Preeclampsia & C-Section Delivery: The Birth of Miracle Baby Makenna TaNell Birth Stories

I'm not really sure where to start. I'm a first-time mom and my whole pregnancy was a roller coaster. I was in and out of the hospital constantly. But nothing compared to my experience I had in that delivery room. Let me back up a little.

My daughter was to be born on February 14. Instead, she was born on the January 27. This frightening ride started four days prior to her arrival. It began like any other weekly checkup. Dr. Came in and we discussed how I was feeling and I felt good. I had been lightheaded a few times that day but I didn’t think anything of it. After we talked a minute and he measured my stomach he took my blood pressure. This is where the roller coaster starts.

After seeing my blood pressure, he leaves the room without saying a word. Then when he returns he calmly explains that my blood pressure is really high. So, I'm like OK, so what do we do. That's when he tells me he's inducing me, I'm like, you’re kidding right, and I start laughing and looking at the nurses. He is kidding, right?

He told me wasn't and I needed to be rushed to the bigger hospital because I was going to be induced and that I had preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy), and it was hurting her.

I arrive at the big hospital. They hooked me up to all these machines to monitor both of us, did some blood test and checked my pee. I was there from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. Then a nurse came in my room all happy and said I was OK and everything looked good. So, I was free to go home. Thankfully I had a doctor’s appointment the very next day – it was my last ultrasound.

The nurse looked at my chart and instantly got angry. She informed me that I more than likely would not be going home. It turned out that my test results showed that I did have preeclampsia and should have started the inducing process the day before. They let me do my last ultrasound before giving me a room to start inducing me.

Unfortunately, after they started inducing me I ended up getting worse. I was considered stage 3 severe preeclampsia. My blood pressure was sky high and they couldn’t get it under control. I was hooked up to all sorts of machines. On top of that every 30 minutes they were giving me inducing medication vaginally. I was 1cm and had been that way for whole day.

At the end of the next day I was 3 cm. But that still wasn't enough. And because I don't except blood the doctor was putting off doing a C-section. If she had I would have died.

They continued pumping me with medication. Close to the end of the second day things seemed to be going OK. I was in a good mood, my BP looked a lot better and I just found out I was now 4 cm. I was happy. Things may have been moving slow, but they were still progressing, so I felt well enough to sleep. I was sleeping good and as far as I knew everything was OK, until I was woken up by a nurse. She was telling me that my BP had spiked throughout the night. She told me that I was extremely sick and so was my baby girl. I couldn’t help but cry. I knew if I had a C-section I could die. 

I wasn't worried about me anymore, granted, I was scared because the doctors where at a standstill and at this point they already seen me as dead. None of that mattered to me. I didn’t care about anything anyone had to say. My only concern was making sure my daughter lived. I knew that no one had the answers but God. So, I prayed and I didn’t pray to live, I prayed that even if I died that my only wish would be that she lived. That she knew how much I loved her. That she would be cared for and taught the meaning of true love. I, like any mother, prayed that no matter what happened to me, my little girl would survive.

After I prayed I told the nurse we could do the C-section. I was confident that no matter what happen Jehovah God was in control. The nurses decided to wait a little longer. They told me they wanted to try and save the both of us. Everyone in the room knew my decision and the possible outcome. They all kept calm and were smiling. I had my mom, my dad and a very good friend of the family with me. I knew just how much they loved me and how well my daughter would be taken care of. For me that's all that mattered.

The nurse checked me two more times and the last time she checked me I was 10 cm. Me and my mother both cried tears of joy everyone in the room was happy. Now it was go time and everything moved so quickly. Three really big pushes and she was here. I got to hold her when she first came out. As they walked her over to the incubator you could see her color drain from her, then she turned dark blue. 

At that moment time stood still, the room was silent while doctors were shaking and doing compressions on her. The only sound you could here was me screaming, “I don't hear her” over and over. My mom and the doctors were trying to calm me by saying she's OK. My BP was rising, and I was still bleeding out.

The doctor told me I tore 2 cm and I needed to be calm so she can stitch me up. Because of the severe preeclampsia, I was told I could go into a seizure. My mom was gripping my hand and was trying to get me to focus on her. But how could I when I felt my heart being ripped out of my chest as I watched my baby laying there lifeless and a team of doctors shaking her? It was like 10 doctors surrounding this tiny little human. I couldn’t focus. I wanted to run to her.

In my head I was yelling, “Take me, take me, please don't let her die.” My mom finally got me to make eye contact with her and the doctor was able to stitch me up a little. But I didn’t calm down until my dad told me he could see her color coming back.

By the time the doctor was finished stitching me up I could hear a tiny little whimper come from her. I felt as if I could breathe again. That was the longest five minutes of my life.

My dad went over to her and he sang to her. Everyone was crying of exhaustion and of joy. And even though they had to take her to the NICU, I knew she was going to be just fine. Some complain about a crying baby, but I LOVE hearing her cry. It’s still really tiny but it reminds me that she's OK. 

Makenna TaNell weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and was 18 inches long. She’s my miracle baby.