Did you have one of those days when you were pregnant that forever sticks or is stuck in your mind?
Although I have several, there is one in particular where I can remember everything. From the feelings that washed over me and took over everything else, to the look on my doctor's face, to the feel of the hubby's hand holding my mine. Everything is so vivid that if I close my eyes, I can relive the entire day from start to finish.
As mentioned, I was getting BIG and right up until around 26 weeks I had what would be deemed as the "perfect" pregnancy. I ate all the right things, stayed away from everything that all the blog mamas told me to, made sure to get plenty of rest and sleep, and enjoyed every single moment and movement of the wee one.
I was getting an ultrasound every couple of weeks and the hubby was beyond amazing and was going to every single one with me. If I had my druthers, I would say that he enjoyed it more than me. #hedeservesahubbyaward
Without a doubt I can say that I have the best OB/Gyn on the planet and let me tell you, I went through several before him. Here is a bit of advice, not matter how good they are, how good their reviews are, how many of your friends go to them and "love" them, if there is something niggling at the back of your mind telling you that there is just not a connection there...find someone new! The compassion that this man has showed me from the first miscarriage, to this very point has been something that I am forever grateful for and there are not enough "thank you's" I have for him. Basically, I owe E.V.'s life to him, the perinatologist and all of West Boca (the hospital, not the community). Anywho, I digress...
Hubs and I had gone to one of our ultrasounds and right up until this one, everything had been perfect...perfect size, perfect growth, head in the right position, she was quite the mover and the shaker. Our OB said that he hasn't seen a baby this active in quite awhile. More digression (big surprise).
As he turned on the ultrasound machine for this particular appointment, he pointed out her moving, he looked another second and then turned it off. He stepped back from the monitor, folded his arms, leaned against the wall and said the words I will never forget..."you are retaining a lot of fluid, I need you to see Dr. P (my perinatologist). Questions came fast and furious from the hubs and I, but most importantly "what (the eff) does that mean?" This is where I tell you not to make the same mistake I did and to keep the research to a minimum. In researching "excessive amniotic fluid at so and so weeks" there will be A LOT of opinions, personal experiences, outcomes and they ALL will vary. This particular appointment was on a Friday and the Office Manager made me an appointment for the following Wednesday. How the heck was I going to wait that long not knowing what was happening to E.V..? Not knowing what was happening to my body and my baby was maddening and waiting even 20 minutes felt like FOREVER and it will to you too.
Second piece of advice: if you know you cannot wait for the appointment that was provided to you, call the alternate office and tell them to put you on a waiting list for cancellations. I called Dr. P's office first thing Monday and the Office Manager at Dr. P's totally understood and squeezed me in for Tuesday. One day less of waiting was a complete win for me.
Now, normal amniotic fluid in a woman is around 18-22. Keep that in mind for what would happen moving forward.
I went through two ultrasound rounds at this particular appointment and got hooked up to machines where her heartbeat was still as strong as ever (thank goodness), but there was definitely a lot of fluid, and it took forever to even get the heartbeat to pick up on the monitor solely because of the excessive fluid. At this point, I have been at the office for six hours, so we were prepared (or so we thought) to have a what comes next conversation. As we waited in Dr. P's office, we cracked jokes, tried to make light and talked about worst case scenarios (none of which would prepare for what we were going to get told in a couple of minutes). Dr. P came in, looked at the monitor and shut it off (welcome to the pattern that nothing good will follow). He explained that the excessive fluid was putting it mildly when it came to me...remember those numbers I gave you at the beginning of this paragraph, he took a deep breath and told me that I was at 47....let that sink in....excessive is around 30....and I was at 47!!!!
The obvious question..."now what?" He told me that I would be admitted into the hospital. Thinking I had time and obviously having blackout moments to the severity of what was happening, the obvious question of "when" came next and the mischievious laugh I had come to love from the man, but now hated :) said "now." #cueglaringeyesemojii This would begin the several times I would be admitted and released and admitted again into the hospital until I hit a mark where I was in it for the long haul. No amount of legs being up was helping the influx of the fluid.
Third piece of advice; if you are diagnosed with excessive amniotic fluid, DO NOT just let your perinatologist send you home. Insist on follow-ups! Dr. P was amazing, every couple days he had me back in the office checking my levels. I had read several cases where woman had been sent home till their water broke. Their baby was fine, but If this had been done to me, E.V. would have died (the thought is terrifying). I ended up having no cervix left either, so I could have given birth at any time and being that our home was not near our hospital this was not even an option.
I will admit that this is when my Googling and research kind of went out of control and by kinda I mean I am surprised that a therapist was not visiting me at my bedside and prying the electronics out of my hand. #ineedgooglersanonymous
Interestingly, I was considered the medical anomaly of polydramnios patients. I didn't have any of the normal symptoms or reasons for it developing. It just happened. Lucky me!
I had been diagnosed with what was referred to as Idiopathic Polydramnios. The case was so rare in the hospital (the amount I had at least) that when they drained the fluid (a procedure so disturbing that I will refrain from giving you the visual #yourewelcome) my room was constantly filled with nurses, interns, etc., so that they could witness the procedure as a "teachable moment." Also, the fluid was returning at a rapid rate, so when I was admitted for the final time at 26 weeks, the hope was to get me to 30 and fingers crossed beyond. The story of what comes after this moment is next...
Being stuck in a hospital for four weeks caused for a lot of "me" time and a lot of me being alone with my thoughts #scary. My dissertation chair who is amazing and came to visit me to give me some socialization laughed a lot when she came in to see me submerged in research that was everywhere and every kind of electronic you could think of (chargers, cables, phone, tablet and two laptops).
Fourth and hopefully last piece of advice; pack early! My two guilty pleasures are fashion and mama blogs and Pinterest. One of the things that I was beyond excited for was to pack the hospital bag with cute jammies, matching ensembles, all the fun mama toilettries and boy was I robbed of this. It still depresses me to this day #seriouslythough. I had done my research of all the necessities I was going to need and even ordered the mama nursing essentials off of amazon. Just for your own curiousity;
Copycat Chic (also one of my favorite home blogs too!)
I think I sent Sean back to the house and Target a million times to get me things I either thought I wasn't going to need or that I forgot (Tuck's Pads, something else you don't need the visual for what I needed them for, but they were my #1 necessity).
You will never know when you have to get admitted into the hospital, so it never hurts to have a bag of some comfort items, snacks (if you are not on a special diet), bathing essentials (the minute I was given the greenlight, I took the best shower of my life), and several pajamas (best day ever when they told me I could wear regular pajamas and not a hospital gown). It may seem silly, to you, your husband, and your friends to have an emergency hospital bag in addition to a normal one if you go full term, but you'll thank me later. Because you never know...case in point...me...#yourwelcomeagain.