I have big plans for a very interesting, picture-filled post regarding Chase's second birthday, but I've been out of commission for the past few days. For those who were wondering, here's the day by day scoop:
WARNING: What you are about to read contains way too many details and endless bouts of rambling as well as references to unpleasant bodily functions. Proceed at your own risk.
Sunday night: I was way tired from all of my partying and went to bed early in the hopes of merrily sleeping the night away. That was wishful thinking though as I woke up around 1:30 with the most horrible heartburn I've ever had. Seriously, I had to touch my neck to be sure that the acid hadn't burned a hole through my throat it was so bad. Zantac didn't even touch it. So, I tossed and turned, got out of bed, sat on the chair, got back in bed, tossed and turned some more until finally at 4 I remembered that milk can help with indigestion. Awww sweet relief. Well 3 hours of it anyway as Chase was up at 7.
Monday: Felt ill the whole day. Couldn't really pinpoint it, but something in my belly just felt off. Amaya was still moving about as normal, so I didn't give it too much thought. Figured it may have something to do with the heartburn and lack of sleep.
Monday night: Started having cramping in the upper abdomen and strong lower back pain. Then I got the fireflies in my vision followed by the blurry/blindspot vision disturbance that I get before a migraine. Popped two tylenol and crossed my fingers that it would be enough to head off the pain. Decided to call it a night. Slept semi-peacefully until 1:30 when--uh oh--heartburn again. I got up, took a zantac, and was getting ready to repeat the routine from the night before when all of the sudden, I felt dinner coming back up. Violently. Dinner was at 6...I don't think any of it had left my stomach 7.5 hours later. It was all still there. yuck. I brushed teeth, showered, and tried to go back to sleep. Wasn't happening. I was up all night with uncomfortable back pain, a severe headache and a tummy that wasn't happy with me.
Tuesday morning: Finally, at 6:30 I got up and headed downstairs with the goal of eating some crackers and finding a new position to ease my back pain when all of the sudden I had to hurl again. The closest thing to do so in was Chase's Lightning McQueen gift bag from a birthday present. Into it went all of the water I had gently sipped the night before and any stomach acid that happened to be in my belly at the time. Ka-Chow.
Well, now I was feeling a little concerned for Amaya. I already had a regularly scheduled appointment at 10:20, but I wasn't sure if I needed to be seen earlier. So, I went to trusty google and typed in my symptoms all of which it turns out were possible signs of preeclampsia a dangerous condition that can cause decreased blood flow to the baby. If you develop Pre-e, you are usually placed on bedrest, or if you are far enough along, they induce labor in order to avoid any complications in utero. It's pretty serious and not something to be messed around with. Upon further reading, I found that the three main indicators of Pre-e are high blood pressure (relative to the patient's baseline bp), excessive swelling of hands/face and protein in the urine. Well, my hands and face looked fine, and Andy just happened to have a blood pressure monitor, so I made him take mine. It was 108/70, so I felt pretty secure in self diagnosing myself as just having a bug/food poisoning. I went back to bed until time for my appointment.
I made Drew take me to the appointment as I had visions of having another puke attack as I was driving down the toll road. I arrived at the Dr.'s office feeling very queasy still, but holding down half a bottle of Fiji and 10 frosted mini wheats. I shared with the Dr. my symptoms, and she immediately mentioned the possibility of preeclampsia and sent me off for a non-stress test (NST). Basically, I was hooked up to a machine that monitored Amaya's heart rate and my uterine contractions. The goal is to have her heart rate increase with activity 15 beats above her baseline for 15 seconds twice during a 20 minute period. Well, little squirt hadn't received any significant nutrients for several hours and her mama was dehydrated, so she wasn't really interested in doing any activity to achieve the desired result. So we failed that test. Instead of telling me to go drink some juice or eat something, the doctor sent me over to Reston Hospital for further testing with orders not to eat anything in case an emergency c-section became necessary. It was now noon.
At the hospital, I spent 2.5 hours hooked up to the monitor with no signs of the required 15 x 15 before they finally hooked me up to an IV of fluids. Magically, shortly thereafter, Amaya became a happy active little bean who gladly gave them what they wanted to see. Still, I had to spend 5 more hours being poked, prodded, blood tested, ultrasounded, and starved only to be told that Amaya looks great, but I was dehydrated (duh) and had a low grade UTI. I was released with a prescription for Augmentin and orders to take it easy.
The good news in all of this, is that we got to see Amaya again. The tech informed us that she is still a she, which was a relief as I've been questioning that diagnosis since I heard it the first time. She also said that Amaya looks to be measuring about 6lbs 9 oz, so I can rest easy if she decides to make an early appearance.
Today, I've been pretty lackluster in the energy department. I can only do small bits of activity before feeling completely wiped out. I am hoping tomorrow will be better so that I can tackle my ever growing list of to dos...which certainly includes getting some pictures of Chase's party up on the blog for you dedicated readers. Can you hang in there just a bit longer?
No comments:
Post a Comment