It's amazing how things can change in a week. I am going home today! I am going home on bedrest, but I am going home! Most of me is very excited and greatful, but part of me is nervous about having to come back. I still have to be seen twice a week in clinic, get labs drawn weekly and do a weekly 24 hour urine test, so I will still be closely monitored. Plus I will have to take my blood pressure numerous times during the day. This week has been really good. My blood pressure, due to additional medication, has gotten much lower and stabilized. My blood sugars are still slightly erratic, but that will come with tweaking my medication. They know I am compliant with how to eat to keep my blood sugars low, so they wouldn't keep me here just for that. My labs have been normal all week and everything they have done with testing the baby has been normal and/or perfect.
So it has been a roller coaster ride this week going from gloom and doom on Sunday to better days today. I will be on bedrest at home (bed or couch, etc.), but at least I will be at home and will be able to see Alistair more than the hour or two I have seen him each day. Seth won't be running from home to here and back everyday after a long day at work. Seth's mom will still be living with us and helping out, but hopefully I will be able to help her a little by distracting Alistair with books or puzzles or something so he isn't always bugging her.
I will be 32 weeks tomorrow, so we still have a few weeks left before the end. Hopefully we can have an April baby. We just have to hang in there! (:
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
The road to recovery...
The Hennessey family has been turned upside down, inside out and hit by a semi only to spin out of control across the road and land in a ditch. We have had more things happen in the past week or so than anyone really needs in a lifetime, really. First off last Friday (Feb 6), I was sent to the hospital after having my blood pressure log reviewed. They wanted to get me evaluated and have the baby observed for any distress. My labs came back fine, the baby was perfect and they decided to increase my blood pressure meds. I came home the following evening. Sunday was a quiet day for the most part. Alistair was acting a little off and after his nap he was pretty clingy and not wanting to do anything. Around dinner I took his temperature and he was running a low fever, so we gave him some Motrin and then sat down to eat. He was hungry since he really hadn't eaten much in the way of lunch. 5 minutes into dinner, Alistair started having a febrile seizure. I knew what it was because a friend's son had had one last year and described it. I was more worried about the big bite of food he had in his mouth when it started. His mouth was so tightly clenched that there was no way to get it out. So Seth pulled him out of his chair and held him face down over the table in the event that he might relax and open his mouth and then the food could fall out. In the meantime I had called 911 and they showed up within 3 minutes. They took his vitals and evaluated him. Once he came around he was fine except he was really tired and upset. But to be cautious they felt we should go to Children's (and we would have either way) for him to be looked at because of his heart condition. So Alistair and I rode in the ambulance and Seth followed in the car. He was checked out and everything was fine. We were home around 10:30 or so.
The week was pretty quiet. I tried not to do much. I did take him to swimming and took him to the park one day, but for the most part we stayed home and rested. Friday I had a doctors appointment and they reviewed my blood pressure log again. That afternoon I got a call from the doctor telling me to up my bp medication again and to take my blood pressure often. So with that Seth and I headed out to dinner and a movie. Alistair stayed with my parents because it was a 3-day weekend and we decided it would be our last opportunity for some alone time before (and after) the baby comes. When we got home from our date at 10:30pm, I had 3 missed calls and 3 messages from the doctor. She had decided that she wanted me to come to the hospital and get evaluated again. So I went and was home by 12:30AM with the same results as the week before. Saturday Seth had lacrosse practice and after a shower I parked myself on the couch and was planning on a day of catching up on movies. Every time I took my blood pressure it was slightly higher and I called the doctor. After the second call, they had me come in again. Then they decided to admit me for overnight observation since they decided to add an additional medication and wanted to observe me on it. I also did a 24 hour urine collection test. Yesterday (Sunday) my blood pressures were great but my urine test came back with double the amount of protein they want to see in it which is a precursor to developing preeclampsia. So that coupled with my blood pressure issues was enough to make the decision to put me on bedrest for the duration of my pregnancy or until the baby needs to be delivered. Hopefully being on bedrest will prolong the amount of time the baby can stay inside and not be too premature. But the bedrest is to be done at the hospital, not at home. They said my risk of seizure, stroke or worse is high enough that it would be a liability to send me home, even with someone helping at home.
So here I sit, and I guess I am lucky I can sit and not have to be lying down all the time. Seth has brought me all kinds of stuff to make me feel more at home. My brother and wife loaned me a laptop to be able to be connected to the outside world. Seth's mom is going to be living at our house for a while to care for Alistair during the week. My mom will be taking Alistair to swimming on Wednesdays. Everyone is offering help, so it is nice and will hopefully make things a little easier on everyone.
This totally sucks and that is all I am going to say about it. I could go on for paragraphs on why, but it pretty much sums up my feelings by saying it totally sucks! (: I have done a lot of crying in the last 24 hours, more than I have since Alistair was born. Day by day, hopefully, it will get better. I need to focus on the positive and stay as upbeat as possible. It could be worse, according to a lot of reading I have done about bedrest. We are resilient people and have been through similar situations and come out the other side successful. We will this too, but right now it seems so long and daunting. One day at a time...
The week was pretty quiet. I tried not to do much. I did take him to swimming and took him to the park one day, but for the most part we stayed home and rested. Friday I had a doctors appointment and they reviewed my blood pressure log again. That afternoon I got a call from the doctor telling me to up my bp medication again and to take my blood pressure often. So with that Seth and I headed out to dinner and a movie. Alistair stayed with my parents because it was a 3-day weekend and we decided it would be our last opportunity for some alone time before (and after) the baby comes. When we got home from our date at 10:30pm, I had 3 missed calls and 3 messages from the doctor. She had decided that she wanted me to come to the hospital and get evaluated again. So I went and was home by 12:30AM with the same results as the week before. Saturday Seth had lacrosse practice and after a shower I parked myself on the couch and was planning on a day of catching up on movies. Every time I took my blood pressure it was slightly higher and I called the doctor. After the second call, they had me come in again. Then they decided to admit me for overnight observation since they decided to add an additional medication and wanted to observe me on it. I also did a 24 hour urine collection test. Yesterday (Sunday) my blood pressures were great but my urine test came back with double the amount of protein they want to see in it which is a precursor to developing preeclampsia. So that coupled with my blood pressure issues was enough to make the decision to put me on bedrest for the duration of my pregnancy or until the baby needs to be delivered. Hopefully being on bedrest will prolong the amount of time the baby can stay inside and not be too premature. But the bedrest is to be done at the hospital, not at home. They said my risk of seizure, stroke or worse is high enough that it would be a liability to send me home, even with someone helping at home.
So here I sit, and I guess I am lucky I can sit and not have to be lying down all the time. Seth has brought me all kinds of stuff to make me feel more at home. My brother and wife loaned me a laptop to be able to be connected to the outside world. Seth's mom is going to be living at our house for a while to care for Alistair during the week. My mom will be taking Alistair to swimming on Wednesdays. Everyone is offering help, so it is nice and will hopefully make things a little easier on everyone.
This totally sucks and that is all I am going to say about it. I could go on for paragraphs on why, but it pretty much sums up my feelings by saying it totally sucks! (: I have done a lot of crying in the last 24 hours, more than I have since Alistair was born. Day by day, hopefully, it will get better. I need to focus on the positive and stay as upbeat as possible. It could be worse, according to a lot of reading I have done about bedrest. We are resilient people and have been through similar situations and come out the other side successful. We will this too, but right now it seems so long and daunting. One day at a time...
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