Nine Years of Loving Prissy

9 years ago I was in the hospital.

It was a time of joy, of family, friends and living through the scariest thing I'd ever had to face.
Birthing my first child.

I'd had some minor complications at the end of my pregnancy, words like hypertension were thrown around and a new special diet was adhered to.
It was all a little too late.
When I woke up in labor 9 years ago we went to the hospital, I was told a few key things.

1) I had 3 protein in my Urine (this is bad)

2) My blood pressure was 180/156 (this is really bad)

3) I was having 8-10 level contractions and barely wincing - the nurse hated me. (this is because I have an amazingly high pain tolerance)


My stubbornness is what saved me.
IF I had agreed to a normal doctor, I might have died. IF I had given in to fear and allowed the hospital to dictate my birth plans, I would have died.
If I hadn't already told and re-told my midwife what easy births my family had, I might have died.
As it was with a fast (2 hour) delivery they still almost lost me.

My body pushing, straining and pumping so much blood at such a fast rate did something unexpected, it decided I no longer needed blood or platelets, I dropped down to an 18 crit count. Not death defying by any means until you add in the fact that I was losing platelets as well.

If I had given in and allowed them to do a C-section, I would have bled to death before they got Prissy out.
She would have been saved and would have grown up without a mother.
I was given 3 bags of packed blood and platelets - they didn't even wait for the bags to fully defrost before pumping the slush into me - with warm towels wrapped around me and my arm to keep from having even more issues.
Now this does not mean that you shouldn't listen to your doctor - it means you need to be informed, understand your choices, your rights and then go with your gut.
 

She has grown so fast!
From cutting off her hair to broken arms she sure has kept us busy!
Her allergies and asthma have changed our life forever ~ not always in a bad way!
Her laugh, her hugs, her amazing capacity to love everyone.
I don't know how I lived my life without her, I really don't.

Happy Birthday my big girl, with love, Mama