Adventures of the Harbison Clan: Emryn's Journey

I thought that I would try and write about what happened towards the end of my pregnancy and how Emryn is doing currently.

During the 34th week of my pregnancy, that Tuesday, I had an appointment with my MFM, and Emryn was not acting normally. She wasn't having as much of a reactive strip, meaning that she wasn't moving as much. She had to be "woken up" 3x while I was on the heart rate monitor, and then once during the US section. That was the first time that she hadn't been extremely active.

At work, I had been trying to work with my boss on limiting the number of patients that I would see each day. I had noticed that my BP readings had been slowly increasing. I had already been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, hypothyroidism, and polyhydramnios. The limit somewhat existed, and it did help me feel a bit calmer at times.

I had asked Tim for a blessing that evening, for guidance concerning the pregnancy and next steps in life. I got a surprising response during the blessing. I was told that I was about to be in the midst of a trial, but to seek God, look for peace, and that Emryn would be fine.

Wednesday went normally. On Thursday, I woke up with a headache. Important thing to note, is that I had been having a headache for 4 weeks straight, on the right side of my head, at a pain level of a 2/10, pretty constant. That was what had initially caused me to ask to recheck for pre-eclampsia, and have my urine be consistent with that. That morning, my headache had worsened, and was a 4/10. My BP that morning was higher as well. I felt "off". Now, as a doctor, I hate hearing vague expressions like that from my patients, because it doesn't really help guide me with what they are experiencing. However, that was the best explanation for how I felt. I drove to work, not feeling any better. Once my MA arrived, I told her how I was feeling, and she encouraged me to call my OBGYN and find out what they recommended that I do. I spoke with the nurse, she heard about my worsening headache, my higher BP readings and my overall feeling of unwell, and she advised me to go to the OB ER. I then called my boss, and he encouraged me to do what was advised. I told my MA that I was leaving, and she told my patients, who were already gathered in the waiting room, that I was leaving to go to the hospital.

Once at the OB ER, they checked my BP and the first two readings were 180/90s. The nurse then got the hospitalist, and I was told that I was going to be admitted to the hospital, and that I would be having my C-section later on that day. They weren't going to do it immediately because I had had a small breakfast and I needed to be NPO for at least 8 hours so I wouldn't get sick during the surgery. I then got an IV placed, and was given IV labetalol. I then had to call Tim, it was just past 9 in the morning. Flynn had been dropped off at therapy, and Preston had been dropped off at drama camp. My folks weren't due to arrive until August 15th. Tim then had to try and coordinate children. He got in contact with our sister-in-law Jazenia, who was willing to go to our house to watch the boys and spend the night, so Tim could come to the hospital. Tim got ahold of my parents, and they rescheduled their flight to arrive on Saturday. Tim was able to pick up the boys and get them to the our house. He arrived by about noon, with my estimated c-section time of 4:30pm. I called my MA and my boss, and told them that I was admitted to the hospital and would be having my baby later on that day.

I then met a bunch of people very quickly at the hospital. A few nurses, CRNA, and a PICC nurse. I was placed on IV magnesium since I was having pre-eclampsia with severe features, and they wanted to prevent me from having a seizure. IV magnesium absolutely sucks. It feels like fire, a burning sensation, makes you feel very warm, and achy, like a minor flu. I was given the IV labetalol multiple times, and my BP levels were still not well controlled. I was also given a dose of steroids to try to help with lung development of Emryn. I was brought into the OR to get ready for the C-section. They had issues placing my spinal, it took about 10-15 minutes before they were successful. I broke down crying, in anxiety and stress. Once the medication kicked in, I laid down on the table and calmed down. Tim came in, and the C-section started. During the c-section, I had some nausea, shortness of breath, but then things improved. Emryn came out, and was brought over to the warmer. She was born at 5:25pm, at 34 weeks 6 days gestation.

At the warmer, it was noticed that Emryn was having issues with breathing. The NICU team had been in the OR the whole time, and they came over, brought her quickly over to me to have me kiss her head, and then took her to the NICU. Emryn was placed on CPAP, given some surfactant to help her lungs develop better. They got an x-ray, which showed respiratory distress syndrome. The NICU doctor was worried that he might need to intubate Emryn if she didn't improve.

During the c-section, my OB told me that my uterus was starting to window pane, meaning that the uterine walls were so thin that they were almost see-through. Dr. Grover agreed with my assessment of this being our last child, because my uterus could not handle any more stress. My uterus could have easily ruptured.

I was brought back to the room, very confused. I had met my daughter for the shortest period of time, barely got to touch her, and was told that I could not officially go into the NICU until I was off of the IV magnesium.

The following days were a lot of the same. I was stuck on the IV magnesium until 24 hours post c-section, which was in the evening. Tim and I visited Emryn, who was in the isolette, and wearing a CPAP. I couldn't touch her at that time. My BP was still uncontrolled, and I needed multiple doses of IV labetalol. Eventually, I was placed on oral labetalol, along with my nifedipine, to help control my BP. The morning after my IV magnesium was stopped, I went into the NICU and held Emryn for the first time, skin to skin. That was such a magical experience. She calmed down pretty quickly, even though she hated wearing the CPAP.

Over the next few days, Emryn was taken off of the CPAP and was able to maintain her oxygen saturation on room air alone. They moved her tube from being an OG (oral-gastric) to NG (nasal-gastric) and started introducing milk via bottle. She has been slowly improving. Her goal for discharge is to be able to take 80-90% of feeds by mouth. Another thing that Emryn has been managing is her bilirubin levels. They became too high at one point, and she had to be placed under the bili-lights. Thankfully, she only needed to be under them for less than 24 hours.

Emryn is now a week old. This is so strange to me, because she is still in the NICU. I only get to spend about 1.5-2 hours a day with her, and can hold her for about 30-60 minutes. This has been extremely hard. I didn't realize how hard this would be until she got taken into the NICU. I am aware that this is the safest place for her to be, and that she is getting the best care possible. I just cannot wait until I get to bring her home. We love her so much.