This Is Us: Quick Update

Sorry it's been a lifetime since I posted anything. It's just how it goes anymore. Since the last post Tamina was born and is now 4 1/2 months old and Tori and Gunner turned 2.
Let me tell you about Tamina's birth story. Everything was going "okay" she was measuring small and I was feeling the normal "I feel like crap" feelings of my pregnancies and what seems to be the norm for me of not feeling the little one move. But this time I was feeling extra sluggish and I was swelling up like a freakin' balloon.
The day of my 36 wk appt I woke up and had the worst pain in my sternum and kind of under my ribs on the right side. I had to sit on the side of the bed for a few minutes before I could get myself to move any farther. It subsided enough I could function but the pain just never left. This had been normal pain for me for a week or so though so I wasn't too worried. I had an NST before my appt. After the NST I did my sample and happened to be waiting when the MA did the test for protein. I asked her, "So, do I have protein in my urine today?" I expected her to say no, or no more than normal. She said, "Yes, the dr will talk to you about it."
When I saw the dr he asked if everything was okay, told me the NST was okay, baby was moving within normal range. Then told me he would see me next week. I asked him how much protein was in my urine. He hadn't looked at that and asked the assistant if I did. She looked on the computer and her eyes kind of bugged out and she nodded and said yes. The dr asked how much she said it was at 4+. Yikes! That's as high as that test goes. He then asked if I felt okay, I told him no I felt like crap but I wasn't too worried about it. But I did tell him about my pain and he then got real serious and asked some more questions. He then said, "You may be having your baby today."
That phrase was a familiar one. That's what I was told on Tori and Gunner's birthday.
He ordered blood tests to check the function of my liver and kidneys. The phlebotomist told me it would be dumb to to one of the tests because they do it in conjunction with a 24 hr catch of urine. I actually left frustrated. Once I got home I thought to myself, "No, the dr ordered it and put STAT on it. He knows what he's doing." I went back and had her draw my blood anyway.
Needless to say my doc called me an hour or so later and told me to get over to the hospital as soon as I could so I could get hooked up and be monitored. Hmmm. Sounded pretty scary.
Tamina was born in the 6 o'clock hour (same hour of day Tori and Gunner were born). She weighed 4 lbs 9 oz (2055 g, she missed going to the NICU by 55 g).
While on the operating table the doc asked if he told me that this would probably happen again but worse and earlier in the pregnancy if I got pregnant again, would I do it again? I was so out of it I couldn't really even answer. I felt like I was on my way out of this life actually.
After I was back in recovery Allen went to give Tamina her first bath. While he was gone the nurse came in to check on me, pushed on my tummy and seemed to panic a little bit. She left the room and came back in with a scale. Figured out how much blood I had lost and told me I was hemorrhaging. "Well, that's nice." I should probably tell you I was hooked up with a magnesium IV to keep me from seizuring and I was told it does weird things to you. They got that taken care of.
While a couple of nurses were talking in my room I found out I had HELLP syndrome. I had never heard of that before so I looked it up. That is pretty scary stuff. Thank heaven for a good doctor I can trust to keep me and my babies alive.
On a happier note, here are a few pics of our growing little family. The first few are of Tamina and hospital pics the others are just random between now and the last post. (Sorry about the sideways ones. I just didn't have time to fix it after I got them loaded and realized I need to. Nap time only lasts so long, ya know.)