Showing posts with label first kicks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first kicks. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
Shots Shots Shots!
Week 17 AKA: my worst week yet.
Now that I'm not getting fluids through the IV, I really needed to try drinking more. On a good day, I might get 20 oz in. But I really needed 40-60 at least! The Zofran helped me from getting really sick, but didn't prevent the nausea. The problem with it, while I could take 8mg every 8 hours, it really only gave me relief for 3 to 4 hours before it faded away. It made for some unpleasant days at work. The last thing I wanted was for anyone else to have to be around me when I was getting sick.
The doctor has tried to get me a prescription for Diclegis, but the insurance wouldn't cover it. They had some samples to give me, hoping that the insurance will cover it now, since we've exhausted every other option. It took a few days, but they finally approved.
Because my 3 other children were born 2.5, 3.5 and 5.5 weeks early, the odds of baby #4 being early were pretty good. With my son spending 10 days in the NICU, and then 2 months on an apnea monitor, I wanted to be sure to do whatever I could do to prevent another premie.
So to be proactive with this pregnancy, my doctor ordered me P17 (progesterone) weekly injections. Yup, shots. Every week. For 18-20 weeks. In the hip. Every week. And the medication is thick. And it hurts. Every week. For the entire week until it's time for the next one. Granted, everyone has different pain tolerances, and my new nurse Kate said some patients say one side hurts more than the other. But it is not pleasant. However, the alternatives are worse, so I'll stick with my shots.
Aside from the pain the first few days after the initial injection, I noticed my nausea wasn't as uncomfortable. I wasn't getting sick at the thought of food, so I began to eat more. Beverages were still a different story, but I was actually able to chew food for the first time since before I found out I was pregnant. No more over-cooked pasta and mashed potatoes!
I wasn't really sure if it was the shots or the Diclegis, so I tested it out by skipping the pills. Bad idea. The combination of the progesterone, Diclegis, and my Zofran all were working together. Take anything out of the equation and I'd be asking for it! So, now I know.
I feel really thirsty though. I tried to drink, not just sipping like I had be, but properly drink a small glass of water. Bad idea. I tried juice, it stayed down, but I felt "swishy." From what I'm reading in a few support sites, many moms dealing with HG can't tolerate plain water... I wonder why that is...
Monday, January 6, 2014
Off the IV
Week 16 brought a few more firsts for us.
Steve was able to feel the baby for the first time... it was an encouragement for him to know that the baby was ok. We still haven't made the pregnancy "Facebook Official" yet, in fact, only a handful of people know about the pregnancy at this point. But that moment resonated with Steve, and he even posted "Felt something magical last night" on Facebook. Call it hormones, but it choked me up when I saw that.
I began eating a bit more. Soft, bland foods, still, but I was eating. Scrambled eggs for breakfast, pasta for dinner.
This week, after church on Sunday, while my husband was at work I took the kids to lunch at Salsaritas (Gotta love Kids Eat Free days!). I actually had a bit of energy to drive there, but the line was super long, and I regretted it. But standing in line, a lady with a small child in a sling came up behind me, and said "Sorry you've got the PICC Line. I had it too." While waiting to order, we chatted. She had to have her IV for the entire pregnancy. After a few months, her doctor let her unhook at night. She told me that she too had trouble with people not understanding the symptoms. It was encouraging for me to see that she had a healthy baby after all that stress that she'd been through.
Again: Let me break it down for you. Have you ever had a stomach flu? or food poisoning? It took a lot out of you, right? You felt like you spent all day in the bathroom, right? And the last thing you wanted was to eat or drink something, in fear of it coming back up. But the relief you felt knowing that it's only going to last a few days... Yea, imagine all that, except you don't know when it's going to stop. That's HG.
Oddly enough, my nurse was off that week for my weekly dressing change, but her nurse was filling in. She was also sharing with me some of the issues she's seen with her patients. Again, it was really nice to know I wasn't alone.
This week when my PICC Line dressing was changed, something felt off. Usually, it doesn't hurt, but later that day, I started feeling some pain. I texted my regular nurse, and she came over the next night. My arm (which is measured weekly) had swollen over the 24 hours from the dressing change. And was very warm to the touch. She sent me to the ER.
After 3 hours of waiting, blood tests and an ultrasound of my arm, I got my diagnosis. Blood Clot! Yay. So my PICC Line had to come out. I had 10 days of antibiotics to take, plus heating pads to the swollen arm, but no IV, no fluids.
As annoyed as the bag made me at times, I needed it. At least I knew that on my worst days, that baby was getting what it needed. Now, I don't have that comfort.
The days following the IV coming out were some of the worst. My nurse told me that many HG moms start to feel relief after week 16, but that week, it didn't seem I was going to be one of those moms.
Steve was able to feel the baby for the first time... it was an encouragement for him to know that the baby was ok. We still haven't made the pregnancy "Facebook Official" yet, in fact, only a handful of people know about the pregnancy at this point. But that moment resonated with Steve, and he even posted "Felt something magical last night" on Facebook. Call it hormones, but it choked me up when I saw that.
I began eating a bit more. Soft, bland foods, still, but I was eating. Scrambled eggs for breakfast, pasta for dinner.
This week, after church on Sunday, while my husband was at work I took the kids to lunch at Salsaritas (Gotta love Kids Eat Free days!). I actually had a bit of energy to drive there, but the line was super long, and I regretted it. But standing in line, a lady with a small child in a sling came up behind me, and said "Sorry you've got the PICC Line. I had it too." While waiting to order, we chatted. She had to have her IV for the entire pregnancy. After a few months, her doctor let her unhook at night. She told me that she too had trouble with people not understanding the symptoms. It was encouraging for me to see that she had a healthy baby after all that stress that she'd been through.
Again: Let me break it down for you. Have you ever had a stomach flu? or food poisoning? It took a lot out of you, right? You felt like you spent all day in the bathroom, right? And the last thing you wanted was to eat or drink something, in fear of it coming back up. But the relief you felt knowing that it's only going to last a few days... Yea, imagine all that, except you don't know when it's going to stop. That's HG.
Oddly enough, my nurse was off that week for my weekly dressing change, but her nurse was filling in. She was also sharing with me some of the issues she's seen with her patients. Again, it was really nice to know I wasn't alone.
This week when my PICC Line dressing was changed, something felt off. Usually, it doesn't hurt, but later that day, I started feeling some pain. I texted my regular nurse, and she came over the next night. My arm (which is measured weekly) had swollen over the 24 hours from the dressing change. And was very warm to the touch. She sent me to the ER.
After 3 hours of waiting, blood tests and an ultrasound of my arm, I got my diagnosis. Blood Clot! Yay. So my PICC Line had to come out. I had 10 days of antibiotics to take, plus heating pads to the swollen arm, but no IV, no fluids.
As annoyed as the bag made me at times, I needed it. At least I knew that on my worst days, that baby was getting what it needed. Now, I don't have that comfort.
The days following the IV coming out were some of the worst. My nurse told me that many HG moms start to feel relief after week 16, but that week, it didn't seem I was going to be one of those moms.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Firsts for the kids
14 weeks...
Yuppers... welcome to week 4 on the IV!
It's gone from an annoyance to just a part of life.
At this point, all our immediate families know... We were timid about it, not really sure how everyone would handle it. Especially the IV situation.
The kids had a day off school, and I happened to schedule my 14 week appointment for that day. So my husband and I brought the kids with us to hear the baby's heartbeat.
Usually, my doctor is pretty steady with getting their patients in. I arrived, checked in, gave my urine sample like every visit, and waited. And waited. And waited. It was 90 minutes before I was called in to the examine room. My weight went up, but it was all water weight from the last 90 minutes of just sitting. We checked again after a potty break - only a 2 lb increase from my last visit. Still under my pre-pregnancy weight. Yay. :-(
It was such a great moment for my husband and I to hear that baby's heartbeat, knowing that baby is ok. And it was great for our kids to hear it too. We hadn't really come right out and told our 5 year old son that I was pregnant, but we'd been prepping him. After the heartbeat was echoing in the room, we told him. The most priceless moment was him saying "I want a baby brother." It didn't even seem to bother him that he wasn't going to be the baby any more.
I began to feel movements around 15 weeks. It was subtle, but as it is the 4th time around, I knew what to be "looking" for. I know my kids were eager to feel the baby, and would say that they could feel it, but I wasn't quite sure that they did. Either way, they developed a connection to the baby.
Yuppers... welcome to week 4 on the IV!
It's gone from an annoyance to just a part of life.
At this point, all our immediate families know... We were timid about it, not really sure how everyone would handle it. Especially the IV situation.
The kids had a day off school, and I happened to schedule my 14 week appointment for that day. So my husband and I brought the kids with us to hear the baby's heartbeat.
Usually, my doctor is pretty steady with getting their patients in. I arrived, checked in, gave my urine sample like every visit, and waited. And waited. And waited. It was 90 minutes before I was called in to the examine room. My weight went up, but it was all water weight from the last 90 minutes of just sitting. We checked again after a potty break - only a 2 lb increase from my last visit. Still under my pre-pregnancy weight. Yay. :-(
It was such a great moment for my husband and I to hear that baby's heartbeat, knowing that baby is ok. And it was great for our kids to hear it too. We hadn't really come right out and told our 5 year old son that I was pregnant, but we'd been prepping him. After the heartbeat was echoing in the room, we told him. The most priceless moment was him saying "I want a baby brother." It didn't even seem to bother him that he wasn't going to be the baby any more.
I began to feel movements around 15 weeks. It was subtle, but as it is the 4th time around, I knew what to be "looking" for. I know my kids were eager to feel the baby, and would say that they could feel it, but I wasn't quite sure that they did. Either way, they developed a connection to the baby.
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