24-Hour Monitoring + Preeclampsia

Many of you have asked how we got to where we are now. It started the week before Joel was born.

I started experiencing several things physically—and they all came on fairly rapidly:
swelling
contractions
blurred vision
high blood pressure
excess fluid (polyhydramnios)
an overall sense of not being well
constant headache (that OTC meds wouldn't cure)

Sunday, February 12

This day was the worst. We went to church and lunch out at a restaurant after that, but I had to leave the restaurant to go sit in the car early. I'd been having contractions all morning, and I knew something wasn't right.

We got home that afternoon and I think Nathan realized how serious things were getting. So we decided to pay Dr. Columbus a visit the next day.

Monday, February 13

3:00 PM

At Dr. Columbus' office, we explained my symptoms—except they ran an additional test and added "protein in urine" to the long line-up. Apparently, this is a key marker in determining whether a pregnant woman has developed preeclampsia.

Dr. Columbus called to talk with Dr. Jackson #1 (who, if you'll remember, is on maternity leave) and they both decided it was best to send me to Jackson immediately for 24 hours of monitoring. That's all. Just monitoring. Nothing else—or so we thought.

5:00 PM

We dropped Madelyn off with our awesome neighbors. (They've been a God-send to us throughout this.) They readily took her into their home and we took off with just an overnight bag. Because remember? Just 24 hours of monitoring. We'd be home the next day.

My parents were already planning on coming to Mississippi that week to help me with Madelyn. I was getting way too big to pick her up or walk long distances (see: excess fluid build-up). So we called and explained to them the monitoring that would take place overnight. They agreed to leave Texas the next morning and even stop by Jackson to check on us before they went on to Columbus to get Madelyn.

8:30 PM

We got to Jackson and I was admitted to the Women's and Children's Urgent Care Center—basically an ER for women and kids. Immediately, they began to check vitals and draw blood. Needless to say, the whole experience didn't even start off well.

The first nurse who tried to take my blood gouged around my veins so many times that I passed out and woke up not knowing where I was or who I was. I opened my eyes to Nathan hovering over me along with a team of nurses trying to raise my blood pressure back to normal and asked, "Where are we? Is Madelyn OK? Am I OK?"

11:00 PM

We were moved to a room on the Labor and Delivery floor to begin monitoring. They started me on Magnesium Sulfate to bring my blood pressure down, plus a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. (P.S. "Mag," as they call it, is ridiculous. I felt like I'd contracted the flu. Now, along with everything else I'd been experiencing, I also had body aches and shivering. Ummm—thanks a bunch, medical community.)

They started a 12-hour series of tests to monitor the levels of protein in my urine. If you've ever had a baby, or been with someone who had a baby, you know as soon as you step foot in the hospital, all modesty and propriety goes straight into the toilet (excuse the reference, but since we're on the topic). I was poked, prodded, and awakened every hour on the hour all night long.

Tuesday, February 14

9:00 AM

Maternal Fetal Medicine called and they wanted us downstairs in their offices to check on me and Joel. This was the same place we'd visited so many times over the last 10 weeks. As we entered the room, guess who walked through the door? Dr. Jackson #2.

Not. Kidding.

What were the chances? It wasn't even supposed to be his day in office. Where was Dr. Jackson #3? Wasn't she supposed to be here today?

I could see the blood in Nathan's face rising. He was moving and shifting in his seat, ready to protect his wife and baby if anything untoward was said or done.

I grabbed his arm and said, "Not today, Babe. Let's just do this and get out of here."

So we sat silent and let them do their job. They did a routine ultrasound and found that Joel was still stable with a great heartbeat and no worsening of fluid.

But Mama? Not so much. I think I freaked them out. They were very concerned about my condition and said urine tests were no longer needed to determine that I did indeed have preeclampsia.

Dr. Jackson #2 and his colleagues highly recommended that we move toward delivering Joel as soon as possible for the safety of us both. At that point, additional steroid shots to boost Joel's lungs wouldn't help him. In fact, we were told that I was hours, if not a few days, away from a deadly seizure, so time was of the essence.

We had a lot to think about.

Update on Baby Joel: Week 30

About Joel

• He's still stable! Praise the Lord. Prayers are being heard and answered.
• His heartbeat was 148.
• His dopplers are all completely normal.
• The fluid around his heart, lungs, scalp, abdomen, and lower extremities has not worsened.

Once again, Dr. Tupelo announced, "I can't believe you're 30 weeks pregnant and still here. His Hydrops is still very severe, but this is surprisingly encouraging."

This time, we wanted to laugh and say, "Duh, Dr. T! We've been trying to tell you all along that we, along with so many others, have been praying God would sustain this little boy—and he has."

On the way home, I told Nathan, "Think about this. All along, all these doctors have done is take pictures and talk. There haven't been any surgeries or medicines or procedures performed on Joel. It has literally been the hand of the Lord that has sustained him. It's incredible. It's just what he wants."

About Mama

There are some new developments with me. 

Over the past week, I've noticed my blood pressure going up and up and up very fast. We've documented one reading every day and it's definitely either at the threshold of too high or just over—something the docs asked me to watch for.

Also, on Friday, I was diagnosed with Polyhydramnios (fancy word for excess fluid in the womb). I look and feel much bigger than I'm supposed to be at this point (measuring at 34 weeks), but this isn't atypical for moms carrying Hydrops babies.

Right now, docs are monitoring me for preeclampsia and Mirror Syndrome. I've had some contractions and severe headaches and blurred vision—all sporadic, but all things that point toward these conditions.

Keep praying! We're believing.

What We're Learning: Weeks 28+29

There's just a lot we're learning right now, so I had to publish a separate post this week. You can read the latest update on Joel here.

Here goes everything.

I (Kaylan) go to a weekly women's Bible study at my church. A few weeks ago, we started Priscilla Shirer's study called Gideon. 

Honestly, I decided to jump in on this study simply because I wanted the community and encouragement from other women during this difficult time—not necessarily because I thought it would be applicable to our situation right now. 

(Silly, Kaylan. Don't you know Jesus better by now?)

Over the last two weeks, it's like Jesus has written personal, daily letters to me upon the pages of this study. He's reading all my mail these days. I've jotted down notes so fast and furiously in my notebook with my favorite red ink pen that it looks like I've bled all over the pages. 

Then, after each Thursday morning session, I've sprinted to my car, dragging Madelyn behind me, to call Nathan and share with him what the Lord has said. It's turned out to be a HUGE encouragement to us both. 

Please go and read the story of Gideon. Much of what I'm about to say will make so much more sense if you do. Either way, here's what Jesus has been teaching us:

• The crisis we're in isn't powerful enough to put us out of God's reach. 

Listen! The Lord's arm isn't too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call. —Isaiah 59:1

• The crisis we're in positions us for God's calling on our lives.

The angel of the Lord appeared to [Gideon] and said, "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you! —Judges 6:12

• God is more interested in changing our hearts than He is our circumstances. Ouch.

"Well done!" the king exclaimed. "You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I have entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward." —Luke 19:17

• Everything that happens in our lives is either God-allowed or God-arranged. Nothing happens without being sifted through His fingers first. That means, everything He allows in this chapter of our lives is transforming us and preparing us for the next chapter of our lives. How dare we try to jump ahead to the next chapter before Jesus completes the work He's started in this chapter? Let the Man finish, Preuss Family.

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. —Philippians 1:6

• We're definitely not the same people we used to be before this crisis. We certainly have no business going back to where we used to be before this crisis. And we're learning we don't need everything we thought we would need to get through this crisis (i.e. doctors, causes, cures, plans, back-up plans, back-ups to our back-up plans, etc). 

He said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now, I'm glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. —2 Corinthians 12:9

• In Gideon's story, God reduced his army from 32,000 men to 300 men. Then, He sent them into battle against 135,000 Midianites. What in the world? How would the Israelites ever beat them with so few numbers? God had stripped away all his soldiers, resources, skill, etc. Want to know why? Because God didn't want just a little bit of recognition—He wanted ALL the glory. It seems God has stripped away a lot from our situation as well. Again, we have no cause, no cure, no doctor, and no real plan. I'm pretty sure He wants all the glory for Himself in this too.

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength." —Judges 7:2

So that's what we're learning. Get ready. I'm sure we'll have more to hurl at you next week as well. 

Update on Baby Joel: Weeks 28+29

Hi, friends.

Many of you have reached out and asked why there was no post last week. The reason why I didn't update was because of the following scenario that's recently unfolded with us and our team of medical professionals. We needed to get more details and set things up before I could tell you what's been going on.

About Joel

First things first, Joel is still stable. Thank you, Jesus!

His dopplers and blood flow still look great. His little heart is pounding away at a perfect beat. He's wiggling and moving and kicking and punching in the womb every day, multiple times a day. He's made it 9 weeks after being diagnosed, so that's a huge miracle. He's such a little fighter.

As of yesterday, he's weighing in at a little over 5 lbs, but most of that is fluid. And I'm measuring between 34 and 36 weeks pregnant (depending on what part of Joel's body you measure). That means Mama here is feeling and looking like the size of a big red barn these days.

The fact that there's so little to report on him, except that he remains stable, is such good news for us.

The Medical Players

Let me introduce you. I know I've mentioned them by name before, but I think this may be easier to determine who's who in the line-up. I'll call them:

Dr. Columbus – Our regular OB. She's awesome. She's a believer. She's a mom. She goes to our church. She delivered Madelyn, so we know her well. We trust her. She's 110% on our team.

Dr. Tupelo – The specialist who originally diagnosed Joel with Hydrops. He referred us to the Fetal Medical Center in Jackson. We like him. He's honest but compassionate. As of right now, to ease the heavy driving load to and from Jackson, he's agreed to see us every other week for a routine ultrasound and remain in cahoots with the specialists in Jackson about the results.

Dr. Jackson #1 – The first specialist who saw us in Jackson. She's amazing and her bedside manners are impeccable. She's one of a kind. She's a mom herself, really cares about her patients, and originally assured us she'd walk with us. But then she went and had a beautiful little baby girl three weeks ago. Now, she's on maternity leave for 8 weeks and she's out of the game.

Dr. Jackson #2 – The second specialist who's seen us in Jackson. He's on the same team as Dr. Jackson #1 and has agreed to pinch hit for her while she's out. His bedside manners are terrible with a capital T. Every time we've left an appointment with him, it takes two days for us to emotionally recover. Unfortunately, you can tell he's become desensitized in his profession.

Dr. Jackson #3 – The third specialist in Jackson we've been recommended to go and see. She's not quite Dr. Jackson #1, but she's also no Dr. Jackson #2 either (we've been assured). She's smart, honest, and compassionate. We'll see. We haven't met her yet. Stay tuned. She's coming on the scene soon.

The Situation – Week 28

Last Friday, we saw Dr. Jackson #2. Let me first say that Nathan and I have no doubt he's incredibly smart and good at what he does. But he could've cared less about our baby and/or well-being. He was more interested in going to lunch as soon as possible than answering our questions.

At one point, I asked him if he'd be taking care of us and Joel from here on out. His response? "Well...I mean...I guess so...if you want me to."

This was the third time we've seen him. It was also the third time he's explained to us everything about Hydrops from top to bottom, in the exact same way, with the exact same tone, and with the exact same lack of hope. Dude, we get it. He obviously doesn't remember us at all.

We asked if the plan presented by Dr. Jackson #1 was still the same, and he said, "If that's what you want."

We asked if he would still be draining fluid and administering steroids before delivery to help Joel's lungs. He said, "I really don't think it will help. The probability of this baby making it just isn't good."

Needless to say, we left mad. I was more worked up than Nathan was and said, on more than one occasion, that he obviously needs Jesus. I'll try to pray for him, but I'm still glaring and Mama Bear-ing him right now for not giving a care for my kid. 

We certainly don't put our hope in people. We trust and believe in a God who's bigger than what this doctor thinks or says. He doesn't determine if Joel will make it or not (even though he thinks he knows)—only God does. But I think it's fair to say we also want someone who's on our team, someone who will own us as patients, someone who will walk with us down this road. 

The Situation – Week 29

We talked with Dr. Columbus on Monday and explained what happened last Friday (i.e. I said to her, "I'm never going back there again if he's going to be our doctor from here on out.") She completely understood.

So at the last minute, we canceled our appointment in Jackson this week with Dr. Jackson #2 and went to see Dr. Columbus yesterday (Thursday) to figure out what to do next. Before our appointment, she'd already consulted with Dr. Tupelo and Dr. Jackson #1. 

Confused yet?

During their three-way discussion, new specialists in Memphis and Birmingham were thrown out on the table as options. But at the end of the day, they all agreed it would NOT be beneficial for us to start all over again at some new place with all new specialists and neonatologists and geneticists. Instead, they recommended we switch to a brand new specialist out of the team of seven in Jackson at the same practice where we began.

Enter Dr. Jackson #3. 

We haven't met with her yet, but we will. As for now, it looks like we'll flip flop back and forth between Dr. Columbus and Dr. Tupelo until we hit 32 weeks. Then, we'll go back to Jackson to meet with Dr. Jackson #3.

I'm snapping the rubber hair band on my wrist right now, trying to keep that flexible perspective I mentioned a few weeks ago. Everything seems to change from week to week. It's quite hard to keep up with. But we're trusting God's bigger plan in all this—even if, at this point, we have no earthly clue what's really happening from week to week.

Prayer

Thank you so much for praying. We're both completely overwhelmed every single day by the people in our life—near and far—who reach out to us and minister to our hearts through meals, phone calls, e-mails, text messages, etc. 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We need you.

Please pray...

• For Joel's complete and total healing—especially that the fluid would go down in his little neck and head so they can get a breathing tube in once he's delivered.
• That God would prepare Joel even now to be a Mighty Man—a little fighter who will never hesitate to share with others that "Yahweh is the Lord," to proclaim that salvation comes from Jesus, and to remember that his life and story are a part of God's bigger plan.
• For patience and protection for our family. The enemy is looking for loopholes and weaknesses in which to stick his foot in and pummel the mess out of us at every opportunity.
• For endurance during this time of waiting.
• That we would keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and use every spare moment to bury our faces in God's Word and worship Him in this storm.
• For Madelyn, that she would be unaffected by any arrows the enemy throws our way. 
• That Jesus would give us exactly what we need to make it through each day—nothing more, nothing less.
• That we would live with grateful hearts for each and every day that God gives us as a gift with our sweet Baby Joel.