Since I'm mixing things up a little bit with blog posts (I never know what's going to happen every day, so sometimes, especially these days, and in the days to come!) that I usually just go with the flow. Report on the days happenings and things and call it good.
Anyway, today I was reflecting a little on what my typical day is like. I've done this sort of post before on my other blog, but haven't done it here since I started on the whole bedrest thing. And it's taken on a different flavor being cooped up in the hospital right now. I do like routine, even if variety in the days events is nice. Maybe it's more that I like knowing what the plan is ahead of schedule, even if it varies from day to day. So here's a day in the life of Amy, hospital style.
I usually end up waking up at some early hour, way early to be healthy, and way earlier than I'd ever get up unless I had to. Today I awoke the first time around 5:30am, which was pretty good...I was happy that I had gone about 5 1/2 hours straight sleeping! I had the IV line going into my arm from last night, as my last dose of antibiotics started around 11:30pm, ran for a half hour and switched over to saline...the nurse didn't want to wake me up at midnight if I was sleeping just to stop the whole thing.
At 5:30, I buzzed the nurse, she took the fluid off, closed off my IV (still in my arm, for easy access), and I got up to use the bathroom and then back to bed. I dozed a little bit until a resident came by after 6am. I have to be somewhat coherent these days, just because they're always asking for details, and I end up with a new one each day so I sometimes have to fill them in on things a bit more.
The resident left, and I dozed off for a bit more...a few more hours until 7:30 when a nurse came to take my vitals. Dozed off again a little more, and the new nurse for the day came by, did a few more vitals and brought breakfast around 9.
After breakfast, I sat around a little "digesting" and was doing a little cross stitch. At 10am, the nurse came by to hook me up to the monitors for the NST (that was about 20 minutes long). Nothing really odd to report (I think I had like 1 or 2 contractions the whole time!) and baby was happily doing her thing.
A little bit of looking at things on Facebook, chatting online and so on, and then Dr. Mayer came for a visit. She asked how I felt about staying vs. going home (like most of the other doctors had), as she knew previously that I'd been upset before about having to stay and be away from Mike and the kids. But this time I think everyone agreed that it was safer and more secure if I stayed. So she put that plan into motion to keep me here at least for the time being...assuring me that the plans are subject to change if my own feelings on things change.
Right before 1, Megan and Pilar show up (and they grab food to have lunch up here), and Monica follows soon after too. It was a good visit with them, definitely brightening things up and adding that bit of variety to my day. Mike comes around 2:30 and we hang out and chat (funny being able to talk without interruptions from the kids...hehehe). It took a little bit to get all of the permissions in order to go for a walk (there has to be a doctor's order saying it's OK!) and so after that came through, we took a trip to the cafeteria for a little bit before Mike had to leave to get the boys and go home for the night.
I'm expecting dinner here in a little bit (typical is around 6:30), then the shift change, a new check in vitals, and maybe another round of monitoring (although that hasn't been said, they usually just like to do that after dinner).
Maybe the longer I stay here (but, well, I hope that's not too long), the more the routine gets established and I hope I can just get used to a few things so I'm not struggling to get through the day.
Overall, my day, today, has been a mostly quiet one...not filled with a lot of drama, contractions and worry, and I really hope that it stays that way, and that this isn't just the calm before the storm (like it was the last time I was discharged!).
Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Bedrest Part 2 - Days 8 and 9
I should probably subtitle this one...IN SEARCH OF LAST-MINUTE CHILDCARE
OK, so I didn't make it 3 days in a row with blog posts. But, in any case, it's the weekend, and the days sort of all blur together.
I've managed to stay out of the hospital for a whole week (hooray!), but it's been sort of a half-rest kind of week. I get conflicting opinions on whether I should be on "strict" bedrest or whether I can be sort of on "modified" bedrest, which is much more lax. On my hospital discharge paperwork from last weekend, it says "Bedrest...bathroom privileges only". Yet, I've been told that that is probably too extreme. I can see the doctor's going, "know your limits", and "rest when you need to", but that's a lot easier said than done (especially knowing me...I test the limits quite a bit, and I always seem to believe that I can do more than I actually can).
In any case, enough dwelling on that other stuff for a while. My latest obsession is finding emergency childcare, should something happen in the "off hours". I don't think I will really feel at ease until this issue (in particular) is in place. Not only do I have to have plans...but I need alternative plans as well!
So here's the run down so far. If something happens in the middle of the night or on the weekend (when the boys are NOT in daycare), they'll likely need someone to take them for a bit. I hate imposing on people or asking about these things, but ideally, the least amount of stress would be if someone could just stay the night with the boys at our house, so we didn't have to wake them up. Plan two is dropping them off somewhere, and plan 3 is taking them to the hospital with us if we can't get a hold of anyone.
As I mentioned in a previous post, our other option was a drop-in daycare, but I've kind of dismissed that as not really working for us. I won't stop looking around for another place though, possibly! The next alternative is lining up some sort of sitter/nanny service that could come out in less than an hour. Still evaluating options/taking referrals for that one. I've even decided to make use (for the first time...ha!) of work's "employee assistance program" (kind of like a concierge service type thing). We'll see how that works...I'm always taking suggestions, so if anyone reads this...I'm open!
OK, so I didn't make it 3 days in a row with blog posts. But, in any case, it's the weekend, and the days sort of all blur together.
I've managed to stay out of the hospital for a whole week (hooray!), but it's been sort of a half-rest kind of week. I get conflicting opinions on whether I should be on "strict" bedrest or whether I can be sort of on "modified" bedrest, which is much more lax. On my hospital discharge paperwork from last weekend, it says "Bedrest...bathroom privileges only". Yet, I've been told that that is probably too extreme. I can see the doctor's going, "know your limits", and "rest when you need to", but that's a lot easier said than done (especially knowing me...I test the limits quite a bit, and I always seem to believe that I can do more than I actually can).
In any case, enough dwelling on that other stuff for a while. My latest obsession is finding emergency childcare, should something happen in the "off hours". I don't think I will really feel at ease until this issue (in particular) is in place. Not only do I have to have plans...but I need alternative plans as well!
So here's the run down so far. If something happens in the middle of the night or on the weekend (when the boys are NOT in daycare), they'll likely need someone to take them for a bit. I hate imposing on people or asking about these things, but ideally, the least amount of stress would be if someone could just stay the night with the boys at our house, so we didn't have to wake them up. Plan two is dropping them off somewhere, and plan 3 is taking them to the hospital with us if we can't get a hold of anyone.
As I mentioned in a previous post, our other option was a drop-in daycare, but I've kind of dismissed that as not really working for us. I won't stop looking around for another place though, possibly! The next alternative is lining up some sort of sitter/nanny service that could come out in less than an hour. Still evaluating options/taking referrals for that one. I've even decided to make use (for the first time...ha!) of work's "employee assistance program" (kind of like a concierge service type thing). We'll see how that works...I'm always taking suggestions, so if anyone reads this...I'm open!
Friday, July 12, 2013
Bedrest Part 2 - Day 7
Wow...I actually did an entry the next day after the previous one! I'm on a roll! If I do it again tomorrow, this might be the start of another trend (wishful thinking!).
So it's been a week since I was admitted to the hospital for a night, testing out new drugs to see if they stopped contractions for me. Luckily, it was only an overnight stay. Since bedrest in general began five weeks ago, tomorrow, there's been ups and downs and changes. Some major changes, some little.
Anyway, today officially marks the day that my parents moved out of state. Yep, boarded a plane, and flew 1200 miles away. I keep and kept telling myself that I wouldn't get worked up over it, but inevitably, anytime I think about it, or talk about it, it brings me to tears. I can blame the pregnancy hormones for that, right? In trying to rationalize what's going on in my head, I got the insight from my mom about how this feeling sort of works. Most of this is in a blog post from this past weekend.
So my parents moving away is sort of like how my mom felt when I moved away to college. It wasn't like I was going away forever or anything of that sort...but just that nagging feeling of what-if-I-need-that-person. I know I can easily pick up the phone and just call (although, they just have cell phones right now that are turned off 95% of the time...that might change though), but now is the time I wish I had the security of knowing that my parents would be there to take care of Daniel and Jared, should something happen and I go into labor at a weird time. That's what it boils down to right now. Having my parents take care of Daniel while I was in the hospital having Jared was one thing I didn't even stress about...I felt better that Mike could stay with me at the hospital, I felt better that Daniel was being taken care of and having fun and all of that stuff. If my parents hadn't moved until, say, September or October, I might be in a different state of mind.
Moving on to childcare...yeah...that's bothering me once again, even though I go back and forth with how I feel about all of the different scenarios. I grew to expect Mike to be with me at night in the hospital, and I keep telling myself that I'd be OK if he wasn't there overnight when the baby comes. But there really is not a good scenario where that is a possibility. I feel OK with it, in passing, because I've spent one night in the hospital alone already...but when the baby comes, it's a different scenario.
In any case, I'm finding that the "big" things that I'm stressing about are somehow interconnected, and it's hard not to dwell on one without dwelling on the others. As I've mentioned before, I like to have a plan...I like to have the security in place, knowing what to expect, what's going to happen, and everything like that. Even if, at this point, if I knew that I was going to have a baby a little early, at least I'd be able to prepare for that, just like I would prepare for a trip somewhere. Maybe the universe will send me a sign... :)
So it's been a week since I was admitted to the hospital for a night, testing out new drugs to see if they stopped contractions for me. Luckily, it was only an overnight stay. Since bedrest in general began five weeks ago, tomorrow, there's been ups and downs and changes. Some major changes, some little.
Anyway, today officially marks the day that my parents moved out of state. Yep, boarded a plane, and flew 1200 miles away. I keep and kept telling myself that I wouldn't get worked up over it, but inevitably, anytime I think about it, or talk about it, it brings me to tears. I can blame the pregnancy hormones for that, right? In trying to rationalize what's going on in my head, I got the insight from my mom about how this feeling sort of works. Most of this is in a blog post from this past weekend.
So my parents moving away is sort of like how my mom felt when I moved away to college. It wasn't like I was going away forever or anything of that sort...but just that nagging feeling of what-if-I-need-that-person. I know I can easily pick up the phone and just call (although, they just have cell phones right now that are turned off 95% of the time...that might change though), but now is the time I wish I had the security of knowing that my parents would be there to take care of Daniel and Jared, should something happen and I go into labor at a weird time. That's what it boils down to right now. Having my parents take care of Daniel while I was in the hospital having Jared was one thing I didn't even stress about...I felt better that Mike could stay with me at the hospital, I felt better that Daniel was being taken care of and having fun and all of that stuff. If my parents hadn't moved until, say, September or October, I might be in a different state of mind.
Moving on to childcare...yeah...that's bothering me once again, even though I go back and forth with how I feel about all of the different scenarios. I grew to expect Mike to be with me at night in the hospital, and I keep telling myself that I'd be OK if he wasn't there overnight when the baby comes. But there really is not a good scenario where that is a possibility. I feel OK with it, in passing, because I've spent one night in the hospital alone already...but when the baby comes, it's a different scenario.
In any case, I'm finding that the "big" things that I'm stressing about are somehow interconnected, and it's hard not to dwell on one without dwelling on the others. As I've mentioned before, I like to have a plan...I like to have the security in place, knowing what to expect, what's going to happen, and everything like that. Even if, at this point, if I knew that I was going to have a baby a little early, at least I'd be able to prepare for that, just like I would prepare for a trip somewhere. Maybe the universe will send me a sign... :)
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