Flu Invasion

Well, after a few weekends of great fun (which I'll get around to posting) we had a flu bug invade our household last week. Here's where I'll include my disclaimer: if you are not interested in hearing about diarrhea do not read any further.

It all started Sunday, Feb. 8th on our way home from Chicago. Maddy fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and slept until we woke her up in Battle Creek (3 hours later). Jason and I kept saying how sweet she looked and how exhausted she must have been from the fun weekend because she didn't move once. Little did we know that she was sick. When we woke her up in BC to eat dinner she immediately said she needed to throw up. I had never heard her say that before so I was a little skeptical but took her to the bathroom anyway. I told her she could throw up in the toilet so she spit in it but that was it. So we went and joined dad for dinner at the table. Soon afterwards she said she had to throw up again and this time the heaving started. I luckily had a bowl right at the table to catch it all. Poor thing! Before we left the restaurant she threw up again and had an episode of diarrhea along with a fever. Clearly she caught something. She stayed home with grandma Monday and Tuesday (thank goodness for Nancy's help so Jason and I could go to work) and really didn't start feeling better until Wednesday morning although her diarrhea stuck around until Thursday. Jason ended up with the same symptoms Tuesday and Wednesday but was back to work Thursday. I thought I was in the clear because I was still feeling good through the work day on Thursday. Little did I know...

Thursday night I felt exhausted (work has been crazy and a bit stressful) so I thought I'd better get some rest and go to bed early. I had some stomach discomfort and a little spell of diarrhea but I didn't feel like I was coming down with anything...just exhausted. Friday was a different story...I made about a dozen trips to the bathroom before noon. After that I was pretty much cleaned out. This intestinal flu was accompanied by a fever, nausea, abdominal cramping, chest pain, and back pain. I was trying to drink juice but wasn't eating much. Friday night I didn't sleep much because I was having contractions but nothing more regular than every 30 minutes. We called the doctor Saturday morning and she said to take some Tylenol and keep drinking but as long as the contractions aren't more regular to not worry. Saturday night was the same story as Friday night so I had a little meltdown Sunday morning but was able to finally get some rest during the day on Sunday after some Tylenol kicked in. I felt a little better after resting but ended back up on the toilet that evening. Monday morning I had a regular OB appointment, but surprisingly slept great and woke up feeling much better so I was very optimistic going into my appointment. Again little did I know the damage was done...

After having lost weight and not being able to provide much of a urine sample due to dehydration my doctor decided to do an internal exam. The verdict...baby's head was engaged into the birthing canal and my cervix was thinning. I was immediately sent to the hospital for observation and to get rehydrated. Jason met me at the hospital and little did we know that it was going to be a long 24 hours. We got to the hospital at 10 am and was hooked up to a uterine and fetal monitor after I provided a urine sample that looked like blood. (Sorry, but it was) I was quickly pumped with 2 liters of fluid of monitored for 3 hours. At about 1 pm, the doctor came in to check me and was surprised by how low the baby was and said that my cervix was very soft. He said my uterine monitor showed a lot of irritability, but the baby looked perfect. He decided to give me a shot to stop the uterine activity and pump me with more fluid and monitor me for another few hours. After another internal exam at 5 pm, which showed more cervical changes ( a very ripe cervix; 75 % effaced), he dediced to admit me to the hospital for the night for more observation and more fluids and I was put on an oral medication (Procardia) to stop contractions. After 5 liters of fluid and a long sleepless night I was finally released yesterday at noon. I am on strict bedrest with bathroom and shower privileges (yeah!) now and am on the procardia to stop uterine activity. I go back to my doctor tomorrow and should know more then. The doctors said my goal needs to be 36 weeks if I want to go home with my little girl in my arms, so I am shooting for that but am optimistic that I can still go full term knowing that my cervix feld up a 9 lb 8 oz baby last time and still needed to be induced. Nancy is here caring for Maddy and helping me if I need it but I am pretty much just stuck on the couch for at least the next week, possibly two. Please keep us in your prayers that we can keep this baby from an early arrival. We don't even have a name yet...we surely aren't ready!