Sophia's Birth Story

2005-10-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sophia’s Birth Story

October 19, 2005
I woke up feeling a little under the weather and having mid-right abdominal pain. I thought Sophia was pushing up on my ribcage. As I stopped to think about it I felt Sophia move and she was on my left side. I realized three things at that moment; it wasn’t Sophia causing the pain, this was the first time I had felt her move all day AND something was very wrong. I then called Dean and asked him to come home because I had a bad feeling and was scared. When he came home he asked me to take my blood pressure. My bp reading was 147/98. My OB/GYN, Dr. Lani Warren, had been keeping a close watch on my bp and told me to call her if my bp exceeded 140/90. Dean quickly picked up the phone and called Dr. Warren. Unfortunately she was not in the office. However, her father Dr. Richard Warren was there and told me to come right in. Off Dean and I go to the Dr. Office. I’m hooked up to a fetal monitor and Sophia looks good. My bp is higher than Dr. Warren is comfortable with and tells me to go over to the lab to do a pre-eclampsia test even though I had done one 2 weeks ago and everything was normal. As I get up from the table in the Dr. office the pain in my side is getting worse. By the time I’m at the car I am in tears. Dr. Warren told us to go straight to the ER, to be examined for appendicitis, after I have my lab work done. After many questions from the nurses & ER doctor I have an ultrasound done. Next thing I know a surgeon arrived at my bedside. He is confident that it is appendicitis and recommends that I have my appendix removed as a rupture would put not only myself in danger, but Sophia as well. Within minutes they are prepping me for surgery. Once I recover from surgery I am feeling much better and thankful to be rid of that severe breath taking pain!

October 20, 2005
Dean and I were not prepared for what we would hear this morning. Dr. Lani Warren walks into my hospital room and asks me how I’m feeling and when I tell her better, she says, “your labs came back and you have HELLP Syndrome and we have to deliver this baby“. My head was spinning and I’m not sure what she said next but she did explain that HELLP syndrome is a combination of hemolysis (which is the breaking down of red blood cells), elevated Liver enzymes and a lowered platelet count (putting me at high risk for needing 1 or more blood transfusions if something goes wrong). She went on to explain that HELLP can be fatal to both the mother and the baby as the only definitive treatment for women with HELLP Syndrome is delivery, regardless of how far along in the pregnancy the woman is. Dr. Warren did an ultrasound to see if Sophia was head down and we could do a preferred vaginal delivery or if we would need to do an emergency C-Section. Luck would have it that Sophia was head down and we were going to try a vaginal birth.

Dr Warren gave me medication to help soften my cervix. When I got to 2cm she broke my water (that was much more painful than expected) and started the pitocin. The contractions started and were painful but bearable with proper breathing. Each one got worse and worse and I finally asked for an epidural. The nurse came back in the room and said she had bad news; I would have to wait an hour as the anesthesiologist just went in to an emergency C-Section. I knew it was going to be a L-O-N-G hour. The next time the nurse checked me I was 5cms and in a great deal of pain. She called Dr. Warren and tells her that I’m progressing quickly and she should come back to the hospital. If it weren’t for Dean coaching me on how to breathe for the next hour and ½ I would surely have gone insane with the amount of pain I was in. Next thing I knew I had a contraction that was unlike the others and out came a scream I didn’t know I was capable of. Luckily my amazing nurse, Jamie, understood what was happening and made an emergency call and in came a team of nurses, an ER doctor (Dr. Warren didn’t make it back to the hospital in time) and a neonatal team. This should have been a beautiful and happy moment and there was no joy or anticipation on the face of anyone there. My world was spinning and I thought I would passout from the pain (I truly felt like I was being torn apart). I was asked to pull my knees back and physically couldn’t do it because of the pain. Luckily two nurses immediately appeared at my knees to help. Then with Dean holding my left hand and Tracy holding my right (by luck she made it back to the hospital in time, thanks to a phone call from Dean) I’m asked to get ready to push. I can’t believe what is happening and I feel like I’m going to die and then I think of the life inside me and I give a very focused hard push and I hear stop/breathe/the head is out/ok, one more push. I gave one more push and at 8:26pm Sophia Walker Kontinos was born into this world only weighing 2lbs and 6ozs. There is silence and my heart sinks and then I hear her cry and I finally take my first deep breath since Dr. Warren said we were delivering today.

Unfortunately the delivery of Sophia did not correct my high blood pressure. Dr. Warren put me on magnesium sulfate also called “Mag” or “flu in a bag”. This was to prevent possible life threatening convulsions. My blood pressure was consistently above 160/100. Because of my bp I would remain in the hospital for 4 more days. This would be followed by Dean and I leaving the hospital without our baby Sophia. I cried a lot that day and the days that were to come.

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Sophia's Story

Sophia's Birth Story