25 week bug!

 This is how week 25 started, I wish I could say that I have had that smile on my face all week but unfortunately for me it went bye bye very very quickly.

In this pic I was headed to work Sunday night and I felt good. But by the time my shift ended at 7am Monday morning I was feeling tired, of course, and nauseous. I tried to attribute it to being over tired, which sometimes happens. Or to the fact that I hadn't eaten since 1am when I had my dinner break. Well I made it home and got the kids off to school and tried to head straight to bed as usual. But to my surprise I was up by 11am puking my guts out. I had tried to have some water and within the hour it was back up. I tried to have Gatorade to replace what I was losing and again back up. Then came the chills and body aches and that's when I knew for sure that my lovely children had shared the nasty flu bug that they all had in the week previous. I was in and out of the shower trying to keep warm but that was almost impossible. The highest my temp got was 99.9, which isn't too high but to be honest I was too tired and out of it to find the thermometer to take it regularly. Well by 3pm I was still getting sick and still trying to avoid dehydration with fluids but I was quickly loosing the battle. I then started noticing when I wasn't getting sick I was contracting. Contractions about 3-5 an hour that were noticeable and not super painful like labor but uncomfortable. I contacted a super surro sister, one that happens to be a labor and delivery charge RN where I work, updated her on my status and got her advice... "try to rest for an hour or so, keep trying to hydrate but if the cramping and contractions don't go away come to triage in labor and delivery asap!" So at that point I got a bit nervous. I was pretty sure that they contractions and cramping were from  the dehydration but didn't want them to lead to any preterm delivery, which is common. So I was able to get about 1 1/2 hours of rest and when I woke up I was still getting sick but the contractions were way less noticeable. I was a bit relieved but still felt like a semi truck had run over me, a few times. I continued to take it easy and finally stopped throwing up at about 8pm. And right at about that point I really felt the cramping increase. My pushy husband insisted that I call my doctor, or the doctor on call since it was after hours, and get their advice. So I did and off to the hospital I went. They were too concerned with the cramping but hopeful that we could catch it early enough and just hydrate me.

So as I arrived at the hospital there was an angel face waiting for me... my surro sister, the Labor charge RN was working and there to take care of me and calm my nerves. It is amazing the amount of pressure that I had knowing that if this baby came now it would be super sick and need lots of medical intervention to survive. I never had this amount of pressure with my children and I just wanted everything to go smoothly. Well lucky for me it did. Here is the monitor reading they hooked me up too. My heart rate was elevated, which is to be expected with nerves and dehydration, but the baby's heart rate was a bit elevated too also due to the dehydration. But it was a nice and strong heartbeat which was super reassuring. She was moving and grooving the whole time I was there and that also reassured me and the staff. Once all of my vitals were taken and I spent some time on the monitor the doctor decided I was definitely super dehydrated and first line of treatment would be IV fluids.

And that is exactly what we did. My super RN put in my IV in my arm, took some blood for labwork, and hooked me up to a huge bag of IV fluids. Until the IV fluids started I was still cramping but once about a quarter of the bag was in the cramping stopped my heart rate came down and so did the baby's. It was such a relief. I think I knew deep down that the cramping/contractions were due to the dehydration that I tried to fight but ultimately the bug beat me. But luckily for baby and I the fluids beat the bug! After the IV fluids, lab work, and a influenza test I was set home on orders to rest, relax and continue to hydrate. And that is what I did. I slept through the night and woke up with no nausea or vomiting but still felt the body aches. I got the kids off to school again and back to bed I went. I slept so soundly till like 2pm and when I woke I felt so so much better. And it has only gotten better each day!!!

I really don't think I can remember a time that I was that ill. I am so glad that it's over and has passed through our whole house and hopefully will not be coming back! As of today, I am feeling great. I just got home from my daily am walk with the dog, breakfast down, and now off to get ready for the day. I am super thankful for the hospital staff that treated me, my husband for pushing me to get treatment, my family for putting up with me, my surro sisters for support, my friends and family for the concern and most of all the IV fluids for beating the bug.