliver the baby asap. I was so scared, I asked if she was ok if everything would be alright and he said he would talk to me in person at the hospital. Little talking was done but I knew it was serious as nurses rushed around me. To make a very long story short and sweet I developed H.E.L.L.P Syndrome that caused my liver to elevate and my blood platelets to drop and the outcome was an emergency c-section done under general anesthesia so David couldn’t be in the OR with me. However, a perfect 7 lb 4 ounce 19 1/2 inch long perfect baby was born at 6:54 p.m. and no matter how scary and rushed it was I would do it all over again in an instant. Her sweet face made EVERYTHING worth it.

minutes after she was born. David was snapping pictures while I was “coming to” after dreaming about NSYNC and cursing before I even asked how my baby was.