On April 17, the day of my wonderful baby shower, Tim and I were on our way into Plano to enjoy the day. On that drive, I started to have some horrible pains in my abdomen. They were so bad that I nearly passed out and finally told Tim he would have to drive me to the hospital. I will put up with quite a bit of pain before finally admitting I need help, so this was bad. That trip to the hospital resulted in an emergency surgery for an internal hernia in the intestines in my upper abdomen. I was in the hospital several days and felt great - better than I had in 10 years - after that adventure.
Fast forward to last Sunday night, June 27th. I went to bed and became really uncomfortable. I was having pains in my abdomen and I was unable to get comfortable and go to sleep. I tossed and turned all night long. Finally, at 4:30 am on Monday morning, Tim convinced me to call my OB. I made the call and she returned it within 5 minutes. She sent us to the hospital to get checked out - mostly because of my history. We spent most of the day Monday in the Labor and Delivery unit where they gave me laxatives and a suppository, saw that I had a bowel movement and let me go home. They chalked it up to discomforts of the final stages of pregnancy. At this point, Luke is a good 6 3/4 pounds. Stayed in bed the rest of the day Monday and Monday night had the same problems. Tim called the OB this time and she sent us back into BUMC. This time I went into the Maternity Observation unit (not near as nice as L&D). One nurse told me I was having contractions - which I knew was crazy. I wasn't feeling contractions. While in Maternity Observation we saw a surgery resident and an OB resident who basically asked me questions and determined I did not have an obstruction. They moved me to the AntePartum Unit for observation that night. I was on clear liquids and began getting nauseas Tuesday night and had horrible pain and vomitted. Wednesday we finally convinced the doctors to do a CT scan of my abdomen so that we could determine for sure whether I had another hernia. The result of the scan was that I did have another potential hernia. They took me off of all food - even liquids at that point. The Doc who did my previous hernia surgery looked at the scan and said he did not see a hernia but that my bowels were irritated and distended and that the baby was growing and continually pushing and distorting all of my internal organs. So the consensus of all the doctors was to watch and wait. Gradually they put me back on clear liquids and I tolerated those. As of right now, I'm on what they call the GI2 diet - which is supposed to be softer foods, easier to digest. I haven't had the bad pain in a couple of days now, but it's sort of like a ticking time bomb. As the baby grows and continues to push things further, my bowels could kink and cause a hernia at any time. They don't want to take the baby until at least 38 weeks. I'll be 37 weeks next Tuesday - July 6th. Surgery is very risky right now - so they'd much rather wait until I deliver to look at surgery for any hernia. So I think the goal is to keep my pain down, keep things moving through my system and try to make it the next couple of weeks until I deliver. My surgeon said that delivering the baby alone could solve the issues.
So we wait. I am ready to be home with Tim and the rest of my family. I am putting my faith in God that He will take care of things and trying to be as stress free as possible. The easier I take things the next few weeks, the less potential of something going wrong with my insides. I have excellent care here at Baylor. I highly recommend this hospital to anyone - whether you are having a baby or need some type of surgery.
I am so grateful for all of our friends and family who have been such a help during this time. My friend Brianne has been wonderful with communicating my status to my co-workers who are concerned. For the last month or so, I have been training a great lady to take my place while I'm out - Sherrie. We both knew we'd never be 100% ready for me to be out, but we were prepared for the fact that pregnancy is unpredictable and things can happen. I feel so much better about leaving work knowing that she is there to help with the myriad of things I normally take care of. My co-worker Gwen came to visit Thursday night. She braved the confusing downtown area and then the winding corridors of this monster hospital to find me. I was really grateful to have a visitor. Mom was here with us on Wednesday as we waited for the CT scan results. She and Tim sat with me, afraid to leave for fear the Docs would show up with results, for 6 or 7 hours. On top of that she was taking care of Shell's triplets this week, and had to call in some recruits to take over for her while she came to Baylor to be with me. Missy and Dad came to see me on Friday for a couple of hours. I was so glad to see them. Missy brought me the softest zebra blanket, some magazines, hard candy and gum, wonderful smelling lotion/shower gel, and some sweet pictures that my super nephews CJ and Marky had colored. It's amazing how comforting a soft blanket and some good smelling lotion can be! We have also had help from our amazing dog-sitter Autumn Russell, and also from the congregation of our new church - Wellspring UMC in McKinney. The folks there have been so caring and concerned and willing to help with anything. Sunday will be Tim's first Sunday at Wellspring and we are so excited. I want to be there so badly, but right now am at the mercy of my doctors.
I am so fortunate to be married to Tim. He is the most wonderful man who challenges me in areas where I need to be challenged, and at the same time is a fiercly loyal advocate for me who will fight for me and our family. It was because of him that we came to the hospital and because of him that we finally got the doctors to do the CT scan. He has sacrificed his time to stay by my side. He stayed in the hotel here at the hospital the first few nights and with me in the hospital room all day long. I finally sent him home yesterday so that he could sleep in his own bed, and so that we could stop the cash outflow for a hotel room and dog-sitting. It is lonely here, but I feel much better with him at home. It is truly a blessing and such a rareity to love someone who knows you so well inside and out. He knows without even asking me what things will make me feel better and what things are going to scare me. July 7th is our 3rd anniversary. I hope so much that I am out of the hospital and able to celebrate with Tim.
So I'm sitting here crying and can't even determine all of the reasons why. I think that most of it is because I'm grateful to have such wondeful people in my life, some of it is because I'm happy that Luke is doing so well and growing, some of it is because I'm scared about the next few weeks, some because I want to be home, and some because I never think there will be enough time for me to be off work and home with my son. All things you can't help think of when you are cooped up in a hospital room for an extended period of time with raging pregnancy hormones!
Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and selfless acts of love for us during this time. I think that 2010 is a year that will go in the history books for our family. All of the things that have happened - that we have made it through with God's love and the support of our family and friends.
