I appear to be broken. I feel ok, yet my blood pressure remains high (very) despite medicinal intervention for a full week now. Today I have the addition of a slightly raised temperature and an increased white cell count.
Panic station. I do feel a little paranoid when medical staff go bananas, it does suggest a modicum of seriousness.
But I am pregnant, they never take chances with pregnancy, and apparently infection can make anaesthetists reluctant to make a thonking great hole in my back for the spinal block. No anaesthetic clearly means no section.
But... Unidentified infection makes it more paramount to remove baby from her defective incubator.
So far I have responded very well to antibiotics and my temperature is normal. If it is normal upon waking, my section is now a priority. It should be a matter of hours until baby is born. And hours means about 9 hours. Yikes!
As a scan had been booked, the ultrasound department phoned down looking for me today. I had been told it had been cancelled and indeed had never been told the time it was to have been. So they phoned the ward and the conclusion was that a) my consultant clearly did want it and b) as I was there they'd do it if I wanted it.
What do you think?
She looks well. Everything is as should be and most encouragingly she is measuring large for her dates. She is very happy and she is still a she and I fervently hope that being taken from me a month early does not cause her damage.
One of my room mates had the cutest little boy I've seen early this morning, utterly gorgeous.
Another room mate is breaking my heart, she is 16 years old, 24 weeks pregnant with monochorionic twins and she has pre eclampsia. She was told today that she must remain in hospital until the babies are born and that this could be any day. Bless her, she just wants to be with her mum and she's really very ill. I am her surrogate mummy tonight but I am preoccupied and leaving ante natal tomorrow. The fact that I have twins and have been hospitalised to await the maturity (almost) of my baby means I can be Norma know it all. Which she seems to like poor poppet.
I feel ancient again. Her mum is younger than me.
One more room mate seems to be a possible real friend.
I am so self obsessed, once this is over and baby is all settled, I need to be a better friend to all.
Must try and relax. Sleep is unlikely but reading and chilling would probably be wise.
Baby in the morning. Please let her be ok. Please.
Showing posts with label hospital. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hospital. Show all posts
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
The difference a date makes
Another entry seems to have been eaten, which I put down to my perpetually disappearing Internet connection.
Well. Consultant visit this morning was with my own assigned consultant, who I have seen for precisely five minutes prior to today, all of which were on last Friday.
He reiterated the unlikelihood of the tumour thing they are testing for. I'm more relaxed about that anyway, in the extremely rare case of the condition, knowing about it is the key, managed it is not particularly dangerous.
I am not to be allowed home, despite begging and proclaiming that *this* does not help reduce my blood pressure. Nor do the drugs much actually. But that is another thing altogether. He said he would like to wait till 37 weeks and that I would have to stay here. I cried.
What the consultant did after speaking to me made everything better.
First of all he discharged the noisiest hypochondriac person in the world who was in the bed opposite, restoring peace and commencing the first of my complete change of room mates as they moved onwards to home or labour and new labouring/sickly ladies arrived throughout the day.
Then he returned to me to tell me that we would go for 36 weeks and subject to theatre availability, a section would be booked around that date.
A booking has now been made. For Friday. This Friday. 3 days away. 2 sleeps after tonight. My daughter will be here in less than 3 days and any guilt I feel at curtailing her gestation is assuaged by the belief that her and I are both at danger if we continue. As an incubator my usefulness is shortly to be finished and medical attention would be better provided out of me.
And 36 weeks is pretty much ok, especially for a girl.
I am now very excited and much less freaked out. I did the essentials (bottles, tiny baby size sleepsuits, cot mattress etc) shopping online today, hubby has many collections to make at the weekend as if all goes swimmingly we could feasibly be home on Monday. Woo!
I could still be ill, baby could need special care. We have no guarantees. We shall be optimistic today though.
Another day, another outlook altogether...
Well. Consultant visit this morning was with my own assigned consultant, who I have seen for precisely five minutes prior to today, all of which were on last Friday.
He reiterated the unlikelihood of the tumour thing they are testing for. I'm more relaxed about that anyway, in the extremely rare case of the condition, knowing about it is the key, managed it is not particularly dangerous.
I am not to be allowed home, despite begging and proclaiming that *this* does not help reduce my blood pressure. Nor do the drugs much actually. But that is another thing altogether. He said he would like to wait till 37 weeks and that I would have to stay here. I cried.
What the consultant did after speaking to me made everything better.
First of all he discharged the noisiest hypochondriac person in the world who was in the bed opposite, restoring peace and commencing the first of my complete change of room mates as they moved onwards to home or labour and new labouring/sickly ladies arrived throughout the day.
Then he returned to me to tell me that we would go for 36 weeks and subject to theatre availability, a section would be booked around that date.
A booking has now been made. For Friday. This Friday. 3 days away. 2 sleeps after tonight. My daughter will be here in less than 3 days and any guilt I feel at curtailing her gestation is assuaged by the belief that her and I are both at danger if we continue. As an incubator my usefulness is shortly to be finished and medical attention would be better provided out of me.
And 36 weeks is pretty much ok, especially for a girl.
I am now very excited and much less freaked out. I did the essentials (bottles, tiny baby size sleepsuits, cot mattress etc) shopping online today, hubby has many collections to make at the weekend as if all goes swimmingly we could feasibly be home on Monday. Woo!
I could still be ill, baby could need special care. We have no guarantees. We shall be optimistic today though.
Another day, another outlook altogether...
Monday, 29 August 2011
Hospital, day 4
I am sick of being in hospital, I don't feel so feeble and really want to be at home now.
Sadly, that isn't happening soon but as I have been better, I'm now out of my cosy private room and into a ward. Good because I am now permitted afternoon visits so I can see my boys, and also because they have things such as patient fetched coffee and a tv room. Bad because there are other people in it and they are noisy. At least these people are ante natal and don't have crying babies with them.
So. The prognosis. Due to the lack of any pre eclampsia symptoms and the bonkers blood pressure, they have decided that it is essential hypertension (that's high blood pressure) and is highlighted by pregnancy rather than caused by it. I'm not sure what implication this has on treatment, hospital stay or delivery, I have a lot of questions for the docs.
Meantime they are trying to establish a cause, blood pressure does not normally behave like this. First up they eliminate the nasty possibilities so I've got a 24 hour test to rule out the worst possibility (a type of tumour called a Pheochromocytoma) which is incredibly rare but serious so must be eliminated.
Based on that I will be here for another two nights minimum. Sigh. And assuming thats negative, I have no idea what happens next. Many questions.
Baby is still well. I am an emotional wreck.
Sadly, that isn't happening soon but as I have been better, I'm now out of my cosy private room and into a ward. Good because I am now permitted afternoon visits so I can see my boys, and also because they have things such as patient fetched coffee and a tv room. Bad because there are other people in it and they are noisy. At least these people are ante natal and don't have crying babies with them.
So. The prognosis. Due to the lack of any pre eclampsia symptoms and the bonkers blood pressure, they have decided that it is essential hypertension (that's high blood pressure) and is highlighted by pregnancy rather than caused by it. I'm not sure what implication this has on treatment, hospital stay or delivery, I have a lot of questions for the docs.
Meantime they are trying to establish a cause, blood pressure does not normally behave like this. First up they eliminate the nasty possibilities so I've got a 24 hour test to rule out the worst possibility (a type of tumour called a Pheochromocytoma) which is incredibly rare but serious so must be eliminated.
Based on that I will be here for another two nights minimum. Sigh. And assuming thats negative, I have no idea what happens next. Many questions.
Baby is still well. I am an emotional wreck.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
And so it goes on
Gah. 36 or so hours in hospital and I don't seem to have progressed any. Finally my bp has stabilised with rather a lot of medication, but I don't feel too well. I wouldn't feel good going home yet.
Trouble is, they keep getting my medication so it works and reduces my bp to just the right level, then when it comes to the next dose at the same amount, it doesn't work so well. So I get more, and the more I get, the less well I feel. Contrarily, the only time I feel well is when my bp rockets.
I have been looking up how healthy babies born at 35 weeks are. Advice ranges from the scary "90% of babies survive at this stage" to the reassuring "most babies born after 34 weeks need no special care". Both my niece and step-nephew were born at 35 weeks and both were absolutely fine and home within days.
Tomorrow will see if the doctors have nailed the medication level and then I can go home and take it easy for as long as possible. I'm not too optimistic though. I have a sneaky suspicion I'll be in here and monitored for another week, then baby will be delivered.
We have so much to do before we are ready for baby and whatever happens, I am unlikely to be any use until after she is born. Favours required all round, not least for getting the boys from school (and looking after them while I remain in here) and the logistics of getting everything we need into the house. My parents have cancelled their planned trip to France next week (booked after baby was known to be on her way, I did wonder as to wiseness) which is very nice of them and I hope it doesn't prove unfounded. Well, it'd be nice if it did and baby and I carried on fine until 39 weeks, but it'd be a shame if they had cancelled unnecessarily.
Baby is doing very well, I am pleased to say, and if she is to come early I hope the predictions as to her largeness prove correct. I hope to cook her for longer, but if I cannot then I hope she is well enough developed to be totally well. I will have failed her somewhat when she has done so well and I cannot fulfil the full gestation time. Sigh.
Fears of mortality emerge once more...
Trouble is, they keep getting my medication so it works and reduces my bp to just the right level, then when it comes to the next dose at the same amount, it doesn't work so well. So I get more, and the more I get, the less well I feel. Contrarily, the only time I feel well is when my bp rockets.
I have been looking up how healthy babies born at 35 weeks are. Advice ranges from the scary "90% of babies survive at this stage" to the reassuring "most babies born after 34 weeks need no special care". Both my niece and step-nephew were born at 35 weeks and both were absolutely fine and home within days.
Tomorrow will see if the doctors have nailed the medication level and then I can go home and take it easy for as long as possible. I'm not too optimistic though. I have a sneaky suspicion I'll be in here and monitored for another week, then baby will be delivered.
We have so much to do before we are ready for baby and whatever happens, I am unlikely to be any use until after she is born. Favours required all round, not least for getting the boys from school (and looking after them while I remain in here) and the logistics of getting everything we need into the house. My parents have cancelled their planned trip to France next week (booked after baby was known to be on her way, I did wonder as to wiseness) which is very nice of them and I hope it doesn't prove unfounded. Well, it'd be nice if it did and baby and I carried on fine until 39 weeks, but it'd be a shame if they had cancelled unnecessarily.
Baby is doing very well, I am pleased to say, and if she is to come early I hope the predictions as to her largeness prove correct. I hope to cook her for longer, but if I cannot then I hope she is well enough developed to be totally well. I will have failed her somewhat when she has done so well and I cannot fulfil the full gestation time. Sigh.
Fears of mortality emerge once more...
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Day two, hospital
Well, I'm still here in the hospital. I don't feel brilliant, my bp is really high without the medication and I feel a bit ick when I've taken the medication. I seem to need to take two types in combination. They're still working out the dose so I'll be here till at least tomorrow, then I'll hopefully be able to get home and come back once a day as an outpatient.
Spoke to doc this morning and he said that if I was 36 or better 37 weeks then he would be inclined just to deliver baby, but 35 weeks - which is what I am today - is just a little early. I don't think they're going to go past 37 weeks so I've only got 2 weeks or so to go unless my bp stabilises brilliantly, which is unlikely. If it doesn't stabilise at all they may deliver sooner, but baby is better off in just now and they will only deliver if I am significantly less well with her in. She would be fine born now, but better the longer she stays.
He also says they're happy to sterilise me while they're doing the section, but I have to be sure. I'm sure! Nobody has remotely queried the fact that I am to have a section so I feel a lot better about that decision. She doesn't actually seem to be breech today but I'm due a scan on Friday to confirm. Even with a section they prefer to know the lie of the baby.
Didn't sleep much through the night with monitoring and feeling guff, but I spent a good hour or three asleep this morning. Quite enjoying peace and quiet and having food brought to my bed, and I don't really feel well enough to be bored. I have my phone and my kindle, but I'd like my three boys here. The wee boys got a bit bored last night which made the big boy have to take them home after half an hour. I've discovered they are allowed in 2-8, not 3-4 and 7-8 like other visitors, and now I'm in a private room they can hopefully draw and let hubby stay a bit longer.
Baby isn't really co-operating when they try and do a trace of her heartbeat. She moves away from the pad, just like O did! He caused undue headaches during traces when I was at this stage with the boys, and his little sister is exactly the same. I now envisage her to be going to be exactly like he was as a baby. R was such a much easier baby, I was sort of hoping for another chilled baby. O is a delightful and more considerate child, so it's not a bad thing, plus we know what actually settled him so we know what to try.
She may not be like O on the outside, just because she's a wriggler. O will be delighted if she is though. Bless. She may be different from either twin, of course. Time will tell.
Spoke to doc this morning and he said that if I was 36 or better 37 weeks then he would be inclined just to deliver baby, but 35 weeks - which is what I am today - is just a little early. I don't think they're going to go past 37 weeks so I've only got 2 weeks or so to go unless my bp stabilises brilliantly, which is unlikely. If it doesn't stabilise at all they may deliver sooner, but baby is better off in just now and they will only deliver if I am significantly less well with her in. She would be fine born now, but better the longer she stays.
He also says they're happy to sterilise me while they're doing the section, but I have to be sure. I'm sure! Nobody has remotely queried the fact that I am to have a section so I feel a lot better about that decision. She doesn't actually seem to be breech today but I'm due a scan on Friday to confirm. Even with a section they prefer to know the lie of the baby.
Didn't sleep much through the night with monitoring and feeling guff, but I spent a good hour or three asleep this morning. Quite enjoying peace and quiet and having food brought to my bed, and I don't really feel well enough to be bored. I have my phone and my kindle, but I'd like my three boys here. The wee boys got a bit bored last night which made the big boy have to take them home after half an hour. I've discovered they are allowed in 2-8, not 3-4 and 7-8 like other visitors, and now I'm in a private room they can hopefully draw and let hubby stay a bit longer.
Baby isn't really co-operating when they try and do a trace of her heartbeat. She moves away from the pad, just like O did! He caused undue headaches during traces when I was at this stage with the boys, and his little sister is exactly the same. I now envisage her to be going to be exactly like he was as a baby. R was such a much easier baby, I was sort of hoping for another chilled baby. O is a delightful and more considerate child, so it's not a bad thing, plus we know what actually settled him so we know what to try.
She may not be like O on the outside, just because she's a wriggler. O will be delighted if she is though. Bless. She may be different from either twin, of course. Time will tell.
Friday, 26 August 2011
Peace
Ugh. Have spent most of the day in the recovery ward surrounded by dazed and confused new parents and crying newborns.
Now I am still in post natal, but I have my own room. Quiet at last. No tv though, they are moving to a new hospital in the new year so they haven't got new TVs or set top boxes for the old hospital. Boo. I shall have to use my data allowance heavily... I have 800Mb left this month, new allowance starts in 6 days. So should be ok to watch online tv a bit.
Blood pressure is still kinda high, which is why I'm still here. They are - obviously - not willing to give me the medication that made the pressure crash so much, but the one they're going with doesn't seem to be working. Until they can stabilise it, I'm to stay in. Yawwwn. Although I have to say I don't feel that well and it is therefore reassuring to be here and checked.
Things that can go wrong with high blood pressure:
They are on high alert for pre-eclampsia as that is v bad for pregnant mamas and if I show symptoms of that - protein in urine, floaters in vision, pain in chest - they will deliver baby.
High blood pressure in itself can lead to kidney problems and even placental abruption, so they definitely want to keep an eye on me, and ideally get me settled with regular pressure. Probably with medication if they can get the dose just right.
Oh, it is sooooo nice to be in a quiet room. I am shortly to get another bp check and then supper which I assume is tea and toast. Yum!
Happier now.
Now I am still in post natal, but I have my own room. Quiet at last. No tv though, they are moving to a new hospital in the new year so they haven't got new TVs or set top boxes for the old hospital. Boo. I shall have to use my data allowance heavily... I have 800Mb left this month, new allowance starts in 6 days. So should be ok to watch online tv a bit.
Blood pressure is still kinda high, which is why I'm still here. They are - obviously - not willing to give me the medication that made the pressure crash so much, but the one they're going with doesn't seem to be working. Until they can stabilise it, I'm to stay in. Yawwwn. Although I have to say I don't feel that well and it is therefore reassuring to be here and checked.
Things that can go wrong with high blood pressure:
They are on high alert for pre-eclampsia as that is v bad for pregnant mamas and if I show symptoms of that - protein in urine, floaters in vision, pain in chest - they will deliver baby.
High blood pressure in itself can lead to kidney problems and even placental abruption, so they definitely want to keep an eye on me, and ideally get me settled with regular pressure. Probably with medication if they can get the dose just right.
Oh, it is sooooo nice to be in a quiet room. I am shortly to get another bp check and then supper which I assume is tea and toast. Yum!
Happier now.
Under pressure
Uh oh. Well, my routine appointment this morning confirmed a few things:
My blood pressure is crazy high, but I have no other worrying symptoms.
Baby is breech, so I've to be scanned next Friday (woo!!)
Section is now definite (double woo!)
I am being kept in hospital for monitoring, not sure how long this will be for, but at least overnight.
Not happy. I feel fine (although obviously I am relieved they are keeping an eye on me and baby) and it's a Right Pain to be stuck in here. I also stupidly didn't have any breakfast so I'm starving.
More later...
My blood pressure is crazy high, but I have no other worrying symptoms.
Baby is breech, so I've to be scanned next Friday (woo!!)
Section is now definite (double woo!)
I am being kept in hospital for monitoring, not sure how long this will be for, but at least overnight.
Not happy. I feel fine (although obviously I am relieved they are keeping an eye on me and baby) and it's a Right Pain to be stuck in here. I also stupidly didn't have any breakfast so I'm starving.
More later...
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