My Week

I went in for my 31w appointment and spoke to the doctor about my increasingly painful tearing sensation. She chalked it up to normal 3^rd tri pain. I also asked her about my Braxton Hicks (BHs) contractions that I had been experiencing for a few weeks. She said they were normal, and as long as they weren’t consistent, I was fine.

Over that weekend, I began having BHs that were approximately 5 minutes apart. This lasted overnight and into the next morning. I decided to take a warm shower and see if it would stop them. It didn’t. So I called the on-call OB to let them know. These contractions weren’t painful in the least, just an overall tightening feeling encompassing my entire stomach, but the consistency was very concerning.

The on-call OB sent me into Labor and Delivery (L&D) for a non-stress test (NST) to check my contractions and the baby. Baby looked wonderful on the monitors, and the BHs were hardly even showing up on the contraction monitor. They decided against doing an internal check, and sent me home to rest, but asked that I follow up with my OB on Monday.

Monday:

I made an appointment early in the morning to discuss the BHs and also my ever increasing pain. The pain level in my upper right quadrant of my abdomen had gone from a constant 3 or 4, to a 6 with the occasional pain when shifting reaching an 8 out of 10. It was becoming so painful that I would literally scream out in pain when I would move.

The OB said that some pain is normal since baby’s feet or butt are often lodged in the ribs, but that what I am describing doesn’t sound typical. She was concerned about two possibilities. One, gall stones or two, partial placental abruption. She let me know that she would order an ultrasound in the radiology department for that day. As usual, I never heard back from her or the office regarding the ultrasound.

Tuesday:

I waited until Tuesday morning to call the radiology’s scheduling department to see if I had been put on the schedule. I had not. I asked the scheduling person if I could make the appointment myself since I had not heard back from my doctor’s office. She said that she couldn’t do anything until she had the order from the doctor. I asked her to look at my file and see if there was an order. Lo and behold, there was. ::rolls eyes::

She told me that for this particular u/s I would need to fast (no food or water) from midnight until my appointment. She then said they had an opening at 3pm. I laughed. Really, you’ve going to make a woman who is nearly 32weeks pregnant not eat or drink even water for 15 hours?  I don’t think so. I asked if I could get in earlier in the morning since the worst pain is generally either early morning or late evening.  Amazingly, she had an opening at 9am ::rolls eyes again::

Wednesday:

I went for my appointment in the radiology department. I had to check in, get a wrist band and everything. The tech told me from the beginning that she wouldn’t be able to tell me the results of anything and that the radiologist would have to review and report to my doctor. I knew that that meant I likely wouldn’t have the results for at least a week. She did say that of all of the pregnant women she scans, she has never seen a baby so high up. She had a lot of trouble getting clear pictures of my organs since baby and my ribs were in the way. She had me holding my breath, rolling on my sides, twisting my body, and pushing my belly out trying to get a clearer picture. I did catch a glimpse of a little foot once on the ultrasound, but was disappointed that she wouldn’t look at the baby at all. At the end I asked her about it and she said, “well that isn’t really why you’re here”. ::sigh::

Thursday:

I called to see if my doctor’s office had the results yet and they didn’t. I left work early yet again because of the excruciating pain.

That evening, I changed positions and began screaming in pain. This was the first time Mr.A had been around to see it at its worst. He asked if they knew how bad the pain was. I told him that I had tried to articulate it, but that it didn't seem as though they believed I was in as much pain as I am in.

Friday:

I woke up from sleeping three times in the early morning screaming in pain. Today was Mr.A's "weekend" and I feel terrible that he likely got no sleep because of me.

I called to see if the office had the results. The nurse returned my call and said that yes they had the results, however the doctor who ordered the test was out of the office and wouldn’t return until Monday. Since all OB patients are rotating OBs, I asked if another doctor could please review the results and let me know today. I am still waiting on an answer. ::sigh::