My Husband Almost Needed A Catchers Mitt *:)
Apr 06 '00 (Updated May 01 '00)
I have been pregnant four times and I can tell you each pregnancy was very different. I think the only thing in common was that they were all boys. Sadly, my first pregnancy ended at 17 weeks when I miscarried due to an infection from Listeria.
What I am going to focus on right now is my last pregnancy, my escapade with Zachary. It was very adventurous to say the least. I felt so many emotions in this last pregnancy that I wish I hadn't.
When we moved to the Azores, an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, I had known I had wanted another child. My sons at the time were four and two. My husband told me to wait until we were settled before thinking of another.
We lived off base at first, living in very different standards than what the United states go by. Mainly the water that we consumed wasn't treated like we are used to. We would drink bottled water afraid that we might get sick. I am not sure if it was really a concern or not but we weren't going to take any chances.
Now, we managed to use bottled water for all our water needs except while bathing of course. I am highly prone to getting infections and since there wasn't a shower, only a bathtub, we were forced to bathe instead of shower. For two months, every day I bathed in the bathtub. Now to most, this may not have been a problem but for me it was.
I managed to go 2 months without a problem but no sooner did we move on base that I woke up with severe stomach pains. I drove myself to the hospital at three a.m while my husband stayed with our boys. It turned out that I had a major urinary tract infection. I was given Bactrim and sent home. Right before I had started this medication my husband and I had been trying for a child. Taking Bactrim I was assured wouldn't affect me if I got pregnant.
Seven days later, I developed a rash, a severe one. The doctors said I was allergic to sulfa drugs and to avoid them at all costs. I was then put on a steroid to help with this severe rash. I was on the steroid for a few weeks and weaned off. I had missed a period and was very concerned. I went and had a pregnancy test and I was tested negative. The doctor told me the steroid was probably messing with my cycle. As soon as I went off the steroid, my cycle came and I was relieved since I was afraid of all the medication I had been taking.
That was in February. In April I got very sick again and wound up in the hospital being treated for dehydration. I was sick as a dog, they did a pregnancy test again, and it came up negative. I took Nyquil, among other cold medicines, as it appeared I had the flu. When I wasn't getting any better, I again took a pregnancy test a week later, this time at home and it came up positive. I was so worried that all the medication would hurt my child. This started my roller coaster of a pregnancy.
For the first three months, I was so nauseous; it was almost impossible to eat. I hadn't had this with my other pregnancies. I wound up eating toast, baked potatoes, and a steady diet of ginger ale. I wound up getting dehydrated again and was treated with another dose of IV fluids.
Finally around my 16th week, I felt better and boy did I eat up a storm. I was scheduled for one of my many doctors' appointments around my 20th week. I had been feeling great. I had a doctor's appointment for some reason the day before my ultrasound and the doctor checked my size and appeared worried. I was too big for my estimated due date. He was concerned there was excessive amniotic fluid and he wasn't sure if he was dealing with twins or a birth defect. He told me to come back the next day to get my ultrasound done. I was in tears. How could this happen? I could deal with the twins but I felt so guilty for all the medication I had been on before my child was conceived. I was a mess.
The next day, my husband accompanied me to the ultrasound. We were all a little nervous as the doctor examined me and we looked at my baby on the screen. He said it was just one child and there wasn't anything to worry about. The fluid was normal and he asked us if we wanted to know the sex. We said yes and found out that day we were having a third son. I was so relieved my son was healthy and doing fine. I was amazed though at some of my friends who came up to me and said "Are you sorry it's a boy?" I was so shocked. I was just so relieved that I was having a healthy son, nothing else mattered.
Everything seemed fine. I was doing great. I was full of energy but around my 28th week, I was feeling tightening of my uterus. They felt like contractions. I had been through this three times before and knew this wasn't normal. At the next appointment, I expressed my concerns. They checked me out and said I was fine. My son's heartbeat was perfect and I was doing great. I was sent home and felt very apprehensive. I knew something wasn't quite right.
At 30 weeks, I was feeling my "contractions" getting much tighter and almost uncomfortable. I went in for my appointment as scheduled a few days before I was to be 32 weeks along. This was right around Halloween. I told the doctors I was getting increasingly uncomfortable and I felt like I was having contractions.
Something finally clicked with the doctors. They hooked me up to the monitors and found I was contracting every 10 minutes. This seemed to make the nurses react. I was registering on their monitor every 10 minutes. They gave me a shot of Brethine to try and stop the contractions and told me to go home and rest. I was told to come back the next day.
Well, I went back the very next day as directed; and was hooked up to the monitor once again. This time I was contracting hard every 6 minutes. Needless to say, my doctor and the nurses were very concerned and seemed bothered that they had ignored my concerns at first.
I was immediately admitted to the hospital and given a series of Brethine shots in my upper arm to stop the contractions. These felt just like bee stings and hurt quite a bit. The nurses actually had to alternate arms. I was very nervous to say the least. They had to watch my breathing and heart rate, as it caused my heart to beat faster than normal. This happened all through the first night I was there.
I wound up staying for three weeks on hospital bed-rest. I was very miserable. I could only lie on my left side, since lying on my back or my right side caused contractions. I was only allowed to sit up to eat, or to get up and take a shower. I was constantly hooked up to the fetal heart monitor to watch my sons' heartbeat. I was still taking the Brethine but in tablet form and this caused me to be hot! I requested they keep the temperature down in my room because I couldn't stand the heat. My husband would bring my two sons to visit and he and they would be wearing jackets in my room.
My husband was working two jobs and still managed to visit me every night. I felt so guilty about being away from my kids and my husband. I missed them terribly. I did manage to make some friends at the hospital. They were great with me. They were also very patient when I told them I wanted to go home. They told me my son was very small and it just wouldn't be OK for him to be born until the 35th week. If he came any sooner, I would have had to been flown off the island to have my son. No thank you, that was enough incentive to stay right where I was.
My husband came down with walking Pneumonia during this time. I felt so bad, he was doing so much, and I missed my kids so much during these three weeks. Once my husband started taking medicine for it, he started visiting me again. He never rested. He was so wonderful to me. I wonder if I could have been as supportive, dealing with two jobs, two little ones and visiting every single day.
Finally at my 35th week, I was allowed home. I was told to take it easy for a week and to be careful because if he were to come it would probably be then, if not, I might go late. He then told me a lot of times when a woman is treated with Brethine; she tends to go late. Ha Ha!
Some friends invited our family to Thanksgiving dinner and we had an uneventful day. Thank Goodness! I was just so happy to be home with my family and friends. It felt wonderful. Once I hit my 36th week, I was doing normal things again. I was told to avoid strenuous activity and to try and not do housework. Sure!
At my 39th week, on one of my routine visits, my doctor told me he was going to scrape my bag of waters (Membranes) to thin it out. I was worried I would go into labor right there, but I don't remember it hurting. He told me I should go in labor within a few days. Sure, yeah right. My due date came and went. I was getting very antsy. I wanted my son now! Finally on January 4th, my husband was working and I had cleaned my entire house, bathed the dog, gotten everything taken care of, and then went to bed. My husband came home from work around midnight.
All throughout the night I had been having cramps that barely hurt, I just felt like I had to go the bathroom and I ignored them. I did this for most of the night, never really waking up. Finally around four am, I got up to go to the bathroom and my pain got much sharper. I walked around and realized, Oh my gosh, I am having contractions and started to time them. Turns out they were coming every 5 minutes.
I woke up my husband and then called the doctor. I told the doctor I could breathe through them but they were uncomfortable. He told me to lie down and see if they went away, If they got worse, to come in. I tried to lie down on the bed and I was in excruciating pain. My husband called our friend to come watch the boys and we went to the hospital.
The normal road to the hospital was being worked on so we had to take a detour. What normally took us 5 minutes took us 20. When we arrived there, I had to walk through a long corridor. I stopped every few minutes to lean on a wall and breathe. We finally got to the room and the nurses figured we have time to spare. It was now about 5:00 am. The nurse examined me and found me to be 8 centimeters dilated, I was already in the transition phase.
This really surprised me since my water hadn't broke yet and with the other two, it was the first thing to happen. Guess that Brethine was powerful stuff. I was actually in a pleasant mood, and the breathing techniques worked quite well. It also helped that I had spent 3 weeks there and all the nurses knew me well. We were all happy to see this little boy arrive in the world.
They hooked me up to IV's, examined me and by the skin of his teeth, my doctor made it to deliver my son. At 6:14, my son was delivered. The funny part is, I was 10 centimeters dilated, fully effaced, and my water wouldn't break. The doctor took what looked like a crochet hook and broke my water. He was amazed how tough it was. He told me if it had broke at home, hubby would have been delivering Mr. Zachary on my bed.
They gave me oxygen to help me breathe while my son "dropped down." Finally, within three or four pushes, Zachary arrived. Healthy as could be, and a wonderful 8 lbs 14 oz. Even in there for 9 days longer than he should have been, he was a decent size. My second son who was only a day late was 9 lbs 1 oz.
My pregnancies were so different. I am so thankful that my son was born healthy and grew a healthy size. I am not sure what I would have done if he did decide to come early. The hospital on the base was not equipped for an emergency birth. After this pregnancy, my husband and I decided it was safer to not have anymore children. This was a tough decision to make, but we feel blessed with three beautiful boys.
I want to stress that every pregnancy and birth is different. I also want to point out if you feel something is wrong, don't be afraid to bring it to your doctors' attention. If you feel blown off, be persistent. It took a while but my doctor finally listened. I can bet you he also learned his lesson, and won't ignore his patients anymore. Only you can make things happen. Trust your instincts. Trust your body and trust your heart. In the end, you will be blessed with a wonderful little child who will steal your heart and it will never quite be your own again.
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Epinions.com ID:
angelsbear
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Member: Tammy
Location: Upstate NY
Reviews written: 98
Trusted by: 112 members
About Me:
I am a Mom to 4 boys, ages 20, 18, 15 and 4.
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