High risk pregnancy family aid!
Donation protected
To preface this I would like to state that I am normally a private person who tries to make things work as I can but my little family and I have been struggling and have used what limited resources we have and are coming up short. I've struggled pretty hard with the decision to make this fundraiser and have decided to on the recommendation of close friends who know me and my situation well.
A bit of history about this pregnancy and why I am deemed high risk. In my previous two pregnancies I ended up developing gestational diabetes and preeclampsia forcing me to be closely monitored and co-managed by my ob and high risk pregnancy doctors and every time around 34-35 weeks I would be admitted to my delivery hospital, monitored and stabilized but no matter how hard me and the medical professionals tried the preeclampsia would become too much and I would have to be induced. My children (and this current unborn child) were always healthy but my body would just start to break down no matter what I did.
Fast forward to this year in which I found out I was expecting again and to our great joy a baby boy (we have two girls already.) Knowing my history with preeclampsia and needing to be induced early my doctor put me on a high risk status. Double the appointments, yay! Throughout all of this my fiance worked and supported us and was able to watch the kids while I went to my appointments, taking his off days to make up and work overtime knowing our lease would be up soon before our dreaded 3rd trimester (when everything tends to go wrong.)
Sure enough I end up developing gestational diabetes again despite sticking to the diet and eating healthy, but more alarmingly around July 18th I found out I was severely anemic, my hemoglobin was at a 7.8 and I was in desperate need of an iron infusion for if it dropped any lower I would need a blood transfusion which they wanted to avoid considering the pregnancy. So on the the 19th of July I was given the first of 3 rounds of venofer (iv iron).
I almost immediately started feeling better able to actually do things and not feel constantly exhausted, to actually play with my daughters and do simple errands such as grocery shopping without my heart rate being elevated, abnormally exhausted and suffering from major cramping during the night. During this time, likely due to all my appointments my fiance was notified that his contract with the company he was working for was terminated and he would have to seek work elsewhere.
But that all changed again as I went to see my high risk doctor on the 10th of August, my blood pressure was sightly elevated and they were having issues with the cuff so they decided measure it manually and what they found then changed everything. My resting heart rate was 130 even though I was hydrated. So the doctor decided to listen to my heart which was skipping every 4th beat. I was told then to go to ob triage to be monitored and evaluated with an ekg. At this time we were fortunate that my fiance had just finished a round of interviews and was offered a position was still able to be home and watch the girls so I could be evaluated before starting work again.
Off I went to the the hospital and after an ekg and an ultrasound to check on my son, I was informed that they were admitting me for further testing and that my son was breech so if for whatever reason I had to be induced it would be a c section but to relax because stress wouldn't help anything. They did a CT scan to rule out pulmonary embolism, thankfully there was no blood clots, they did blood work and started telemetry to monitor my heart constantly. I was told my hemoglobin was now at a 10 but that it takes time to replenish ones iron stores. I was then given an echo-cardiogram where they recorded several arrhythmias in the upper chambers of my heart and I was seen by the cardiologist who told me that she suspected my iron deficiency anemia was behind this and wanted to do more blood work for iron studies and to collect more data.
Two days later I was told my hemoglobin was back down to an 8.5. During this time in the hospital I could barely stay awake as they waited to figure out if it really was the anemia and not something else going on with my heart as I had no bleeding etc to cause such a sudden drop. After 5 days of being in the hospital they told me I could go home on the conditions that I rest and continue taking iron supplements and seeing my ob and high risk doctor, having my blood checked often to make sure my hemoglobin doesn't drop any further and cause complications for the baby and I.
As of writing this I am 32 weeks pregnant and my fiance goes back to work Monday. Typically around this time we fly my mom out here to watch the girls as I can be readmitted into the hospital and she doesn't work unlike everyone else in the family and can easily and willingly watch the girls. I have 2 appointments this upcoming week on Thursday and Friday, and two next week, with the likelihood of appointments only increasing as are my chances of being readmitted to the hospital until labor is induced if I once again develop preeclampsia.
With this fundraiser we are really only asking for my mothers flight to be covered as it would reduce the stress of both my fiance and myself and ensure that he could keep his new job and I could get the medical treatment I need such as nst tests (fetal monitoring twice a week every two weeks) ultrasounds, and a myriad of appointments and possible iron infusions that I might need. Due to my fiance losing his job and my high risk condition being unable to work we are hoping that maybe others can help us as we have already sold everything and borrowed from friends and family members to make it this far with no income. We have applied for benefits but that process is lengthy and while it is currently approved will take up to 20 days before we can access any support, which will be helping us pay our bills and possibly buy things for the new baby to come.
Getting a flight for my mother will also allow me to rest after having the baby and surgery for tubal litigation as I want to make sure I can't get pregnant again and that my fiance can resume work swiftly as possible and we can go back to supporting ourselves as usual.
If you have any further questions please let me know, I would be more than happy to clarify or explain anything. Thank you so much for reading and considering this plea for help in a difficult situation and even just a share would mean the world to us.
Thank you,
The Mulhollen Family
A bit of history about this pregnancy and why I am deemed high risk. In my previous two pregnancies I ended up developing gestational diabetes and preeclampsia forcing me to be closely monitored and co-managed by my ob and high risk pregnancy doctors and every time around 34-35 weeks I would be admitted to my delivery hospital, monitored and stabilized but no matter how hard me and the medical professionals tried the preeclampsia would become too much and I would have to be induced. My children (and this current unborn child) were always healthy but my body would just start to break down no matter what I did.
Fast forward to this year in which I found out I was expecting again and to our great joy a baby boy (we have two girls already.) Knowing my history with preeclampsia and needing to be induced early my doctor put me on a high risk status. Double the appointments, yay! Throughout all of this my fiance worked and supported us and was able to watch the kids while I went to my appointments, taking his off days to make up and work overtime knowing our lease would be up soon before our dreaded 3rd trimester (when everything tends to go wrong.)
Sure enough I end up developing gestational diabetes again despite sticking to the diet and eating healthy, but more alarmingly around July 18th I found out I was severely anemic, my hemoglobin was at a 7.8 and I was in desperate need of an iron infusion for if it dropped any lower I would need a blood transfusion which they wanted to avoid considering the pregnancy. So on the the 19th of July I was given the first of 3 rounds of venofer (iv iron).
I almost immediately started feeling better able to actually do things and not feel constantly exhausted, to actually play with my daughters and do simple errands such as grocery shopping without my heart rate being elevated, abnormally exhausted and suffering from major cramping during the night. During this time, likely due to all my appointments my fiance was notified that his contract with the company he was working for was terminated and he would have to seek work elsewhere.
But that all changed again as I went to see my high risk doctor on the 10th of August, my blood pressure was sightly elevated and they were having issues with the cuff so they decided measure it manually and what they found then changed everything. My resting heart rate was 130 even though I was hydrated. So the doctor decided to listen to my heart which was skipping every 4th beat. I was told then to go to ob triage to be monitored and evaluated with an ekg. At this time we were fortunate that my fiance had just finished a round of interviews and was offered a position was still able to be home and watch the girls so I could be evaluated before starting work again.
Off I went to the the hospital and after an ekg and an ultrasound to check on my son, I was informed that they were admitting me for further testing and that my son was breech so if for whatever reason I had to be induced it would be a c section but to relax because stress wouldn't help anything. They did a CT scan to rule out pulmonary embolism, thankfully there was no blood clots, they did blood work and started telemetry to monitor my heart constantly. I was told my hemoglobin was now at a 10 but that it takes time to replenish ones iron stores. I was then given an echo-cardiogram where they recorded several arrhythmias in the upper chambers of my heart and I was seen by the cardiologist who told me that she suspected my iron deficiency anemia was behind this and wanted to do more blood work for iron studies and to collect more data.
Two days later I was told my hemoglobin was back down to an 8.5. During this time in the hospital I could barely stay awake as they waited to figure out if it really was the anemia and not something else going on with my heart as I had no bleeding etc to cause such a sudden drop. After 5 days of being in the hospital they told me I could go home on the conditions that I rest and continue taking iron supplements and seeing my ob and high risk doctor, having my blood checked often to make sure my hemoglobin doesn't drop any further and cause complications for the baby and I.
As of writing this I am 32 weeks pregnant and my fiance goes back to work Monday. Typically around this time we fly my mom out here to watch the girls as I can be readmitted into the hospital and she doesn't work unlike everyone else in the family and can easily and willingly watch the girls. I have 2 appointments this upcoming week on Thursday and Friday, and two next week, with the likelihood of appointments only increasing as are my chances of being readmitted to the hospital until labor is induced if I once again develop preeclampsia.
With this fundraiser we are really only asking for my mothers flight to be covered as it would reduce the stress of both my fiance and myself and ensure that he could keep his new job and I could get the medical treatment I need such as nst tests (fetal monitoring twice a week every two weeks) ultrasounds, and a myriad of appointments and possible iron infusions that I might need. Due to my fiance losing his job and my high risk condition being unable to work we are hoping that maybe others can help us as we have already sold everything and borrowed from friends and family members to make it this far with no income. We have applied for benefits but that process is lengthy and while it is currently approved will take up to 20 days before we can access any support, which will be helping us pay our bills and possibly buy things for the new baby to come.
Getting a flight for my mother will also allow me to rest after having the baby and surgery for tubal litigation as I want to make sure I can't get pregnant again and that my fiance can resume work swiftly as possible and we can go back to supporting ourselves as usual.
If you have any further questions please let me know, I would be more than happy to clarify or explain anything. Thank you so much for reading and considering this plea for help in a difficult situation and even just a share would mean the world to us.
Thank you,
The Mulhollen Family
Organizer
Crystal Mulhollen
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ
