All was going on fine with regards to the pregnancy. But I should have known, things were too good for comfort, no? During my routine check up in the 8th month, we found out that the baby’s weight which had been good or over the normal mark always, had “dropped”. He had not put on any weight in the last 3 weeks. So he became small for his gestational age; not very small, just 300-500 gms below. Doctor just told me to start having egg daily. Of course there was a lot of debate at home at what could have possibly caused it, even though the doctor said not to worry clearly that wasn’t gonna happen. You have to expect that much analysis from two researchers!
To add to that, the doctor dropped another bomb that he was gonna be out of town for 3 weeks! So basically, in my ninth month I was gonna have no check up till I hit 37 weeks. He only told me that in case of emergency I should contact the other Doc in the hosp. But he failed to tell me what classified as an emergency. I wasn’t too worried, considering I had a fairly decent pregnancy till date.
Two of those 3 weeks went by alright, mom left and Sumit’s parents came. We got busy getting them accustomed to Abu Dhabi. In the last week however, self doubt crept in, fear started. Am I taking this lightly, am I missing something? Is my baby’s weight going up? I used to wake up at night all scared and wondering if I felt the baby move at all. Added to this were the physical problems I was trying to deal with, swollen hands and feet, back pain, muscle pull, heartburn, nausea, etc.
Finally the day of the check up came, the baby had put on weight and become normal again, much to everyone’s relief. Doctor told us we could pick the date for the C-section. In all the excitement, we overlooked my high BP. The nurse who had taken it did not record it and I forgot to bring it up with the doctor.
The next day, Sumit went to finalise the date with the doctor. He also mentioned my high BP from the previous day. The doctor immediately sent for me. The doctor suspected I was showing signs of preeclampsia.
Since our scheduled date for the C section was within a few days, I could try to take a mild BP medicine till then and wait it out. Although he did warn me that if he felt the need he would do an emergency surgery. The only problem with this situation was that the BP medicine was unavailable in the hospital pharmacy or any other hospital pharmacy in the city! Poor Sumit spent the day hunting for the medication but the whole of Abu Dhabi had run out of stock. The doctor gave me what he had in his emergency stock and asked me to come back for another round of check up the next day.
The next day, another patient with high BP had just delivered and had some left over medication, which the nurse promptly requested from her on my behalf. Even with the medicine, my BP showed no signs of coming down. The doctor wanted to up my dosage and asked me to come to the hospital twice a day to check my BP.
To add to the drama, with the increase in dosage, I started having allergic reactions to the medication. I was having itchy rashes and a strange tingling feeling over my right forehead. The first day the doctor dismissed it away. The following day it promptly got worse, but since we were going to have the surgery in another day, it was dismissed again.
The morning of the C-Section, 6th October, it was Vijaydsasami/Dassera day. We left home at 6am and walked to the hospital, which is 5 minutess away. There was such an excitement and anxiety in me, it was hard to believe that 9 months were over and yet I was worried about how I would manage. I got ready for the surgery and was all scrubbed up and taken away. It was strange going into the operating theatre as a patient, having spent so much time there over the last few years for my research work.
I was given spinal injection to numb me waist down. All of a sudden, things started happening very fast. There was a curtain in front of me, so I couldn’t see what was happening, but I could feel the tugging and pulling. Eventually I heard crying, very shrill and loud crying. By this time, I was very nauseous and feeling faint. I heard someone shout, “8.44am, 3kgs”. They brought the baby to show me, but he was too far and I wasn’t wearing my glasses, so it was hard to see anything.
I remember coming out of the OT and showing my rash to the doctor, who suggested we stop the BP medicine. Up until this point, it seemed like that it was merely an allergic reaction. I went to the recovery room, then to my room, I still hadn’t had a chance to see MY baby. I was eagerly waiting and kept asking the nurses when I could see him. Finally after much requesting, they wheeled him to me at 4pm.
I cant begin to describe the feeling of holding Baby Pranav for the first time. I guess I am not going to try to also. It’s an experience with no words. He was wide awake for a good hour, before the nurses took him away for further tests. Little did I know then, it would be a full week before I be able to hold him that way and see him to my heart’s content.
The next day morning the rash had worsened, my right forehead was full of tiny boils, my right eye was puffed up, the pain and the itch were bad. My gynecologist immediately called for a dermatologist consult. I had contracted Herpes Zoster, which is caused by dormant chicken pox virus in the body. Since my eye and forehead were involved, it was Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus. Immediately an ophthalmologist was contacted to ensure my cornea was not affected, as that would deem as a serious emergency. The pediatrician was not due to come in till much later, so the baby was kept in the special care unit. In the meantime, there was much discussion on whether I could breastfeed the baby or not, whether I should be allowed near him, what vaccinations he may need.
Then the following morning, the tiny boils became fully blown boils, my right eye was nearly shut due to puffiness and my left eye was also swollen up. Finally the pediatrician came and said the baby was fine, I would not infect him unless my boils burst on him. But to be on the safer side, we should look for an antibody injection he prescribed, which was not available at the hospital. Meantime, Sumit called up a close friend in Singapore who is a doctor, to double check and get a second opinion. She also suggested the same antibody injection. We decided we were not going to share the news of the Herpes with anyone, mostly since my mother sitting far away in Singapore may get worried.
The next day, Sumit went to every hospital in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah and coudnt find the antibody injection anywhere. So many hospitals told him to let them know in case he finds the injection as they were also looking for the same.
By now, both my eyes were shut, so I couldn’t see while I was feeding the baby, so my mom in law or Sumit had to sit while the baby was feeding. Added to that we weren’t getting much rest as someone or the other kept coming into our room in the hospital, either to give me medicine or to clean the room or to take my BP or the nurses were changing shift or simply checking in. Even though I was loaded up on pain killers, my head would spasm in pain and there was no comfortable position I could put it in so that it wouldn’t hurt.
Two days after the surgery, I still hadnt had a bowel movement. The doctor kept pushing for an enema, which I eventually put my foot down against. I was in enough pain as it is. So he prescribed a laxative. But by the time the nurses gave it to me, I had already passed motion. What resulted was in me having excessive diahorrea and terrible weakness I was extremely drained and kept losing consciousness. Feeding became even more of a nightmare, cos I did not have the energy needed. They refused to let us bring food from outside the hospital unless it was home cooked. Mom in law was stuck in hospital with me so she couldnt go home to cook, cos Sumit n FIL were searching UAE for meds for Pranav. After many arguments with the dietician and nurses they finally brought me some extra food.
Finally the day of being discharged came, we were looking forward to going home, even thought it was quite a daunting feeling at this point. I wasnt sure how I would handle things at home considering I still couldn’t see. They told us to be ready by 6pm for discharge but we only left the hospital at 11pm after completing all the formalities. So in the meantime, my meds, food were all cut. Quite a stupid system really!! Anyways we finally came home and well resting wasnt gonna happen. Pranav wasnt co operating with us, I guess it was too much change for him. He cried all night, requiring Sumit, MIL and me to take turns to keep him quite.
The next morning, my herpes worsened even further, adding to more distress, it had spread further into my hair and few more boils appeared on my eye lid. Meantime, I requested my MIL to cut my hair as short as she could, cos they were pulling against the boils in the head. So I now sported a very short bob cut.
But coming home was good, cos MIL transformed into a one woman army. Home was her turf, she took care of EVERYTHING! From cooking to washing, to looking after Pranav and me. While Sumit n FIL handled the outside work. Food was no longer a problem, so my strength was coming back. No one disturbed us every hour, so that also gave us more rest.
To add to more distress, Pranav's weight in the first week dropped by 15%, instead of the expected 10%. So Doctor told us to supplement breast milk with formula, to ensure he wasnt going hungry. Pranav was waking up every hour at night and he would cry non stop. He refused to feed or calm down for atleast an hour. It took him a few days to get settled down.
My herpes boils were started to dry out, my left eye was no longer puffy and I could on occasions open my right eyelid. Finally we thought we things were going well when a new problem started. I was passing a lot of blood in my stool. It then became blood clots the next day. Once again we ran to the hospital. They made us wait to see the General Surgeon before he informed us that we should be seeing the gastroenterologist. The doctor said that I was to stop all pain meds and just have to bear the herpes and c section pain, since they were causing ulcers in the stomach. Meanwhile my old friend BP has returned w a vengeance and my BP is not coming below 160/120.
The following afternoon, when I opened Pranav’s diaper, I discovered his umbilical stump had an infection, so once again Sumit and my MIL ran to the hospital. We found out that he had developed Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. We felt like we simply weren’t getting a break from the hospital.
Finally after 2 weeks of running around, the baby still has not gained weight at a good rate but doctor said that could be because of the infection and the stress I was undergoing. In any case, lets hope things improve soon.