A Year Ago (long post)

A year ago today I was scared. I had been home a few days with a newborn and recovering from surgery. We had our first outing with him and the siblings to have his bilirubin levels re-checked at the hospital. While we were waiting for the results we went across the street and had lunch and did a little shopping. Little did we know that our mobile phone wasn't receiving in that area. While we were out that morning I started developing a headache that subsided after I ate lunch. I attributed it to not taking some pain medication (which made me sleepy) recently, or not having caffeine (which I was trying to cut back on teas while I was nursing). We revisited the hospital and discovered that our ped was desperately trying to reach us since Logan had a high level and had to be hospitalized for light therapy and monitoring. Well, the flurry of activity to get some things back to the hospital for my overnight stay and his admission just egged on the headache. By this time my head was throbbing. This is the by far the worst headache I have ever experienced-light sensitivity, nausea, etc. I can just guess that a migraine is similar? I casually mentioned to my husband that I was going down to OB/L&D to ask the nurses. When I mentioned all of this to the nurses on the unit, she suggested that maybe I have some coke and lay down while she took my blood pressure. It was sky high.
Background: The last month of pregnancy I had been monitored for high BP since I had two borderline readings (both of those occurred after I was running late for the appointment-imaging that). My pressures had been very normal after that. I had been advised to let the staff know if I had severe headaches, etc......but none until now. Luckily, my dear doctor was on call at the hospital that evening. He had an IV with magnesium started to prevent seizures and a medication to lower my blood pressure. I had the nurse call my husband, who was unknowingly waiting several floors above with our son. I remember him asking me (amid the extreme pain in my head) what was going to happen, and all I could reply was "I don't know"-because I didn't. All I knew at that point was that I had a five-day-old son who needed me, and four other children at home with a babysitter who needed me. I felt like my body was failing me-arghh. I bet the nurses on the medical/surgical unit were shocked that the mother who had admitted her baby a few hours earlier was now a patient with him.

We stayed several nights until things subsided. I am so thankful for my friends who stepped up and took care of my children (again) while we recovered. Needless to say, that began an eventful year for me. It has been a year that has taught me so much. What a difference a year makes!The uncanny thing that happened that evening: I had just returned to the hospital room for less than 15 minutes when the phone rang; it was my mom. Nobody had called her to let her know that Logan and I had been readmitted. She just had a need to call our home and found out from the sitter that we were at the hospital. She lived in Texas and we were in the UK-about 5000 miles away. A mother's intuition? I think so.