The Turning point part 2

I was only six months pregnant yet I was in the ER at Magees Women Hospital in Pittsburgh vomiting as the doctor explained to my mother and me that I was four centimeters dilated. Life as it was in this moment seemed surreal to me. I was sure this was nothing but a nightmare that would end any minute now not knowing that the nightmare had just begun.

I was in a trance; everything seemed slow and fast all at once I looked at my mom who is a RN, BSN looking for answers. My mother constantly caressed my hand and told me that all is well she had no signs of panic in her face; she just kept on praying in whispers. I cannot recall everything that transpired from the ER to the labor room but I can tell you is that I heard words like Indomethacin, not working, check, epidural, amniotic fluid.

I later understood that the doctors tried their best to keep me from delivering but the Indomethacin was not working so they felt that it was an infection and then had to use the epidural which I had initially opted not to use but now it was a must because it was a necessity my axiomatic fluid was extracted to check of any pending infection. The results later reveled that I had E. coli in my amniotic fluid and if swallowed by my baby it could lead to severe medical issues and even death. The doctors made a choice to deliver my son as soon as possible he was out in three pushes.

I only saw something that looked like a furry rat. My son weighed 1Ibs 4oz. I was scared of it and I could remember looking and my mother as she was saying how cute he was and in my head thinking that her prescription glasses needed to me checked out. The ordeal was over as soon as it started and my son was rushed down to the NICU.  My mother had already called my husband during my contractions. He did his best to make it by driving form Arlington VA but arrived after the birth of our son.

My thoughts were still all over the place. I was worried about what people would think because of my cultural background, most people who are different are shunned. I did not even shed a tear at the time. I put on my game face assuring everyone around me that I was fine, I still had no emotion that I could tap into I just felt blank.

 

My husband wheeled me down to the NICU to see our son. The blue light was on him to cure him of his jaundice. I had never seen anything so tiny in my life and I felt upset and angry because I had already gained a considerable amount of weight and yet he was so little. My husband just stood there in shock because this was our first child and now we were faced with many uncertainties. I was unsure if my son would survive and if he did what was the quality of life would he have.

The Turning Point Part 1

I planned to drive to my brother’s home in Pittsburg in the morning with my mother. I was six months pregnant and feeling a little feverish but I was still unwilling to disappoint my mother even though I knew that she would understand.

My mother picked me up at six am on December 19, 2007 and we set off to take the four to five hour drive. The sun was not out yet and it was cold, my mother had the car radio on her Christian station and was just praying nonstop to the point where I was a bit irritated. I was popping a low dose of Tylenol as my fever was just not letting go. I slept to the sounds of gospel and praying until we arrived in Allegheny County,Pittsburgh.

There is a feeling I get whenever I enter Pittsburgh now but then it was the feeling of love and hate because I lived in Pittsburgh for a year with my brother and his wife while I was attending school. Pittsburgh is not as fast paced as the DMV and if I had to pick a color that best describes it for me I would choose grey for the vibe I feel and yellow and black because you cannot talk about Pittsburg with thinking of the Steelers. One would not believe that after looking at brochures  trying to incite people to migrate to . I believe that it’s due to the old infrastructure and deserted manufacturing plants. The majority of the residents in Pittsburgh are students, senior citizens, people whose families have been there for generations and foreigners who settled after attaining some sort of higher education from one of the many prestigious university the state has to offer.

My brother and his wife were really excited to see us. We talked, watched television and ate. I eat a lot while pregnant and after eating the next must on my agenda is sleeping so I left my family downstairs and headed for bed. I started to get the sensation of wanting to use the restroom as I was making my way my mom ran up and stood in front of the bathroom door, startled, I asked her if she was okay and why she was blocking me. She looked at me and let me know that she had an intuition that I should not use the restroom.  She stood in front of the bathroom and said you are going to have to hold it or go to the hospital and have your B.M. there. I was laughing at how adamant she was about the fact that I could not use the restroom in my own brother’s house. I walked away went back into the room and  lay down by my mother. My mother was a half inch behind me every step of the way. I started to feel an uncomfortable pain and the worst it got the higher my mother shouted at my brother to get and ambulance.

My mother stutters , thus my brothers and me have the same speech impediment and my oldest brothers stuttering is really bad, any stutterer that is in a high anxiety situation has added difficulty in relaying a message through speech. He could hardly get the sentence our so his wife had to ask for assistance from the 811 dispatcher.I was placed in the back of the ambulance and transported to Magee Women’s Hospital. Upon arrival I vomited and the test indicated at six months pregnant I was already four centimeters dialated .

To Be Continued...