Getting back into a routine.... The past few weeks

Wow! Since late June our family has been going nonstop. I am just going to recap everything in this post and I know that I have to also do my pregnancy part III story of pregnancy #3.

Sunday June 22nd 2008: We attended church in the morning and then had the kick off to vacation Bible school

Monday June 23rd: Jeff left to go out of town. The kids and I were at vacation Bible school. I was a volunteer and helped with elementary games

Tuesday June 24th: Vacation Bible School. Helped my sister with her kids. Tee-ball practice. Out for ice cream and then my nephew spent the night

Wednesday June 25th: Vacation Bible school

Thursday June 26th: Last day of vacation Bible school. Jeff came home. Gabrielle’s 3rd birthday. Had birthday dinner and cake as well as Little Leapers

Friday June 27th: Started preparing the home and going to grocery to get ready for Gabrielle’s family birthday party. Tinkerbelle theme.

Saturday June 28th: Soccer and Tee-ball. Clean house

Sunday June 29th: Gabrielle’s Tinkerbelle party with family and friends. Received call from Courtney about her father falling and being transported to the hospital.

I asked Jeff to go out and get some pics of Gabby with her sign. Above is what she gave him. I was not thrilled with the result.

Miss "Tink"

"Make a wish"

Monday June 30th: Spent the day on the phone with Courtney. Said many prayers for Mr. D

Tuesday July 1st: Joey had summer camp. Spent time with Gabby and on the phone with Courtney. Cleaned house from the party

Wednesday July 2nd: Courtney came into town. Went to the hospital. Spent time with Mr. D and family. Jeff and the kids drove to Chicago for the 4th of July to spend time with friends of ours. I stayed home to help Courtney and her family anyway I could. We did a lot of shopping for outfits for the services. I must say that Courtney, Joyce, and Tempa all looked very pretty.

Thursday July 3rd: Shopping for the services

Friday July 4th: Shopping and errands

Saturday July 5th: Ran errands and last minute things. Jeff and the kids drove back from Chicago

Sunday July 6th: Calling hours for Mr. D

Monday July 7th: Service for Mr. D

Tuesday July 8th- Friday July 11th: My cousin’s kids were here and spent time with us. They just left and now I am cleaning, unmaking beds, doing laundry, making beds again, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and took a break for some blog time.

My cousin, Megan has four children. She is 33. They all love in Michigan. She is a wonderful mother and has been through some very tough things with her relationship with the father of the kids. She met Dave in high school. She was in high school when she got pregnant with her first child. She then had 3 more with him. The kids are 13, 12, 10, and 9. Dave was into some bad things in high school. At one point he was starting to change things for himself and he and Megan did get married. Things did not work and he went back to his old ways. They ended up getting a divorce. I am proud of her for being so strong and always putting the girls and Nick the oldest first. The kids did not have much of a relationship with him. He would make promises and not follow through. To make a sad story even sadder this past May Dave’s body was found in an abandoned warehouse by a homeless man. The kids did attend the funeral and I am sure as they get older this may have more of an effect on them. Dave had problems, but there are two things I try to keep in mind when I think of him. The first is that Megan must have seen something good in him or she would have never started dating him. Second, is that without him these 4 beautiful, fun, intelligent, caring kids would not be here. The third child Taylor came down over her winter break and wanted to come back down to spend time with us. This time the other two girls wanted to come also. MY home has been filled with many voices, laughing, running, games, smiles, and good times. We all had a great time and the kids did not want to leave to go back to Michigan. So they may be coming back in August.

Bailey & Paige (sisters) ~ABOVE

Taylor, Paige, & Bailey~ BELOW

Cousins. Poor Joey was surrounded by GIRLS! He LOVED it!!

As much fun as it has been to have the girls here I am now ready for things to slow down a bit. We all have been running at a pretty fast pace around here and I like it when things are a bit calmer and we are not constantly rushing around. I am now happy to welcome some normalcy.

To Beaver. From Cakes

Court this one’s for you!! Let me tell you about my best friend. Her name is Courtney and I have known her longer than I have been married to my husband and know n my husband. Crazy thing to think about for me, but the truth. I have known Courtney since we were little girls. Maybe 7? Her family moved into the empty home across the street that was for sale. I think that God knew what he was doing when her family bought that house. She and I have been through everything together. (grade school, middle school, high school, college years, and now grown women raising families of our own)yes, we have had our fair share of fights as all teenage girls and girls in general do, but we have always been able to overcome our differences and remain the best of friends. We have a great friendship. I can talk to her about any and everything. Husbands, kids, even the hard times, Samantha, Sydney, God, girl stuff, ANYTHING! She was a treasure to have after the loss of the twins and I could not have made it though without her.

One thing that stinks about our relationship is the distance. She lives in Texas. But where hasn’t she lived. J She has moved several times due to the fact that her husband is a pilot. The nice thing though is that she has lived in some pretty awesome states. (Hawaii, Florida, Carolinas) I wish that we were closer in distance, but it works. When she does come into town it can be hard because I know that she wants to spend time with her family. (Mom, dad, sister, brother in law, etc)

She is hysterical. She has a wonderful personality and is the life of the party. She is always looking her best and dressed to the nines. In contrast I am the introvert and the one who has been known to brush my hair and teeth and walk out the door in sweats and a tee. So even though we have many similarities we also have many differences.

This past week has been not only a very difficult one, but also a very sad one. Sadly on Wednesday her daddy passed away. He leaves behind a wife that he has been married to for 45 years, 2 daughters, and 6 grandchildren. (+2 adopted daughters)

Courtney had a very close and unique relationship with her dad. They were able to talk to each other about anything and everything, laugh, tell jokes, and had a bond that never judged or criticized. I have in many ways been in awe of their friendship and relationship. This is going to be very difficult for her and her family. Tomorrow is the calling hours and Monday will be the service. I am asking for any and all prayers to be said for the family. Joyce (wife), Tempa (daughter), Courtney (daughter), Hannah, Avery, Christian, Aiden, Isabella, and Analeigh (grandchildren), Scott (son-in-law), Chris (son-in-law).

Like I said Court this one is for you. I know that when I told you about my blog you were asking when you would be posted in it. I hoped to do it on your birthday. I want to thank you for the past few days. I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to see your dad and kiss him one last time. It meant the world to me.




Mr. D~
I am so sad that you are no longer here on earth, but I know that you are up above and watching over your precious family. Maybe you are up there relaxing, playing golf, or dancing with your mom. You have always been a very special person to me. You were one of the hardest working men I have ever known. I will always remember having to keep it down because you were sleeping, how you worked the night shift, how you were always there for your girls all three of them, how you always had a joke, a way to make anyone smile and feel welcome and comfortable, and just for being you. There are so many childhood memories that I have with you in them. You will be missed by many. I will do whatever I can for all three of your girls and to always help them out when needed. I hope that I was able to moisten your lips and nose and that you felt no pain as you entered Heaven. I will always think of you with fond memories and love.
Please watch over Joyce tomorrow and Monday. They will be tough days for her, but I know she will pull through it just fine and with your love surrounding her.
We will all love and miss you!
CAKES

Praying for you tonight!

Have you ever met someone that meant the world to you? Someone that always had a joke and a way to put a smile on your face? Someone that would do anything for anyone, even strangers. Well I am sad to say that my best friend’s dad is very sick right now. He has been battling cancer. He had a mass on his neck that was removed. He has been through chemo and radiation and now he has pancreatic cancer. He is currently in the hospital with what I would say crappy care and I pray for him tonight. If you can spare the time please say a prayer for him too and for him to be pain free, comfortable, and loved. I also pray for his wife, daughters, and grandchildren. I don’t think this man knows how much I adored him in the past 20 + years that I have known him, but I do think the world of him. He is a hard worker, caring, honest, loving man. I love him and wish him peace!

Saturday June 28th

Joey I am so proud of you and all that you have accomplished in soccer this summer! You are so fast and always right on the ball. This year you have scored many goals and we will get you on another team as soon as possible! Here is another trophy to add to your collection! This one by far is your favorite because it has your name engraved on it. I love you and am so PROUD of you!

Happy Happy 3rd Birthday Gabrielle

Gabrielle~
It is so hard to believe how fast time has gone by. You are three years old today. I hope that you have a fantastic birthday and that this next year we can continue to grow closer as mother and daughter. You bring joy to my life on a daily basis. You have a look in your eyes (which I am told repeatedly that you got from me) that tells me everything, when you are happy, shy, mad, angry, frightened, and hurt. You are one smart little girl and you always impress your dad and I with little things we did not know that you knew. You continue to be a very strong willed little girl and this is where you and mommy sometimes butt heads. I hope that we can work through this. I love to see you smile and enjoying yourself. I hope that every day you laugh out loud and enjoy your life.
We love you “to the moon” and back and so much more.
Love,
Mommy


26 things about my birthday girl
1. This is the definition of her name English and French feminine form of Gabriel, meaning "strong one of God". Her middle name is Grace after the song ‘Amazing Grace’
2. She was a colicky baby
3. She loves the color pink
4. She loves to sing and dance
5. She really enjoys coloring and painting
6. She looks up to Joey
7. She is a very bright girl. She picks up on things very quickly. She can count to 10 in Spanish and can recite her telephone number as well as her address. We discovered this when I was quizzing Joey one day and she spouted off our phone number and address before Joey which upset him greatly and he looked at her like how do you know that
8. She loves cookies and Sprite
9. She dislikes GREATLY having anyone touch, comb, or brush her hair
10. She enjoys wearing dresses
11. She is very dramatic
12. She is very strong willed, independent, and she knows what she wants and when she wants it and no one is going to stand in her way
13. She loves to swing
14. She loves the book ‘going on a bear hunt’
15. She sleeps sideways
16. She has a pink bunny that is her security item. Bunny A.K. A funny bunny goes everywhere Gabby goes. She even has given bunny a time out. I don’t know what he did, but one day she even got out the wooden spoon and threatened bunny with a spanking.
17. She likes Max and Ruby as well as Dora the explorer
18. She had tubes put in her ears. (they have since fallen out)
19. Her favorite type of ice cream is nilla (vanilla)
20. She likes pasta night at our home
21. She may be a bit of a tom boy
22. She likes the Disney princesses
23. She likes makeup (my mom’s) and having her nails polished
24. She is a great hugger and kisser
25. I love her butt and to squeeze it
26. She is a wonderful daughter and we feel blessed to have her in our lives. Happy 3rd birthday to our beautiful little girl!

Part II of Pregnancy #3

The time is now around 2 pm when I get transferred on 1-25-05
I am now on the antepartum floor and I have had 10mg of Morphine injected into my body. I am now tired and sleepy from the drugs and the pain is a 6 out of 10. The pain is much more bearable and I am able to get comfortable. We are no closer to an answer as to what is wrong with me. This is very frustrating to me because as far as I am hearing from the doctors and nurses I am staying at the hospital for “observation”. An ultrasound was not done one time on the baby. My biggest fear was that this was a baby issue and it was stumping me as to why an ultrasound was never done or talked about. To help reassure me that the baby was okay I was hoping at some point for someone to want to have an ultrasound done to look around. I would even bring it up to the nurses and doctors and I was getting blown off. I just wanted to know that the baby was okay. That there were no signs of an impending miscarriage, but my wants were different than the staff at the hospital. My mom stayed with me as long as she could, but at some point she had to leave to go help my sister with Joey and figure out a plan as to how she was now going to rearrange her schedule. Jeff was now at the airport and trying to find a way to get home.

When I would wake out of my groggy state there were two things concerning me. One was that the time seemed to keep getting later and later and there was no one in my room taking me for tests to figure out what was going on. The second was that there seemed to be no plan. Now call me crazy but I don’t think it is normal to experience the pain that I experienced and think it is okay to send someone home in the morning with no answers as to what is going on.
At some point I started getting angry. I took matters into my own hands. Yes, I was in a hospital and you would have thought that these people were on top of this and trying to come up with a diagnosis. I didn’t see this happening so I got on the phone and called my OB at her office. I told the receptionist that I need to speak with my OB and that I am in the hospital can I talk to her like now. She ended up calling me back and I explained to her what was going on. I said Dr. H why is no one doing an ultrasound? Why is no one trying to figure this out? What do you know? I don’t feel comfortable with this “observation” and the possible discharge in the am with no answers. She was shocked that thus far nothing had been done but she also stated that maybe the reason was because I was pregnant I was unable to do some tests they would normally do to rule things out. For example Cat scans and even MRI or using any type of dye. So I said to her can’t they use ultrasound?

She must have made a call, because now things started to move along. At some point a general surgeon came in and did an exam on me. He made a comment about opening me up in the am to have a look around. Um excuse me? Remind me NOT to sign that consent form. I was able to learn that they were going to start ruling a few things out. (Ovarian cyst, splenic artery aneurysm, and gall stones). I remember my dad coming and staying at the hospital with me. We were watching American Idol. I also remember that it kept getting later and later. I was supposed to go for the ultrasound around 6-7pm. I don’t think I ever left the floor until after 9:30pm. I do remember though that to have this ultrasound done they wanted a Foley catheter in place. So I had the joy of having my first Foley catheter inserted! I was finally wheeled down to the room where the ultrasound was done to look around. I tried really hard to ask the tech to give me a peek at the baby. I just wanted to see movement, but she was unwilling to do that “stating she is not trained in OB”. I don’t know why a little glimpse just to see movement and put my mind at ease would be such a big deal, but I guess her job may have been on the line. I would never have told anyone, I just needed reassurance.

Around 11:00 pm finally we had an answer! I had hydronephrosis of the left kidney with fluid obstruction. They were unable to see a kidney stone and did not know if I had passed a stone or if one was hanging out. I was relieved to have an answer as to why I had all this pain and know what was happening in my body, but I was now a bit puzzled. I had never had a kidney stone before and no one in my family has ever had one either. I was also told of a study that had been done and the worst pain rated was from labor and second to that was the pain from a kidney stone. Good to know that this was not all in my head and I was just being a wimp. I was able to get some sleep now that I had a diagnosis and the plan was to meet with the urology staff in the morning to find a treatment plan. I was also so relieved that the general surgeon would no longer be coming to my room and talking to me about possibly opening me up to “have a look around”.
I met my urologist in the morning. He was a very nice man. His name is Dr. Geller. Now that we had a diagnosis it was time for a plan. The nurses had already been straining all my urine. At this point so far there had been no stones passed. I am a person who is a doer and so I felt more comfortable with doing something for this problem as opposed to doing nothing. This pain that I had been feeling was something that I never wanted to feel again. As far as waiting it out and possibly passing a stone or getting by with pain medication was not something I wanted to endure. The other option was to insert a stent to allow the water and buildup around the kidney a way to escape. The thing with this though is to dilate the kidney more. Once the stent is in the stent stays in until the end of the pregnancy. The procedure is called cystoscopy with left ureteral stent. He explained the procedure and I was able to confide in him about the loss of Samantha and Sydney. He was very empathetic and he reassured me that they would have someone come down after the procedure to do fetal Doppler’s. I was also able to have him talk to my OB and I did as well about having an ultrasound done before I left the hospital. This was more for peace of mind than anything else. I was now able to eat if I wished and the following day the stent placement was scheduled. The Foley was still in place and I know that I asked several times to have it removed and finally someone wrote an order for its removal. (Like we are talking 7 pm) I was NPO at midnight. I think that day was just spent sleeping and visiting with my parents and I want to say that Jeff may have been home then also.

1-27-05
The day was basically a waiting game. The urology team was running late basically all day long. I finally went down to have the stent put in late evening. I am talking after 10:00 pm. They used an epidural for anesthesia so that the baby was safe and also so I would not feel anything. Dr. Geller told me something interesting when it was all done and over with. What he told me was that when they put the stent in some fluid that was cloudy and dark came out. *Could that have been the stone? Could that have been the cause to all of this?* He did not know so he went with the plan and left the stent in place. This is the quote from the medical records “her left ureteral orifice was surrounded with edematous bladder mucosa.” Here is another quote after the stent was placed “thick urine with debris was seen coming out of the stent located in the patient’s urinary bladder.” This is always something I will wonder only because of the complications and pain associated with the stent and what lied ahead. I wonder if the remainder of the pregnancy would have been a piece of cake as opposed to all the fun that a stent caused. What if after the fluid came out instead of using the stent and just exiting without this contraption in place would the pain and all the symptoms associated with it have gone away since the obstruction seemed to now have been taken care of? After the procedure as promised there was a nurse that was there to take Doppler’s. Once again the sweet sound of a heartbeat was heard. The following day an ultrasound was also scheduled to look at baby and anatomy.

1-28-05
As promised in the morning before being discharged I was wheeled over to the floor for an ultrasound of the baby. The baby measured 16 weeks and 1 day and was perfect. Even though I tried to find out it was too early to determine the sex of the baby. The amniotic fluid volume was normal and so was the placenta. After being discharged I was excited to get going again after this bump in the road. I was happy to see Joey as well. There were a few things though that started to take place. One was in the ‘feeling’ that something that is not supposed to be in my body is now in my body. The sharp, constant, unbearable pain was gone, but now there was a new pain and uncomfortableness associated with the stent. One evening Jeff, Joey, and I went to the mall to use some of our Christmas gift cards and to do some returns. I know almost February, but being sick for now two months this was the first chance we had to get out. I remember that after shopping we got in the car and I had a breakdown. I was so uncomfortable and my back was hurting all the time. In some ways it felt like metal in my back. I can’t put into words these new feelings and pain I was having. I had moments where I just felt sorry for myself. I thought I had gone through so much with Joey’s pregnancy and then the loss of Sam and Syd this third pregnancy has to be an easy one right? Third time is the charm isn’t that what they say? This was not fun at all. I liked the breathing baby in the end of it all, but not all this stuff going on during incubation of the little person. Another thing we would soon be facing was the one year anniversary of the deaths of the girls.

Late February I noticed something new with my whole stent. I would void in the toilet and there would be blood. I have sent a lot of urine to the lab for analysis and something they always check is if there is blood in the urine. That test did not have to be done. You could see the blood when you looked at my urine with the naked eye. This blood was also fresh blood. Like when you cut yourself. The first time it happened I freaked out and thought it was blood from the vagina. After a bit more investigation I found it to be from my urine. This caused more stress and worry for me. I would then call my urologist and worry about the stent. Is it digging into something it should not be? Is this another sign of what I experienced previously? At some point I was also put on Ditropan. Ever seen that commercial? Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now? Well that was me. The Ditropan was to help with bladder spasm, urgency, and frequency. When I went to Dr. Geller’s appointments I would always get a chuckle as I sat in the waiting room. I was always the youngest person in the waiting room and I felt like one of the elderly waiting to see the doctor. I always wondered if they were on the drug too.

2-28-05
We were getting close to going on a family trip to Florida and to take Joey to Disney. My parents have a condo in Sanibel and we were going there after we spent a few days with Mickey. This was a trip for Joey. I still felt bad that he missed the trip in December because of his sick mom. I went into the hospital on the 28th. I went in for hematuria (blood in urine) and left sided pain. The pain started getting worse (not like before, but worse than what I had been having after the stent) the pain was not being relieved by the Percocet. Another thing that was a stress was being pregnant and taking so much pain medication. I would take a half or a quarter of one as opposed to taking a whole one. Then I got to the point where I did not want to rely on Percocet so I flushed the pills down the toilet and tried Advil instead. They would do an ultrasound of the kidney when I went and find the stent to be in good position as well as no new hydronephrosis. It was found that the stent was causing irritation. This in and out business would continue for a few weeks. Ultrasound, morphine, and then send me on my way.

3-1-05
The day before our trip to leave for Florida I had an ultrasound. Baby was doing great everything with the pregnancy seemed picture perfect and it is a GIRL. This brought feelings of happiness as well as sadness.
Before leaving for Florida we made a quick stop to have some photos printed of Joey making the announcement of the sex of our baby.

3-4/2005
While we were in Disney I was in the restroom before getting ready to leave to go to the park. While voiding I felt something strange. When I looked in the toilet a LARGE clot was in the toilet bowl. The fear of it all brought tears. We got through the day and tried to make the best of it. The walking was painful, but again as a mom you suck it up sometimes for your kids. The Ditropan allows me to get by with having the stent (a drug for spasms).

4-12-05 a urine culture came back positive and it was time for some antibiotics

4-17-05 another ultrasound our little Gabrielle is doing well. She is now breech and but is growing in the 20th percentile. There is concern about “an unusually thick placenta”. I am now 27 weeks and there is a recommendation to have a repeat ultrasound in two weeks for growth and also to take another look at the placenta

4-27-05: back to the hospital, this time for vomiting, fever, pain and cramps. Now I also begin to having burning in my urethra when voiding. An IV was inserted and the fun begins again. This time they decided that it was not due to the kidneys or an infection from the stent, but gastroenteritis.
5-5-05 follow up ultrasound. Baby is now in the 25th percentile for growth. Stated they were concerned about a possible “mass” with the placenta in the past, but now there is not a concern he thinks the thick part is from the placenta bending.

6-15-05 today I was seen for an amniocentesis. I was 35 weeks along and the blood in the urine was getting worse and so was the pain. If I passed the amnio and the lungs were mature we were then going to go ahead with the induction as soon as possible. As my luck would have it the lungs of Gabby were not mature and so we continued along.

6-25-05 I was now inpatient in the hospital and we were going to go ahead and start the induction. I was 37 and 3 days. This is the last family picture of the three of us before going into the hospital the following morning. I went in the early morning. Joey spent the night of the 25th with my parents (nana and papa) the plan was after the birth to have kept the epidural in place and then Dr. Geller would come to the hospital for the removal of the stent.

June 26th 2005

Delivery went well. No problems or complications what so ever. Great epidural easy as cake labor and delivery. This was the calm before the storm. This story will be continued.
HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY GABRIELLE! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

Pregnancy #3 Part I .... What is your diagnosis??

Over the next few days I will be blogging about my third pregnancy. I just want to say that again if you are not into blood and details you may want to skip the reading of this. I do have all of my hospital records from my second and third pregnancies and that is how I have been able to document all of this with dates and detail… as well as some of the memories.
2004-2005
March 2nd 2004: Today I had a follow up appointment with the periantologists at Akron General Medical Center. I met with the Doctors who I was under their care when I was pregnant with Samantha and Sydney. After this appointment I was released to go back to my original obstetrician. He gave my OB a list of guidelines should I decide to try to conceive again. His recommendations were as follows; to wait at least six months before trying to conceive again, treatment for the PAI-1, intensified prenatal care with every-two-week visits up to 28 weeks gestation followed by weekly visits starting at 28 weeks with non stress tests.
Jeff and I did wait a little over 6 months before trying to conceive again. I was mentally still grieving the loss and trying to figure things out as well as spending time with Joey. It was decided after the loss that I would be a stay at home mom and that I would not be returning to the hospital as a nurse. I think Jeff and I found out what our priorities were. I also really wanted to stay home. I did not want to miss any of Joey’s firsts.
November 11th 2004: I returned to my OB and my appointment was for a positive pregnancy test. It was confirmed at this appointment that I was pregnant. The EDD was 7-14-05 and I was approximately 5 weeks pregnant.
December 3rd 2004: Jeff and I went to this appointment together and we had an ultrasound. We saw our little bean and heard the sound of the bean’s heart beating. This was a joyful time as well as a very painful time. I was now 8 weeks pregnant. I started becoming very anxious with the reality that I was pregnant again and the fact of the unknown.
After this appointment the nausea and vomiting began. It got very bad to the point that I was no good for anything, but throwing up. I was unable to keep anything down. I had some morning sickness with Joey, but nothing like this. This was all day sickness to the point that Jeff was working from home. I was in bed ALL THE TIME with the trash can at my side. My OB gave me a prescription for Zofran. It was not helpful. I sipped ginger ale and even tried ginger snaps. I also had wrist bands to help with the nausea. Again no relief. It got so bad that I had to be hospitalized for hyperemesis. At the hospital I was basically hooked up to an IV to help with the dehydration and to keep me hydrated. I was also given Phenergan which I LOVE! I would then be sent home after I could go 24 hours with no vomiting. I then would return home to feel so hydrated and hungry to go and eat and then return to the trash cans. This continued. I also was now becoming VERY constipated from the Zofran. It was a horrible cycle.
My family (Jeff, Joey, and myself) were suppose to go to Disney World with my mom and dad, sister, brother in law, niece, nephew, brother, and sister in law. I was unable to go. I felt bad for Joey. I know that he did not really understand and would never know that he missed out on a vacation because his mom was sick from pregnancy, but I still could not feel awful that he did not go.
As we got closer to Christmas I started to finally begin feeling better. Jeff’s brother (David) is in the Marines. He is married (Holly) and has two daughters (Ashley and Alex). They came to Ohio for Christmas and New Years before their big move. They currently live in Japan. David is stationed there right now. He also just got back from fighting for our freedom in this war. Anyways they were here in Ohio and we spent a lot of time with them. They came over for New Year’s and so did my aunt and uncle. One of the girls was not feeling good and was complaining of a sore throat. I did my best to wash my hands, but after they left the day after New Year’s day I began feeling chills and the onset of an illness.
1-4-2005 I went to see my family doctor with complaints of a productive cough, and a raw sore throat for the past three days. I was started on Amoxicillin for 10 days.
1-6-2005 I went back to the hospital with complaints of fever, cramping, and productive cough. The reason we went to the hospital was because of the high fever. It was found that I was dehydrated and I also had yeast in my urine. I was rehydrated again and given medication for the yeast. I was also to continue the antibiotic which was probably the cause of yeast in the first place.
1-10-2005 I called my OB because of the productive cough. The cough was so strong that it made me start vomiting again and I was so worried about the baby. I also still had high fevers. She called me back and told me to go back to the hospital. So back I went to the antipartum unit for rehydration therapy.
1-12-2005 I was now home from the hospital, but back to see my family doctor. Please lets make a note at how screwed up the hospital is at times. I was wheezing and I could hear the stuff in my chest, but because I was pregnant the hospital staff (doctors on call) basically would not touch me. I knew that I probably had pneumonia because of the way I sounded as well as the fact that I have been basically lying in bed now for weeks. So finally a chest x-ray was done. I DID have pneumonia. After I was started on the antibiotic for the pneumonia the cough started to dissipate and I was able to start keeping food down much easier.
** Let me just note again that this is the pregnancy following the loss of the twins. This was a very scary time for us already and one that was filled with a great deal of anxiety. All of this extra stuff going on was not helping. It got to the point that I was so anxious and terrified that Jeff went online to find a place that rented Doppler’s. He ended up renting a Doppler for me and I would check for a heart beat ALL THE TIME.
1-21-2005 The pneumonia was now cleared and gone, but Joey and Jeff were sick and I now had swollen glands in my neck and a sore throat. I was back at the family doctor. I was now on another antibiotic and 15 weeks pregnant. I was also negative for strep. (I have been tested for strep so many times. I have never once had strep.)
Now this story starts to get interesting!
1-24-2005 I went back to the family doctor. I started having feelings like I had a bladder infection. We had gone to some sort of show in Cleveland at the Gund Arena. (No longer the Gund) and I was really uncomfortable while we there. I kept feeling like I needed to go potty and nothing would happen. So they tested my urine and it was negative. CLEAN. NOTHING GOING ON. Sent on my way. Told myself to forget about it. This was now a time to turn the corner. Start feeling better. I had basically been sick for two months now with something or other.
1-25-2005 Jeff is out of town. He was gone the previous day also. My sister had watched Joey while I was at the family doctor. The morning was usual for us. We got up a little before 8:00 am, I got Joey’s bottle, changed his diaper, fed the dogs, let the dogs outside. Then while Joey was watching Elmo and eating Cheerios that feeling that I had the day before returned. I was uncomfortable. I got up walked around. I got the phone and called Jeff. I told him I was not feeling good. This was different something I could not explain. He was getting aggravated with me. I felt bad. He is out of town. He can’t help me in any way. I feel like a failure. I gave him stillborn daughters and now I am a mess with this pregnancy. In the time span of about 45 minutes things started changing and fast. I was growing more and more uncomfortable. I felt like I needed to push. I felt like I needed to have a bowel movement. I felt like I needed to throw up. I called my mom at work and there was no answer. Maybe I am hungry? I ate a pop tart. I tried to have a bowel movement. No this was not gas. Nothing. Then the pain started in my lower back and in my abdomen. I lost it. I am losing this baby. This is all I can think. This is the cramping before a miscarriage right? So I call my sister’s house. Guess who answers. My mom. What is she doing there? Crap I need her. She must be watching the kids. Pain is getting bad. REALLY BAD! I am crying. I got Joey and got in the car. I DO NOT KNOW how I made the drive to my sister’s house. I really do NOT know how I was able to drive there. (she lives about 10 miles from me) My mom calls my dad at work and he is to go to my sister’s house too. We all basically arrive at the same time. I am crying, my dad does not understand what is going on, and my mom is jumping in the car. We are off to the hospital. I want to floor it there, kind of like ambulance style. My mom on the other hand is driving SO S L O W! It is winter time. It is COLD we have some sort of freeze going on outside. I HAVE the windows down, blowing cold air at me. It felt so good. Every bump in the car hurt. BAD. VERY BAD. I am a mess. We F I N A L L Y arrive at the hospital and I just avoid the ER all together and have them wheel me to the triage OB unit. (there is a separate unit for people who are pregnant and come into the hospital) I am sitting in the wheelchair without the cool air and now I am sweating and the pain is getting worse. The next thing I know I begin throwing up. There went the pop tart. They get me to a room and I am thinking bring on the Morphine. Please and lots of it. Make this pain stop. I am also thinking just make the pain end. I can handle anything. Tell me the baby is gone. I get it. I am not supposed to do this again. I am supposed to be happy with Joey. I get it. We will adopt Lord please just make this pain GO AWAY. The nurse comes in after I am quickly given a room. I continue to throw up and I cannot get comfortable. I am moving all over the place. This is pain that I have never felt before. I just need it to go away. I try different positions, staring at something on the wall, closing my eyes and going to the beach. There is no relief. The nurse takes my vital signs and gets a bit of a history about what has happened the past month and a half. Then she says I will be right back with the Doppler. I think steam may have come out of my ears. I started swearing. How dare that Bitch get the Doppler. She knows I am losing this baby. Why do I have to go through this again. She comes in and puts the transducer on my belly and there is the sweetest noise ever. A heartbeat. MOM. help me mom. Now we have to watch this baby lose its heart beat?
This is how the hospital has it written on my chart. (this is for time clarification. I can’t tell you how much PAIN I was in. So if I go back to nursing the first thing I will do and I vow this now to all my patients. I will rush like a mad woman to get you pain medicine. FAST)
1030 got to ER
1100 urine sent to lab
1150 patient throwing up again
1210 MORPHINE AND PHENERGAN given. IT’S ABOUT TIME!!
1250 Morphine has not helped the pain at all patient states. Patient rates pain a 30 on a scale of 1-10.
1425 AN IV WAS STARTED! This was 4 HOURS later!!!!
1445 WAS GIVEN MORE PAIN MEDICATION
1505 They have no clue what is wrong and they send me to the good old antepartum floor. I am becoming a regular on this floor.
To be continued…. Any ideas… Want to take a stab at it? What is your diagnosis?