Saturday, April 18, 2009

A Looooooooong Night....

Where to begin....

I was sitting around the house last night after a nice day with Elizabeth. We walked some and had lunch together. Since I don't get out of the house much I LOVED it...oh, and Elizabeth's company isnt too bad either.

So...

Last night around 9pm I realized Id been having what I thought were braxton hicks contractions for about an hour and a half. On top of the contractions, I had this pain that radiated through my whole back (basically wrapped around). The back pain was my main concern because they hurt so badly. The contractions were pretty mild. 

Of course, not knowing what's going on or if it was even a big deal I called Mom. My mom asked about what was going on and after listening to me said to call the doctor.

Now..my doctors are so used to me calling late at night now that I sort of felt bad! Since I've already been to the hospital a few times I didn't want them to think I was just wasting everyone's time. I called anyway :)

My doctor said I should get to the doctor and so off I went...

All of the usual tests were run and it was determined that I was very dehydrated...again. I have NO idea how this was possible since I drank 9 cups earlier. But I guess they'd know if I was dehydrated or not.  

I was there from 9:20pm until 6:30am and had a lot of pain medicine so some things are kinda fuzzy but this is basically what happened...

The nurse brought me water and said they were going to give me an IV so I could rehydrate. She asked if I wanted pain medicine because my head was pounding at this point.  I of course said yes. You know that little chart with the simley faces that has the pain levels? I was at an 8.

She hooked up the IV and as soon as she closed the door the pain medicine started working. I started talking a lot and not really making any sense. I remember slurring all my words and really trying to sound normal but couldn't!! I also remember waving my hands in front of my face because I was seeing two or three of everything!

So fast forward...honestly I can't remember what happened until after the medicine starting wearing off. I was having contractions but they weren't too painful and also weren't consistent. All of a sudden, the back pain was back and much worse. The nurse came in and checked on me and I was feeling really bad (about a 8 again). I needed another liter of fluids...I have NO idea how I could be this dehydrated.

I talked to my mom a few times during all of this and at some point fell asleep. I woke up at 3am to the nurse asking if I felt up to going home. I didn't think I should because my back was getting worse even though I got to additional rounds of pain meds. About 5 minutes after getting the last dose of pain medication I started having regular contractions that were painful. The contractions ranged from 5-7 minutes apart and were at about 70-80 on the little monitor. 

The nurse did a swab test to check to see if I'd go into active labor in the next two weeks and it came back negative (so, no baby yet). I was given a shot to stop the contractions...the first didnt work and so about an hour later I got another one.

The shots made me VERY shaky and I couldnt even lift my head really. I needed help getting up or holding a cup and so mostly tried to sleep. A little while later (maybe 5:30am) the nurse came in and asked how I was feeling. The contractions had stopped since the last shot. I told her not great but a little better. I told her that maybe I'd be more comfortable at home and she agreed. So she called my OB who agreed I could go home. I drank more water got dressed and we left for home.

So...we got home and went right to bed (it was light outside and the birds were chirking). 

Caylee seemed totally unaffected by everything that was going on. She always wakes up at 11pm. She didn't break the pattern and was kicking the monitor that was on my belly. She hated it...or maybe thought it was a toy. The nurses commented on how active she was. It was great to hear her hearbeat and also her swimming around in there with everything that was going on. 

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