HG Diary Catch Up - 27 weeks

Where to start?

In October at my midwife appointment I'm measuring weeks ahead but we were expecting that given my history.  We aren't changing the due date since we are positive about our window of conception.  The midwife pulled up a chair and allowed Isabelle to help with the Doppler reading of Fiona's heartbeat, which she of course loved.

Daddy and Isabelle playing doctor while waiting for the midwife.

Now, the not so fun.  So at 25 weeks Isabelle's Nana (my husband's mom, or as we call her Mother <3) came to stay the weekend (other family members come to play that weekend too, but there are so many awesome pictures I'm just going to make it a separate post).  That was fantastic and as it would turn out a major blessing.  We went trick or treating in a town just down the road and everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves, I had been struggling with some back pain that I had been shrugging off as normal "pregnant lady spending too much time hunched over at a sewing machine" pain.  So the day we went trick or treating I was on back pain day #3, it progressively getting worse each day.  When we returned home around 6 pm I felt horrible about it but I absolutely had to go lay down, all of the walking had taken it's toll.  I took a two hour nap and when I woke up that's when all heck went crazy...

Nana trick or treating with her Peter Pan.

When I woke up I was uncontrollably shaking, not shivering, shaking.  I was in horrible pain and the shaking was making my back tense and feel even worse.  Poor Mother was just so worried.  I hadn't talked to Corey yet, as he was upstairs rocking Isabelle to sleep, but by the time he came down stairs I had already tried to get comfortable through the pain but it just wasn't happening.  I wasn't able to get a full breath because it would hurt my back, my breathing was shallow and my speech came out in segments because of it.  I sounded like I was going into shock.  I told Corey, something was very wrong and as much as I dreaded it, we needed to go to the hospital.  Thankfully having Mother here, and her being the Nana she is, she kissed us goodbye and went straight into Isabelle's room and slept with her.  This was a major relief of worry.

When we arrived at the hospital I was admitted to the labor and delivery floor, after checking for pre-term labor (I was certain it wasn't labor, the pain was relentless), ultrasound(s) to check for kidney stones, and lots of blood work and urine samples it was determined I had a kidney infection. (The longer version of this story: admitted the L&D, all tests came back clear, and since I refused pain medication and it was determined the baby was safe I was discharged and sent to the emergency room to check for a muscle - skeletal issue.  Get to the emergency room and it turns out the midwife read the test results incorrectly, the ER doctor diagnosed me with pyelonephritis , I was discharged, and readmitted to L&D for the remainder of treatment).

Two horribly frustrating things took place:

1. The pain medication debate.  I didn't want it, I understand I'm in pain and they are trying to make me comfortable.  Staff kept telling me that it won't have an effect on the baby.  No.  I have researched and found MANY articles and medical journal entries stating the opposite.  I stated I was against it and I would see the frustration on the staff's faces.  Tell you what, figure out what's going on first before you try and cover up my symptoms and then we'll talk about management techniques.  I'm planning on a natural birth, I've given up every single thing potentially harmful (even those safe in moderation, ie. caffeine) since we first began trying to conceive this baby.  Why would you think I would jump on the pain med bandwagon?  Thank goodness I did refuse, otherwise I would have been sent home, doped up and without an answer.  Frustrating as it was, at least the emergency room caught the mistake!
2. I had been singing the praises of my midwife, so on the ball, so aggressive with my treatment concerning HG, totally on board with a natural birth.  She's the one who misread the test results. Epic fail on her part.  She is also the one who kept pushing pain medication.  I thought we were on the same team here?  Needless to say, my confidence is a bit shaken on what to expect when labor comes.  I know for certain now that I will definitely labor at home as long as possible.

The great news is, that after two nights in the hospital on IV antibiotics, I was sent home and feeling better.  I'm still not 100% but I'm not expecting to be while still on the antibiotic regime.  I have a follow up appointment later this month where they will take cultures to make sure I really kicked this infection once and for all.  I was even able to hand out glow sticks with Isabelle to the droves of trick or treaters that came by on Halloween.

26 weeks, looking haggard and tired on Halloween.  Thankfully, Isabelle was gracious enough to not take it to heart that I wasn't able to romp around with her as I usually do.

That's the update in a nutshell. Oh, I'm super anemic, which isn't really news to me because it's something I always struggled with.  I'm taking 2 vitamins and eating a bowl of high iron cereal every day.  They'll be checking for that as well on the next midwife visit, I was threatened with iron IVs if my levels didn't rise.  My body fighting this infection has my HG symptoms flaring, I'm getting sick more often, I'm hoping I'm not losing what little weight I may have been able to gain.

Have I mentioned how excited I am to meet Fiona?  Not just for the struggle of my pregnancies but for the sheer joy of holding both of my babies at the same time.  It's something I seriously day dream about.

I have so many more happy, fun, exciting things to write about but in the spirit of chronicling our family history I feel like I had to get this yucky post out of the way.  Much more enjoyable blog topics to come...promise!