Wow! So, on the night of New Years Eve, I got really, really dizzy. It felt like all the walls and floors were moving in a wave, and I couldn't even stand up or crawl on my own, much less walk. I had to lean on Russ. I was a little bit scared at that point, but did not go to the hospital. Instead, I drank a glass of water, hoping it would help, and went to bed early. Sometime during the night, the dizziness subsided somewhat, enough that I could walk around with just the support of furniture. By morning, I was able to walk slowly on my own, and I was feeling a little nauseous, which I assumed was due to being dizzy for so long. However, since I was feeling so much better than the previous night, I felt encouraged that I was getting better. Russ needed to run to Walmart to pick up some things for dinner, and I decided that getting out of the house might be just what I needed.
Almost as soon as the car started moving, the dizziness started getting worse. I kept thinking "Okay, the car might not have been a good idea." The nausea was also getting a little worse, and I kept contemplating whether I should tell Russ to pull over, but I never did. The dizziness got worse and worse. I started seeing spots in front of my eyes. At some point, I realized I was going to faint. I told Russ that I was going to faint about one second before I did. He said that I was out for about a minute, and I was twitching. When I came to, I felt really confused. My head was hanging limply, and Russ was saying, "Hun? Hun? We're going to the hospital!" Before I could think or say anything, a wave of nausea so strong came over me, all I had time to do was clap my hand over my mouth before I threw up. Russ quickly rolled down my window, and told me to stick my head out of it if I needed to. I did. It was drizzling a little bit, and it was cold, but I didn't care. I threw up a lot more. The wind blew it all over my face, and it was all down the side of the car, and in the crack of the window. Russ said some of it even flew back into the window and hit him. When I finally stopped, and was able to look up to see where we were, we were already pulling into the hospital parking lot.
We went into the ER, and after getting me signed in, Russ took me to the bathroom and helped me wipe myself down with paper towels. When we got back out, he went to the desk and told the lady that I was 24 weeks pregnant. As soon as she heard that, she called somebody from maternity to come get me. They told me that after 20 weeks, pregnant women automatically go to maternity for all issues. I was relieved about that, because maternity is a lot nicer, and cleaner, and faster. When we got up to maternity, they got me into a room almost immediately, and a doctor was in to see me very quickly. He ordered some blood tests, and had me hooked up to all kinds of monitors. When they came in to draw my blood, they had a problem. It was easy to tell I was dehydrated, because they could not get my blood to flow. They had to poke me in four different places, and it HURT!!! Finally, they got the blood they needed, and hooked up an IV with a giant bag of saline. After the tests came back, they told me that I was also iron deficient. I was prescribed iron supplements and nausea pills, and told to drink a lot of fluids.
By the time we got back home that night, I was starving and exhausted. I had a small dinner and went straight to bed. The next day, I woke up feeling queasy. Russ went to get my prescriptions, and I tried to eat. I was feeling pretty yucky by the time Russ got back. I took a nausea pill and an iron supplement. Not long after lunch, I threw up once, but it was only a little bit. I also got diarrhea. Later that night, after dinner and another iron supplement, I got to go see my cousins, Jason and Ron, who I hadn't seen in over a year! Even though I still didn't feel too good, I was determined to see them, so I braved the car again for the first time since that episode. I made it to visit them just fine. We went to the Huddle House, and Russ asked if I wanted to order something. I really wasn't feeling hungry, but I ordered a strawberry shortcake, on the condition that Russ would help me eat it. We had a good time, and I enjoyed myself. I ate about half the strawberry shortcake. By the time we got in the car to go home, I was getting really nauseous again, but I managed to do okay for the car ride. Almost as soon as we got home, though, I hurried to the bathroom and threw up again. This time, I threw up quite a lot. I realized that it was probably the iron supplements making me nauseous, since I had been drinking plenty of water now.
The next day, after taking my iron supplement, I called my doctor and told her about everything that had happened, and about what the iron supplements were doing to me. She told me I could reduce my dose to twice a day, instead of three times a day, and that she will recheck my iron at my next appointment on Tuesday to see if she needs to alter my dose. She said, in the mean time, I could get Dramamine and take it at the same time as my nausea pills, and I could nibble on saltines or other mild foods when I am feeling nauseous. I have been doing what she said, and since then, I've felt much better. I've even gotten my never ending appetite back.
So, what else is new? Well, my belly has grown quite a lot over the last few weeks, and is now getting so big that it's really getting hard to move around very much. My back hurts constantly, and I have flexeril, but with all the other medication I'm on right now, I don't want to take it. I need back support in order to sit down for very long, and even then, I'm hurting. If I bend over too far, I get a pain in my belly, and I lose my breath. My feet are even starting to swell a little bit, but if I keep them up most of the time, they are okay. I get occasional growing pains, that go all the way up into my ribs. They feel like a gas bubble that doesn't go away for a long time.
But there's good news! After being here for seven months, and sleeping on an air mattress all that time, Russ and I FINALLY have a bed! We found it on Craigslist, and picked it up yesterday morning. Last night was the first time in a LONG time that I was able to sleep comfortably! The last air mattress we had was the worst, because for some reason, it developed a lump in the middle, so all night long, I would have to brace myself to stay in bed, and I slept on a hill. To finally sleep on a soft, flat, solid bed was like a taste of heaven! Had it not been for getting up about 20 times to pee, I probably would have slept very soundly.
I am so close to my third trimester! It's a little bit scary to be this close to the end. I have to admit, the prospect of labor still makes me shake in my boots. IT'S GOING TO HURT!!! But, I know that in the end, it will all be worth it. My next appointment is this coming Tuesday. And this is going to be a busy month. I have three classes to go to, and two appointments. I'm really looking forward to the classes. The first one is next Saturday. That's the preparation for childbirth class, so maybe after that, labor won't sound so scary. I'm also taking a breastfeeding class and Rusty is taking a siblings class. This promises to be a fun and exciting month....just as long as I keep drinking enough water!
No comments:
Post a Comment