Today I had a bit of a scare.
Trevor and I were in charge of planning the Stake Youth Conference, which happened today. Poor Trevor is sick with a nasty cough, so he stayed home to rest while I went to the conference. And... I guess I pushed too hard. I've been pushing too hard for the last month or so, to be honest... My job is project based, so in order to take time off for the Europe trip I had to finish some things up early and get ahead on other projects. So work was a bit stressful, and at home I was spending every minute preparing for Europe or making sure the youth conference was ready to go, since we would get back just a couple days before it happened. And honestly... Europe was wonderful, but it was hard on me too. The jet lag, the amount of walking, the occasional 2 or 3 pm lunch because we were just too busy to eat before...
Anyway, it all added up, and towards the end of the conference, I started having short, sharp uterine pains. I wasn't too alarmed at first. But 3 hours later, they still hadn't gone away. I was back at home trying to take care of Trevor, but things got bad enough that I decided I'd chat with Kaiser's free online doctor service to see if I needed to go in. The doctor immediately transferred me to the 24/7 Nurse advice line. And after asking a few questions, the nurse arranged for me to go in for a labor and delivery triage at my local hospital.
I was pretty much freaking out. I'm only 26 weeks along. Baby is viable but he isn't supposed to come anytime soon. I felt bad dragging Trevor out of bed, so I had my dad come pick me up and take me to the hospital.
In the end, I am okay. They think I am having something called round ligament pain from too much walking and probably from some dehydration too. The doctor recommended a few days of bedrest. Only a few days, so I'm not one of those people who will be in bed for weeks. Still... this was a bit of a wake up call. I've been pushing myself pretty hard, but I need to take it easy for the rest of my pregnancy. That means cutting back on a lot of things. Maybe giving up my temple shift, maybe... I don't know. Going slower, taking on less volunteer things, letting the housework go.
I feel guilty slowing down but I need to let that go and just focus on protecting my baby.
Those nurse hotlines are so useless. I called the one that was on my insurance because i didnt want to bother the doctor late at night and she about killed me. I was hemorrhaging (but wasnt sure) and asking her if i needed to go in...and yeah I highly doubt she was a real nurse. I eventually got frustrated with her and hung up and Sam took me in. Good thing we went!
ReplyDeleteI learned to just call your doctor they have someone on call and don't mind. Pregnancy is weird, it can real mess with your mind because you have all kinds of pain and sometimes it feels like the real thing...but you are never sure its the real thing. I had false labor all the time, one time I went in and they told me it was false and I went home...turns out it wasnt false and Abi was almost born in the parking lot!
Drs. and nurses mean well and have lots of experience, but only you know your body. If you think something maybe up but you aren't sure just go in! :) Trust yourself! You got this!
Also don't feel bad about slowing down. I know its hard, I was never very good at it either haha, but its important. Have a vacation from your vacation :D