How Far Along: 29 Weeks!
Maternity Clothes: Yep...however, clothing has been an issue this week.
Stretch Marks: Not yet...
Sleep: Not so great this past week, I spent a few nights on the couch on pain killers. Hopefully this week will be better.
Best Moment of the Week: The pain finally starting to improve, and cleaning out of my office.
Miss Anything? Nothing in particular
Movement: all day, every day. It's been weird this past week, sometimes the movement is really high, and other times its super low.
Food Cravings: Sweets....
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Showing: Definitely.
Gender Prediction: Girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button In or Out? In....for now...
Wedding Rings On or Off: On
Happy or Moody Most of the Time: Moody
Looking forward to: Our 3D ultrasound on Saturday!!!!!!!!
So, as you can imagine, this has been another eventful week!
Monday - Was planning to go do my glucose test at the lab, but realized that my requisitions for both the glucose and rhogam were on the same hospital form. I got up and got ready, but wasn't feeling well at all, so we decided not to go. The percocets were really knocking me out and making me feel dizzy/uneasy. I also could still barely walk to the bathroom, so I decided we would just go on Tuesday instead.
Tuesday - Still in a lot of pain, Andrew had to help me get dressed, put my shoes on, etc. Also - because my leg is swollen, I realized that none of my maternity pants fit. I only have two pairs of sweat pants I've been able to wear. It was time to take my pain meds before we went to the hospital, but taking them was a bad idea. I was so out of it at the hospital, that I could barely sit there for the hour after drinking the sweet orange drink for the glucose test. I've heard so many people complain that the drink is disgusting and so hard to get down. I really didn't find it that bad at all. They gave it to me, and told me to finish it in less than 5 mins., no problem. Then we had to sit there for an hour without eating or drinking anything. I felt like the room was spinning and wasn't feeling well at all! Somehow the hour passed, and I had the bloodwork done. I asked the nurse to do it while I was laying down because I was feeling so dizzy. She was really nice, and I ended up being perfectly fine. She told me to call back the following day to confirm I was eligible for the rhogam injection, and they would give me an appointment. I had to wait at the hospital entrance for Andrew to pick me up because there was no way I could walk to the car. I just laid around for the rest of the day, still in pain and not feeling well. I also called the OB, and got an appt. for the following morning.
Wednesday - Went to the OB first thing in the morning, and again, I wasn't feeling well and felt really dizzy in the car and waiting for the doctor. We finally got called, and were seen by a resident. Andrew and I were both unimpressed because we were hoping to get a lot more answers from this appt. The resident checked baby's heartbeat which was perfect, it is always so nice to hear it! I told the resident that I needed a note for work, and another prescription as I only had two pills left and was still in a significant amount of pain all the time. She left, and luckily returned with Dr. Stewart. He seemed a bit more rushed than when we met him at the hospital, but he was still lovely. He told me the pain should improve in a week or so, and he didn't want me on pain meds for the next 10 weeks. He said the plan would be to induce me at 38-39 weeks, and the blood thinner injections should not impact my ability to get an epidural or anesthesia if I need them. He said he had already done a referral to a hematologist in Kitchener, and I should be expecting a call. He gave me another prescription for percocets, and gave me a note to be off of work for the rest of my pregnancy! I was not expecting that! I told him that we had an appt. booked at McMaster for Friday. He said we would likely only need to go there one time, and then he and the hematologist could follow me. I scheduled an appt. to go back this Thurs.
I called the hospital and booked an appt. for the following day to get my rhogam injection.
Thursday - Back to the hospital for my rhogam shot. I thought I'd be tough and try to walk to the labour and delivery unit instead of using a wheelchair....big mistake. I barely made it, and when we got there, there were no empty chairs so we had to sit outside in the family waiting area because I could not stand. Then, as luck would have it, one of my old clients was there. He and his gf had just had their 5th baby and were getting discharged. He immediately recognized me but luckily didn't say anything, it was really awkward. We ended up waiting quite a while considering we had an appointment. When they finally called me in, the nurses were all shocked to hear about my blood clot and were full of questions. They give the rhogam injection in your hip/butt area, so the nurse got me to bend over the bed. It wasn't that bad, but the needle caught me off guard and I jumped/gasped a bit (a lot)! They told me I would need to return for another bloodtest in May to ensure the injection had been sufficient, if not, I would need another injection. We walked back to the elevator, and I swear we waited almost 10 mins. for it to arrive. I was seriously considering sitting on the floor because I was in so much pain. And again, my client ended up waiting at the elevator with us. I sat at the doors again and waited for Andrew to pick me up.
When we left the hospital, it was the first time I had been hungry in almost a week. We went out for lunch, and it was the first meal I've enjoyed since this whole mess started! By the end of lunch, I was completely exhausted, so it was back home to bed for me.
Friday - We had our appt. at McMaster in the afternoon, but I had to go into work first to drop off my things, clean out my desk, and sign some court papers.
I actually did work from home quite a bit during the week trying to prepare my files for the worker who was getting them. I felt bad as I hadn't had a chance to prepare them at all, and I know how much of a nightmare it would be to inherit 20 files out of the blue. So I went through each file and wrote a summary for the new worker with all of the important info about each family. I also did as many of the recordings as I could, and was sure that all phone calls, etc. were documented. I had to do two sets of court papers also. I think I ended up working about 14 hours last week.
I spoke with my HR dept. a few times, and told them that I had a note to be off work for the remainder of my pregnancy. They were really nice about it and helped me figure it out. Turns out, I have enough vacation/sick time/and over time that I can be off with full pay until June.5, at which point I'll be applying for mat leave anyway.
So...Friday morning I went in and cleaned out my desk. I still don't think it's sunk in that I will be off of work now until Sept/2014!!!!!!! What am I going to do with myself? I feel like a huge weight has been lifted, but I also feel a bit of a void too.
Friday afternoon we had our appt. with the Thrombosis Clinic at McMaster, my mom met us there for the appt. Again, we saw a resident first, however, he seemed to have a lot of knowledge. He basically asked me all the same questions I've answered for everyone else, and said they are assuming that the pregnancy caused the clot as I have no other risk factors. He also said that we shouldn't be worried about the clot moving to my heart/lungs now that I am being treated. He actually seemed to think there was no chance of it happening at all, which was much different than the ER dr. who told me I could die. He said that they would send all of their info to my OB and I would deliver in Kitchener.
Then the doctor came in, and she said they would be doing a referral for me to be followed by an OB there and to deliver there since I am now considered to be high-risk. She explained that they would work with my OB to determine when exactly I will need to stop my injections to prepare for delivery. She expected I would be induced at 38 weeks, but said this would be up to the OB. She said the only complication will be if I go into labour naturally prior to being induced, as this could cause complications if I want/need an epidural or anesthegia, and would put me at greater risk of blood loss.
She also said that once I run out of my injections, they can write me a new prescription for an injection that I only need to do once a day instead of twice. She said they may also put my on Warfarin after I have the baby, as it treats blood clots more aggressively. I will have to continue treatment for a few months after the baby is born. And, if I get pregnant again, I will have to be on the injections throughout the pregnancy. Both the resident and doctor felt that my pain should be better within one-two weeks, and said that if it's not, to call the clinic.
So....looks like we've having this baby at McMaster! I actually feel good about it, and think it's better to have everything being looked after at one hospital rather than trying to communicate between McMaster, the OB, and the hematologist. I know we'll get the best possible care at McMaster.
The only other weird thing is that my left foot has been swelling pretty badly, but only since Thursday. The doctor at McMaster said that if it gets much worse, to go to Grand River for another ultrasound. If I stay off my feet, it's ok. But if I walk or stand at all, it immediately starts to swell...so I'm keeping an eye on it.
The pain has improved a lot over the weekend. Yesterday I was able to take only two morphine tablets all day, as opposed to taking a percocet every four hours. I'm hoping that things will continue to improve and I'll be off the pain killers altogether by Wed or Thurs.
This week should be much less eventful. I'm seeing the OB again on Thursday, they said to keep seeing him until I've been seen by an OB at McMaster. And McMaster called this morning and said that I need to go there for bloodwork one day this week exactly 4 hours after my injection, so looks like I'll be going back to Hamilton. Other than that, we don't have too much planned. Andrew might be going back to work this week or next, but I should be fine by then. He has been so incredibly helpful over the past week, he's had to do everything including taking care of me. His mom also came down the last two Saturdays and cleaned our house which was so nice and greatly appreciated!
I've forgotten to update about our basement renovations! The thing sitting in the middle of the living room is the bathroom vanity that was delivered last week. There's still lots to be done, especially in the bathroom, but it looks great so far! We've made tons of progress, here's some photos:
Anywho...I'm sick of writing....until next week....
