I've had to wait until mom and dad got home from vacation to tell you this story...you see, I've now had to move back to my parent's house in order to be closer to the hospital - "in case of emergency". Living up in bear country doesn't warrant any decent hospitals to write home about. Clearly this goes hand in hand with the shopping up there but that's another story! Since my doctor is in Bergen County and mom's house is across town from HUMC (Hackensack University Medical Center); it's much safer for me to be closer in case these boys decide to come early.
I've been diagnosed with what they call "Complete Placenta Previa" and to explain it delicately...basically the southbound exits for the babies are now CLOSED, therefore, the only detour is through the bridge which means - C-SECTION. And with this condition comes with much understanding and concern as the potential for bleeding and other leakage of fluids is dangerous and complicated.
SO!
Mom and Dad leave for Mexico on a 7 day jaunt Saturday night 12/3. Sunday night as my lovely husby drops my ass of at mom's house, I'm thinking it will be an easy week! No one hovering over me; a few days in the city to wrap up work, I even plan to sneak in a few SHORT car trips to take care of some needed errands around town. WELL...sure enough, anything I ever planned to do is totally thrown out the window. My neighbor, Marisol, comes over late Sunday to check in on me...love her because she's one of those cool moms who's a great friend but also knows when to smack you around when you need it.
And she's got a wicked sense of humor which I can totally relate to. Basically says, that she's not going to be up in my grill cause she knows that I'm already overwhelmed with people checking on me and that mom and dad didn't want to go on vacay so if I need anything - to call her. I insist that "I am FINE" and that "Nothing's going to happen" and I promise to lay off Dance Central and not participate in any aerobics. Yadda Yadda Yadda...Sarcasm at its best. Well of course as those words roll off my tongue sure enough....you guessed it.
Woke up with searing pelvic pains at 1 am. SO PAINFUL that I couldn't even lie back down! And to be honest, how the heck am I supposed to know if these are contractions or not? So as I'm pacing around the house and trying to figure out if I should go back to sleep (maybe its just a case of Braxton Hicks)....I get on the computer and google - "What do contractions feel like?".
WELL..that wasn't very helpful because all the search articles claimed they feel like "menstrual cramps". These pains felt more like an ice cold rocket launcher clamped in my pelvic region. I even downloaded an IPAD Contraction counter app - needless to say I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to count!
SO!
I pulled out my handy dandy baby binder that contains all the pamphlets they give you at the doctor's office and look at the list where they tell you - "When to call your doctor"...I decided 2 of the 5 was enough to warrant a phone call at this point. It's now 2 am...call the doctor and she tells me to go to the hospital like NOW.
Did I mention that I'm home alone at my mom's house? Contingency plan --- CALL the NEIGHBORS. I get to HUMC in less than 10 minutes - sent up to Triage where they assess what's wrong with you and ask you a whole bunch of questions, request id, etc, etc...which takes literally an HOUR. My insides feel like they're going to explode but they strap on fetal monitors on me to make sure the boys are ok. Within 2 and half hours they move me into a private room and dope me up with Demerol for the pain, Steroids for the boy's lung maturity and an IV drip with antibitoics. That Demerol stuff is so strong it knocks me out in seconds....except after a few hours I'm in this haze of sleep and pain. I wake up and it's only like 10 am and now my poor husby is by my side helpless (I'm just glad he was there). In and out of sleep, the minutes snail by...I'm hungry and nauseous at the same time. The day progresses with another series of shots, medicine and more monitoring...
(The pic above is my IV drip - I was simply fascinated with all the crap I was hooked onto.)
Needless to say I was having contractions ALL day. With a little medicine, lots of observation, nurses attending to your every need --- I finally feel human again around 5 pm. Now I don't know about you but since I haven't stayed in many hospitals...I learned a great lesson in humility. Good thing they dope you up with meds and painkillers because I was not liking the whole hospital gown thing. I mean who invented these things??? After being poked and prodded I let go of my inhibitions and didn't care what I was flashing and to whom. (The pic above is my IV drip - I was simply fascinated with all the crap I was hooked onto.)
They finally stabilize me enough that I am discharged the next afternoon. Doc puts me on medication that will help prevent pre-term labor until my C-section date of 1/25. Not to mention she also recommends that I am on modified bed rest. The hardest thing of all this? Making sure NO ONE finds out I was in the hospital especially my parents until they come home which at that point was another 5 days! And in this day and age of tweets and facebook posts, I made sure I didn't reveal any info as to what and where I was doing.
SO that's the story I couldn't tell...will be a chuckle for these boys down the road. Just very grateful they decided to stay in the oven and bake...
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