It seriously has been the craziest, fastest, and absolutely best year of my life. Noah teaches me everyday that you can't plan everything and that I need to just let loose a little. He's been teaching that since the day he (surprisingly) came into the world.
One year ago today i was at 32 weeks and I was feeling absolutely terrible. And by terrible, I mean the worst I had literally ever felt. Three days prior, my sister threw me a baby shower. By the end of it I was in tears because of the pain I was feeling. I called the hospital that night to see if they thought I should come in, but the doctor on call decided that I was probably just in pain from how the baby was situated so I suffered through.
Tuesday I decided that I should go into work. (I am crazy) I wasn't there a couple hours when I noticed there was blood in my urine. This FREAKED me out. I immediately called the doctor and the nurse told me that I probably had a kidney stone. She said that I could wait until my appointment that was already scheduled for the next day so of course I listened.
Wednesday morning I woke up and got ready for my normal appointment. I went in and had to pee in a cup, like always, and I like couldn't go. I literally barely went and what I did go was almost black (sorry! so gross) The nurse asked me how I was even functioning. She said that I had the worst urinary tract infection she had seen.
She took my vitals and I sat and waited for my doctor to come in. When my doctor came in she told me that my blood pressure was extremely high and that I needed she needed to take me to be admitted to the hospital. After we walked from the office and the elevators were packed, she had me take two flights of stairs to the maternity ward. I called Jake on the way and told him to come to the hospital. Then I texted my mom and sister.
They got me all checked in and in a room. Then they started running tests. They hooked me up to a ton of machines and were tracking everything. I had people stabbing me with needles and trying to take blood. It was crazy
Here is where it starts to get fuzzy. I mostly remember my mom freaking out because I was hungry and they wouldn't bring me any food. I know there was a lady doing an ultrasound on my right and my little sister was holding my left hand. The nurse came in and told me that I was much sicker than they thought and that the baby would have to be delivered for me to get better.
My eyes glazed over. I was trying to seem composed on the outside while I was going absolutely insane on the inside. I couldn't have the baby he still needed to cook for two months.
The doctor came in and explained what needed to happen. I had developed preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. I had the most severe stage of the syndrome. Normal blood platelate count would be 150,000 my count was 24,000. I had to get a blood transfusion before the could deliver noah. And because of the situation, I had to be put under for the emergency c-section.
Noah Earl was born at 4:06pm, wrong in at 5 lbs 2 oz and 18 3/4 inches long.
Jake who was supposed to be able to come in the surgery room got all cleaned up and suited up. He never did actually get to come in the room though.
I remember waking up crying in the recovery room, Jake was by my side. And he was telling me that noah was in the NICU and was being well taken care of. After I was taken back to my room where I had to stay in bed because of some of the medications I was on. I remember Jake coming in with a picture of Noah and showing me. We hadn't told anyone our name yet. In case he didn't look like a "Noah." He said I think he looks like a Noah, can I tell people now?
People came in and saw me and told me how beautiful my son was. I can't describe the pain I felt that I couldn't see him or hold him. It was seriously the hardest thing. It was the beginning of a rough three and a half weeks.
This momma was an emotional wreck. I had to stay in the hospital myself for a full week. Until they could get my blood pressure under control. Then came the days of basically living in the NICU.
When Jake went back to work he would drop me off at the hospital at 7:30am. Then we would have dinner in the cafeteria together and be back upstairs for Noah's 8:00pm feeding. Jake would make me go home and sleep for a bit and I would be back at the hospital at 2:00am for that feeding. I was exhausted to say the least.
We got so lucky Noah was very healthy especially for our circumstances. After what felt like the longest three and a half weeks of my life, the little guy was ready to come home!
Literally ever since has flown by. I have watched his personality shine through and I am so proud to be his momma. I could never imagine a love so strong, but it's just this crazy love that comes out. I can't believe it's been a year! But I can't wait to see what Mr. Noah has in store for me this year. Hopefully less surprises. :)
Now here are a few of my favorite photos from the year (out of thousands):
xo, Britt
