{just another day ... at the hospital}

Well, I know I have been a naughty blogger lately and here is why. I decided to make my new year's resolution to digi-scrap all my blog posts. I think I am going to narrow that goal to perhaps just SOME of my posts because it's slowing me down a lot. I just haven't been posting anything because I don't have cute papers yet. I'd rather just post photos, so I will. I promise.

As for the blog title ... that is where I spent my day yesterday (Oh so fun). I passed out on Monday (as usual, if you know my pregnancies at all). This was only after a couple days of not feeling so well, and I awoke to a throbbing headache and some slight abdominal pain. I decided to wait it out and see if I really had a need to be worried or if I just bonked my head on the landing. I didn't want to spend a lonely, boring night in the hospital if the baby was okay, which has happened before. I also didn't quite know what to do with my kiddos and Devin was at work.

Well, by Monday afternoon I was spotting blood and by that night it had increased to a pretty consistent flow. So I called my wonderful doctor and told him what was happening and he lectured me to get myself to labor and delivery at the hospital immediately for monitoring.

After many tests, blood work, a RHoGAM shot due to my A-negative blood type, ultrasounds and more fun (sarcasm) medical stuff they were able to find our sweet Ava's little heartbeat (which could barely be heard over the sound of her kicking the monitor over and over again - little stinker). I had to have an EKG which finally helped confirm the fainting disorder. I have ** pregnancy-induced paroxysmal tachycardia ** which is basically just another way my body displays it's intolerance to my pregnancies. It means that being pregnant triggers my heart to beat at a pace too quick to replenish it's own oxygen supply which results in me "kissing the floor" (as my doc lovingly worded it).

As for the bleeding, I must've banged my little Ava into the tile that I landed on (what a rude awakening, right?) because my Doc thinks the fall caused a ** partial placental abruption ** which means my placenta tore away from my uterus in two places and needs some TLC to heal. They said if it had been a full placental abruption I would have had to deliver so we are counting our blessings there and know that Heavenly Father helped cushion the blow for our sweet girl.

Obviously measures need to be taken to prevent this from happening [so severely] again. Oh sure, I'll still faint - probably alot - but I need to be able to recognize it better. I have to meet with a cardiologist and wear something called a holter monitor (um, no thanks?) for a while to track both mine and the babe's heart patterns. This is to figure out if drugs will help me during the pregnancy or if I need to lay down for the next couple months (let's all keep our fingers crossed for the drugs please).

After being sure that we had lost her, we are just so grateful that Ava will be okay. It will only take a couple weeks of bed rest and no driving until further notice (not happy about that one) to get me back into decent shape. Oh, and now more than ever they are stressing that same ol' "no lifting anything over a gallon of milk" tidbit they've been giving me this WHOLE pregnancy. Have they not met Eli?

(Tummy pictures in the near future for you, okay Lila?! And anyone else who mentioned it. She was just my most-recent harasser.)