Thursday, November 29, 2012

timeline of {an unexpected} tuesday


{10:20a} the start of what should have been a regular Ob-Gyn appointment

weight gain=normal     blood pressure=low       belly measuring=average

{10:45a} doctor asks if baby has been moving normally

"I haven't felt her move since I woke up at 5a...this last week I've been having menstrual-like cramping...should I be concerned?  

{11:00a} doctor issues non-stress test to monitor baby's heart rate and test for any signs of contractions

{11:20a} nurse comes in to tell me that the doctor is concerned because baby's heart rate dropped suddenly   
and didn't recover for several minutes. She wants me to get an ultrasound this afternoon at 2p

{simultaneously}
baby's heart rate drops a second time, nurse leaves room, returns several minutes later, "the doctor is going to have you admitted to Labor & Delivery so they can monitor you there, the ultrasound tech will meet you there to check the baby"

{11:45a} call my mom to tell her I've been admitted me into Labor & Delivery, she's on her way 

{12:00p} they hook me up to same devices used during non-stress test, explain that they will be monitoring 
 me and that the ultrasound tech will be in shortly. Mom arrives at same time.

{12:30p} ultrasound tech shows up and shows me my beautiful baby, who now has the perfect chubby cheeks, belly and lips...she's sucking on her hands.

{2:00p} doctor and nurse come in to tell me that baby got 8/8 on the ultrasound and after 10 more minutes of monitoring I can go home.

{2:30p} nurse comes in to tell me that baby's heart rate has dropped unexpectedly again, which buys me two more hours of monitoring.

{3:00p} I start complaining of terrible back pain, presumably from the awkward position I've been laying in for 3 hours, mom tries to help me get comfortable to no avail. Nurse enters and says that she's contacted the doctor.

{3:15p} Nurse returns and says that my back pain is actually contractions, which are currently coming minutes apart...they'll be giving me an IV to help stop the contractions, as well as performing a series of tests that would indicate I've gone into pre-term labor.

{3:30p} Nurse blows vein out in my hand while trying to hook up IV...only important because it was painful and my hand is now visibly bruised.

{5:00p} All tests come back negative (woohoo) but my contractions are still coming every 2 minutes and I'm extremely cranky and uncomfortable.

{7:00p} On-call doctor issues a urine test to rule out UTI as possible cause of "uterine activity"

{8:00p} Urine test comes back clean, no signs of UTI, on-call doctor is contacted and says that he would like to come in and be "hands on" to figure out what's causing the contractions. 

{9:30p} I haven't had a contraction in over an hour, on-call doctor still hasn't arrived, my awesome mother tells nurse that if the baby is fine, I'm fine and there's no risk of pre-term labor, we'd really like to go home because I haven't eaten and I need to sleep.

{10:00p} Nurse removes IV and goes over any symptoms that would warrant my return...I look down to discover that I've bled through my IV bandage and am dripping blood allover the floor. Nurse cleans me up and (finally) lets me go home.

This may not be exactly spot on as far as timing is concerned but it's close...in the end they ruled that dehydration was causing me to contract. And now I have a gray, plastic pitcher that I have to drink two of a day (filled with water only, of course). All in all Tuesday was scary and exhausting and frustrating and stressful but I'm grateful for the baby that is still in my womb (where she belongs for 8 more weeks) and for a mom that will advocate for me and I'm praying that next time I'm in Labor & Delivery baby will be full term and I'll be (at least a little) more prepared.

No comments:

Post a Comment