Last week was very busy, fruitful and productive. I felt good about all that I had accomplished, but by the time Friday evening rolled around, I was very, very tired! Saturday morning, I woke up and felt a little better and started working around the house again- then we went to my cousin's birthday party and I got exhausted again. I couldn't wait to get to bed Saturday night. Sunday was church and then a get-together for my father-in-law's birthday. My mother-in-law made a delicious meal, that I could only eat about 1/2 of. The delicious meal is typical of Geneva. My lack of eating it was not...
We laid Caleb down for a nap at Ross' parents and I laid down too. That evening, I still felt unwell- no appetite, some mild nausea and a very low grade fever. I debated if I should do anything about it, but seeing that it's not just me affected by my illness, but Baby Girl as well, I went ahead and called the midwife's office.
I left a message and got a call back 3 minutes later. (I've never had that speedy of a call back anywhere- let alone on a Sunday night!) The midwife on-call was very kind- told me to snack on something with protein, drink a lot of water, take some tylenol and make an appt 1st thing Monday morning. She told me that a stomach bug had been going around and that I needed to be "assessed" : ) I followed her directions exactly.
Monday morning comes and I still don't feel well. I call and make an appt to be seen at 8:50 am. I then call my mother-in-law, who agreed to help however necessary. (Note: my parents were in Disneyland at the time...) Ross waits for his mom to get there, loads us up in the car and then heads to work.
We (Geneva, Caleb and I) arrive at the midwife's office and I am seen by a midwife I have heard good things about but have never seen before. She doesn't seem to be too worried by my illness- tells me to follow the BRAT diet, drink water and feel better. She measures my growing tummy and listens to the baby's heart beat... and seems a bit concerned. Tells me that she knows her heartbeat changed while we were listening to it, but not if it had gone from her regular rate down or an accelerated rate back to regular.
They put me on an electronic fetal monitor for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Caleb and Grandma GG sit patiently in the waiting room. The midwife reads the monitor strip and is now concerned because I had 1 contraction and afterwards, the reading dips down a bit. She writes a prescription for me to have an ultrasound and an hour long monitoring session done at the hospital and sends me on my way.
At this point, I'm still nauseated and exhausted, and now, fearful. Is there something really wrong with my baby?
My mother-in-law drives us home real quick because they want me to eat something before the long test. I call Ross on the way and try not to cry. He tells me all will be just fine and to "be strong, okay?"
By the time we get to the hospital, Geneva and I have decided that she will stay with me as I register and figure out where I'm going and how long it should take. Then she will take Caleb back home to run around and play. I don't really want to be left alone, but there are no other options. Caleb can't come with us into the triage area.
Registration goes fine. The lady keeps commenting on how adorable Caleb is. Geneva and Caleb leave and I have some sense of peace. God is here. I'm a big girl. We'll handle this. I have the ultrasound, and the very kind technician asks me why I'm having it. I tell him that my uterus is measuring small and my baby's heart rate seemed irregular. He tells me she is measuring exactly average and that everything looks perfect. He assesses her on 4 areas and gives her a 100%. Huge relief.
I go upstairs to labor and deliver triage to have the monitoring done. The nurse is kind and basically leaves me alone, lying on my side, with a belt around my waist. I try to rest as I listen to the sound of Baby Girl's very regular sounding heart rate.
Suddenly, Lisa, the midwife I've been seeing regularly for my last 4 appt appears and wants to know why I'm there. She knows why the other midwife sent me- she asked that to reassure me that there is no real good reason for me being there. I've been measuring small for the past several weeks- but she could feel that the baby herself was the right size. And as for the contraction and drop of heart rate, she figures that the baby shifted away from the monitor once the contraction finished.
She notes that my ultrasound was perfect- that the first part of this long monitoring looks great and that I really just need to go home, drink fluids and get sleep. I agree with her that I just want to go home. She says she has some other people to see and then she'll come back and "set me free" : )
Then things got really crazy. Not for me- but in the triage area. A lady showed up in mid-labor in tons of pain with a baby feet down. She wasn't agreeable at all- didn't want to register downstairs, didn't want her cervix measured, didn't want to share her medical history. Wanted the C-section as soon as possible, but didn't want an IV. The nurses were having a difficult time keeping her calm and I was having a difficult time not being able to console this poor woman.
It took Lisa a little longer than she had expected to "release" me, but it did happen. Geneva and Caleb came and picked me up and then I went to bed.
This all happened Monday. Tuesday the stomach bug went from my upper tract to my lower. I called the midwife Wednesday and they suggested some medicine that worked wonders. My parents came home Wednesday too, so Caleb spent Thursday with them so I could continue resting. Today, I feel a little worn down, but I'm eating good and have no nausea or other nasty symptoms. Baby Girl continues to move around well.
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. Whether you knew about our specific situation or not. God was ever-present during this time. While at the midwife's, in the ultrasound room, in triage, while puking into the toilet. His presence could be felt : )
Hopefully, the next 6 weeks or so (crazy how soon, huh?!?) will be less dramatic. I will keep you up-to-date, regardless : )
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