Cameron's Story

I woke up during the wee hours of the morning on December 26th with what I thought was heartburn. I had suffered the same symptoms the night before and figure it was all of the holiday eating! The burning continued for hours and I woke Adam in tears. The pain was now radiating to my arm. Adam told me he was taking me to the ER...did I mention I was 34 weeks pregnant? I told him I thought it might be a gallbladder attack, and he got on his laptop and he diagnosed me with what he thought was preeclampsia. I fought him about going to the ER because I would be so embarrassed if it was only heartburn! I finally gave in and we were off to the ER. After waiting what seemed like hours for results the doctor walked in and gave me the bad news...I did have Preeclampsia. The doctor told me the only cure was to deliver the baby. Adam and I were both frozen with fear more worried about health of the baby then anything. The doctor assured us that a six week premature baby has a very high survival rate and we should not worry. Here is a pic of me Christmas night before baby was born...

The goal was to induce labor over the next 48 hours. We started to contact family member to give them the news and soon they were showing up one by one. Almost 12 hours after arriving to ER I still did not have any contractions. I was put on a magnesium drip to bring down my blood pressure and blood draws every two hours. Around 5pm a doctor comes into my room to give me more bad news...I had developed HELLP Syndrome. My liver was failing and an emergency C section was needed. I could see the nursing staff putting on their scrubs in the background and fear set in again. Due to my condition I could not have an epidural for pain, so I had to go under general anesthesia. I remember being wheeled into the OR, bright lights shining down on me, oxygen mask, and the warm feeling as anesthesia entered my body. All I thought to myself was, "Will I wake up?" Due to my platelet counts being so low there was risk of my blood not clotting.

A little over an hour later I woke up with my mother and aunt staring over me. I had no pain medication and my incision was on fire with pain. I only saw a cell phone picture of Cameron and I would be unable to see her until I could walk to NICU on my own. This is the picture. She was 4 lbs 9 oz, although you can't tell by picture because she was swollen.

Over the next two days family members would be escorted to see her, but I couldn't see her and it broke my heart. When I was finally strong enough to get out of bed to go see her and hold her 4 lb 9 oz body in my arms it was the most indescribable feeling...Here we are...

Over the course of the next couple of days I was only strong enough to see her 2-3 times a day and it was all I looked forward to. I was released that Thursday to go home and heal. For the next week Adam and I made two trips a day for her feedings. Preemies have not developed the suck, swallow, breath reflex so it takes a lot of work to "grow" them. We were able to finally bring her home January 6th and I was a nervous wreck! I was so worried she would stop breathing or I wouldn't be able to get her to eat enough. Soon enough I had a routine down and watched her blossom...to be cont.