Roller Coaster Pregnancy

I have been meaning to do more blog updates but these last couple of months have been quite challenging for me. I will try and give the quickest recap of these crazy last few weeks.

Curtis and I found out pretty early that we were expecting (4 weeks). I started suffering from severe morning sickness from the start. I experienced the same symptoms during my pregnancy with Trey but I was able to get some relief here and there. This pregnancy has been almost like 24hours of non-relief.

My Mom was able to fly in during Curtis's recruiting month of July to help which was the biggest blessing. I was having to go the OB floor like every other day for IV fluids to stay hydrated. Obviously this was going to be quite difficult to continue once my Mom left. So my OB and I decided that I would have a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line placed so I could give myself IV fluids and IV anti nausea medications at home.

I had the line placed at the beginning of August. Basically it is a form of IV access that can be used for a prolonged period of time. The catheter is inserted into a peripheral vein and then advanced through larger veins toward the heart.

Here is a diagram of it...


This isn't my actual arm but this is what the PICC line looks like...


The IV fluids and medication were providing some relief and I kept the line in for about 3 weeks. I had home health nurses that would come weekly to change the dressing and assess how I was doing. But about 2 weeks ago I suddenly woke up with pretty severe pain in my left arm where the PICC line was. I thought maybe I had slept on it funny. So I shrugged it off but as the day continued I could barely move my arm by the afternoon.

Luckily Curtis was in town and I kissed the boys and headed into the ED to get looked at. I assumed I would have the line taken out and I would be home in a couple of hours. Well that turned out not to be the case. They did end up taking out the line and then doing an ultrasound of my arm to check for any blood clots (which can be a complication). I knew after and hour and half long ultrasound something was clearly wrong. The doctor informed me that I have a blood clot that goes from the middle of my arm to almost my neck. Of course major panic set in because my nursing mind went to every worse case scenario.

So the plan was to keep me overnight for observation and get me started on blood thinner medications. Well once I got situated in my hospital room I started draining pus out of my arm where the line was and started spiking a fever. So it was clear an infection had set in.

They cultured the tip of the catheter line, the lovely pus coming out of my arm and also cultured my blood to see if I had an infection and what kind. Sure enough everything came back positive. I was on precautions for awhile meaning everyone had to gown up when they came into my room because they didn't know what kind of infection I had (normal hospital precautions).

I ended up staying six long days in the hospital. I wasn't able to go home because I kept spiking fevers. The infection ended up being Staph which responds well to antibiotics. I swear that was the longest six days of my life. I truly felt absolutely horrible. I think Curtis's comment one day was "Wow you look like death". Which I felt like.

So you might be asking where was my sweet baby boy during all of this. Well Curtis and Mr. Trey got lots of bonding time during this whole ordeal. I have never been away from Trey one night so this was obviously a huge test for the both of us. I think I had a much harder time than he did. I would call every night and Curtis would put me on speaker and we would all read a story together. Trey came to visit me at the hospital but wasn't a big fan of being there. Curtis learned how to do all of Trey's tube feedings and is quite the pro now. We are so thankful and blessed that he has such an understanding boss and was able to take quite a bit of time off to care for Trey.

So I am currently doing much better. I finally am getting a little energy back and the morning sickness has decreased quite a bit. My worst times are in the evenings and late at night. I am still taking antibiotics for the infection. I have to give myself injections twice a day for the entire pregnancy and six weeks after delivery for the blood clot and to prevent future ones. I will go back for an ultrasound of my arm in couple of months to make sure the blood clot is dissolving.

After all this our little sweet pea in my tummy is doing well and thriving. We have had several ultrasounds and they say the baby couldn't look better Which is reassuring for quite an anxious Mommy and Daddy.

I am so thankful for such an amazing husband during this stressful time. He did a wonderful job taking care of our little boy while mommy was out of commission.

My dearest brother Jay who is going to school here was a lifesaver through this all too. I don't know what we would have done without him. My Dad was also able to fly in to help out when I got discharged from the hospital.

Thank you to all our friends in Pullman who brought goodies, made dinners, visited me in the hospital and also helped out with Trey. We are so lucky and truly blessed to have such amazing people in our lives.

Here are some ultrasound pics of the little one.

5 weeks.


8 weeks.


11 weeks.


12 weeks.


I know this is all going to be worth it in the end.