Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Sunday, March 22, 2009

Milena was my AM nurse again today and Dr M came in again after she did in the morning for a quick ‘hello’ and check in. Nothing to report so, that makes for a good day. Took a shower today, nice a clean…yahoo. Justin and Josie came by and brought me Mo’s for dinner…YUMMY! But over all it was a very quiet day over all. Stephanie my PM nurse even said it was a nice calm day for me, nothing to report on me for my monitor sessions either. So no news is good news. But BG (baby girl) is a happy baby.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Saturday, March 21, 2009

Milena my AM nurse today, got me up for AM meds and soon after Dr M (filling in for the OB practice this weekend) checked on me to see if all was well. Things are good. Nothing exciting, and that is a good thing. I played on the web most of the day, well just here and there. It was a very quiet day and I just took it easy. Today was the CRC trip to Carolina that we were going to go on. But kind of glad we didn’t. The game was not such a good one and a loss makes for a VERY long ride home. Caps lost versus Carolina BIG TIME. My PM nurse Shelly was so nice, she told me she was getting back into taking care of antepartum patients like me. But she did a great job.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Friday, March 20, 2009

OMG, for some reason last night got barely any sleep. Then to top it off, that mean and rude pathologist from the lab woke me up. And didn’t even talk to my nurse before entering, come to find out she didn’t need to even draw blood from me then so she woke me up for NOTHING. She was rude, especially when I asked her if she saw the sign on my door saying to please check in with nurse before entering . She actually had the nerve to say to me “well, that sign doesn’t pertain to ‘me’”. OMG…I went off the deep end after that. I rang the bell for the nurse and refused to let her take blood from me without talking to my nurse and I just got more upset the more she was in the room with me. Before I knew it, I was in complete tears and uncontrollably sobbing. Dana and Mary, literally RAN into my room. I felt so bad, but they understood my frustration and calmed me down. They were also afraid I was putting myself into labor, but thank goodness I didn’t. That was when they put very obvious signs on the door to the point that EVERYONE is to check in with the nurse before entering. FNP K from the OB practice came by to do rounds that day, and she came in and pulled a chair up and talked to me. She was just making sure all was well, even in the face of the events from the morning. She told me all that I should do was nothing all day and just veg. It would do me good. She is very right. I tried to go back to sleep, but I just kind of was lying in bed until I drifted off (it was so difficult). But was able to do that most of the day, thank goodness. I was surprised by evening visits from Lindsay & Dylan, who brought me and Dave Frosty’s from Wendy’s…..mmmmmm yummy. And not so long afterwards, Justin and Josie came over. I was so excited to see them both too. My PM nurse that night, Stephanie, waited until everyone left before putting me on the monitor. Nothing eventful tonight at all and I took some ambien to make sure I slept.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Thursday, March 19, 2009

Happy 7 weeks of being admitted. Yep been here 7 weeks already. Dana (my AM nurse) always seems to get a smile on my face in the morning. Dr W came by to visit and I told her I was going to take a shower today and she said o.k. and that I can increase my showers per week to 2 (OH HAPPY DAY, yeah I know…kinda sad right??). That made me very happy. Dr W also mentioned that there was a very good chance that a c-section will be scheduled for the first full week of April (37 weeks). A new medicine development today, I’m guessing my CBC showed that my iron started getting low again. So, as a result, I was started on iron today…ewwww. Heather came in tonight as my PM Nurse, and would check in a bunch during the hockey game. So much fun. Caps @ TB and they won.  I again had a few contractions here and there all during the day but nothing major (thank goodness).

Hospital Stay Journal Entry, Wednesday, March 18, 2009

This morning I was woke up by my AM nurse Quynh letting me know of another early ultrasound. This time I was smart enough and took 2 containers of orange juice with me so I wouldn’t have another blood sugar issue, because the appointment was before my breakfast arrived. To everyone’s surprise, the baby blew everyone’s guess as to her weight out of the water. She’s 5lbs 11oz (holy crap she’s big). Dr H came in to visit and was very impressed with the baby’s weight. She said she thought we were getting close to being completely out of the danger zone for the baby. That is very good news. Mom came to visit and brought beautiful tulips. Justin also came to visit, he came directly from his way back from the airport. He visited Mike’s Pastry in Boston and brought back some B/W cookies for me. OH YUMMY!! I started also getting very annoyed with everything (every little damn thing) near the end of the day. Ends up when my PM nurse Grace put me on the monitor, I had a nice little cluster of contractions. Go figure.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Tuesday, March 17, 2009

HAPPY 34 WEEKS!!! Oh yeah and Happy St. Patty’s Day too. Rachna got me up this morning to let the lab lady in to take my blood (and yeah it’s the one I really don’t like too). Dr Co came in to check up on me too, it was a quick visit but she was glad to hear I was feeling OK. I had a few average contractions this morning during the NST. But nothing really substantial. Rachna had to turn me over to BJ because she had a patient that needed very special attention. There was an overall very weird mood over the entire floor today. Lots of chaos and such, whether you were a part of it or not, you could tell some things were just off as a whole. But what can ya do, right? I decided to rest during the afternoon and Dave brought over the family trees we got for our wedding. We decided to put them up in the nursery and they are going to look fantastic. We got them as a gift from SK and Fran for the wedding shower. I love the way they turned out. Caps played in FLA vs the Panthers tonight and won 3-0…what a nice shut out for Theo. My evening NST was uneventful. So afterwards I got me even meds and now after I update with this post, I’m going to bed. Labor dust to the momma’s-to-be, on the April Sweet Pea boards, who are just counting the days (and some the hours) to having their babies. You can have all of mine. My little one needs to cook for 2 more weeks.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Monday, March 16, 2009

Woke up feeling ok, Rachel was my AM nurse…she’s so excited about this upcoming weekend (She’s going to Key West, FLA to make the final arrangements for her wedding in May…I’m so excited for her too). She was my nurse until 3 because they were overstaffed and could send some people home. So my nurse from 3-7 was Rachna until my girl Heather took over at 7pm. Got visited by Sally during the day, she brought me some new slip on clogs. They are so nice, I’m so glad I got a pair of them. It was a slow day overall. But around 9:15pm I started feeling pelvic pressure and when I got hooked up to the monitor I had a few contractions. So I was on until about 10ish and got my evening medication and went to bed. I’ve been so tired that I’m now getting as much sleep as I can get.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Sunday, March 15, 2009

Next thing I know I’m getting a knock on my door from the resident on duty checking on me. Then I fall back asleep and I hear another knock and it was Dr Co just peeking in to see how my night went. Then I fell back asleep until my AM Nurse, Emily got me up for my AM medicine and told me after I finished my breakfast to call her when I was ready for my NST. I got some good rest from last night. Half way through the day when I had Emily flush the IV… oh boy did it start to sting. OUCH. Well that IV really infiltrated and bruised my arm really good. So they thankfully took it out. The Dr’s want to let my arms rest and not give me an IV unless I really need it because they want to save my veins for the main event. Heather came on duty tonight as my PM nurse, that made me so happy too… :) She introduced me to the unit secretary, she is so nice. My evening NST was very uneventful, thank goodness. Got my evening medicine and went to bed, after updating my blog online. I’m about a week behind. But not anymore after I post this entry.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Saturday, March 14, 2009

Dana my AM nurse came on duty and didn’t know I was awake when she snuck in to update my board. She was so sweet in making sure I was OK…she acknowledged that my fatigue was very obvious and that I just needed to do nothing but rest the whole day. I did my best, but I was actually OVER tired and couldn’t fall asleep for a bit. Dr Co came in to ask how I was feeling after my busy night, and she told me she was on duty all weekend. Also if I needed anything to just ask. So I asked if I could take a shower, she said ‘of course’. That made me super happy. I got my AM meds and after my benedryl I got tired to a level where I could sleep, and took a long nap. Next thing I know Dana woke me for a minute to give me my afternoon medication and after that I fell back asleep. I woke up to watch the Caps hockey game, but didn’t get to say goodbye to Dana when she handed me over to my PM nurse, Grace. The Caps were home vs. Carolina and they WON….YAHOO!!! I got my shower after the game, and took ambien so that I could sleep well. And boy did I. Only woke up long enough to get my 4am medication and went back to sleep.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Friday, March 13, 2009

Another day of being super sleepy, I think it might be a small ambien hangover due to being woke up so many times during the night. Milena came in to check up on me and brought me my AM medicine and hooked me up to my day NST. Dr H came in and saw me for a bit to see how I was doing and such. I took 2 different mini naps during the day. There were flurries on and off all day, calming to watch out the window. Got a visit from Sally, she brought more flowers and another over sweater for me like the navy one she got for me…so nice. She also bought some really comfy clogs for me to wear, but they were a tad snug, so she said she’d go back and exchange them for me, darn European sizes. Kathie came on as my evening nurse and she hooked me up to the monitor at 10pm and that’s when the fun started. Out of the blue, I started getting contractions; rather big ones. Well, you know how this story goes then, if you’ve been reading the past entries. I got a new IV a bunch of fluid, BUT… I had continued contractions for the whole evening (just about). I was on the monitor from 10pm to 6:20am. Dave fell asleep for a bit, but he woke up around 3:30am and I told him to go home to get some more rest. He left around 4am. I maybe got 1 ½ hour sleep. It was a long night.

Hospital Stay Journal entry: Thursday, March 12, 2009

I ended up having very little restful sleep. When I woke up Rachna (my day nurse until 4pm) gave me my meds and NST. Dr Ca cam in and told me she was going to have PT (physical therapy) and SW (social work) to come and visit me today. Then I started getting crampy late morning and I started contracting a bit. I was on the monitor for a good while and they gave me more terbutaline and the ctx’s slowed down and eventually stopped in the early afternoon. PT (Jennifer) came in to visit and said she’d work on getting me some other kinds of exercises to do while on bedrest and that she’d bring them back tomorrow. Next I was visited by SW (Saba, my case manager) she came in to talk to me, because people (my dr’s) were concerned I was started to get some pregnancy blues (or depression) and they were kind of right. Saba talked to me for a good bit and she explained to me that my circumstances are very out of the ordinary and no wonder I was starting to feel down. But she told me if I started to feel worse to give her a call at anytime. Watched the Caps play @ Philly and win (finally) that made me feel a bit better for sure. Donna took over for late afternoon til 11pm and she got me my evening meds and NST. I got a few crampy contractions (mild) but nothing significant. I decided to take an ambien to help me sleep. Heather came on as my nurse at 11pm. Funny story of the evening, I waited a bit for the ambien to take effect on me and when I started feeling loopy….I kind of sleepy dialed my nurse. LMAO, it was so funny.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Emily woke me up early because the lab needed to take blood. (yes, again) I fell back asleep only to woken up again by them ready to take me down for an EARLY ultrasound. (I’m usually taken down around between 12ish and 3ish) To be taken down at 9am was a shock to say the least. I went down before breakfast and as a result my blood sugar started to tank as I was waiting for Dr V to get there, they didn’t have juice (only water) but I didn’t care I needed something to drink to at least to get my mind off of the nausea that was setting in. Dr V did my ultrasound and we saw that things had opened up again. I figured as much though, so I wasn’t really that surprised. I got back to my room and downed the orange juice right away. I had my breakfast and felt better. I decided to turn off the phones again and take a good nap in the afternoon. When I woke up BJ came on as my late afternoon/early evening nurse. Dr H came in and talked to me shortly about the ultrasound results. I got a visit from Peggy and she brought me dinner. It was so nice; it has been a while since seeing her. She was feeling a bit under the weather for a bit. I had a new PM nurse that I’ve never had before, her name Jayln. All was well through the night, but had trouble getting to sleep.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry:Monday March 9, 2009 (out of order..oops)

Monday, March 9, 2009
Rachel came in this morning as my AM nurse to my surprise (she has switched back to Day shifts). An I had to work a bunch of different stuff this morning, so she just told me to call her when I was ready to do my monitoring and such. Dr Ca came in this morning as well to check on me and she gave me the OK for a shower…YAHOO!!! My sister came by to visit today for a bit, I really like it when she comes over. Later in the afternoon, it got sooooooooo hot in my room. I at first thought it was me being in this bed, but when Rachel came in she confirmed how hot it really was and she got me a fan for my room to circulate the air. It certainly helped so much too. Our episode of Red Line aired tonight on CSN, it was so cool. Heather was my nurse tonight too and when she came on duty we were on TV so she got to see part of it. Hee hee. We’re mini-celebrities…just kidding. We’re just hockey fans or nerds.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Tuesday, March 10, 2009

HAPPY 33 WEEKS!!! Dana got me up this morning to give me my meds and gave me a big hug for making it to 33 weeks. Dr Co cam in too and congratulated me as well, when she was doing her rounds. They had to change my IV today because the one in my left hand had been there long enough and they had to replace it in my right arm somewhere. Poor Lilly (another RN) tried 2 times and missed, she felt so bad. I kept telling her it was ok and not to worry. They called and RN from L&D over to get a new one. She got it in my inside right wrist. Was so tired after all of that, I turned off all phones and went to sleep. I ended up deciding to skip lunch due to fatigue and nausea. I got up when Dave came over and he brought me dinner (soup and bagel) because I wanted something light. The night didn’t go so 100% well, when Kathie came on duty she flushed the new IV and it infiltrated and was very painful too. So she just took it out and let my arm rest for the night and told me we’d wait until we heard what the resident wanted the next morning.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Sunday, March 8, 2009

Rather sleepy this morning after losing an hour of sleep. Milena my AM nurse today came in to give me my meds and changed my clock to reflect the change. Dr Q (filling in for the practice) came in shortly to see how I was feeling and left. I got visited by Jim and Sally, they took Dave out to lunch and when they got here they brought me some sweet potato fries (yummy). Then after they left my Mom and Aunt Karen stopped by for a while. Then after all of them left I was entertained by the Caps game vs. the Penguins (but they lost in a SO) oh well. But watching the Harry Potter marathon after that certainly did help. Dave sent me some pictures of the nursery and to my surprise he had put some of the furniture together too. Then he sent a second set of photos to me (he decorated a little), he hung up the valance, added the accent pillow to the glider chair and put the stuff for the crib together including to mobile. Then the big surprise was the wall decals, I totally cried. It looks so perfect. He’s done such a fantastic job. Our baby is so lucky to have a Daddy like him. A woman from St Ann’s (I believe her name to be Joanne) came by to drop off a bulletin and give communion did something so unexpected. She asked if she could give me the medal she was wearing to me (a Mary medal). I was so touched by the gesture that I was shaking reaching out for it and I was in tears again. I couldn’t put into words how thankful I was, but she said my reaction said a million words. Stephanie came in to let me know she was my PM Nurse and we set up a plan for the evening, including meds and monitoring. Heather stopped by in between her patients tonight and asked Dave and I something completely amazing. She asked us to be God Parents of her youngest daughter (5 months old)…. Of course we said Yes. So honor for her to ask us. She is such a great friend too.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Saturday, March 7, 2009

This morning I was woke up by my AM Nurse Milena to let me know that the lab was there to take blood and such. Thank goodness it was one of the nicer lab phlebotomists’ and I barely felt the stick when she filled the vile or three she had. I spent the good part of the morning and early afternoon catching up my hospital stay journal and posting all of the entries on my blog. With all of the recent excitement and such over the past week and a half, it has been difficult to stay focused long enough to create a journal entry. It was enough for me just to write down my notes for the day (and I’m so glad I do that). I had many visitors today, which I was very happy about. Sam and Sherri visited first. Sherri brought me cake and Sam put a bead onto my blessing bead strand. We enjoyed our visit. They are both such a riot, I’m glad that I’ve been able to see them. They are such great friends and they even have visitors in from out of town. Later on Josie stopped by and Justin too. Josie is in for the hockey game tomorrow and also is staying in DC with her sister all the while her daughter is visiting with friends at GW. Josie looks fantastic and it was nice to see Justin (since it’s been so long) because he’s been getting over a pretty nasty cold. I was pretty exhausted after all of the excitement and visitors of the day. I relaxed the rest the evening with Dave as he finally came over after running errands at Ikea and visiting with Lindsey and Dylan at their home in Woodbridge. They gave Dave a present for me and it is totally incredible. They gave me a baby bootie bouquet. It is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. It even smells like baby powder. I’ll do what I can to get a picture of it and up. Oh and don’t forget to set your clocks forward tonight… we lose an hour of sleep.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Friday, March 6, 2009

Quynh was my AM Nurse again and happy to see there were no contractions this morning. I was so exhausted that I knew this day was going to be uneventful for me. The NRA’s came in and weighed me this morning (I gained a pound, which is right on track) and afterwards I went back to sleep. I didn’t get a Dr visit today (at least that I knew of, the might’ve come by while I was sleeping). But my whole day was spent sleeping and zoning out. I kind of came out of my daze around 2pm-ish. And around 5-6pm some random woman opened my door and walked into my room. Didn’t knock or anything. I said “hello??” and she answered back the same walked in my room and said “wrong room” and just walked out. I proceeded to get VERY Pissed off. I called Quynh and I just let loose. OMG. WTF…again?? Another random person walked in my room AGAIN!?!?!?! Who in their right mind just walks into a closed room, in a hospital without knocking or saying anything as you close the door behind you. The nurses didn’t figure out who it was, they figured it was a family member of another patient….but that’s no excuse. They put the sign back up on the door, to check in at the nurses’ station before entering. I’m not having it happen again. Because if it does, I will physically get out of bed and detain the person myself until a nurse comes. I’ve had it with that crap. The head nurse (in charge of all nurses on this floor) Mary, came to visit and asked about what happened. I told her and such and we talked about other things too since I’ve been here. But I told her overall this unit has been great and the nurses are just so wonderful. My PM nurse, Stephanie was so funny…she made sure each time she entered to over do her knocking…LOL…and I laughed every time she came in...HAHAHAHAHA. I went to bed after I sent Dave home. He fell asleep while I was on the monitor and when I was taken off, I got up and woke him up and sent him home. He was so sleepy and so was I.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Thursday, March 5, 2009

Overall, this was a day I never saw coming. My AM nurse was Quynh today. I woke up and had my breakfast and as I was getting ready for her to bring in my medicine and give me my NST, I started to feel a bit strange and my tummy felt weird. I called her and she set me up on the monitor right away…. And that is where the fun began. I started having MAJOR contractions. The first one they caught on the monitor was so big…I thought my belly was going to split in two. I was having sharp pains and the tightness was so insane. I even had trouble catching my breath. Another nurse, Milena came in to help Quynh with me so she could care for her other patients too. But my contractions were frequent, however very sporadic (meaning there was no actual pattern). The nurses finally got a hold of Dr W (who was in the OR) and she said she wanted me in L&D. However there was no room for me there so my care was done completely in my room. Another dosage of Terbutaline was given to me, but the contractions kept on coming. Sally AND my Mom showed up and got to witness some of the fun. They got to see me have MANY contractions and listen to the baby’s heartbeat a good part of the afternoon. Dr W decided I needed IV fluids so they got an IV started and opened up the fluids as fast as they could go. Needless to say the bathroom was my friend all day too. They did the bolus (fast fluids) two different times and I was still showing keytones in my urine. Oh well…what’s a girl to do eh?? However I was still having contractions. Now they were just moderate and not severe (a small improvement). Everything finally slowed down and eventually stopped. However my body was so sore and uncomfortable, when Dr W finally came to see me that evening she offered me some medicine to help me sleep. I took it, no question. Because I knew I was going to need help. I also didn’t really even care that the Caps lost again at home (3rd loss in a row….longest losing streak of the season) oh well. Grace, my PM nurse put me on the monitor for 30 minutes and was pleased to see no contractions and gave me my medicine for the evening afterwards. Once I started getting drowsy, Dave left so I could rest. I barely remember him leaving I was so exhausted.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Woke up to my AM nurse that I’m used to seeing in the evening, Rachel (she switched to Day shift). She got me on the monitor early and things looked good. Dr H came in and checked up on me. She told me that if my ultrasound showed good things or no change that I was OK to take a shower. (my fingers were crossed for good news). Had my ultrasound before lunch and Dr V and I couldn’t believe what we saw on the monitor….my cervix was closed. Yep that’s what I said….CLOSED. Almost 2cm of measurable cervix. After this whole time not having anything barely to measure because I was dilated so much. OMG…talk about crazy. Even Dr V said she had never seen anything like it. Was so happy with the news..I even told Dr V that she might have a new case study to write about. LOL. Got back to my room, had lunch and enjoyed a nice shower. Met my Case Manager, Saba today; she was so nice and it was a pleasure to meet her. Nice to know she’s also keeping up with my insurance nurses and letting all of the other departments that I’ve been utilizing up to date, as to my progress and such. My PM Nurse, Grace, came on duty and she was amazed too at the news. Lindsey and Dylan stopped by, Lindsey made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies….OMG they are soooooooooooooooooooooo good. Also got a visit from Steve and Claudia, they did blessing beads too. That strand is certainly getting long. The evening over all was wonderful. I really enjoyed the visitors and such. I had no problems going to bed. In fact, Dave left early because I kept yawning and getting heavy eyes.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Tuesday, March 3, 2009

HAPPY 32 Weeks!!!! We made a first big goal!!! YIPPEE. My PM nurse from the night before (Heather) made my white board all decorated with stuff congratulating the day. My AM nurse Jennifer thought it was so great too. Dr Co got a chuckle out of it and was so happy to see me reach this milestone. When I actually woke up, it was because of the b!#ch from the lab sticking me and bruising my arm, she treated me like I was stupid and that really pissed me off. (Not a way I usually like to wake up) At least my AM nurse and Dr cheered me up for the morning. My Mom called on Skype this morning, she was rather down and a bit concerned about Bill and his health. I told her if she was really concerned then she needed to call an ambulance for him. She did, but then he refused to go. She got upset and as a result, I got made and then REALLY upset. Today was the first time I actually felt trapped in this room. I am helpless to offer support to anyone other than verbally through my webcam or email/chat message. My day started out kinda cheery and then spiraled into an extremely sad/emotional one. At one point I was on the phone with Dave and I was hysterically crying (for over 30 minutes). My mom is fine, not to worry. But I think with her getting upset and it finally getting to me, all of the pent up frustration and emotion finally made it’s way to the surface and decided to come out at once. I was a basket case. Once I calmed myself down, I just isolated myself from everything. I turned off my phone ringers, turned off the TV and computer and just curled up with my body pillow and laid down for a while. I needed to relax and calm down. This extra stress was certainly the LAST thing I needed, especially for the baby. I didn’t help that the Caps lost again tonight (I actually didn’t really care) and my PM Nurse , Heather kept checking up on me to make sure I was doing ok (I know Dave told her I had a very emotionally low day). I had no problem falling asleep either. Crying so much certainly takes it out of you.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Monday, March 2, 2009

Was so glad Milena made it in as my AM Nurse this morning, her car almost got stuck on the way in (in the middle of an intersection) I woke up to a fire alarm and blizzard like conditions (4” already on the ground) and it was still coming down strong and heavy. We had 2 different fire alarms too that morning and afternoon that brought the fire department each time (including the ladder truck, at one point). Dr Ca made it in, she likes watching it snow like I do, and did for a little bit when she was checking up on me. Dave did make it into work (very carefully, of course) and made it home a little early because the snow got really heavy. It was a very slow day and I just relaxed and took it easy for the majority of it. Heather made it in too that evening and got to be my PM Nurse. It was a quiet evening. Arlington, VA got a total of 8” of snow….WOW. But it sure is pretty.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Sunday, March 1, 2009

This morning was a juggling act of AM nurses, I first started out with Dana who got overwhelmed with new admissions so Tricia took my care over to help her out. Dr Ca came to visit this morning and checked up on how I was feeling. I asked her if she was feeling better from being ill the weekend before, she said she was much better and that was the first sick time she had taken in over 18 years. WOW. It started snowing on and off all day long, our area was under a winter storm warning. Nothing really accumulated at all during the day. Fran & SK went over to the house and painted the nursery, the pictures sent over look GREAT! I’m so happy they offered to help. They will be back next Sunday to finish up painting the trim and such. In the early afternoon our friend James (Zammy) came by and brought wings for us to eat….he was originally going to come by and watch the game and eat wings but his work schedule had changed so we at them before the game and before he had to go into work. He also brought some DVD’s for me to watch. It was so wonderful having the wings and spending some time with him, I can’t express how much I appreciated just the little things he did. Some times a change of pace in this room really helps. The Caps played Florida and we lost, UGH. Can’t win ‘em all, eh?? Dave brought me dinner on his way back from the game, my fav Wendy’s salad (yummy, Chicken BLT Salad). The weather changed around 6pm to a solid wintry mix and then the major snow started to fall around 9pm. I was up for a late night but made myself fall asleep (I sometimes have to do that).

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Saturday, February 28, 2009

So nice to see Dana this morning, even if she did greet me with a scale to weigh me this morning. HAHAHA. I gained back the 3lbs I lost before and added an additional pound to it. Everyone thinks it is because of the overwhelming amount of fluid I got from L&D on Thursday. Ah, it’s ok. I’m not worried. Dr Co came by to see me this morning and she filled out Dave’s FMLA paperwork for his work. I’m glad that has been taken care of and it’s another thing off the checklist. I was allowed to take a shower this morning, so I got nice and clean. Kim was my first visitor today, she means so much to me and I really enjoy our time when she visits. The Caps played Boston this afternoon too, and they Won (in Boston, can you believe it??). Andrew stopped by later in the afternoon, he had presents too. He made me a build-a-bear with a red hockey jersey outfit. My original one that Dave made me now has a friend. He also brought a bunch of coloring stuff along with another Caps scarf like the one his mother made for me and our friends…..well this one was special because this one was baby sized….yep that’s what I said. She made one for the baby! It is so cute. My PM nurse was Heather today and I was so happy because I got to introduce Heather and Andrew to each other (yeah I know miss matchmaker, right??). Dana and Rachel (some of the other RN’s) came in too later on and did blessing beads as well and wrote in the little book. That meant more to me than they will ever know. Once all of the visiting and such was over and I was done with my evening monitoring I went to sleep rather easily.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Friday, February 27, 2009

Woke up to my AM nurse Joyce brining in my medicine. My NST in the morning was uneventful. I spent most of the day sleeping due to extreme exhaustion. Dr H when she came in to check on me, told me that the exhaustion was very common and to just use the day to relax and not to push myself. Joyce took out my IV (YIPPEE) and then I got poked again by the lab for CBC levels and a type & cross for incase I deliver. Spent almost the whole day just vegging out and sleeping. Got a visit from Tim, he’s so fun. Heather my PM nurse, was so happy to see me, especially after hearing what had happened the evening before. She did a blessing bead too. Dave stayed over a bit later tonight because he was making sure I was ok. I think both of us were still on edge from the night before.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Thursday, February, 26, 2009

A very interesting day, started out with Emily as my AM nurse but she was so busy that Milena took over for her. My morning NST (non-stress test) had a couple of contractions showing, and I was feeling just a bit off. But told Milena if I felt any of those “off” feelings again I’d let her know. Got a visit from Colleen, who had just been released from L&D after some early monitoring. Her and baby are doing good. They just monitored them both to make sure everything was alright. Was also visited by Sally (Dave’s mom), she’s feeling better and her shoulder is getting better too. I’m so glad she recovered so well from her shoulder surgery. Later in the afternoon I started to get that “off” feeling again, followed by a sharp menstrual like feeling cramp and then my belly got really tight. I called Milena immediately and by the time she got me on the monitor the belly had relaxed but I had already started freaking out and became hysterical. Dr W just happened to be in the hallway doing her rounds and heard the commotion in my room and came in to check up on me and she had to calm me down. We caught another contraction on the monitor as she was there. She calmed me down and then told me they were going to take me to L&D (labor & deliver) to keep a closer eye on me and the baby and see how things go after some fluids and tests. I called Dave to tell him he needed to be here and why, and by the time they got my bed to L&D he was already here (wow, talk about fast). I was put on the monitor right away and they caught more ctx’s (contractions) and started an IV to give me fluids. Dr H came on duty and took over for Dr W. I was feeling some pressure and she checked me to see if I was dilating more, and I was NOT. So that was some good news. The more fluid I got, the less my ctx’s showed up but then they stopped all together. They took a sample to check my urine levels and such to make sure I didn’t have an infection that might’ve been causing my cramping. No infection was found….but they did notice I was slightly dehydrated. And from what I was told…being dehydrated can cause ctx’s. I had no idea. But I drink so much water and fluids during the day that no one could believe I was partially dehydrated. But it seemed that all that I needed was some additional fluids and everything was stabilized. Got to start watching the hockey game on TV in my room at L&D. The nursing staff moved me during the first intermission, back to my regular room after almost 5 hours of monitoring. All is well with baby and me and better yet, the Caps won their game tonight. Donna & Arline were my PM Nurses after I got back to the unit. Slept rather well, after winding down from all of the excitement.

Hospital Stay Journal Entry: Thursday, February, 26, 2009

A very interesting day, started out with Emily as my AM nurse but she was so busy that Milena took over for her. My morning NST (non-stress test) had a couple of contractions showing, and I was feeling just a bit off. But told Milena if I felt any of those “off” feelings again I’d let her know. Got a visit from Colleen, who had just been released from L&D after some early monitoring. Her and baby are doing good. They just monitored them both to make sure everything was alright. Was also visited by Sally (Dave’s mom), she’s feeling better and her shoulder is getting better too. I’m so glad she recovered so well from her shoulder surgery. Later in the afternoon I started to get that “off” feeling again, followed by a sharp menstrual like feeling cramp and then my belly got really tight. I called Milena immediately and by the time she got me on the monitor the belly had relaxed but I had already started freaking out and became hysterical. Dr W just happened to be in the hallway doing her rounds and heard the commotion in my room and came in to check up on me and she had to calm me down. We caught another contraction on the monitor as she was there. She calmed me down and then told me they were going to take me to L&D (labor & deliver) to keep a closer eye on me and the baby and see how things go after some fluids and tests. I called Dave to tell him he needed to be here and why, and by the time they got my bed to L&D he was already here (wow, talk about fast). I was put on the monitor right away and they caught more ctx’s (contractions) and started an IV to give me fluids. Dr H came on duty and took over for Dr W. I was feeling some pressure and she checked me to see if I was dilating more, and I was NOT. So that was some good news. The more fluid I got, the less my ctx’s showed up but then they stopped all together. They took a sample to check my urine levels and such to make sure I didn’t have an infection that might’ve been causing my cramping. No infection was found….but they did notice I was slightly dehydrated. And from what I was told…being dehydrated can cause ctx’s. I had no idea. But I drink so much water and fluids during the day that no one could believe I was partially dehydrated. But it seemed that all that I needed was some additional fluids and everything was stabilized. Got to start watching the hockey game on TV in my room at L&D. The nursing staff moved me during the first intermission, back to my regular room after almost 5 hours of monitoring. All is well with baby and me and better yet, the Caps won their game tonight. Donna & Arline were my PM Nurses after I got back to the unit. Slept rather well, after winding down from all of the excitement.