How I got here

I am sharing our story for a few reasons. One, it helps me to talk about it. Two, to educate people about preeclampsia. Three, to remind people that life is too short not to appreciate things.

On Monday May 17th, I woke up with blood on my pants. I was a day shy of 24 weeks along. We spoke with our OB and rushed to the doctors office. An ultrasound showed the placenta separating from the wall. A high risk OB from UNC was at Rex that morning so we consulted with him and decided that UNC was the place to be because if Cooper could be saved it would be there. Rex Hospital made sure I was stable and then I was transported to UNC Hospital by ambulance. Once at UNC, I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia. This diagnosis baffled us and surprised all the OBs involved because with Davis I had no problems at all and at my last doctors appointment two and a half weeks earlier my blood pressure and the protein tests were good. So between the preeclampsia and placenta, I was told that I was there until Cooper was delivered. After three days the placenta seemed stable and my blood pressure was good because of bed rest, so we were ready for the long haul of me being in the hospital for months. On Thursday May 20th, a lot of doctors entered my room to tell me that tests came back and my liver and kidneys were beginning to fail and they would need to deliver Cooper in order to save one of us. After talking to the neonatologists, we knew that Cooper was too early to survive long even with medical help. Cooper was delivered via c-section at 4:38pm on Thursday May 20th. He was 1 pound and 5 ounces and 12.5 inches. He was beautiful and even had the little piggy nose that his Mommy and big brother have. Matt and I held and talked to Cooper until midnight when the neonatology nurses took over because we were falling asleep. The next day the nurses and Matt took turns holding Cooper in the nursery until it was time for him to go and they brought him to me. I was holding Cooper as he passed away peacefully at 2:10 pm on Friday May 21st. Even as painful as the past month has been, I am still grateful for having Cooper in my life.

It is very rare that preeclampsia gets as severe and moves as quickly as mine. Normally, it can be controlled with bed rest and a change in lifestyle. Doctors have not been able to figure out whats causes preeclampsia and so far the only way to fix preeclampsia is to deliver the baby. My blood pressure, liver and kidney functions are back to normal. It really is a strange disease. You can read more about preeclampsia here
http://www.preeclampsia.org/

Life can be too short. Cooper was only with us for 22 hours. We will not get to enjoy watching him grow up. Don't take good and bad moments for granted. I know it is easy to do but we need to enjoy life and those special in our lives even when they annoy you.