Thursday, May 17, 2012

Emergency rooms, medicines, and surgery oh my!

     Wow! The past month has been so action packed my head is still spinning (could be the pain medicine though). My blog has been placed on the back burner in lieu of everything else in my life. I hate that and want to make this a big priority. I guess I will start with an update on the new chaos.

      It started on April 1st when I took Ana to the emergency room. She was burning up with a high temp, lethargic, and I just knew something was wrong. They found out she had a viral bronchitis, ear infection, and allergies. They gave her an antibiotic shot and breathing treatments. She then was bouncing off the walls because of the steroids. I was just glad she was happy and back to herself again.

    Then when Ana was due was a follow up at the doctor Bailee was acting really sick. It was the same week. She had an ear infection, tonsil infection, and allergies. She was on antibiotics and it cleared up quickly.

     About a week later Emerson went in for his 18 month appointment and was coughing, slight fever, and whiny. He  ended up having a slight case of phenomena and bronchitis, ear infection, and allergies. He still received his shot for the appointment, antibiotics, and breathing treatments. This time he was refusing his medicine. That stubborn boy! :) Then on April 27th Emerson had a horrible rash spreading on his body and whiny. I knew he has eczema, but this rash was spreading fast and looked so painful. I took him to the emergency room and found out he had yet another ear infection and impetigo (pronounced in-pen-ti-go not in-pet-a-go ha-ha). He received more antibiotics. Poor baby.

     The next turn was me and this is where the story gets crazy and sad. Sunday April 30th I was changing Ana's diaper and gagged. I thought it was weird and something told me to go take a pregnancy test. I had received my monthly "friend" as usual but it was lasting longer than usual but didn't alarm me. I took the first test and it was positive but light. I took another one and it showed up positive. I went to the store and bought a digital test and it said pregnant. I was then convinced I was pregnant but was concerned about the bleeding. I went to the emergency room to make sure everything was okay.

    I first went to MTMC and they had more than a three hour wait so we left and went to Stone Crest and got there around 9pm. They had a wait but it did not seem that long. It was over 3 hours until I even went to triage. Then we had to wait back in the waiting room for a room. About another hour later we were in the room. They said their computers were down and that was why they were going slow. I had peed in a cup around 11:30-12 and every time I asked about the results they said they would have to look. Finally around 3:30 they came in and said oh your pregnancy test was positive. We had called the ultrasound tech and she has an hour to get here. The only other thing they had done was an exam and said my cervix was open about 1cm. After the ultrasound about 4 am they came in to tell me they could not find a baby and I was having a miscarriage. I was devastated. The second miscarriage in 4 months. My mom came and got me. I spent 8 hours in the ER and will not go back there.

    I called my OB/GYN the a few hours after being home. They made an appointment for me around 1:30. I went and they did an exam, said my cervix was closed, I was pregnant, and drew some blood. They were upset the ER told me I had a miscarriage without being 100% certain. They told me to return Wednesday to get my blood drawn again to check my HCG levels and make sure they double. I went in Wednesday morning and they put the results STAT. They called around noon and said they had almost doubled. They wanted me to return Friday morning for another blood check, ultrasound, and to see the doctor. She said if I felt any pain in my lower abdomen or bleeding to call them ASAP. I went about my day but taking it easy.

   Around 4:30 I was on the computer and started having stomach pain. I brushed it off thinking maybe it was ligaments stretching or something. Then the pain suddenly got worse and when I went to the bathroom I was bleeding again. I was suddenly doubled over in pain crying. I called my doctor office and they said get to the ER immediately. I called Joey crying and he came home to take me. I got a sitter and we headed to MTMC. I waited about an hour and because they thought I could be having an ectopic pregnancy they sent me straight to a room. They took amazing care of me and had me off to an ultrasound right away. Within a few hours they confirmed I was pregnant, my HCG levels were the same, and they noticed a worrisome image on the ultrasound and they thought I had an ectopic pregnancy. The OB came in and offered me three options: to go home and wait it out, get exploratory surgery, or stay overnight and re-access in the morning. We chose to be monitored overnight because I was in so much pain and IV medicines were only helping so much.

    I was able to get some sleep around the pain and nurses. The next morning (Thursday May 3rd) the other OB doctor came in to see me and checked my abdomen. When he pushed on it it started hurting on the opposite side then my lower back started hurting very badly. He looked at me and said you are bleeding in your abdomen and we need to do surgery. Joey brought the kids to see me and at 10:30 am they sent me to pre-op. Joey showed up from dropping the kids off and they had already given me medicine and I do not remember much but bits and pieces from there. When I woke up I remember asking for my husband over and over and where my underwear was. lol Joey had gone to pick up the kids since we only had a sitter for a sort time.

    Joey finally got there and they had told me I did have an ectopic pregnancy and they had to remove my entire left fallopian tube. The tube was swollen with a cyst and the baby inside. I also had a lot of bleeding in the abdomen. They made 3 incisions. I was sent home later that evening. I was sore and tired. For the next few days I took my medicine and slept. Joey took amazing care of me, the kids, and the house. I was blessed to have a husband to be by my side and care for me.

    I was cleared by the doctor yesterday but was having bad headaches, nausea, mood swings, and just wanted to sleep all the time. I was told my hormones are going crazy because I lost a baby through surgery. He also said I have postpartum depression. My goals are to get back to the gym ASAP, I have started sewing on my new machine and want to continue, and enjoying each days with my babies and husband. Joey has started a new job after being let go once he was released from workman's comp. Things are looking up. I am just not sure if we want to continue trying anymore for a baby. I think for now we are going to enjoy our 3 amazing and healthy children and let God lead us from here.

      Sorry this blog is so long. I just wanted to get everyone caught up and know the chaos in my life. I will hopefully be sharing sewing projects, crafts we are doing, and any other thing I feel is nifty.

Have a Blessed Day!
Katie