Well, I finally got my laptop up and running in my hospital room…Yep, I was admitted this morning. My 8:30am appointment turned into – Doctor: “Take this slip of paper and go to Admitting at USA Children’s & Women.” Me: “Um, excuse me?” Doctor: “Yes, you are being admitted for further tests and monitoring.” I swear! Puh-lease just one good appointment!
It all started with me almost walking out of the house alone. I assumed Phillip would need to be going to work (our appointment on the previous day took all morning). But Phillip said he would drive me to my appointment. :) It wasn’t supposed to take long…A quickie ultrasound and seeing my OB’s partner (my actual OB was off for the day). Well, the ultrasound seemingly went well (I thought…Beware what they aren’t telling you…). The fluid was down to 24+ cm and the baby is measuring 5 pounds and 9 ounces. Wow! I went from 33 cm to 24 cm (of course, this isn’t exact science and really depends on the baby’s position and all that)! And the baby gained 12 ounces in 24 hours!?!?!??? (Like I said, it’s not an exact science.) But all in all, I thought that was good news – my fluid is down and the baby’s weight is up.
[ultrasound pic coming soon]
On to the check-up…The doctor decided to do a NST (non-stress test) just because…uh-huh. The doctor came in to let us know that she had discussed the results with my OB via phone and they had talked to the fetal specialist as well. I needed to go to the hospital for further testing…WHAT??? As the doctor showed me…The pictures of the abdomen are worrisome. The bladder, stomach, and intestines are full (fluid is a dark black on ultrasounds) which is okay…Completely normal. But once the baby releases the fluid, my fluid numbers go up. Dang it. There is also a dark ring around the abdomen. It means that the baby is starting to retain fluid which is not good. The easiest (although not necessarily the right) reason for all this is that the baby is actually absorbing my high fluid (therefore, reducing my fluid numbers and increasing his weight). Of all the things I have read, I have never seen that the baby taking on fluid is to be expected with a heart baby. But the doctor isn’t surprised because it is to be expected and I am close to 34 weeks. Okay…I will believe the doctor over the wanna-be mom-docs on the internet.
So, on to USA C&W for me. From what Phillip and I decide, I will most likely be monitored, have another ultrasound, maybe some blood work, and then possibly be sent home within a few hours to return on Monday to our already scheduled appointment with the fetal specialist…Or maybe even be sent to UAB. Well, I was admitted to Labor and Delivery for “observation” which means that I was hooked up to 2 monitors (1 for the fetal heart rate and the other for contractions), received an IV (drama…I hate needles!), and was put on steroids to start working on the baby’s lungs and development. This means – Staying at the hospital until Monday. Ugghhh. [Have I mentioned that Phillip’s MBA graduation is tomorrow at 2pm? I helped pay for this degree…I want that smiling picture of my graduate framed and on my desk!] Boredom set in about 10 minutes after getting in the super comfy hospital bed (cough…cough).
My temporary home: USA Children's & Women's Hospital
A lot of crappy TV watching later and at approximately 6pm, I was finally able to talk the nurse and doctor into removing my IV (a constant slew of alarms, true arm aching pain, and wearing a towel so I didn’t pass out from looking at it…). I can’t look directly at needles, blood, etc. So I took a picture of my own arm with my iPhone and viewed it from there. For whatever reason, its just not as creepy and gross.
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