Rude Awakening

I'm a little behind on getting my 30-31 week pictures up & sharing about where I am in this pregnancy mainly because:

1. Our internet has been down for the past 2 weeks

2. I missed the cable guy when he came to fix it

This post may be a little "TMI" for some people, but once again I am blogging about MY pregnancy experience & hopefully if this EVER happens again, I can look back on it for reference or relate with someone that has gone through it before. Either way these last couple of weeks have NOT been fun.

Oh, how I WISH I had been there to let that cable guy in...

For the past month, my husband Matt has been in & out of town for work. Usually when he is gone its only for a couple of days & the longest I've been alone is 5 nights. It really doesn't bother me too much because I work full time & spend the evening working on projects, reading & doing whatever else I feel like getting done at the time.

If Matt is ever gone over a weekend, I usually take the opportunity to have a girls night & someone stays with me or I stay with them. Either way, its usually not too bad.

However, being pregnant & getting bigger each day has its challenges. I'm starting to realize just how much Matt does around the house for me these days.

So back to the main title of this post. It all started when Matt got called out of town on a HUGE job & he ended up being gone for 12 days. I took care of the house & all the usual chores but it was time for him to come home & each day he would say...looks like we'll be here another day or 2. =( sad face...

FINALLY he got home late on a saturday night. We had time to buy a new washer & do a few things around the house even though he was exhausted. We planned to pick up our nursery projects that were still hanging out & for the 2nd time planned to get the paint to redo our baby furniture.

 2 days...that's it...he was home for 2 days & once again got called out of town to Texas & then Arkansas. Needless to say all the hormones in my pregnant body welled up & I lost it.

I have never lost it before now & I have NO idea what was causing all the emotion, but I could NOT stop crying! I didn't want him to leave...we had so much to do & for some reason the thought of being alone again for another week while feeling completely overwhelmed was not good.

*I commend those wives who have husbands in the military that can go months & months without seeing their spouses...even the pregnant ones that give birth while they are away. They amaze me. I could not handle it.*

Matt tried to console me, figure out why I was so upset & tell me he would be home before I knew it. I tried to put on a brave face & decided I would be just fine, blamed the hormones & then he was gone by 3pm.

Now for the play by play...

9:30pm

I just finished eating left overs from my mother in law (late I know) & got a phone call from my friend Emily. I was feeling great, laughing & talking, then we hung up. I got ready for bed, read some out of a book & settled in for the night.

10:30pm

I'd been trying to say my bed time prayer for what seemed like the last 30 minutes while dosing in & out of sleep. Then I had this very rude awakening that SOMETHING was distracting me & I felt really crampy.

11:00pm

OH. MY. WORD. something was so not right. I was experiencing pretty bad cramps in my stomach & my back started aching. I tried ever position possible...PRAYED like there was NO tomorrow & tried to find a way to get relief.

12:00am

OK that's it...I decided to get in the tub. By this time I had googled the pain I was having on my phone & saw that a hot soak might help. Somehow I'm still thinking this will pass & that there was no way I could be in labor!

1:00am

I got out of the tub because that DID seem to help some so I put my pj's back on & tried to settle in for the night. A few minutes went by & the pain was back stretching all the way around my stomach & crawling up my back. The left side of my back was the worst, but in my mind I'm thinking...if this is gas...this is just rediculous!! All of a sudden I ran to the & bathroom threw up. At this point thoughts of going to the ER start crossing my mind.

1:30am

I called Matt even though I knew he couldn't do anything to help me, but I had to talk to someone! He answered a little panic in his voice...probably thinking I'm having the baby already! ha so I tried to tell him what was going on through all my tears. NO I don't feel like I'm in labor, No I don't want to call anyone because I'd be really embarressed if this is just severe gas pains...

(my Dr. told me her sister went to the ER with that once-- it can be that bad!)

He told me to call the emergency line at my doctors office & find out what to do..so before we hung up, he prayed with me & told me that I was being really brave!

1:45am

I got the on call nurse at the doctor & she got in touch with Dr. Green. He had to call me back, but she told me hopefully I wouldn't have to go all the way to the hospital (where the baby will be born) 45 minutes away.

I asked her if I should go to the ER & she pretty much told me since my husband was gone that would probably be a good idea.

My mom always told me I had a really high pain tolerance & I somehow had made it almost 3 hours in horrible pain, but there was NO way relief would come without an intervention. Once I realized that, I threw my hair in a pony tail, grabbed my phone, my purse & headed out the door.

1:55am

Finally Dr. Green called me & told me to come to the ER. WELL that didn't happen because he meant HIS ER & I'm headed to my local hospital in town 5 minutes away as opposed to 45. Yes, they have a labor & delivery floor with an on call OB doctor so he let me go there instead. I called Matt back to tell him I was driving myself & he was a little freaked out & thought I should call someone. I still have other friends & family telling me I should have called, but at the time, I was only thinking of getting there as fast as possible & looking back, I don't think I could have waited on someone to get up, get dressed, drive to my house, & take me in to the hospital. I got there just before the pain increased about 10x!

2:00am

I parked the car & NO ONE is at the ER of all things. They usually have at least a few people there, but somehow I breezed right in to the receptionist. One look & she said...how far along are you? 31 weeks...after taking down some information while I described my pain, she called L&D. They sent me right up to the 2nd floor & had nurses waiting on me. Once I was in a room, I gave them a urine sample & both nurses looked at me in horror! That is SO not what that is supposed to look like! AH so they hooked me up to the baby monitor to see what was happening & said they would be back in 30 minutes.

That was the LONGEST 30 minutes of my life...well really it was because it was actually an hour. I have been writhing in the most intense pain I have EVER HAD! It got SO much worse once I was in that hospital bed...I don't know how much longer I could have stayed at home & it sunk in that this was SO beyond gas! ha

I had taken all I could with no pain medicine...it was constant, never ending, no relief & getting more intense by the second. I hit the call button when I didn't think I could take it anymore & told them my 30 minutes HAD to be up & to get me some medicine! That's when they told me I was actually having contractions & had just had one at that exact moment I called. It had unfortunately been an hour but the lab hadn't gotten the test results in yet.

3:00am

The nurses finally came in with instructions from the on call OB doctor to hook me up to an IV & start some pain meds. I liked the nurses because they were young & tried to keep my mind off the fact that I was in pre-term labor. Yeah a little freaked out about that...so much so that it wasn't even that big a deal that both nurses tried putting the IV in the tops of my hands & they didn't work! Finally they got the needle in my arm & taped it up that way & finally gave me some pain meds. As soon as it went through the IV I got a little dizzy so I knew it was working. However, even though it felt a lot better, I still had the back pain.

4:00am

I was still awake because the pain never went away so sleep was kind of impossible. The nurses came in & told me it looked like I might have kidney stones or a really bad infection so they were going to keep monitoring the baby & admit me to the hospital until further notice. I kept asking if I was still supposed to feel the back pain. Apparently that only goes away with the STRONG stuff but they wouldn't give me any morphine. I assumed that was because of the baby...but either way it was tolerable. I listened to the heartbeat the rest of the night but decided I better start letting people know what was going on. I called Matt & told him it looked like I would be staying & I was actually in pre-term labor with contractions. I was a little dehydrated from the "infection" so they said it was normal to have contractions when anything like that happened & that they would go away once I got enough fluid. Matt was really upset that he wasn't there, but until we knew anything else he would stay put.

4:30am

I decided to call my parents because I knew it was an hour ahead their time & figured dad would probably be up or getting up soon. Once they knew, I felt a little better, but again...it's not like they could do anything from PA!

My in-laws also happened to be out of town, so really everyone else that was available was Matt's grandparents, aunt & uncle & my friends. I wasn't sure when the best time would be to call anyone else, so I tried to get a little rest.

5:30am

Every time I was able to fall asleep, a minute later I had to go to the bathroom. The nurses had to unhook all the monitors & help wheel me to the doorway so I could go. Needless to say...it was a long night.

6:00am

I decided to call my friend Emily & tell her what happened. Once she got the word I felt better because I knew she would be able to come get my house key & make arrangements to get anything I needed. She spread the word to my other co-workers/best friends & they started calling & texting about an hour later. I still had pain & got a little nauseous so I ended up getting sick AGAIN.

7:00am

Matt's mom called & Matt had let them know what was going on so she made arrangments to get in touch with my pastors wife, my boss & anyone else that needed to know. The on call Dr. from the night before showed up & introduced himself. He let me know what was going on & that it looked like I had kidney stones...plural. awesome. So they were going to do an ultrasound & check them out to be sure. Until then I had to stay put & they would change my room, & make me as comfortable as possible. I was rocking back in forth in pain since the meds had started to wear off so he decided it was time for something else. =) He was good at the medicine thing.

7:30am

By this time I had some of my first visitors popping in that included my pastors wife & friends along w/ my 2 day shift nurses! My pain meds had faded & they were in the process of giving me something else but first I had to answer lots of medical history questions. My friend Skye sat in the room with me & helped me answer them when it seemed like I was in a daze. I got sick again, but 3 of my best friends were there running around making sure I was ok & then 2 of them left with my keys to take my car home & get the things I would need for the remainder of my stay. They cleaned up a little, packed me a bag & even fed the animals.

8:00am

Matt's grandparents, along w/ my friends, & my boss showed up right as I was changing rooms. The nurse loaded me up in a wheelchair & got me settled in the new place. My little entourage followed me & came in & out for the next couple hours. I was able to eat a little breakfast & take/make any other phone calls about what was going on.

For the rest of the day I never had complete relief but I was much better than I had been. Someone was with me at all times through out the day & they helped me to the restroom, helped me eat & even took phone calls for me. I was well taken care of.

The cable guy just happened to call to let me know he was on his way to fix the internet...Skye informed him that would NOT be possible today. HA

The next several hours included more pain medicine, visits from the Dr. & the sonogram which showed I really did have kidney stones caused from the way the baby was laying & an infection. Matt didn't have to come home because it was really a waiting game from there on out to see if I would pass anything, but the plan was to be as comfortable as possible. I didn't get much rest that day but was able to sleep a little in the afternoon. My mom posted on facebook about what was happening & I started feeling the prayers people prayed for me & my emotions were in control. The baby was kicking just like normal & I felt a little more relaxed even though my husband & family were not there to be with me. My friends & Matt's aunt & grandparents really stepped up when I felt the most alone & took care of everything!

I hated that Matt missed the whole ordeal, but it was better that he stayed in Texas. It wasn't until the next afternoon at 3pm that I got some other pain medicine that did the trick. Completely PAIN FREE! it was the first time I had relief since 11pm the night before. Since that time, it never returned & I started passing the stones. Luckily I had a good report that I should have no problems & once they passed & I everything was painless I could go home.

It was about 8:30pm when the last person left...I spent the night alone & was able to sleep & get myself to the bathroom for the first time in awhile. I ate pretty good while I was there & when the night shift nurses came back, they continued where they left off. One even brought me some baby magazines to read!

Around 7:30am the next morning, the Dr. told me he thought I could go home. I had no pain in my back or anywhere like before & that was a good sign I was on the right track. I was able to go home about 11:45am & was in my own house the rest of the afternoon. I got some more much needed rest & a LONG shower. That night I stayed with Matt's aunt & uncle just in case I had any other problems. I had all kinds of medicine from the Dr. & luckily didn't have to take any of the pain meds, just the antibiotic. The next night I stayed with a friend & had a few minor things comes up, but as long as I keep drinking enough I feel great.

Unfortunately, this could happen at any given time during the rest of my pregnancy. I am hoping that will NOT be the case. However, so many people have told me that kidney stones are worse than labor...well going through labor pains (which did eventually stop) & constant pain at the same time, pretty much broke me in for the real thing. At this point, relief between contractions sounds much more pleasant!

I thank God for keeping his hand over me & the baby during the whole ordeal & that I was able to keep it together while Matt was gone. Since I've been home, I can't say I haven't gone back into that emotional state when I'm talking to him, but I can't wait for Matt to COME HOME & STAY HOME for the rest of this pregnancy. It's scary not having him here with me & we never imagined when he left that day that something like this would happen. I'm so thankful it wasn't something more serious, I'm thankful it was something I could handle, & I'm thankful that the results were the best they could be with this type of thing.

I don't wish that kind of pain on anyone...but at least I know I can make it through whatever comes up again!

So, that's the latest...I have had such an incredible pregnancy that this took us all completely by surprise! Of course, now I have a story to go along with the pregancy & I hope from here on out...it's just ONE story.