This anniversary will definitely go down in the books as one we will never, ever forget! Last night we had reservations at "Gratzis" in Ann Arbor- I was thrilled because its probably been 6 months or so since I've been out for a meal without Maeve. I ended up taking a nap with Maeve and after waking up, I started having some braxton hicks contractions- I got them with Maeve a TON so its nothing new. Unfortunately, they started to get painful and wrap around my belly into my back. I was also getting some leg pain. When Ryan got home at 5 I told him I needed to lay down for an hour and drink like a horse. (that's the drill when those stupid contractions come on) I laid on the couch- literally with my feet up, and drank one of those huge 32 oz gatorades. Nothing changed- well except for the fact that now I was having to switch positions to try and get comfortable, which was really scaring me because that's exactly what I did during my labor with Maeve. Ryan decided we should call L&D (labor & delivery) to see who was on call- luckily it was my doc :) He said that if I've tried laying down and drinking fluids to come on in. YUUUUUCK. I couldn't believe it- Ryan and I were both dressed nicely for dinner, I had my sister coming over who thought she was going to be watching Maeve for 3 hours or so and here we were headed off to the hospital. To say the least I was bummed.
My sister got to our house around 6:30 and Ryan and I headed off to Allegiance. Strangely enough, I wasn't super scared about going, I was more ticked off that this just HAD to happen on our anniversary. The ER was dead- so we got right in. They did a urine sample, put in an IV, took massive amounts of blood and then left us to sit in a GIANT, florescently lit room- how romantic. After two hours or so, the doctor finally came in to see us- he felt my stomach, tapped my back, listened to my heart, all that stuff and came to the conclusion that its either round ligament pains or bleeding in my uterus. He ordered an ultrasound and then told me that I'd need to either get a catheter or drink water for 3-4 hours to fill my bladder. I really wasn't trying to be smart with the doc. but I said "Um, I have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday and the slip of paper I got told me to drink one hour prior to the u/s and hold... so do you really think its going to take 3-4 hours to fill my bladder?" He said it would depend. :/ hmmm... I'm really not sure about some of those ER docs. Either way, I opted to drink water- I'm not sure who in their right mind would ever choose a catheter over drinking but they did give me that option. So Ryan and I both drank a few Styrofoam cups full of water, while watching "America's got talent." We joked about how this was our date and Ryan went to go get some pretzels to go with our water... ughhh.
Sooner than later, my bladder was full to the brim and of course, if you've ever been to the ER, nothing ever happens quickly- so after telling my nurse I was full, she then took about 20 minutes to go find this machine to make sure I had over 200 mL in my bladder- I had 472. Yeeeeeah. It was full. After she said I was full enough she called ultrasound and they said I could come down in about an hour and a half. HAHAHAHA- I told her right then and there that I was not going to hold this in for that long. The nurse said absolutely do not go the bathroom, otherwise I'd have to do this whole process again. I told her "okay" and as soon as she left the room I had Ryan sneak me to the potty.
An hour later, another nurse came to get me and wheel me down to u/s. As SOON as the u/s tech pressed the thing to my belly she told me my bladder was TOO full and to go empty it half way. (just imagine if I had held it from the beginning!) Finally the u/s got underway and it was pretty awesome- it was super dark and quiet (since it was midnight) and we had a great u/s tech who spent a long time just letting us watch the baby do all sorts of cool stuff. We saw the baby's tongue, lens of its eye, and all its fingers and toes. We saw it open and close its mouth and stretch out its legs- how amazing :) Then it was time for the gender part- I haven't had too many u/s- but as soon as she put the transducer on the butt I saw.... NOTHING- my heart started to race and I couldn't believe it was another girl- and I kept saying, "there's nothing there- so its a girl?" WELL... turns out a little something was hiding- because a few minutes later she snapped the incriminating pictures of our BOY. OMG! I am shocked! Ryan was (IS) ecstatic and I was, well, in SHOCK, SHOCK, SHOCK. Even as I sit here this morning, I am still wrapping my head around having a boy- I was SO sure it was another girl and life for a few months would be pretty easy since we already have EVERYTHING for a girl. But, I guess God had different plans in mind :)
After the u/s I was wheeled back to the ER to wait the results of the u/s, blood work and urine test. It turns out I have a few little issues- the first, is a bladder infection (they think that's what is causing my discomfort); The second, my placenta is pretty low- "lower than they'd like to see it" is how they put it. SO before we could officially go home, I had to go BACK to u/s to get a transvaginal u/s- that was really not a pleasant experience.
Anyways, I was released around 3 AM or so, STILL experiencing cramping, but assured it was okay- even though not once was I hooked up to anything to monitor contractions... I'm following up with my doctor (midwife) today and will hopefully have a more conclusive reason as to why I am in so much pain and discomfort.
I am also hoping to make a run to gymboree either this afternoon or tomorrow to pick up some boy clothes- they're having the big semi annual sale and everything is wayyyy cheap and now that I have another closet to fill, I guess I should get started.
