How it all began

On January 7th, after returning from Michigan from a family trip with Ray's family, Sally felt progressively worse with upper abdominal pressure & retaining water became an evident issue.She called the triage nurse line & after some initial frustrations set an appointment with an on call nurse for her blood pressure. Immeadiately upon entering the appointment & getting her blood pressure checked she was admitted into Mayo Luther Hospital in Eau Claire.With her BP levels starting in the 140s to spiking to 174/109 over the next few hours while being monitored in the pre-natal suites of Luther, it became evident to the Luther staff that Sally was VERY sick & the concern for the baby became more & more serious. Sally's platelet levels had dropped into the 30s & caused great concern. They administered a shot of Beta Methazone steroid that helps with rapid lung development while in utero & began monitoring her urine for different levels we would learn more about later. At approximately 7:30pm the docs apprised Sally & Ray that an ambulance ride to either Rochester Mayo or Abbott Northwestern in the cites were in order. They were informed that a level 3 natal department was necessary for both the baby & Sally's continued care and monitoring. Sally & Ray chose Mayo due to Sally's insurance & the Mayo reputation.At appx 9pm Sally was transported by ambulance to Rochester Mayo with Ray 15 minutes behind bringing a vehicle & hurried gathering of neccessities from their home. Sally's parents Allen & Krista came down from their home in the Cities & met Sally as she arrived. Ray arrived shortly after & everyone got settled into their spots in the Rochester Mayo natal suite.Sally was quickly questioned with her symptoms, labs ran, monitoring of her & the baby's levels. At 11:45pm Sally & Ray were shocked to find out that this trip would not be a cautious trip to monitor but they would not only be not leaving any time soon but would also be having their baby being prematurely brought into the world by C-Section in the very near future. The BetaMethazone benefits were further explained with needing a 48 hour sequence of 2 shots & the landmarks of needing to get to 7pm the next night for another injection to continue the accelaration of the lung development.1/8/13The significant fears were confirmed of Sally's onset of sudden preeclampsia & severe HELLP syndrome the next day after monitoring Sally's urine for 24 hours that had started the day before in Eau Claire. On-going conversations & monitoring of Sally's blood pressure that was only being kept in check by Magnesium Sulfate, which greatly lessened her probabiity for seizure. Multiple conversations with multiple teams throughout the day gradually progressed to the urgency of Sally's condition & mutual concern for baby health & viability after c-section. Conversations of watching for brain-bleeding, breathing issues digestive isues permeated the many questions Sally & Ray asked multiple times confirming our apprehension & concern.Between doc & nurse visits Ray, Allen, & Krista had awful overpriced cafeteria breakfast & then later jimmy johns off campus. Sally rested on & off throughout the morning & early afternoon.Sally had an ultrasound in the late afternoon that confirmed proper growth for a baby at the 26 week stage we were in. Cranium devlopment was normal. Heart ventricles were working properly with kidney & umbilical cord function also appeared to be normal. Baby measured at 1.8 pounds, again normal for this stage. Normal was good news & provided some happiness for Sally & Ray as the baby was moving & active & again, "normal." Ray never thought the sound of having his baby being called "normal" would ever be as soothing & reassuring of news as he'd ever heard.At appx 830pm the "evening" team made Sally & Ray aware that surgery for the c-section would be scheduled for 5pm the following day on 1/9/13. Growing concern of Sally's platelet levels & BP have continued through the night.