Our Wild Night

Mr. Mustard, Paprika, and I spent last night at Labor and Delivery. I had been feeling just awful all day. I had a horrible headache, sharp pains in my abdomen, I felt so dizzy, and my vision was getting really blurry and dark. I felt like my abdomen was contracting. Even my feet were swelling. All the classic signs of pre-eclampsia.

Also, the baby (who is usually quiet and moves very little), was being extremely active. So, of course, I was also worried the baby might be in some kind of distress. We checked the heartrate a few times and it was about 20 bpm lower than it usually is, despite the fact that the baby was being super active. That's not a lot lower...but low enough to start to be concerned, especially when coupled with the other symptoms.

I had pre-eclampsia with Paprika, and was induced early because of it, and so when the signs came yesterday, I had an idea what they could mean. I rested all day, as much as I could. I put my feet up, drank tons of water, and laid on the couch. I got Paprika up in the morning and let her entertain herself. I told her that mommy didn't feel very well, and needed to lay down, and she spent the day bringing me books, playing puzzles on the floor, and asking to snuggle.

By the time Mr. Mustard got home from work, I was feeling much worse. We called Dr. K and he said to take some more Tylenol but if that the headache persisted, and if the contractions/pain got worse, to go to Labor and Delivery immediately.

So, at 10:30pm, we woke Paprika up, loaded up the car, and headed to the hospital. Once at the hospital, nurse Molly checked me into a room, and started running tests. I was on monitors gauging heartbeat and contractions. She took some blood samples, hooked me up to IV fluids, and we got settled in the room. We had nurse Molly at Paprika's delivery, so it was wonderful to see her again, and she was just great to us.

Then we saw the doctor. She decided to do an ultrasound and run a few more tests that required some privacy, ahem, so I asked Paprika if she'd go get me a popcicle from the nurse's station. Mr. Mustard took her out of the room, and while she was out there, the nurses gave Paprika a doll that said, "Big Sister." It was really precious.

I don't know how to say this without completely bragging on Paprika, but I am so incredibly impressed with how she handled herself. At age 2 1/2, she knew exactly what was going on, and she was so incredibly brave and caring and sweet. Of course, the nurses were very surprised by her verbal skills, and could not believe that she is only 2 1/2. Paprika sat in a chair by my side and when they hooked me up to a machine to listen to the baby's heartbeat, Paprika said, "Oh, that's the baby! That's my little sister or brother."

Mr. Mustard was such a trooper, and as always, was there just when I needed him. His work schedule this past week has been insane due to a server crash at work, and he was functioning on very little sleep. But still, he was my rock...as always. He amazes me.

The room had a little chair that folded out into a sleeping bed. We set Paprika up to sleep on it. When Paprika saw how tired Mr. Mustard was, she came over and sat by me, and put her hand on mine and said, "Daddy you sleep there. Close your eyes and put down your head." She gave up her bed for her daddy! It was the sweetest thing. And mind you, by this point, it was 3am and we were all so tired.

Around 4am, the tests came back from the lab and the doctor determined that things were looking really good. The pre-eclampsia symptoms were not acute, the contractions I was feeling were not pointing to pre-term labor, and I did not need to deliver anytime soon. Yea!

So, we packed up the car, came home, put Paprika to bed, and went to sleep! I'm glad we went to the hospital, and so grateful that things are still looking good. Whew! I go back to the doctor tomorrow for a follow-up, and hopefully things will still be looking good then. For today, I am taking it very easy and feeling very grateful that our night turned out the way it did.