Well that was scary (27 days)

Ok, let's back up. The past day or two, I've had some odd sensations/feelings on and off but really didn't think too much of them because I could usually equate them with BHCs. Symptoms included a pretty hard BHC (not painful), increased heart rate, wiggly baby, and a feeling of pressure in my face - sort of like feeling flushed but much more. Fastforward to this morning. I went to work to get some things done before a meeting and then went into the meeting...only to start feeling rather odd again soon after it started. I didn't think anything of it until I realized that I was feeling these symptoms for longer than I had been the past few days. So I checked my heart rate and it was up to almost 100bpm just sitting there! Usually mine is around 60bpm so that was pretty high for a non-stressful meeting...and after several checks it was almost an hour before it calmed down. So after asking a few friends if these things were normal, they all recommended I call the doctor. So just before the SLP clan and I leave the Muscatine office for the Bettendorf office, I called but was told the nurse would call me back. She didn't call back until we were almost there (40 minutes away) and I hadn't driven b/c I was convinced I was overreacting and wouldn't need to go in. Of course - nurse says get your @$$ in here. I told her I couldn't b/c I was in the QCs and couldn't get back until somewhere b/w 4-5pm. She sounded rather worried so I started to get a little more anxious...so after some hemming, hawing, and brainstorming, I borrowed a friend's car and drove right back to Muscatine after I ate lunch there.

I wasn't too worried until I was about 1/2 way back to Muscatine when I realized hey, if something's wrong with me (I was thinking high blood pressure, preeclampsia, etc), they might tell me they have to take her now and that would be it! And Adam is either going to be in an airport or midflight on his last business trip before she gets here!! Then I started to think about who I would ask to be there instead...and couldn't think of ANYONE who was A) less than 45 minutes away, B) less than 5.5 HOURS away, or C) anyone who wasn't obligated to small children that could make it! I'd be totally alone!! So needless to say I tried to quash those thoughts but it was too late and I was a sobbing mess for a while on Hwy 61 into Muscatine. I managed to get ahold of myself and have white eyes instead of red ones by the time I got to the doctor's.

THEN, I walk up to the front desk and the girl (Shannon) asks me if I want to just have a seat until the nurse comes to get me. I'm cool with that b/c that's what I expected. Nope. The other receptionist hands her a paper and says 'wait, no, send her to the lab first.' I look at the order and it says EKG on it. Now I'm not an idiot but at the time I'm drawing a blank (my mom would not be proud since she does these) on what the hell an EKG is. I look at it blankly and finally figure I need to ask what the hell this is and why they ordered it. Finally got an answer - they're worried about tachycardia (sp? some heart issue) so this EKG thing will check my heart and make sure it's ok. Well, THEN I get even more worried b/c a healthy heart is pretty important for labor, so if there's something wrong there, what am I going to do later when I'm actually IN labor!!??? (BTW, it NEVER crossed my mind that I was in or going into labor today. No feelings like that AT all.) So I go down to the lab to wait (1/2 hour!!) and Adam finally gets off his 1st flight and calls me. I explain where I am and he's relatively calm and I lose it and start crying again. It was more nerve wracking that he was far away, had no way to get here faster, and like I said before, I had no idea who I could call that would be right in Muscatine and could be with me if they had to take her right away. So he calms me down and I promise to call/text him the minute I find anything out. Also, my saving grace SLPs at the meeting I was supposed to be at were keeping me busy with texting updates/questions (thank you girls!) until the lady finally called me in.

(this is getting long, sorry!) So the lab tech calls me in and tells me to wear a gown and undress on top. She gets back and tells me to lie on my back for the EKG. I looked at her and asked if I was going to be there long or could I lie on my side? She looks at ME like I'M nuts and says why?? I replied that I wouldn't be able to BREATHE very well after about a minute or two if I'm flat on my back b/c of the weight of uterus/baby on my arteries and she just thought I was nuts. I said listen, put it where you have to and then I'm lying on my side. Deal? Good. So she does her thing in about 2 minutes and tells me all looks well. Woo hoo! Hurdle #1 done and cleared like a champ. Go my heart!

I was able to at least call Adam and tell him that we were good to go on that hurdle before he boarded his second/last plane with promises of calling in the next 10 minutes if anything came up. I was sad when I stepped on the scale and it was huge, but honestly it was pretty far from my mind at that point. I get in the room and after good blood pressure, Dr. Coleman comes in. Turns out that since I'm there, we're going to forgo my (next Monday) procedures and do them today! I panicked a little b/c I had wanted Adam there but he said to go ahead if I was ok with it. So I figured if she was checking things out, she might as well just do it all and then I could skip Monday's appt (glad I did this). I can now add Strep B test and first dialation/effacement check to my list of things "accomplished" for this pregnancy.

Results: EKG - fine. BP - fine. Feelings of being flushed/pressure in my face - likely hormone surges from the BHCs and blood pumping b/c my uterus now pumps 500mL of blood every minute (woah). No extra protiens in my urine (routine check). Higher heart rate earlier - I'm not sure b/c she didn't give me an answer for it b/c I didn't ask further. Dialation - none/0. Effacement - 50%!!! Woah, we have a little progress, ladies and gentlemen! (For those of you that don't know, that means my cervix is 50% of the way thinned out and that the baby has moved down a little bit...pretty sure that's what that means.) So it was a good visit as nothing was really wrong and I got to find out I'm 50% effaced. Whew!!

Sorry for the long post. It was rather traumatic to go through at the time without Adam there, but in 1.5 short hours he will be close enough to be there any time should she be ready to come. Tonight entails returning the vehicle to a coworker who will drop it off for me in the QCs tomorrow (I work with the nicest people), relaxing, and spending time with Adam before his weekend of golf and my Muscatine baby shower tomorrow (so looking forward to that, btw!). Sigh. Thanks to God for keeping us healthy. :)