Friday, March 1, 2013

30 week update....

What's going on with baby this week:  Baby should be 16-17 inches long.  The main growth now is weight, not length.  We'll find out Monday how big this one is estimated to be, but he/she should be gaining about half a pound per week now.  Eyebrows and eyelashes are fully developed.  Baby is beginning to control his/her own temperature.  They say that movements are less but I can't say as though I have noticed that.  This one still kicks and flips like crazy at times and I love it!

How do I feel:  Today I feel great, yesterday was another story that I'll share below.  No swelling yet,  have gained 6.8 pounds thus far.  Happy, happy to be 30 weeks along!

What I'm looking forward to:  Another ultrasound Monday, to check growth of the baby and for PAC's.  Hopefully the PAC's have resolved and we can cross that off the concern list.   I am scheduled for a 6 hour "accelerated childbirth" class and a 3 hour breast-feeding class this week.

So yesterday was an eventful day, with events that I hope never recur!  I went to work as usual, feeling great.  Was there less than an hour when I had a near-fainting episode.  Some great co-workers took good care of me.  My BP was okay and I recovered and felt fine fairly quickly.  I did call my OB who wasn't concerned, said it can be normal during pregnancy.  Still at work, about nine hours later when I felt it happening again.  I called to a wonderful nurse working nearby.  She came quickly but I went out fast this time.  I recall them saying they were lifting me from the chair to the floor, and someone lifted up my feet.  The next thing I remember was waking up laying on the floor with about 15 faces looking at me, a man telling me he was from the CCU and going to take good care of me.  Someone was putting heart monitor leads on my chest and stomach, my BP was being measured.  I'm told I was gray in color, with eyes rolled back and not breathing normally so my amazing NICU friends called a "code blue."  I was put on a stretcher and taken to the ER for evaluation.  All of my numbers and labs checked out fine, BP and blood sugar were normal.  They did a 30 minute monitoring of the baby's heart rate (a non-stress test) and that was perfect.  Several times the nurse had to adjust the monitor because baby was moving around so much.  I was discharged and told it was "syncope or fainting of pregnancy."  My instructions are to drink lots of fluids, eat lots of protein and take it easy for a few days.  It's now been about 24 hours since the "main event" and all is well.  I did buy some smelling salts tonight and plan to keep one with me at all times now however.  

I'm sorry to have scared my NICU co-workers like I did.  Most of them have little or no recent adult nursing experience, like myself, so I can only imagine their fright while alone with me initially!  I'm tremendously thankful for all they did until and after help arrived!  I have some amazing co-workers and friends!!  I appreciate all the calls, emails, texts and help I received today as well!