First of all, weeks 9 through 13 have just been a bit of a blur. The entire month of September was like a big bowl that was constantly being stirred and dumped all over the floor. You’ll find out why in just a minute.
My due date has changed from April 6th to April 3, but we will be having a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks, which is the last week of March. So instead of Wednesday being our new week starter, we are now on Sunday. I’m just going with it even though all babies grow and develop differently. So this is the last day of the 13th week, and we are in the second trimester and things are good. We use our fetal doppler occasionally and I’m not sure what is going on in there, but this little one does not stay still! I can get the heart beat on the doppler for just a moment and then it’s gone. I suppose there’s a trampoline in there providing some entertainment. :)
So onto my month long hiatus from posting and even posting on Twitter. Over Labor Day weekend I developed sharp chest pain when I took deep breaths. I discovered this pain would also come when I coughed, sneezed, laughed, or dry-heaved/vomited. Actually, the vomiting would make the pain a 10, and thanks to “morning sickness”, I experienced it. It was horrible. Not only did I want to scream and cry, but I wanted to just curl up and die. I figured I slept wrong, and took a Tylenol and got comfy with a heating pad. The pain was located between my right breast and my back directly behind it, but on the inside. It’s hard to explain, but now that I know, it was my right lung.
On Labor Day we went to the ER. The Tylenol and heating pad had done nothing, the pain had stayed the same, so we went in. I had blood drawn and after talking with the attending ER doctor, we were scheduled and waiting for a chest x-ray and a VQ scan for a suspected blood clot in my lung (pulmonary embolism).
ventilation-perfusion scan (V/Q scan) – a type of nuclear radiology procedure in which a tiny amount of a radioactive substance is used during the procedure to assist in the examination of the lungs. A ventilation scan evaluates ventilation, or the movement of air into and out of the bronchi and bronchioles. A perfusion scan evaluates blood flow within the lungs.
The chest x-ray was normal, and pneumonia was ruled out because I didn’t present with any symptoms of it. The VQ scan was, unfortunately, showing a high probability of a pulmonary embolism in my right lung. The test itself was interesting. I had to lay flat on my back, which caused pain all by itself. After I laid down and got situated, we began. It took close to 15 minutes for the first set of images to be completed and I struggled through each second. I couldn’t move, and I didn’t want to talk, so I had to just lay there, praying the radioactive medicine wasn’t going to harm our precious baby. The tech moved on to the second set, and as the minutes ticked away, the pain began to increase. The tech announced we had, if I remember correctly, 3 minutes left for this set. The pain just kept increasing. I couldn’t move or I would have run away crying. As the machine finished I finally broke my silence and Hubs and the tech helped me sit up. The pain was closing in on a 10 on the pain scale, it was horrible. I was crying, which hurt, and couldn’t breathe. The tech said we would stop, he would show what we had to the doctor, and they would determine if I needed to come back for more, but that he thought they had what they needed. I immediately knew that that statement meant the test showed something.
I was started on Fragmin, a blood thinner, which because of being pregnant, had to be administered via injection. I was admitted to the hospital on Monday, and finally came home late Friday night. During that period of being in the hospital, I was on oxygen occasionally for shortness of breath, had several vials of blood taken (close to 20, if not more, ER tests included), but also got an ultrasound to check on the baby because my OB-GYN pretty much rocks (I was admitted under his care). I was visited by my OB-GYN and a hematologist. Remember the Fragmin I was given in the ER? It’s not my friend. At first they were given by my afternoon nurse, Kris, who was great. Then, Hubs gave it a try. Then when we came ‘home’ (actually, we went to mother in law’s), mother in law gave it a go (she has experience)… then I had to.
I now (proudly?) give myself a daily injection to my tummy. It makes me sad, to the verge of crying. I hate(d) needles before this, I never watched a needle going into me. And now? Now I’m shooting up in bathrooms, beside a lake, in the car (parked!) I will do these injections the entire pregnancy, and for several months following delivery.
It sucks, but I have to. I’m feeling good though. The pain began going away while in the hospital, and while it came back a few days later, was deemed pleurisy (irritation of the lung) and I was given some pain meds for that. That too has gone away. The nausea and morning sickness? Still around, but I gave in and started on Zofran so it’s much better. I’m still a little nauseous every now and then though, even after taking the Zofran so I’m working on dealing with that. Sometimes it’s curbed by eating something, or if 6 hours after the first dose, another Zofran tablet.
So let’s forget September, shall we?