32 Weeks, The number that attempted to take my life
The number 32 while being pregnant is quite significant to me & my family. A little over 6 years ago when pregnant with our first son, Kaynin, I was 32 weeks pregnant when my life was unexpectedly forever changed.
Rewind to 2013:
Monday morning, I was trying to get ready to go to LSU (a 45 minute drive) to take one of my exams. Kardaryl was working shift work at the time at a plant and his schedule was pretty chaotic so it was rare that he was home when I left in the mornings, but this specific morning he happened to be home.
As I’m getting ready, my head was pounding with a headache like I’d never experienced before. It felt like somebody was literally throwing bricks at my head. But that wasn’t the biggest problem.
Before I knew it, my brain completely stopped working…. I had Tylenol in my hand for my headache, but I could not figure out how to put the medicine in my mouth. I began wondering aimlessly around our apartment. Kardaryl woke up and asked me what I was doing. I explained to him that I couldn’t find the bathroom.
Extremely concerned, he told me to sit down & I asked him to call my mom for me. At this point, I was still able to talk, but physically I was unable to do anything. I told her what was going on and she said “well you knew how to call me didn’t you?” Then I explained to her that Kardaryl called her because I was unable to do it. Frantically she told me she was going to look up my symptoms and call me right back! This is the last thing I remember from that day.
Everything else I’m about to tell you is not from my memory of this experience, but from the memory of my husband and family and what they have told me happened.
The story from Kardaryl & my families recollection:
Immediately after hanging up with my mom, I began having seizures. For the first time in his life, Kardaryl dialed 911. At the time we were on the second floor of an apartment. No stretcher, pregnant and all, the paramedics picked me up and quickly carried me down the stairs and into the ambulance.
All of my doctors were at Woman’s Hospital, but the paramedics told Kardaryl we weren’t making it to Woman’s that we had to go to the closest hospital possible or me and the baby may not make it.
After getting in the ambulance, my mom called back. Her first question to Kardaryl was “what is that noise in the background”, and he had to explain to her that her daughter was screaming uncontrollably from having seizures and we were on our way to the hospital. Call number 2 was to my dad to explain the same thing to him.
Kardaryl told me getting to the hospital was the longest trip he had ever taken in his life. First, we were in Watson so getting to the hospital was a trip in itself. Second, it was a Monday morning at 8 AM with everybody trying to go to work, and nobody was quickly moving out the way.
Once at the hospital, after numerous times asking Kardaryl what drugs I had taken and what we had done last night, they finally realized that I was not having a reaction to any drugs, that I was having seizures due to Preeclampsia that was not detected and turned into Eclampsia.
Eclampsia is seizures during pregnancy that results from unaddressed high blood pressure, protein in urine, excessive and quick weight gain, and headaches.
The only way to stop the seizures was for the baby to be delivered.
With family, friends, my pastor, and church members in the waiting room, the doctor on call came in wearing cowboy boots & everyone prayed together before the surgery took place. With my condition being so severe and rare, after praying, the doctors told my family only one person could be in the room for the C-Section.
This left my mom and Kardaryl in a tough spot because neither of them were willing to leave my side. The doctor brought the one outfit for the surgery in my room & my mom told Kardaryl to “put those on, I’m going to find my own.” Caught off guard and confused as to what she meant, he didn’t argue and put the hospital surgery gown on.
The doctors wheeled me down to the surgery room, and shockingly my mom was in the room with her surgery gown on. I still to this day do not know what my mom did to get a surgery gown, but I do know that my mom doesn’t take no for an answer often.
Monday evening, with Kardaryl and my mom by my side, several nurses and doctors frantically scattered around the room, the doctors were able to safely preform the C-Section carefully taking out our 32 weeker, Kaynin.
Remember that number 32 I talked about?
At 32 weeks gestation….
Kaynin weighed 3 pounds, 2 ounces
Without me holding him or seeing him in person, Kaynin was quickly rushed to the NICU due to concerns of his lungs not being fully developed.
Even though Kaynin was now delivered safely, my condition was still very severe. I was asked if I knew what year it was, who the president was, what month it was and I couldn’t accurately answer any of those questions. Kaynin was unable to leave the NICU, and I was unable to leave my room until I was stable enough and off of the strong medicines they had me on to maintain the seizures.
My memory returns:
Wednesday, day 3 in the hospital, I was wheeled down in my wheelchair to the NICU and was finally able to meet my first child for the first time.
There are so many what ifs that I can sit here and focus on (what if Kardaryl was working that morning and not home, what if I would have gotten in my car to drive 45 minutes to LSU, what if we would have noticed the preeclampsia signs, what if Kaynin was born full-term). I can make plans, but I’m not the one who determines my steps. The amazing thing that we didn’t realize at the time was that all the “what ifs” were already taken care of.
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9
Things happen and it’s up to us to see light in the situation and
handle it in a way that helps us grow.
A few days later, Kardaryl and I left the hospital having to leave Kaynin in the NICU. Although it was difficult leaving our fragile newborn first child at the hospital, it gave me time to recover from my surgery and gave us time to prepare for him at home because we were procrastinator first parents & had NOTHING ready!
As young first time parents, Kardaryl and I had so much to learn. Looking on the positive side of things, the NICU was an amazing experience for us. The nurses taught us how to feed our child whom we saw as breakable. They helped educate us on swaddling, changing diapers, breast feeding and proper ways to store the milk while he was in the hospital. They helped us become more confident in caring for him. Without the NICU nurses, we may have been on our third child still clueless as to what we were doing.
When Kaynin hit the 4 pound mark a month after being born, he was able to come home. Although Kardaryl and I were timid with Kaynin still being so fragile, we were confident in caring for him based on what we had learned from the nurses.
The next two times I showed up to my doctor pregnant, she nervously asked if we planned this. When we answered her, her face said it all insinuating that we were CRAZY planning to have more kids and risking to go through all of that again.
I see what happened as just part of my story and a testimony to share. It taught me that if God wanted Kardaryl to be at work that morning instead of home with me, he had the power to put him there, but choose not to. So I trust that I am well protected for anything else life throws at me.
I encourage you to be aware of your body when pregnant and not ignore any symptoms like I did, and don’t dwell on the things that happen. Learn from them and trust that everything happens for a reason.
Kaynin entering the world on that crazy day grew me and Kardaryl’s relationship tremendously, it impacted his relationship with my family, and it created a strong foundation for us to raise several other children after Kaynin.
Today, I make 32 weeks pregnant with our third child.
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