Hospital Visit

Last Wednesday during naptime I started feeling quite crampy and uncomfortable. My first scary thought was that I was having contractions and could be in pre-term labour. But when I felt my belly, it wasn't tightening at all. I decided to have a hot shower and by the time I got out the pain had localized in my lower back on the left side - the same place where I've had kidney stone pain in the past.

The kids (including an extra that I was babysitting) woke up shortly after and I let them watch TV and have the run of the house while I lay on the couch. Eventually the pain got so bad that I threw up. By this time Erik was on his way home with his sister Kristi who agreed to watch the kids while we went to emerg. From emerg, they sent me straight up to maternity. Despite the pain and nausea I was experiencing, I was excited to get my first look at the new Abbotsford hospital - especially the maternity ward. We weren't disappointed!

They checked me for dilation and hooked me up for a non-stress test. Thankfully, baby looked fine and was still very active. But I had to wait a bit for them to get doctor's orders for pain meds and by that point I was feeling very uncomfortable. They finally gave me a morphine injection and it knocked me out for about 3 hours. They let us go home, but said I could come back if I needed more pain management or if I became dehydrated. At about 2 am I woke up again feeling very uncomfortable and nauseated. I was showing signs of dehydration as well so we decided to head back in. Thankfully, Rosanna was on stand-by to come watch the kids which was helpful!

They admitted me for the night and brought me to my hotel, er... hospital room. Seriously though, it was beautiful. A huge new room with a big window facing towards the mountains and my own bathroom. I felt like I was on vacation :) They told me they had put me on the quiet end of the ward - away from the labouring mothers and crying newborns. And it was quiet - and warm and peaceful. Once I had the morphine I just slept and slept. Mid-morning on Thursday I passed a stone that amazed even the nurses with its size. I also noticed that the kidney pain was gone. It felt so good to know that we had found the culprit of all the pain. They decided to send me home and I've felt fine every since other than being more tired than usual.

Anytime I try to relax on the couch, I get bombarded by both kids who want to snuggle with me. There's barely enough room for me and my belly, let alone all four of us!


In other news, we decided last week to put Keziah's mattress in Micah's room. Micah has been complaining about feeling scared and lonely when we put him to sleep - nothing we haven't heard from him before, but we figured it was as good a time as any to put them in the same room. It has been a bit interesting though and they have had some late nights of "playing" together. So we started putting Micah down first since he is ready to sleep by 7 pm. He usually falls asleep quite quickly and then we can put Keziah down. Keziah jabbers to herself a bit as she settles down for the night, but Micah can sleep through all her talking (and her night crying), so it seems to be a good system. I realized this was my last big thing on my "to-do" list before the baby comes. I've moved Keziah out of her crib, potty-trained her, and moved her into Micah's room - all with 2 whole months to spare! Maybe I should've spread it out a bit more so I wouldn't be twiddling my thumbs for the next 9ish weeks... Oh well, I still have to get out the baby gear and newborn clothes so that should help pass the time :)


All rosy-cheeked after her nap:

Picking up on Micah's bad habits...

Thanks for your votes on Ju-Jube's gender and birthdate! So far the boy votes are definitely out-numbering the girl votes. When I was preggo with Keziah, the girl votes out-numbered the boy votes, so we'll see if the majority is right once again. One more thing that makes me think this is a boy is that I'm starting to swell like I did with Micah. I got a bit swollen with Keziah but with Micah I was unable to wear my wedding rings and regular shoes. I had to wear flip-flops for all of November and December. Yesterday my rings felt extremely tight, so I think I may have to leave them off until baby is born and my water retention returns to normal!