A November to Remember

Its been a long time coming for me to write this story down. It will probably be in parts and I might have to add things as they come back to my memory but I hope to do it justice.

Let me start by saying it has been forever since I have blogged. So long that I didn't even update the fact I was pregnant again. We were absolutely SHOCKED to find out we were pregnant again. I was very happy and content with our 3 beautiful boys and felt like our family was complete. Back in March we decided to purchase bicycles with our tax return to stay active this summer. We were at walmart trying out our bikes and I felt this WAVE of nausea. I thought for sure I was getting the stomach bug but after a few hours (yes it took hours to pick out bikes) I told Troy I felt sick to my stomach like when I am pregnant. We both laughed because there was NO way we were pregnant. Troy insisted on buying a pregnancy test since we were at Walmart anyway and I just kept laughing at him.

We got home and I took the test. I must have been taking a long time because Troy came in and I just starting crying. Low and behold that little positive sign showed up. And I bawled and didn't stop crying for close to a month. I will spare you all the details of what went through my brain and most of those thoughts and feelings are very personal but I struggled with the pregnancy from day 1.

Even from the beginning I felt like I was going to have this baby early and I kept putting those thoughts in the back of my brain for lots of reasons. Anyway, I made my first OB and ultrasound appointment dreading every thing about this pregnancy. I went to my first ultrasound and saw the heartbeat and things really started to set in but it was good to see that little thing fluttering.

I was really sick during this pregnancy. Like throw up 5 or 6 times a day kind of sick. I was miserable. Some day I will update more on the pregnancy... Like when we found out we were having a GIRL!

OKAY on to the real reason why you are probably reading this...

Fast forward to November 6th, 2013

Oh before I forget on the day I found out we were pregnant again I had a really sweet experience with Zane. He woke up early that day so I snuggled with him on Chandlers bed (the older boys had a sleepover out in the living room). Zane kept holding my arm almost like he was trying to reassure me that everything was going to be okay.On November 6th he was very clingy and just wanted to be held which should have given me a clue that things were about to change around our house.

Back to the 6th

I laid Zane down for a nap and decided to take a nap too. But I couldn't sleep. I had this horrible abdominal pain. I passed it off as gas or the onset of the stomach bug and tried to sleep it off. But I couldn't sleep. My mom came over and advised me to call the doctor. Nothing would relieve the pain and it seemed to come and go a bit like contractions but it was too high for contractions. I called my mother in law and she advised me to call the doctor too. So after calling the doctor and explaining my situation I was told to go to OB triage at the hospital.

I called Troy who had been busy getting volunteer hours for school and he came home immediately. I should mention that the week this all happened was probably the most stressful and busy week for Troy at work and school.

We went off to the hospital and in my mind I just kept thinking that they would send me home. We got there around 1pm and after explaining my symptoms they had me do a urine sample and blood tests. Up until this point I had no desire to throw up but shortly after being in triage I got sick to my stomach. So in my head I thought it might really be the stomach bug. But the pain didn't go away by throwing up. After a while (I was in so much pain that I lost track of time) they came back in and said all my tests came back normal. No high blood pressure, not in active labor, no kidney infection or bladder infection and my white blood count was normal. They did an ultrasound on my upper stomach and found nothing out of the ordinary. Well they did find a kidney stone but it was on my left side and the pain was now directly on my right back side under my ribs. And they told me I was anemic.  Even though they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary the doctor on call, Dr. Stuart came in and said she wanted to keep me overnight for observation. I was relived I was staying at the hospital but disappointed they couldn't find anything wrong with me. Even the pain medication didn't cut the pain.  I started to believe the pain was all in my head.

They moved us to the mother and baby care floor and a nurse named Ellen (who was fantastic!) watched me through the night. Troy and I tried to settle in for the night. I tossed and turned through the night and didn't get much if any sleep. Troy was so exhausted from school and work that he rested well even on a hospital bed! They checked my vitals, pumped me with fluids and pain meds through the night.  When I was in triage it took 3 different people to get my IV in. It wasn't very fun. And I have nice little scar from my IV line that was used for 4 days.

I should mention that before we left for the hospital the missionaries from our church and Troy were able to give me a blessing. And that night our good friend Doug came over to help Troy give me another blessing. In both blessings Troy assured me that I would be taken care of and that things would turn out okay. I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood!

Okay back to the morning of November 7th

I was in and out of sleeping through the night but by 6am I was awake and shaking uncontrollably. I thought I was having a reaction to the pain medicine or fluids they had given me. So I kept telling my brain  and body to stop shaking. For some reason I thought in my small mind that I could control what was happening to my body. I was freezing (even though my temperature was rising) and the shakes got so bad that I woke Troy up from a dead sleep. If any of you know my husband he slept during an earthquake in California that shook his bed to the middle of the room and he didn't wake up so the fact he woke up without me calling to him just me shaking tells you I was in bad shape. He hit the emergency button in the room and within seconds we had 2 or 3 nurses in the room.... PART 2 coming soon