The Pregnancy

The tests came back, and I indeed had the SSA/Ro antibodies. I was instructed to follow-up with a Rheumatologist, as I was likely to develop Sjogren’s Syndrome or Lupus—more great news, which I did not have the time for right now; I had enough worries with the pregnancy and Grace.

I was immediately prescribed Dexamethasone, a steroid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexamethasone). They specialists thought it might keep Grace’s heart block from worsening. In addition, I was put on Terbutaline (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terbutaline), which is often given for pre-term labor. In my case, it was an effort to speed up Grace’s heart rate. It did slightly, and it sped up my heart rate as well. Within a week or two on these medications, I developed medically-induced gestational diabetes. I added insulin twice a day to my list of medications.

I felt awful—physically and mentally. Each day I prayed to simply allow Grace to grow inside of me. Twice each week I went in for ultrasounds to take a look at Grace’s heart function. We were looking for signs of congestive heart failure (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4585). For me, the days and weeks passed slowly. Finally Grace was scheduled for a cesarean section (C-section) at exactly 37 weeks on August 18. The physicians did not think her heart could withstand the stress of delivery. The evening of August 16, my in-laws arrived. My mother-in-law, April, is a Labor and Delivery nurse, and I was grateful to have her with me. The next morning, August 17, I woke up at 6:00am feeling a bit different. Due to April’s professional experience, I found out I was in labor. We were off to the hospital! It did not go unnoticed to me or others that Grace had decided to enter this world on her own terms.