Trip to the ER

For the past few weeks I have been struggling with not being able to catch my breath, insomnia, exhaustion, a few headaches, occasional dizzy spells and general crabbiness (ok--VERY crabby)--all of which I thought was just a normal part of trying to have a baby at 39 and being busy during the holidays. Saturday night I went to bed about 9 pm and slept until about 7 am. Besides frequent trips every couple of hours to the bathroom, I slept through the night (which is more than I can say for tonight obviously). I woke up totally exhausted. My body felt like I had just run a marathon and the inside of my arms ached between my wrists and my elbows (weird).

I sat through sacrament meeting fighting sleep and trying to breathe. I was sitting in Sunday School when the thought came to me, "Check your pulse." I took my pulse a couple of times, and the average was about 102. All of a sudden everything started to make sense. I was so tired because my heart was working too hard! I got home from church and started doing a little research online and noticed that quite a few women had experienced the same thing I had, so I wasn't too worried.

I decided to call my ob on Monday and just tell them what was going on, thinking they would tell me to just rest a bit more. Next thing I knew, I hear the nurse tell me, "He wants you to go to the ER."
"THE ER?" I said.
"Yes. They will probably send you to labor and delivery. They have machines there that we don't have here that can run tests that you will need. Go to the ER."
"Great. That's all I need," I thought.
So after my mom came and got Raegan, I headed to the hospital. I knew I would be there awhile, so I took some work with me.
I thought for sure they were going to look at me like I was some kind of idiot--after all, my pulse wasn't THAT high--my youngest sister had a resting pulse of 160 when she was pregnant with her second baby, and mine was 102--no big deal.

I get there, and they call labor and delivery--no beds--so off to a room in the ER I go. They did a heart screening (I guess that's what you call it) first, and discovered I was having heart palpitations, so I got to stay for the day (in the ER mind you) and have a bunch of tests.

(I think I have been to the ER--for myself--one time in my life when I was 14 and needed stitches, but I sure don't remember much about that. I learned why you are in there so long-- You get a test, have to wait for the results of the test, then wait for the dr. to come by again, then have another test and the perpetual cycle begins--enough to drive you CRAZY.)

They started with an EKG which came back normal. After that they did a blood draw which also came back normal. They did another type of screening where they took my pulse lying down, sitting and then standing--not sure what they had to say about that. They took a urine sample and found out I had a urinary tract infection. I had absolutely no clue that I had an infection. The only signs I had were that I had to go to the bathroom every few minutes, but that's part of being pregnant. Maybe they just caught it early. . .What a blessing (that they caught it early--not that I have one :).

After ruling out everything else, the ER dr. came back into the room and said he had talked to Dr. Tutt (my ob) and they wanted to make sure I didn't have a blood clot. Blood clot? That sounded serious. They said they were going to do a ct scan. That was an experience--they put me on my back and then I really couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to pass out. Then after waiting for over two hours for the results of that test, the dr. comes back into the room and tells me they botched the test and couldn't repeat it (thank heaven) because of the risk to the baby (the test involves some radiation). So, they couldn't rule out a blood clot. Yippee skippee. He told me Dr. Tutt wanted to see me the next day. They would have to monitor my symptoms and if they got worse, then we would have a problem. He gave me a script for my infection and sent me home.

We'll see what Dr. Tutt says when I have my appointment. While in the ER, I asked the dr. what would happen if my ct scan came back negative--and then of course answered my own question by saying, "They are just going to tell me to take it easy, right?" And he answered, "Right." I am pretty sure that's what Dr. Tutt is going to tell me tomorrow. In fact, at one point the ER dr. made the comment jokingly to the guy moving my gurney to the ct scan (I had to sit up in the bed so I wouldn't get motion sickness) that he needed to give me a sedative so that I would not be so "high energy". Yeah, right. I think he thought I was some kind of weirdo because I didn't want to sit in the ER bed--the chair was more comfortable and made it easier to breathe. :) Sitting still all day did help a little, but there were about three or four times during the day that I could feel my heart racing and I had to catch my breath, so I know that I will still have the problem even if I keep still (which is VERY hard for me to do).

So much drama! This baby comes eight weeks from Saturday, and it isn't soon enough. I am ready to have my body back and get this (as the ER nurse called it) parasite out. I know that sounds heartless, but that's how it feels. I am too old to be having babies! I am go glad when they get here, but it sure takes its toll on my body.

I am so thankful I had the prompting to take my pulse--thankful and surprised I could actually get a prompting because I was NOT feeling the spirit whatsoever because I was so crabby--just ask Blake how crabby I was. :) You can pray for me, but he is the one that needs the help putting up with me. Poor guy!

I will update tomorrow with the news from the ob. My tylenol pm is finally kicking in, and I should try to go back to sleep. Wish me luck!