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.