30 Days of Brave | Carson

"I had a very typical pregnancy until I didn’t.
My husband & I were blessed enough to get pregnant in our second month of trying just months after our wedding. January 31st, I woke up & I looked like I had an allergic reaction with how swollen my face was. I called my OB office & the plan was to be seen the next day. Something in my gut told me I couldn’t wait until the next day so I used one of those at home urinalysis testing kits & my protein levels were off the chart. Was it correct? Granted this was from Amazon so maybe it was wrong. I called my OB back & was seen that day.
I remember walking into the OB office with my husband & the doctor told us that we had to go straight to the hospital. I said, can I at least go home & pack a bag? No. Shower? No. So we got in the car & drove to the hospital where I was diagnosis with severe preeclampsia. It took over three hours of multiple nurses, multiple CRNA’s, multiple ultrasounds, & a doctor to get my IV in because I was so swollen. I went into the hospital at 27 weeks pregnant & was not going to go home until I had the baby. The goal was for me to make it to 34 weeks. Well my preeclampsia was turning into HELLP because my liver & kidneys were starting to decline rapidly. The doctors within my team told me that I currently held the record for how much protein was in my urine after my 24 hour urinalysis. In all their years, they had never seen someone with so much protein.
At 28 weeks & 6 days, we welcomed Carson Bennett into the world at 2 lbs 7 ounces born on 2/7/24. Carson spent 3 months in two different NICUs & we were finally able to bring him home on May 3rd. His two main issues in the NICUs were his oxygen & feeding difficulties which resulted in him coming home on a NG tube. While we still have a journey ahead, we are extremely optimistic of Carson’s future as he is being followed by a cardiologist, nephrologist, ophthalmologist, his NICU follow up team, physical therapy, & regular pediatrician.
He has endured so much in such his short life. Connecting with other NICU families have given us so much hope & assured us that we are not alone on this journey. We truly are so blessed." NICU Mama, Hannah