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Jennifer Richards
My journey into the unknown....
When I was nineteen, a month out of high school, I became pregnant (This was July 2000). I didn’t think I was pregnant until about another month.
I finally went to an ob-gyn doctor in November. Since I did not keep track of my periods, the doctor could only guess how far I was and ordered an ultrasound.
After having the ultrasound, I found about I was about four months pregnant with a boy. I mentioned to my doctor that my mother had preeclampsia at seven
and half months. She also had a blood clot six weeks after my brother was born. Since my mother had no other problems with her other pregnancies, the doctor
was not too concerned.
On December 23, 2000, my boyfriend, Sean (now my husband) and I were watching a movie together. I drink some cranberry juice in order for Sean to feel
his son kick. The rest of December, everyone noticed I was puffing in the face and my legs were swelling up. Being young, I just ignored them and waited
until I saw my doctor in the beginning of January. At this time, my son was not moving as often, even with the help of orange or cranberry juice.
When I went to the doctor, I gained ten pounds in one month. The nurse just said, "oh, you just enjoy your holiday season." (However, both my
mom and Sean’s mom were getting worried with my puffiness and swelling.) At the doctor, the first urine tests for protein came back slightly high.
The doctor decided to do a cath urine test. This also shows slightly evaluated protein in my urine. However, she sent me home telling my to avoid salt
and to evaluated my legs as much as possible. This was Tuesday, January 9, 2001.
I normally did not eat many foods with salt so that part was easy to follow. I also was off until Friday night so I kept my legs evaluated most of the
time. I went to work on Friday night at Taco Bell around 6:00pm. Within two hours into my shift (I was scheduled until midnight), my foot had swelled up
so much, it look like it was about to burst out of my shoes. We were very slow that night so we all were just standing around talking and doing some cleaning.
I went to the manager on duty and asked if I could please sit down and evaluated my legs. I even offered to clock out and sit in the dinning room until
we got busy. The response I got for him was, "No, you are over 18, you don’t get breaks." Finally, at about 11:30, he sent me home since
we were dead and I was off soon. I went home and tried to evaluate my leg. I was due in at one the next day, so I went to bed.
I got up around 10:30 and my leg was still swelling up. (This was Saturday, January 13) My dad mentioned he needed to pick my sister up at my aunt’s
house. My aunt happened to be a LPN so I tagged along to have her check my blood pressure. When my aunt took my blood pressure, it was 160/120. She told
me to call my doctor immediately. I called the on-call doctor and he told me to lay on my side and take my blood pressure in 20 minutes. If it didn’t
come down, I need to call him back. I mentioned I was due in at one and was supposed to work the whole weekend. He told me to call off for the rest of
the weekend.
After twenty minutes, my blood pressure was still high. My dad offered to drive me to the hospital. However, I wanted Sean to take me since he was the
father of my baby. On the way home, I called Sean and spoke to his sister. I asked her to wake him up because my blood pressure was high and my doctor
wanted me to go to the hospital. When I got home, I showered and got dressed. Sean was not amused at the idea of me showering. However, I smelled like
a taco and wanted to feel clean.
When the doctor told me to go the hospital, I thought he meant the ER. After spending two hours in the ER, they sent me up to the labor and delivery floor.
When I got there, the doctor told me they were waiting for me for the past two hours and I was supposed to go to the labor and delivery floor, not the
ER.
When I got to the room, my nightmare began. I was hooked up to a fetal heart monitor, blood pressure cuff, IV, and was cath. Than the blood work begin.
I am not sure what they were testing for, but it was done every six hours. I hate getting blood drawn and I have very little veins. I also had two ultrasounds
done to check to see his position and size. I was told that my son was struggling inside of me and may have to be deliver within the next twenty-four hours.
In order to help his lungs, I was given two shots of steroids. Finally, after the third blood drawn results came back, the doctor came in to talk to us.
(This was Sunday, January 14, 2001) He told us the baby needed to come out. He told us of the chances of survival and possible mental problems too. I lay
in bed in shock and watch Sean turned ash with fear. I was also told I would needed a c-section since the baby was breached and probably could not survive
natural delivery.
As they prepped me for the c-section, the doctor took Sean and my dad to the NICU to show them where my son would go and the doctor who would be taking
care of him after birth. At one point, I begged Sean to take me home. It was too soon to have our baby. Sean being braved told me it would be okay. I also
begged the doctor to knock me out. I didn’t want to be awake for the c-section. I was told I had to be awake for it because the drugs could hurt
my baby. They took me into the delivery room and had me lay on this thin bed thing. I was given a shot in my back to numb me for the c-section. Sean came
in dressed in yellow scrub like things and yellow cap on. The only things I could see were his eyes. I remembered how scared his eyes were
At 12:30, my son was born. I remembered watching the doctor carry something wrapped up in a blanket to the NICU staff waiting. The next thing I know, I
was in recovery room, being asked to wiggle my toes. I honestly couldn’t feel my toes, but somehow was able to wiggle my toes. I was rolled into
the NICU unit where I met my son for the very first time. He was two hours old and most of my family had already seen him. I remembered reaching in to
him and telling him I loved him and that I was his mommy. I was told later that no one knew what I was saying.
I was returned to my room where I got hooked up to an IV to prevent eclampsia. Sean and I both have big families so there were quite a bit of people visiting
me. Each person brought me a small gift for the baby. At one point, the nurse dimmed the lights and asked for everyone to leave. For the next twenty-four
hours, I was stuck in the room. I couldn’t even go see my own son. My priest from my church was called and he came in to see my son and me. He said
a prayer over the both of us. Finally, I was taken off of the IV and was sent to the maternity floor. After many struggles, I was able to get out of bed
and use the bathroom. I also was allowed to walk to the NICU unit to see my son. (We named him Benjamin Stephen. Stephen was in honor of my grandfather
whom I was very close to and passed away 10 years to date before Ben’s birth) I had a lot of pain from the c-section and I was exhausted from everything
I went through.
While I was in the hospital, the doctor ran tests to test me for a blood clotting disorders. However, due to all the medications I was on to prevent ecampslia,
the tests did not come out at all. At this point, the doctor thought it was an isolated event.
Ben only lived for fifteen days when he finally went to heaven. A week after he passed, I was admitted to the hospital with a DVT in my right thigh. I
was put on coumadine until September 2001. I was taken off of it and was told to take baby aspirin a day, which somehow I failed to follow.
Fast forward to May 2004 After living in Stow for almost six months, I decided I needed a regular ob-gyn doctor. When I saw her, I told her about Ben and
my mom’s history. My mom’s brother also recently tested positive for a blood clotting disorder. Based on that, she decided to run the tests
on me again. Just before my one-year wedding anniversary, I was told I had a blood clotting disorder called MTHFR. I was told I had a single gene mutation.
However, this may not have been correct.
Fast forward to March 2005 I thought I may be pregnant and finally took a home test on Sunday. It tested positive. I was told by my doctor to call her
immediately since I am high risk. I called her first thing Monday morning and she had me come in for a blood test to check my HcL levels. She also told
me I needed to repeat this test on Wednesday and Friday. After my results on Wednesday, she ordered an ultrasound. My numbers were not increasing properly
and she wanted to see why.
I asked my work if I could leave for an hour or two for an ultrasound. I explained it was urgent and I could only get in Friday morning. It was okay for
this and I planned to return to work afterwards.
At the doctor’s office, my husband and I were taken to a room for the ultrasound. During the ultrasound, it didn’t look good. The doctor and
tech believed that I was having a miscarriage. The size of the baby was not right. To confirm this, she ordered another blood test to check the levels.
But, she told us that it was likely a miscarriage. I didn’t go back to work. I took in a doctor’s excuse to the front office and starting crying
and told my co-workers what just happened. The entire office staff and the team leader hugged me. My husband and I went home and back to bed. I cried myself
to sleep.
For whatever reason, my blood levels were not dropping but slowly increasing. The doctor thought it might be ectopic pregnancy at this point. She ordered
another ultrasound and blood test. It was decided that I needed a low-dosage shot to stop the cells from dividing and my blood levels increasing. Due to
my history and the way I was cut for my c-section, this was done instead of the D and C.
Finally, my blood levels started to decrease, but the miscarriage haven’t completed itself. I started to have bad cramping so I called my doctor’s
office. At this time, the doctor was at the hospital and ordered me to come in for an ultrasound and to check me out. Due to pain of cramping and a possible
superficial blood clot, she had me admitted for observations for pain. She also said depending what happened to my blood levels, I may need the D and C
or another shot to complete the miscarriage.
The next day, I had yet another ultrasound done and was told that the miscarriage would complete itself soon. I was sent home on Ibuprofen to dissolve
the superficial blood clots (by my ob-gyn) and for the pain. That night, the miscarriage finally ended.
However, I still had the superficial blood clots in my right leg.
After 3 weeks of medical leave, my doctor allowed me to return to work in April. However, I was supposed to call her if my leg increase in size. Being
stubborn, I ignored this request. I somehow managed to stay semi-healthy through August. Due to struggling financially, my husband and I moved in with
his mom (who happened to be a R.N.). I noticed that my leg was swelling up more and more. Finally, I called the doctor. She ordered me to get a Doppler
done on my leg that day. I told her I wanted to finish my shift and than go in for one. Of course, she told me I need to go in when she gets me in.
My appointment for the Doppler was at 2:00 at the place near to my ob-gyn. The Doppler confirmed that I had another DVT in my right thigh. At this point,
my ob-gyn doctor refereed me to a hematologist and put me on medical leave. She didn’t admit me to the hospital since I was living in Cleveland and
she only practiced at Akron General Hospital.
On Monday, I called for an appointment with a hematologist. I just choose someone who was closed by. This was a big mistake. The doctor I picked was at
last 60 years old. However, he did get me admitted to the hospital to be started on heparin and coumadin. I sent another five days in the hospital in Cleveland.
I could not even call my own family since it was long-distance. My mother-in-law and Sean both said I needed a new hematologist when I was discharged,
which I agree with completely. Finally after a month of seeing the 60-year-old doctor, I found a new hematologist at the Ireland Cancer Center of University
Hospital. At my first appointment with Dr. Garoziola, she decided to order the blood clotting tests again since this last blood clot was non-pregnancy
related. At the age of 24, I had 2 cases of DVT’s and one case of superficial blood clots.
Now, I am waiting and worrying until November 23 for the test results….