7/2/13://

The day that changed our lives forever.


So, my blood pressure was going crazy. At 7:15am my blood pressure was 196/101. The nurse called the doctor to see what he wanted her to do. She came back and gave me another dose of blood pressure medicine. This had been after staying in bed sleeping for the past several hours. I still had no other symptoms, which still seems crazy to me! My back was starting to hurt from staying in that hospital bed for so long, so they gave me some Tylenol to help with it. About an hour and a half later, around 8:30, by blood pressure had lowered very slightly, 175/99. She called the doctor again and she came back and injected blood pressure meds straight into my I.V. They were checking it every 30 minutes. The next reading around 9:15 was 174/100. Around 10:00, it was 176/106. After this reading the nurse said she was going to go call the doctor to see what he wanted to do.

Around 11:00am,  I got the most terrifying, surprising, unexpected news. The nurse came in and said, "Doctor Drewes says to start prepping for your c section." I couldn't believe it. Anxiety, shock, stress, fright, so many emotions overcame me. Aly and Matt were in the room with me. Matt immediately gave me a blessing, all of us in tears. Soon the nurses came in and started setting up an IV in my right hand. I (of course) was in tears, and the nurse looks at me and asks, "are we hurting you?" UM I'm sorry, but no you aren't hurting me! You just told me I was going into surgery! Why else would I be crying!? hah! They started me on the nasty Magnesium Sulfate again. After they were finished setting up the IV, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. His phone kept ringing. His ringtone was "Somebody That I Used To Know" and he kept singing along! He was definitely too happy. I rolled over and right before he was going to administer the drugs, he says, "Now, because you aren't feeling any labor pains, this is going to hurt more than usual." Great, thanks for the heads up man. He was soo right though. And since I had been on bed rest, I had edema built up in my back, which made it harder for the meds to go through. SO he had to stick me THREE times. Matt was such a sweet heart. He was holding my hand kept trying to talk to me during it to distract me. OH MAN, did that hurt. And because of the edema, he had to rub it in after he shot it in me! Bah. Worst pains. Soon, but not soon enough, the numbness set it. Dr. Drewes came into the room and explained why they were going to proceed with the c section. Still didn't settle my nerves.

Then, they wheeled me back to the operating room. The last blood pressure reading was 180/110 or something pretty close to that. I kissed Aly goodbye, since she wasn't allowed to come with. Matt held my hand all the way to the operating room. Once in the OR, they rolled me over to the operating table. It was very strange not being able to feel/control my legs! Once I was placed on the table, they put up the sheet in front of my chest. They placed this inflatable paper thing on me, which filled with air that I could tell them when I was cold, and he would make it warm, and vice versa. It was pretty cool, especially since it was freezing in that room to begin with. And boy did I have the shakes! I'm pretty sure that it was from the shock I was in. But the shakes lasted forever it felt like.

Our little boy, Matthew William Erickson,  was born that day at 1:41pm, weighing 1 pound 15 ounces, measuring 15 inches! Matt was able to follow the doctors with our baby to get a video of his precious, yet strong, cry!

Here's one of our first pictures of our sweet baby, Will. 

Aly with our sweet Will.

Every 4 hours, Will has 'cares'. We are able to open his isollete and help with changing his diaper, and taking his temperature.

 This is the diaper he wears right now, and they have to fold it down because it's still too big!

 He has the longest fingers and toes!! So adorable. 

We were definitely blessed with a sweet angel that day. 

Baby Erickson

So, for those who didn't know, we were expecting our first little babe! Little baby boy erickson was expected to arrive Oct 4th. This all changed on Friday, June 31st.

On June 31st, I had my routine OB check up. Matt was able to come to all of my other appointments with me, but this time he had to work, so I decided to ask my sister Aly to come along with me. I really could have gone alone, but boy was I glad I had asked her to come with.

My appointment was at 11:20 AM, but they were running a little late, so they took me back around 11:40 AM. They took my blood pressure and it was immediately high. I think it was 150/102. The nurse brought us into a room and had me lay down in the dark, trying to lower my BP. Soon the DR came in and checked for swelling, and asked some questions about genetic high BP. I let him know my mother had high BP with each of her pregnancies, but it was only high blood pressure, nothing more. He then told me he wanted me to go across the street to Utah Valley Regional Labor & Delivery to be observed and run some tests. Of course that made me start freaking out a little, especially since I was only 26 weeks preggers. They took my BP again before sending me on my way and it had risen to 176/125!

So, luckily, Aly is a stay at home mommy (the best one too), and was more than happy to come with me across the street to the hospital. I called Matt at work and let him know what that we were headed over for some tests. He talked to his boss and was able to leave for a little while. When we got to the L&D they were expecting me. they brought me back into a room and gave me a lovely gown to put on. At this point, I was still feeling fine! I didn't have anything but the high bp. They then took several viles of blood for testing and had me give a urine sample. Matt had to go back to work, but I was feeling fine and didn't think we'd be staying much longer, so I told him that I'd be fine with Aly.

Soon the DR came back with the results. I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. I had only heard this name before, never had I known what it'd meant. The rest of that day was a blur! They immediately started me on an IV of saline and Magnesium Sulfate - which is THE WORST. It made me hot and flushed, nauseated, and so fatigued! Seriously I felt like I was going to die. I was a vegetable.  They gave me a catheter to start the 24 hour urine watch, and my first steroid shot in my bum for the babies development. The DR assume it was severe preeclampsia and talked about possibly having to deliver the baby in the next day or two. YIKES. I was definitely not prepared for that kind of news! I was officially on hospital bed rest. I was going to stay in the hospital until I delivered.


Soon after starting the IV's, they wheeled me down to the first floor to get an ultrasound done to see how baby was. Baby's growth was right on track, but my fluid was low. At 26 weeks the doctor said usually it should measure between 10-20 cm, and mine was at a 6. The doctor explained that this was expected with having preeclampsia, being that it is a placenta disorder. It was exciting to see our baby again, though I was pretty drugged with that magnesium. The ultrasound doctor said that preeclampsia was so fascinating- yeah I didn't agree!

They took us back upstairs and the rest of the night was a blur for me. Matt came back and stayed the night. I started losing muscle strength slowly, and they checked my vitals every hour even through the night, so I definitely did not get any sleep.

Aly would come and sit with me while Matt would go home to shower and grab some things. They ran the tests with my urine, and there was protein in it, but not a whole lot. They moved us to a huge room! It was like the master suites of hospital rooms. One of the lab tech's that came in to draw blood said that this room was one that they put long-term patients in. Obviously the doctors and nurses were thinking (and hoping) I would be able to keep the babe in longer!

I remained on the magnesium sulfate for 48 hours - so from friday night to sunday night. So saturday and sunday were a blur to me as well. My face and feet started swelling, so I started to look like a vegetable, too! It was really miserable. Finally on Sunday they took me off the magnesium, and they also took out the catheter! So, I was finally able to get up to use the bathroom on my own, well, sort of on my own. Because I had been on the magnesium for 48 hours, and had the catheter, my muscles were almost nonexistent, and I couldn't stand up on my own. It was scary! The nurse said that magnesium also relaxes the muscles, so that was to be expected. I still didn't like the feeling at all. I had to have help every time I wanted to use the bathroom for the next 24-ish hours. Sunday night they also let me shower! This was a great thing, but also pretty miserable. I was still suffering from the affects of the mag, so I wasn't able to even shower myself. I sat in the shower, and all I could do was hold the shower head. Luckily, I have a pretty amazing husband, and he helped me. The nurse was impressed and said I had a great husband :)

Monday was a lot better. I had muscle control back, and was able to get up when I needed to use the restroom. My blood pressure was getting better with the medicine they had me on, so they checked me every 4 hours, instead of every hour! That was a nice break. For the most part my blood pressure was staying the same every time. Matt went to work that day, and Aly (such a wonderful sister!!) came and sat with me for the majority of the day.

Tuesday is when life, as we knew it, changed unexpectedly.

                              To be continued...