Catchy title, huh?
Well, its certainly been a memorable day, to say the very least!
The day started pretty typically, slept in, had an OBGYN appt, and the rest of the day went to hell.
For the last few days, I had been feeling "off", nothing too specific, just generally achy, headaches, some neck pain, I thought my ankles had been swollen but nothing really came of that. I had initially had a doctor's appt on Thursday that I was able to reschedule for today, which was obviously meant to be.
I continued to just feel achy and a bit more lethargic than normal at my appointment, where my blood pressure was in the 130's. This was very new for me as I typically run 100's-110's. My midwife, Janice, who I LOVE, said I just didn't look myself so upon repeating my BP several times and seeing that it continued to be high, it was decided that I'd have labs done for PIH (Pregnancy Induced Hypertension) and I was to collect urine for 24 hours to measure protein in it. (PIH issues secrete proteins when they shouldn't into blood and urine). Matt was on duty but was at my appointment with me and stayed with me while I had my blood drawn. Most of you know, I DON'T LIKE NEEDLES! I give shots and draw blood with no issues but a needle in my direction is another issue. I did just fine with the blood work and went about my day and ran a few errands. Within an hour of leaving the doctor's, my phone rang. Janice had called to tell me that I hit the trifecta and had won myself a hospital admission as my ALT's were very high. Normal range is around 20, I was 109. She warned me to prepare for at least an overnight stay and to pack a bag and head on in. Ha. This of course made me panic, call Matt in tears, and somehow explain to him that my labs weren't good and I had to go in. Its odd packing for a hospital stay for an unknown length of time, I showered and grabbed books, DVDs, laptop, all fun stuff thinking this would really be a short visit. That has yet to be determined.
A confused/concerned/worried/anxious Matt and I arrived to get checked in around 1:30. We saw one of the other midwives, Shanna, who took us to our room (which is nice) and attempted at getting us settled in and letting us know what the plan of the day was. Since midwives typically oversee low risk, healthy pregnancies, I'll be followed my an OBGYN MD as well as them. Shanna explained to us that they were primarily concerned that we were dealing with preeclampsia. The plan from the time I got in the door was to monitor my urine for 24 hours, continuous fetal monitoring, get magnesium sulfate and betamethasone and play wait and see. All seemed easy enough. Ha. I've always prided myself on having super veins, apparently with preeclampsia, blood vessels constrict, including veins, allowing venous access to be a bit of a challenge. Again, I DONT LIKE NEEDLES. Today, I'm a pin cushion. I got poked 3 times to attempt IV access. The 4th and final attempt was done by an anesthesiologist, if he hadn't had gotten it, I'd have unholstered Matt's gun and shot someone. The 1st attempt made me pass out, the 2nd and 3rd attempts had me in tears saying no more, I want to go home. As soon as IV access was established, they started the magnesium sulfate, a smooth muscle relxant used to lower my BP and prevent seizures. Ummm scary. Mag sulfate is known in the medical community for not being a joy to be on. I had always heard of severe nausea, but I got lucky and didn't have any. The issue though, is they gave a high dose to begin with and as soon as its done, you feel better. The 20 minutes of my bolus was sheer hell. Mag makes you feel like you're burning from the inside out. It makes you hurt, it makes you uncomfortable and it makes you woozy. I pitty anyone on mag. I spent our ultrasound at maternal fetal medicine in a mag induced stupor, it sucked. I watched some of the scan and listened to what the sonographer said but I was hiding under wet cloths begging it to be over. Baby looks good, she's 3lbs 14 oz and her bones look good, as do some of the vessels that they eval'd. Midway through the scan, my high dose bolus of mag finished and they assured me that the feeling of being burned alive would fade, it did, but not 100%.
From the ultrasound, we came back to our room where I was rehooked up to the fetal monitor and my BP was checked. Since we've been at the hospital, my BPs been in the 130's and 140's. Shanna, one of the midwives came back in and checked on us as well as the OBGYN attending my case, Dr Shumate. Also checking on us was a perinatologist who works with maternal fetal medicine, whos name escapes me, but I didn't like her much. She seemed to think that we were not dealing with preeclampsia but didn't give us a clear idea of what else this might be. Dr Shumate, however, is convinced this IS preeclampsia. From his perspective, I'm to be in the hospital a few more days, he was hesitant to tell me how many so its happier when I get to go home theoretically early. He pretty much told me that I'm on bedrest until the end of the pregnancy and to kiss my gym days goodbye. Assuming my blood work and BP goes back to normal, upon discharge I'm home on bed rest, going to the doctor's for blood work twice a week and I get the joy of doing 24 hour urine collections weekly to test for protein. He also said to expect to deliver early, maybe around 36 weeks. The baby by the way, is breech right now (butt down) but everyone thinks she'll return over the next few weeks to be head down again, like she was at our 28 week and very normal appointment.
So thats the scoop, the hospital sucks but they're all very accomodating, even to my requests about needles. I'm on an antepartum floor with lots of other women who are on bed rest and need monitoring for whatever reason, they dont want to be here either. I'm also on the floor of the NICU. A neonatologist came to see us today to tell us what to expect if I was to deliver this week or next. He informed us that baby would need to be hospitalized until she can maintain proper body temperature, have no breathing issues, and feed well from a nipple. It was reassuring to hear that should she come now, the likelihood of her being on a venilator or CPAP or BiPap was extremely low and that she'd come out crying and just be little. We're not wanting her here now but its some comfort to know that if she comes, its ok. She has been moving and active the entire visit, it seems like this illness is more of a me issue than her, but the more medical issues I have, the potential for her increases so we've taken every precaution imaginable, including me getting a shot (in the butt that hurt like hell) to prepare her lungs incase she comes early. I get the joy of another shot tomorrow.
We're really lucky to have family and friends close by, and I'm so excited to be at the hospital in the city where Matt works. We've had lots of PD visitors, including Matt's new seargeant, who I hadn't met before tonight. Police family comraderie just amazes me. He stayed with us a while and chatted and joked and made sure Matt and I were doing ok and I was just so touched that he stopped to check to make sure we were alright, this after almost 2 hours past his shift and he had a ways to drive home. We enjoyed visits from other PD friends who were kind enough to swing by for hugs and allow me to send them to Trader Joe's for my uber specific requests, I will not eat hospital food, thank you very much.
More tomorrow as more information becomes available, in the meantime, we're just chillin' at Evergreen and would welcome calls, texts, and visits, just tell us when first. Also, for our out of towners, we love Skype, so feel free to log on and we can chat!
No comments:
Post a Comment