Here's my latest installment of my little roller coaster life.
Last week before we traveled to visit family for Thanksgiving I had some blood drawn. At 5:00 pm the Dr. called and told me that while my HcG levels (the hormones present with a pregnancy) had risen slightly (instead of doubling and tripling each day), my progesterone levels had crashed. Thus, in short, we were just waiting for a mis-carriage, which would be identified by a drop in my HcG levels which we would continue to monitor once I got back into town.
We had a pleasant Thanksgiving and enjoyed the time we were able to spend with everyone, and even somehow stayed a few days later than we had originally planned.
We got back home on Sunday. Monday I ordered Christmas cards, worked on addresses, and made 2 batches of caramels with the girls as they worked on Christmas gifts for their friends. Tuesday was lined up for Christmas lotion and jelly making.
However, while chatting with a friend at 9:30 Tuesday morning, I suddenly started having cramps. I hung up and laid down and hung out for a couple of hours waiting for them to subside. They didn't.
I called the Dr. office, and was referred to the mid-wife who was available. She suggested taking some ibuprofen to ease the pain which I did. Twenty minutes later, the Dr. office called and said they'd talked to the Dr. and he wanted me to come in.
I came in and my husband met me there. The Dr. did a quick ultrasound and was surprised to see fluids sloshing around in my abdomen. He sent me to the hospital for a more definitive ultrasound, and told us there was a high probability that I would be going into surgery. I frantically began searching for help with the girls after school, and after my ultrasound, the Dr. took me to admissions and told them to get me in there, that I was going into surgery.
I was wheeled into surgery on Tuesday at 5:30 pm and was there until around 7:00. They found that I had been pregnant with a tubular pregnancy (ectopic) and while I was actually in the process of miscarrying the pregnancy, my fallopian tube had been damaged and was bleeding. I had a belly full of blood that had to be sucked out. (Yes, quite pleasant huh? - keep reading..) A D&C was also done to clean out my uterus in hopes of clearing up my additional bleeding as well.
The surgery went great (so they say) and I felt so much better once it was over. On Wednesday as I got ready to leave, we found that I couldn't keep my oxygen levels up. Throughout the day they'd take me off the oxygen and then my levels would drop. We did some chest X-rays and couldn't find anything. Later in the evening the internal medicine doctor paid a visit and discussed concerns about a blood-clot in my lungs. She sent me in for a cat-scan (very fun indeed - it makes you feel like you are wetting your pants, but you come out dry). Finally, they were able to determine that both of my lungs had collapsed at the bottom most part, which is why I wasn't able to get enough oxygen into my blood (coupled with my anemia).
Finally, at 7:30 they discharged me and my tank of oxygen. Yes, like the little old ladies who walk around dragging their air with them. That's me now!
While I could keep going, I think I'll stop here. I saw the Dr. again today, and I'm waiting to hear back on more lab tests. The Dr. is worried about bronchitis and pneumonia, so I'm taking antibiotics and just hanging around.
I guess I'm still trying to figure out whether this is an up or a down on that roller coaster ride!
