...Am I going into early labor?

Yesterday was just an average Tuesday. I'm scheduled to go see my OB every two weeks for a check up to see how everything is going. It's usually very boring, as I usually wait for the doctor than the check-up itself. But not today!

Baby Hoffman has been moving a TON the past week or two. I've been feeling him stretch out his legs against my sides and he'll leave his feet there. After he moves, that same spot he was stretching out aches and it hurts to the touch. A day earlier last week, I couldn't get him to fall asleep until after 3 a.m., which meant I didn't get to sleep until after 3 a.m. Something tells me I'm going to have my hands full after giving birth...

As usual, my doctor started to measure Baby Hoffman's heart rate. But instead of moving on and telling me he sounds great, an awkward silence fills the room. 

"When a baby has a high heart rate it's not always a cause for concern, but I need to get another doppler ultrasound in order to get his exact heart rate. I'll be right back." 

She comes back quickly and continues to measure the heart rate. Then she explained to me that his heart rate is around 180-190, but has gotten as high as 200. My doctor told me that a baby can't handle that heart rate for a long period of time, and that he might have a medical condition. She left the room to call a high risk doctor to fit me in to get an ultrasound to see what was going on with his heart.

Now this is when I stared to panic.

"A baby can't handle a high heart rate? Is he distressed?"

"The way she worded it sounded like he's going to have heart failure and die if his heart rate continues this way."

"Spencer texted me before the heart monitoring what's the address to the hospital. Did he get a spiritual prompting that something is wrong and he's going to race over here because I'm going into early labor?"

"Well I guess he couldn't complain about having a birthday close to Christmas, he'll be born near Thanksgiving instead!"

"I don't have ANYTHING ready when it comes to giving birth!"

#uneducatedfirsttimeMom

My doctor came back and told me they can't fit me in to get an ultrasound. Instead, I'm going to get hooked up to a monitor to see if Baby Hoffman's heart rate goes down within the next 10-15 minutes. I also may need to come back next week instead of two weeks.

The nurse took me to a very comfy chair in a private room and strapped me in, so to speak. I felt a little bit better when I heard her say, "Now he's cooperating."

They leave me be and the monitoring continues. A long piece of paper is coming out of the screen that reminds me of a lie detector test. But then, the beeping starts.

Beeping is never good at a hospital. I strained my neck to see his heart rate going back up to over 170. (I googled that the average heart rate is between 120-160.) It continued to beep while I tried to ignore it while writing in my journal as a distraction. 

Soon, another nurse came in to check on me and admitted that it's better to have a high heart rate instead of a low one. She looked at the paper and left. The beeping stopped and continued for 10 more minutes. 

My doctor came in and observed the paper. She put her hand on her heart, while relieved, "It looks a lot better than I expected. It's going to be fine. He's just a really hyper baby! That's one thing we've learned about him today." She asked if we could continue the monitoring and I agreed. I wanted as much data as possible to make sure everything was okay. I later found out that I was monitored for almost 40 minutes instead of 10-15!

I heard the door open and close a lot throughout the monitoring, but often no one came in. I saw the heart rate get up to 181 once, but I was free to go when I was told he was more in the safe zone than not. I don't have to come in next week after all. As I gathered my things, I overheard a nurse outside talking about me, "I kept going into the room because all of the beeping, but it would stop right as I walked in!"

Today, I am grateful that we know (so far) that Baby Hoffman doesn't have a heart condition. I am also grateful that I didn't have to go into emergency labor (which probably wasn't even a possibility in my doctors' eyes.) #uneducatedfirsttimeMom

This was embarrassing

Well, the first doctor's appointment I had was quite the experience today!

I waltz into my doctor's appointment, thinking that it was going to be a quick visit to talk about finances and billing. ...That was not the case.

I asked for anti-nausea medication (bless) and the doctor tells me to go down to the laboratory to get a urine analysis and get some lab work complete.

'Scuse me? When I talked to to the secretary on the phone on what to expect for my first appointment, they didn't say ANYTHING about blood work. (Nor did they tell me to come with a full bladder thankyouverymuch!)

I grudgingly walk over to the laboratory and she tells me that there's a person in front of me and that I'll have to wait to get my blood drawn. Panic ensued.

I sit down and start taking deep breaths to mentally prepare myself to be pricked with a gosh dang awful needle. I keep telling myself that I'm doing this for the baby. People started coming in and out of the door and I watch in fear that I'll be next. I see the nurse coming out with paperwork with my name on it (okay not really but I knew it was for me). Deep breaths Emily!

I request my right arm to be used as I'm left-handed. I warned her that I didn't too well with needles, and she told me that it was fine. I say a little prayer that everything that will be okay and prepare for the pain.

It did not go well. The initial puncture was fine, but then the needle started to move. This is where I start to wince and clench my eyes shut while continuing my prayer. Probably after thirty seconds she told me that she popped the vein, which resulted in immediate bruising. (Update: the bruise is 1 1/2" x 1".) The nurse asked me if I was okay and I quietly said "Yeah" while slowly breathing. She had to take the needle out, and it went all downhill from there.

I started to take really deep breaths to try and calm myself down from the pain. But then my nausea started to kick in really bad, and I gasped, "I think I might throw up." She quickly moved the trash can toward me and got me a cold, damp paper towel to press against my forehead. Everything happened so quickly. My ears were clogged (and ringing?) so I couldn't hear her properly on what she was advising me to do. I was also feeling really dizzy. My eye sight began to go blurry and dark as I rested my head against the wall.

I think she told me to put my knees up and rest my head on them, so I did. (I still couldn't hear her.) She asked if I needed water, so I grabbed my water bottle from my purse and started to drink from it. The nurse told me I had passed out, and that she needed to call it in. I put my water bottle back into my purse as the second (and third) nurse came to our rescue.

We decided that it would be best for me to lay down during the second attempt to draw my blood. We discussed what I had eaten that day and suggested that the lack of food + being pregnant is what probably caused me to pass out. The nurses suggested that I buy a snack at the pharmacy to help me get feeling better. (Which I ignored since I'm cheap and I have snacks at home.)

I told them that I was fine to proceed without eating anything so we continued. They told me to drink more water so I grabbed my water bottle. Little did I know, I forgot to close my water bottle mid-pass out. This resulted in water going all over the floor, and partially in my purse with all of my new pregnancy papers. Not fun.

Once in the new room, the second nurse did a great job distracting me while the initial nurse drew blood on my left arm (as I didn't want to get pricked again where I was bruised. She had bandaged my right arm very tightly to the point that I couldn't bend my elbow.) While it still hurt, it did not hurt as bad as the first time. When she told me that it was done, I honestly thought that the needle was still in my arm!

I was relieved to be done, so I walked toward the pharmacy to get my prescription. By the time I had walked to the pharmacy, I had become dizzy and decided to buy an overpriced snack anyway. Once I got to the front desk, I had to sit on the floor as they processed my prescription. I admitted to the pharmacist that I had passed out earlier. The worker was nice enough to tell me that I should open my snack now. Unfortunately I was unable to open it with how I was feeling, so she did it for me. They were quick to ask if I needed water, and I said yes. My mind was feeling fuzzy as I mindlessly gave them all the cards they needed while I was still on the floor. Pretty sure people were staring at me as I ate and drank my water, but I didn't care. Bless another worker, who gave me Smarties-- one of my favorite candies!

I relayed this information to Spencer as I sat down in hopes of feeling not so lightheaded so I could drive home. I didn't improve much, so Spencer had to leave work early and rescue me. Bless Spencer. He's been so accommodating during these 8 weeks. I don't know what I would do without him!

Let's hope that the next appointment isn't so crazy.