Week 22 ~ Your Pregnancy and the Emergency Room

Beauty and Refreshing

 Nourishment and femininity

Relaxation and Rejuvenation 

Well we've made it! One day away from week 23 of carrying our sweet babe and it's the weekend! I couldn't be more excited for it to finally be here.

Pain - Symptoms

This week was a little different as I worked Monday, Wednesday - Friday and had Tuesday off. It all started on Tuesday. I was in pain (which for me is normal) but I started to notice a pattern. By the end of the day it was hitting me, this was NOT normal for me. I had a stabbing pain on my right side close to my hip and groin and it was quite intense (I rated it a 7/10). By the time I crawled into bed I decided to quickly check the area and compare it with the left side. There was a lump...

Tuesday was rainy but full of excitement! I had my midwife appointment and got to meet Jane (an amazing woman) which meant I got to hear little O's heartbeat nice and strong. We chatted about a whole bunch of stuff and then I meandered down to a little shop for some lunch before picking up my friend Lili to go on a thrifting adventure. It was fun. I felt a little off, kind of dizzy - not myself. Anyway by the time I got home this pain had started and I was grumpy.

I found a lump!

Fast foreword to 10:30 pm (yes I was getting to bed late) and the lump. I called the nurses hotline and was told I should see a Dr within the hour. I can't explain the emotions that flooded me upon hearing that. I went into complete shock, got some flip flops on and trotted out to the car - after barking at my husband to go to bed (which he did). I could barely drive I was shaking so badly and telling myself we (baby and I) were fine. There was no fluid or blood leaking from me which were good signs and I held on to that and God.

I got to the emergency, parked and went in. I must have looked awful! I was shaking and in a bunch of pain, I was staring vacantly trying to not cry or lose it completely and then I had to talk with the guy checking me in. I started bawling, telling him that I was okay, just in shock.

He calmly and quickly checked me in, pointed me toward maternity and that was that. I went up the elevator to the third floor and held out my papers to the nurses station. Sandy was my angel that evening, she walked me to the biggest room, listened through all of the crying, got baby O's heart beat loud and clear and let me listen to it thump thump until I could breathe again.

It was actually a pretty quick trip, in total about two hours. I got a blood test (no crying or pulling away, very calm and controlled) done in my hand as requested and a urine test, talked to Sandy and the Dr and after the tests came back great I was sent home with the word fibroid kicking around in my brain.

FIBROIDS!

FIBROID(s) - If you have them talk to your doctor or midwife about them and get informed about yours. Ask during your ultrasound for the technician to keep an eye out for them. They can simply be there, they can cause you insane amounts of pain but not affect your baby, or they can cause miscarriage, damage to the fallopian tube(s), cause hemorrhaging after birth, cause you to need a C-Section, cause painful and heavy periods, painful sex and a few other things. Find out if you have them or don't (they can be spotted on an ultrasound), find out where yours are located (inside the uterus isn't good), ask how big they are, if they are a concern to your practitioner and if you should have them checked out again.

Second Trip to the ER

The second trip in was because the pain had gotten worse and I wanted to make sure that whatever was wrong wasn't hurting my baby. It was sure hurting me but if she's fine then I'll be okay - you know? Tuesday's diagnosis was the assumption it was the fibroid but there was no visual confirmation. I called our midwife on our way home from work and she recommended us heading to the emerge right away so we did. My husband drove this time and as before I was sent up to a very quiet maternity ward right away (I guess they could see I was in a lot of pain because I was a lot calmer this time around). I got the blood test and urine tests all over again (they hadn't changed since Tuesday) and got to add a check of my cervix and an ultrasound to the list of things done/checked. My cervix was fine and the ultrasound let us know that A. baby was okay (although curled up into the smallest ball, she's since been very active and happy since, thank you Jesus!) B. I didn't need surgery - my appendix wasn't the issue and neither did I have kidney stones or gall bladder issues or hemorrhoids - YAY! C. that pesky fibroid had grown slightly and was exactly where the pain was radiating from.

This emergency visit the doctor sent me home with a prescription for something in the morphine family so I could manage the pain myself and save another possible trip to the emergency (which I haven't even filled as I don't believe in medicating if you can handle the pain while pregnant). My husband and I got home around 10:30 PM and were in bed by 11:30 PM and then I worked the next day.

It has been quite the week, week 22 but here I am walking into week 23 and feeling much better as the pain has decreased significantly! I feel hopeful as I was able to meet with someone I admire on Saturday and we had a wonderful meeting that will possibly begin a mentorship for me. I feel blessed as my friend came over and helped me empty out the babies room so that it looks more like a babies room and not a storage unit.

Bring it on week 23, there's nothing you can throw at me that God can't handle! I am learning this one lesson at a time and I am grateful it's getting through.

Look for the healing and sunshine!

Laura xo

Ps. I'm back down to 179.6 lbs but as I can see the baby is growing and I'm at my max weight health wise to begin with I'm not worried. If you are worried about your weight gain or loss please talk to your health practitioner about it!