The Rest Of My Birthing Story....

The day I was due to go home from the hospital with my babies, I started having difficulty breathing, so I was taken for x-rays, ekg, and a cat scan. It seems I had developed pulmonary edema. I was taken to ICU and stayed there for two days until they released me to the ICU ward in a private room. While I was in the postnatal ward, I had my babies with me as often as I wanted. Both babies were latching on so well and I was all geared up for breastfeeding, but that had to stop once I went to ICU. I only saw my babies at feeding time and they had to be accompanied by a nurse (to help of course), so I didn't get to be alone with them until I left the hospital. While in ICU I was pretty much out of it most of the time. My cardiologist put me on heart/high blood pressure medication, so I was only able to pump and dump my breast milk, mainly at first because of the dye they used during the cat scan. During my stay in ICU I was given a water pill to try and drain the fluid off my lungs and the rest of my body. By the time I left there, they said over 36 pounds of fluid was drained from my body. My OB was right when he kept telling me that I wasn't actually gaining weight, but it was mostly fluid. I didn't think that was possible until I saw how much weight I lost once I left the hospital. I hate to say how much I weighed in at, but I'll tell you that I've lost a total over 50 pounds since I had my babies 12 days ago. I still have about 35 pounds to lose to get to the weight I started at, and that was a little over 200 pounds. I was losing weight when I got pregnant with these two babies, I'm hoping I can keep losing.

My OB came in to check on me while I was in ICU and he told me it appears I did develop pre-eclampsia after I gave birth. He said they were concerned that I had developed cardiomyopathy, I'm still not sure if I did or did not, so I'll ask him about it when I have my next appointment with him. However, the medication I'm on is for the heart and high blood pressure and I was told my heart enlarged. I'm hoping whatever the case may be that it will resolve soon, as I was told it shouldn't last over 6 months at the most.

As for breastfeeding, I chose to give up on it because I didn't think the risk to their health was worth it. The medication I'm on now can cause them to have low blood pressure. I'm upset because I was looking forward to it, but it's the best for them. Anything to keep my babies healthy!!!