Dustin Jacob

We were so thrilled to know we would be having a baby. It was a dream come true! I could not wait to meet our son! I had morning sickness (at night) for the first 3 months, after that things went pretty smooth. At 37 weeks my feet begun to swell, like nothing I have every seen. I went to the Dr. and they found I had protein in my urine. We ran test and my liver enzymes were high. i remember being so confused, like what is going on??? They told me I had pre eclampsia and was free to go home but I would be monitored. Each day my liver enzymes were getting higher. Pre eclampsia can lead to Pregnancy Induced Hypertention. The best cure for pre eclampsia is to deliver the baby. I went to labor and delivery and the Dr. put prolactin gel on my cervix to help induce labor. When I called my mom she was so worried and said "I'll be there tonight". She drove 6 hours from Az to be with me. Thank god! We went to L&D on March 4th for my second does of gel. The Dr. came in and told me i needed to be induced ASAP, because I have pre eclampsia and it could be very dangerous for me and my baby. I was devastated and started crying. I told her " I do not want a C-Section" She assured me I would be ok, and that induction does not always = C-section. I was put on pitosin at 11 am and 23 hrs & 45 min later on March 5, 2009 my son was born!! There is nothing that can explain the birth of a child except for overwhelming love. He was perfect. 8lbs 2 oz. I could not believe I just had a baby :) My Life was complete. We were released fromt he hospital the next day. I started getting headaches and noticed my hands and face were swelling. I looked like Ms. Piggy. I also developed a rash on my feet and hand. I went to the dr. and they told me it was my eczema acting up and the swelling was from the fluid during labor. I gained 27 lbs. during pregnancy and after delivering an 8 lb baby and placenta, I only lost two lbs. I knew something wasn't right. I went to the Dr. again and was sent to labor & Delivery. I was told that I had Pregnancy Induced Hypertention. OMG!!! I thought the whole point of induction was to prevent that. My blood presure was sky high (despite being perfect throughout my pregnancy). They told me I would be admitted and put me on a magnesium sulfate treatment

to prevent brain swelling and stop swelling of my central nervous system. My son was only 4 days old and I had to be seperated from him. I refused to have the treatment and be seperated from my son. They expalined to me that refusing the treatment could be fatal. Art & I were devasted. This was suppossed to be the best time of my life and now it is the scariest. I was only 23 and was hearing the worst news ever. (its not a flattering picture, but it shows how bad I got). I took the treatment. Thank God for my church who kept me in prayer and sent people to pray for me. The treament seemed to work and I was able to go home and be with my family. Imediately my swelling was gone. The rash spread. Turns out I had PUP, a pregnancy rash. Its very atypical to get that after pregnancy as is Pregnancy Induced Hypertention. While I was dealing with all my issues. Art & Nico were dealing with Dustin's jaundice. Jaundice is fairly common with newborns, but when you are going through so much other stuff its not fun. We took Dustin to the Dr. every 3 days to get his levels tested. After 3 weeks of foot warmers and blood draws he was in the clear :). Nico waiting with his baby for his feet to warm so he can get his blood drawn. You can see how yellow Dustin was. The rashed cleared and I was pretty much back to normal. When Dustin was 3 weeks old I became very sick. I thought I had food poinsoning. But it was sooooooooooo painful . I could not keep anything down and my body was is so much pain. Finally one day I was freezing but sweating, when I looked in the mirror I was blue. At 4:30 am I drove myself to the ER and was told I needed emergency surgery to remove my gal bladder because the stones were ripping the gal bladder and the toxins would leak. What.... I have never broke anything, fraftured anything, let alone had surgery. I was so scared!! That also meant I had to be away from my son for 2-4 days. The surgery went well and I was able to return home. I recovered fine and was now able to enjoy my family. My experience during and after pregnancy was not an easy one, but it really strengthend my faith. I am glad I went through all of that because it showed me how great God is. Another name for God is jehovah Rapha, meaning the Lord your healer. He is my healer and has brought me through so much. I know that I will always victorious because the battle is already won!

xo

Chris