30 Days of Brave | Brixton

“July 9, 2024, easily became one of the scariest moments of my life. That morning, I went in for my weekly OB appointment and got sent to the hospital due to high blood pressure. My blood pressure had been fluctuating throughout the pregnancy, so it wasn’t unusual for us to see. Since it was high that day, my doctor mentioned inducing labor either that day or within the next two, as I was nearing the last three weeks of pregnancy, to keep the baby and me safe.
When I arrived at the hospital, I sat in the waiting room until they could get me into a room. All the routine procedures were occurring: being hooked up to monitors, getting an IV started, having blood drawn—all the usual things. About 15 minutes after all that, things took a turn for the worse. The nurse was still in the room, and I told her I was feeling hot, felt like I was about to throw up, and that I couldn’t see. The next thing I knew, I blacked out, and the baby's stats dropped to 60 and wouldn’t go back up. The next few minutes are a blur; I remember being rushed down the hall by doctors and nurses to the OR for an emergency C-section. Once in the OR, I remember iodine being splashed on me and the anesthesia mask being put on my face to put me to sleep—they didn’t have time to start an epidural.
While all this was happening, Wes was taking Ev to my grandma’s after my appointment and then planned to come back to the hospital since she wasn’t allowed in the ER. He told me afterward, when I was awake and alert enough to comprehend everything, that he was five minutes away from the hospital when he got the call about what happened.
After a day in the OR recovery room, I was moved up to a postpartum room for three days, and Baby B was in the NICU. When he was admitted, he was on 100% oxygen and a 7 on the CPAP machine. I was not able to see him until the day after he was born because I physically couldn’t do it. When I saw him for the first time, I broke down and cried like a baby because I was scared. I was scared of him being in the NICU because I had never experienced that before, I was scared he wasn’t going to come home anytime soon, and I was scared something might go wrong again. Nobody knew a time frame for him, nobody knew how things would play out for him—there were no answers except that it would just take time. Eight days later, our little man came home.
As for me, it turned out I had an abruption. We were in the right place at the right time. If I hadn’t been at the hospital, little man and I would not be here today. I'm forever grateful to all the doctors and nurses who took care of us.
This story isn't meant to scare anyone. It's a reminder that every pregnancy is different, and the unexpected can happen at any moment. Trust your body and speak up if something doesn't feel right.” NICU Mama, Susanna