No More IV!

While there were many things I didn’t like about being stuck in the hospital for two nights, the thing that took the cake was the IV. I HATE IV’s. In the ER they put the IV right in the crease of your arm, thus making it almost impossible to use said arm till it’s all taken out. My left arm did it’s own little happy dance when the nurse took it out! Granted it’s still very sore but no more icky IV. The stupid thing is that other than initial blood they took to run tests on Sunday night they never had use for the IV again but the Doctors wanted it left in just in case.

I do have to say that I feel better today than I have in a LONG TIME. The only exception being a lack of sleep. The first night I only got about an hour or two. Last night I was having to constantly turn because of pain in my hips from the hospital bed. Every-time I would turn the monitors would loose the baby and he’d play hide and seek with the poor nurse when she’d come in to fix them. Around 3am it was so bad that after 30 minutes of trying she finally asked if I could roll back over. Sure enough after rolling over he was willing to be monitored, I just couldn’t sleep because of the dang bed at that point. Sleep would come in short spurts.

First thing this morning my family practitioner made a surprise visit. I was surprised but it was nice to have him in on the loop since he’s who I obviously see when I’m not pregnant. He’s excited about the baby and to see me after so we can make sure to keep on top of everything.

While we didn’t get out of the hospital as soon as I’d hoped, it was around 3pm and could have been much worse. The big ultrasound with our Periantologist went pretty well. Uno is measuring even more ahead of his due date now, and this was our main concern. 2 1/2 weeks ahead and weights just shy of 5 pounds (that could be off by about 12 oz either way). My amniotic fluid however is low so they are checking him again on Friday (if it’s not one thing it’s another right?). It’s not alarmingly low right now, or I wouldn’t be home, so I’m not stressing about it. I know I have a great team of Doctors so it’s all good. The high risk specialist will see us again in a month for another extended ultrasound check to make sure the medication isn’t stunting the little ones growth. She talked to us a lot about making sure we follow up with another Heart Echo after the birth and making sure that we get things under control. I have to continue to take it easy and just focus on making sure the bad symptoms of the problems stay away. There were a few things about the delivery she made sure to note in my records and tell us so that my heart should be ok and not overloaded.

I had to stop by the Cardiologist on the way home also. He has decided that he would like to follow up with us in 2 weeks so we made that appointment. He talked to me a little about medication and I’ll be on the low dose of beta blockers for a year, as well as a low sodium diet (blah). It’s nice to have our little visits be optimistic and not have me leaving in tears. Everyone is relieved. I think the one thing that is causing underlying concern for the doctors is that if my numbers were low, and then slightly up, they could drop again. While there is a possibility one of the ECG’s could have been off, they are still being cautious. I’m totally optimistic and thrilled however without a cloud over my head.

It was awesome to come home. I was even excited to see the dogs. Max keeps following me around if I get up and move. I can’t wait to be able to take a shower and use my hairbrush. Wearing clothing instead of a hospital gown is good too. Sleeping tonight is also something I can’t wait to try. No nurses coming in all the time, no waking up to check vitals, no beeping monitors, no awful hospital bed… YAY. I might actually be able to get a good rest.

I’ve learned with this pregnancy to just expect it to be unexpected and abnormal. While there are still lots of hurtles to jump and weeks to pass we are optimistic. Thank you all so much for the well wishes and support through the entire nightmare/blessing.