So, in the middle of August I had decided a hospital birth was just not for me. I began seeing a very compassionate and experienced midwife, Susan Sherwood, at The Birthing Inn and we hired a fantastic doula, Emmy, who would also teach our birthing classes. Susan was my primary doctor for my pregnancy, and Emmy was our birth educator and birth coach - both would be present at my natural birth in a quiet comfy room at The Birthing Inn, with NO unnecessary medical interventions.
At the end of August, my mom and I flew to Thailand to visit family with my midwife's okay. During the very long flight there my ankles and calves began swelling and I had to take off my shoes and socks and walk around as often as possible. Once we landed in Thailand and during our 2 week stay there, the swelling progressivley got worse and I chalked it up to the humidity and all the walking around we were doing. None of my shoes were fitting and any time we had some down-time I spent it icing my feet and calves and keeping them elevated.
We came home from Thailand and I saw my midwife - we agreed, I was having a lot of pregnancy swelling! She suggested I do mineral salt bath soaks and keep my feet elevated as much as possible, but I continued working 40+ hours a week and thought I was just swelling from standing so much. One day, I took a picture of my swollen feet and texted it to my best friend - who immediately freaked out and told me to demand to see my doctor. I called my midwife on Monday and she ordered lab work for later that day. My results came back the next day and she called and gave me the bad news, I had severe preeclampsia, and if I didn't get into the hospital right away, I could have seizures, or even worse, lose the baby. Within the hour I was admitted to the hospital - who later realized I was only 27 weeks along in my pregnancy and they weren't equipped to deal with a premature baby, but the NICU in our town was booked solid so they transferred me by ambulance to the best NICU in our region in Seattle...
At the end of August, my mom and I flew to Thailand to visit family with my midwife's okay. During the very long flight there my ankles and calves began swelling and I had to take off my shoes and socks and walk around as often as possible. Once we landed in Thailand and during our 2 week stay there, the swelling progressivley got worse and I chalked it up to the humidity and all the walking around we were doing. None of my shoes were fitting and any time we had some down-time I spent it icing my feet and calves and keeping them elevated.
We came home from Thailand and I saw my midwife - we agreed, I was having a lot of pregnancy swelling! She suggested I do mineral salt bath soaks and keep my feet elevated as much as possible, but I continued working 40+ hours a week and thought I was just swelling from standing so much. One day, I took a picture of my swollen feet and texted it to my best friend - who immediately freaked out and told me to demand to see my doctor. I called my midwife on Monday and she ordered lab work for later that day. My results came back the next day and she called and gave me the bad news, I had severe preeclampsia, and if I didn't get into the hospital right away, I could have seizures, or even worse, lose the baby. Within the hour I was admitted to the hospital - who later realized I was only 27 weeks along in my pregnancy and they weren't equipped to deal with a premature baby, but the NICU in our town was booked solid so they transferred me by ambulance to the best NICU in our region in Seattle...
