Saturday, June 02, 2007

Where on Earth to Start?

I'm lucky to be alive. I'm lucky that my boys, Zach and Alex, were absolutely perfect after delivery and are showing no ill effects from my condition. I'm lucky to be out of the hospital to recover at home, where I can finally be with my family.

It looks like my diagnosis is HELLP syndrome, something that only happens in .02 to .08 percent of pregnancies. And evidently, I am one of the worst cases the doctors have seen. The "cure" for Hellp is delivery, and once you've delivered it's supposed to resolve quickly. Well, I delivered almost a month ago. Who knows how long recovery will take. I know Jamie at Sticky Feet has been giving updates through all this, so I'm not sure what you all may know about my condition already and what happened to me.

When I just reread my last post before all this went down, I saw the line about my mom having sympathy for my condition and how this means I might be about to die. It makes me shudder. I had a really bad feeling Saturday through Monday that something wasn't right, but all the signs I exhibited were really things that could have been perfectly normal ones for how far I was with the twins. If I had called the doctor on Saturday, it likely wouldn't have made a difference in what happened or the severity of it.

Anyhow, there's plenty of time to get into the nightmare that was my 2 plus weeks in the hospital.

I want to say a big thank you for the gift Jamie, The Woman Who Cried Pregnant, Lisa, Hopeful Mother, Jonesing for a Baby and Motel Manager sent to me. When I saw who it was from I was truly stunned and I cried happy tears. Couldn't believe you tracked me down in that hospital. It's funny that Jamie comments about the boys needing to share the teddy bear...a few hours after the package arrived, I received an identical one from a family friend. The first thing H and I said was--how perfect is that?--now the boys will both have their own bear!!!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Emmie - How wonderful to see you back on line. I can't even imagine what strength it took to get thru what you experienced. I've been praying for you and your family daily. And you're beyond welcome for the gift. Glad to hear it brought some happiness! I love your boys names. Take care and know you're in my thoughts. ~Lisa

Sunny said...

So am hearing right, you had the boys already? Congrats!!!!

Jamie said...

Yah! Yah! Yah! You're alive!! And well enough to type us a note! I so hope you are feeling better and starting to get back on your feet. Please update when you have time and feel up to it!!

*BIG HUGS*
Jamie

Anonymous said...

so good to know that you are back home! when you get time, and energy ;), please tell more of the story as well as all of the specifics about the boys!!

Lollipop Goldstein said...

Oh, Emmie--I'm glad you're home and you're doing better and the boys are okay. Sending many good thoughts for a very speedy recovery.

Motel Manager said...

Welcome back! I love the names you picked. I look forward to hearing more about your saga...I hope your recovery picks up pace!

Eva said...

Congratulations (belatedly). I'm glad the babies are doing okay. I'm sorry you've been through so much! I had severe preeclampsia (not as sick as you were obviously) but the surprising thing was that after I gave birth, my BP kept going up, as did some liver blood tests. And no one knew what to do with me. The OBs didn't want to deal because I wasn't pregnant anymore. And we were in a hotel because babes were in the NICU. I finally contacted our MFM who saw and followed me for a while. Now I seem to be back to pre-pregnancy health, which I'm relieved about. I hope you get there soon, and are enjoying those babes.

Unknown said...

Ah....So glad you are doing better! Can't wait to see pics of your little guys! :)

BigP's Heather said...

So glad you are back blogging! Hope you start feeling better soon.

GLouise said...

Hi sweetie! I have been so worried for you! i didn't see you online for seemingly forever, so I was concerned, but chalked it up to recovering from delivery and taking care of the boys...had no idea about HELLP....My prayers for your continued recovery....Take care, and congratulations on the babies!!

queen said...

Glad to hear you're home and okay with your little dudes. How awesome is that!

Hope you get well really fast. Congrats, mommy! You've made it!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! So glad you are finally home and I can't wait to see pics of the boys!
Carla

Somewhat Ordinary said...

Welcome home, mommy! I'm so glad that you are home now and your family is together. Jamie has been doing a great job filling us in as much as she could and you've been in my thoughts this whole time. I can't wait to hear more about your boys!

deanna said...

I'm so glad you're feeling well enough to post a quick update! I've been wondering about you and worrying that something had gone awry. You poor girl! What a horrible, rough time of it! I'm so sorry things turned out so difficult, but I've very happy for you that you're feeling better and your boys are healthy. Congrats on your babies, and rest up!!!

Jacquie said...

Well 1st off congrats on the boys, you guys must be over the moon.

So sorry to hear of your trouble after delivery. Hoping your recovery is speedy now that you are at home.

Enjoy your boys.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry you had to be on the wrong side of the HELLP statistics, but so glad you are home and recovering now. Anything on the pre-eclampsia spectrum was my biggest fear.

Hopeful Mother said...

I'm so happy that you have been reunited with your boys and husband, and are on the track to recovery. We were getting updates from Jamie, but were obviously still very worried about you!

Thanks for sharing a very difficult (and joyous) time in your life, and I hope for a speedy recovery!

p.s. We just chose our boys' names and one of them is Alexander too! I love Zachary as well... my husband didn't like it though... I personally think he is wrong! Love your boys' names together - classic, and not too "twinny."