Yesterday I went to Dr. Van de Castel's office for my first glucose test. I've been having so much indigestion that the day prior I ate lunch at 2:30 and skipped dinner altogether. I was kind of regretting that decision yesterday morning when I woke up hungry at 4:00am, but couldn't eat until after 10:00 when they finished the glucose testing. Oh, the joys of pregnancy!!!
When I had my regular appointment last Friday I was still in a lot of pain from the stent and ended up having a minor breakdown in the doctor's office. I tried to hold it together, but after being in almost constant pain for over 3 weeks, it wears a person down. I was hoping that once the baby turned and wasn't putting pressure on the kidney anymore I could get the stent removed. At this point, I'm not sure if that's going to happen. The baby was head down at Friday's appointment, but she's still little enough to keep turning. Dr. Van de Castel is going to contact Dr. Schafer, the urologist, and discuss what they can do to help me. He's going to check my kidney and if it looks like it's draining properly then we'll discuss removing the stent. I'm not sure what the best option is because, while I would love to have it removed, if the kidney gets blocked again I have to go through the process of having it put back in - something I'm not excited about. So, for now, I just have to take it really easy, which is very frustrating to me since I have so much I still want to do.
On a positive note though, we were able to see a very good profile of the baby on Friday. We could see this perfect outline of her little face and her arm. She was busy sucking her thumb. Dr. Van de Castel said she has a little button nose and still looks like a girl (after buying everything pink, that's a relief!). Since we were in Alaska over the holidays, the last ultrasound we had was the middle of December. At that point she looked rather skeletal because she was at that stage where she was all formed, but just needed to start putting on that baby fat. This time her little cheeks were all rounded. She's about 3 pounds now and I asked the doctor what week she could safely be born. She said that after 36 weeks they would not stop her from coming. That sounded so close to me. I still can't really believe we're going to have her in such a short time.
On another topic, but still baby related (of course, since that's my life right now)- I've been having issues with the nursery paint color. It doesn't seem to matter what I'm painting, I can never pick the color that I see in my mind. That's why I ended up painting the main floor of our place twice before I got the color right. Now, my issue is with the nursery. I know exactly what I want - a very light, pastel pink - but I can't seem to get that. The paint we bought a couple of weeks ago turned out to be more lavender, than pink. So....Saturday we returned to Hornbach, armed with a little pink sock for comparison, to pick out a different color. Monday morning I gave it another try and was disappointed once again. It's definitely pink - like Pepto-Bismol. Not exactly what I had in mind. So this morning Sam helped me mix in quite a bit of white paint. So far it looks much better. Maybe the 3rd time's a charm.
In the last post I mentioned that we had finally ordered the nursery furniture from the RB PX. So, I thought we were done with that, but Friday I received a call from them saying that the dresser I wanted was no longer available. UGH! We were back to square one with the furniture. I didn't want to select a different dresser, because there are so many different colors of white (antique white, pearl white, pure white - you get the idea) that it might not match. We needed to pick up the chair we bought there last weekend anyhow, so I went along to order a different set. While we were there we saw a nursery set on display. I liked the pieces, but the color was more of a yellowish white, which I wasn't completely happy with. I decided to go with it though because it's HERE and available. Overseas we have to compromise. As it turned out though, they only had the changer and dresser, so I was kind of happy about that. We decided to wait and see what else we can figure out. I'm working on a couple of different stores now to see if there's any way to get some American furniture shipped here without having to go through AAFES. Wish me luck with that.
Last night we were finally able to get in on a hospital tour. It was the same hospital I was admitted to for the kidney problem, so we had an idea of what it was like, but we were able to see it from the labor and delivery standpoint. I'm not totally impressed with what they have to offer - some of the labor rooms are very small, they only have one birthing tub (I was hoping this would be available, but it's first come, first served), not many private recovery rooms, etc. But they have a great NICU right in the hospital in case anything is wrong with the baby at birth. Also, they don't whisk the baby away - everything is done right in the same room and she'll be with us continually. They don't have a nursery to put the baby in, so she'll be with me from the beginning. That's what I wanted anyhow, so I'm happy about that.
There is another hospital that we could go to, but it's about 30 minutes away. It is said to be much nicer and more modern, but they do not have a NICU and I still wouldn't be promised a private room or a birthing tub. We still have a few weeks to decide on that though, so we may try to get in on the other hospital tour to see if it's worth having to drive farther. Decisions, decisions!!!!
Have I mentioned that I have an absolutely rotten cat???? Well, since we found a home for Papa (who is now known as Sammy), Gabby has been happier than she's been in a long time. For the first time since May (when Papa/Sammy came to live with us) she's been playing again and running through the house like a wild animal. Every night when we go to bed we hear her wreaking havoc throughout the house. It's always fun to see what mess we'll be greeted with in the morning. Her latest vice is anything ball shaped that might be on the kitchen counter. I don't allow her on the counters, but she's a cat and there's not much stopping her when we're not around. This last week she's been having a blast playing with the grapes in the fruit bowl. We came down one morning and found grapes all over the floor with little kitty paw prints covering the stove top. She tried out the apples and tomatoes, as we could see from the bite marks, but must not have liked the taste of them. I'm really not sure how to keep her off the counter or table. I spray her with water if I find her up there, but that only works for the moment. Regardless of the mess she makes, I'm so happy to see her back to her old self and playing again.
Well, I'm going to try to make it to the pregnancy support group again today. I haven't been there in a few weeks, but I really enjoyed it the one time I did go. It's nice to connect with other Americans that are in the same situation as I am. Before I have to get ready for that I'm going to start painting the nursery - for the 3rd time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the color looks good. That is what's going on here for now. Until next time...
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Our weekend
Sam is somewhere in the Black Forrest skiing with a few friends. I would love to go with them, but being pregnant and not feeling real well doesn't make that possible. Wednesday evening (the day I got the stent changed) I felt so much better. By the time I went to bed that evening I didn't have pain and very little discomfort. Unfortunately, that has changed. I'm back to having pain most of the time. Talking to some of the ladies at church today I got a different understanding of what might be going on. I could be wrong, but I think the baby is laying sideways in my belly and I'm just hoping that maybe once she turns and her head is downward that perhaps I won't need the stent anymore. I think her laying sideways is putting the pressure on the ureter tube from the kidney to the badder. That might not be exactly what's going on, but I felt a little hope that maybe she'll eventually turn and I'll be able to have the stent taken out. I'm hoping...
Yesterday we finally ordered the nursery furniture from the PX. I should have put in the order much earlier, but I kept trying to see if there was a company that would ship from the states. I liked the products better and it would have cost alot less to get the furniture from the states, but no one will ship over sized items to either our German address or our APO address. When that didn't work out, we checked into the German furniture. Honestly, I just don't care for the German furniture, besides the crib set I bought would not have fit. So, we were back to having to order from the PX. It's possible the order may not come in before she's born, but it should be around that time at least.
We also bought a rocking chair/recliner at the PX. I've never been impressed with the selection they have there - they seem to like alot of powder blue and mauve furniture. Anyhow, I really want to have a chair for the nursery and yesterday they actually had a pretty comfortable beige chair. We decided to just get that one because our only other option was to order one in and we knew that would take awhile to receive. We bought a crib mattress too. It's fun getting things ready for the baby.
Tomorrow is a federal holiday and Sam would normally have the day off, but he's been told he has to come in for at least part of the day. In the morning we're going to (hopefully) meet with our building contractor, Hammerle. All three of us in this row of townhouses has had problems that have not been resolved since we moved in. Unfortunately the contractor seems to have forgotten us after he made the sale. We just have a few things that still need to be fixed. 11 months later we're still waiting for the painter to return to finish the stairwell. Also, our floor heating is not working properly. Some areas are very hot while others are cold. Nothing major, but just things that we need to get fixed and we've been trying to contact Hammerle for months and he hasn't responded. He's supposed to be at the neighbors at 8:30 in the morning, so we're all going to go meet with him at that time.
While Sam's at work tomorrow I hope to get started on painting the nursery. It won't really take that long once I get started on it, but haven't had the energy to do it until now. I'm looking forward to having the nursery finished so we can start hanging up the little clothes and putting the room together. Obviously, the nursery is for the parents because I really don't think our little baby will care if she's sleeping in a beautiful room or a cardboard box, but we're having fun with it.
Well, that's about it for now. I haven't had many profile pictures taken so far, but this morning Sam took some before we heading out to church. I guess at 7 months, it's kind of hard to hide the belly anymore. Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures Sam took this morning. By the way - it's so weird to see pictures of a pregnant me. I guess I'm still not used to the idea.
Yesterday we finally ordered the nursery furniture from the PX. I should have put in the order much earlier, but I kept trying to see if there was a company that would ship from the states. I liked the products better and it would have cost alot less to get the furniture from the states, but no one will ship over sized items to either our German address or our APO address. When that didn't work out, we checked into the German furniture. Honestly, I just don't care for the German furniture, besides the crib set I bought would not have fit. So, we were back to having to order from the PX. It's possible the order may not come in before she's born, but it should be around that time at least.
We also bought a rocking chair/recliner at the PX. I've never been impressed with the selection they have there - they seem to like alot of powder blue and mauve furniture. Anyhow, I really want to have a chair for the nursery and yesterday they actually had a pretty comfortable beige chair. We decided to just get that one because our only other option was to order one in and we knew that would take awhile to receive. We bought a crib mattress too. It's fun getting things ready for the baby.
Tomorrow is a federal holiday and Sam would normally have the day off, but he's been told he has to come in for at least part of the day. In the morning we're going to (hopefully) meet with our building contractor, Hammerle. All three of us in this row of townhouses has had problems that have not been resolved since we moved in. Unfortunately the contractor seems to have forgotten us after he made the sale. We just have a few things that still need to be fixed. 11 months later we're still waiting for the painter to return to finish the stairwell. Also, our floor heating is not working properly. Some areas are very hot while others are cold. Nothing major, but just things that we need to get fixed and we've been trying to contact Hammerle for months and he hasn't responded. He's supposed to be at the neighbors at 8:30 in the morning, so we're all going to go meet with him at that time.
While Sam's at work tomorrow I hope to get started on painting the nursery. It won't really take that long once I get started on it, but haven't had the energy to do it until now. I'm looking forward to having the nursery finished so we can start hanging up the little clothes and putting the room together. Obviously, the nursery is for the parents because I really don't think our little baby will care if she's sleeping in a beautiful room or a cardboard box, but we're having fun with it.
Well, that's about it for now. I haven't had many profile pictures taken so far, but this morning Sam took some before we heading out to church. I guess at 7 months, it's kind of hard to hide the belly anymore. Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures Sam took this morning. By the way - it's so weird to see pictures of a pregnant me. I guess I'm still not used to the idea.
28 weeks pregnant
Friday, February 13, 2009
Belated Happy Birthday
I completely missed posting a Happy Birthday to my sweetheart this year. Physically, I was feeling so bad that I wasn't able to do what I wanted to celebrate Sam turning 40 on Sunday. I think he looks great even though I like to tease him and say I married an old man. We had planned for him to go skiing last weekend with some friends from work. Afterward they were going to come by the house for dinner and a party, but none of that worked out. I was just in too much pain to get it together.I felt so bad for Sam on Sunday. I was feeling so sick that we didn't even go to church. Later he wanted to get out of the house and go for a drive, so we went down toward Leonberg. They were having a fest of some sort that I know he would have liked to go to, but again I was feeling so bad I just couldn't. Later that evening we had cake and he opened his gifts.
I want to say how thankful I am for my husband. He's the perfect man for me - even if we do drive each other crazy sometimes. He has such a great outlook on life and makes life with him fun and exciting. He's so sweet to me through all of my ups and downs. I love him even more as time goes by. Sometimes I think back to when we first met and how I figured I'd never see him again after the training we were both at. It just tickles me that I'm married to the guy I connected to during that week. I never could have predicted the way we ended up together, but I am so thankful to be married to him. He's my best friend and I feel privileged to be his wife.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thankful
I just wanted to give an update on my health for those of you who have been praying for me. I am so thankful to say that as of yesterday I believe I am on the mend.
Sunday evening I didn't have quite as much pain in my lower stomach, so I decided to postpone calling the Urologist until Tuesday. That wasn't such a great idea since the pain seemed to get worse throughout that day. On Tuesday morning Sam called the Urologist I saw on Friday, Dr. Schafer. He called the Sindelfingen hospital to set up an appointment for me to return to them. (Sindelfingen hospital is who put the stent in, so I had to return to them, but Dr. Schafer wanted to call the Chief of Urology there to discuss my situation and to tell him that my last experience there was really bad). I really like Dr. Schafer. He even called Sam back yesterday after the appointment to check up on me.
My appointment was set for yesterday morning at 8:00. I was hoping to get a different urologist since the one who put the stent in is who I was unhappy with last time, however, it ended up being the same people.
I get very frustrated with many of the German doctors because they don't seem to think that the patient needs to be told anything of their health. They don't like to be questioned and just expect you to accept what they say. From what I've heard the Germans go along with that, but I do my own research and want to know what my options are and be involved with the decisions that affect my health. I guess he didn't think I needed to know last time I was there, but the cause of all my pain and problems with the stent was caused because he couldn't get the larger (softer) stent into my ureter (tube that runs from the bladder to the kidney), so he used a smaller, but stiffer stent. Also, they had to create a pigtail curl at the end in my bladder, but due to the problems I had early on that was cut off and so all that time, the stent has been poking my bladder, causing all that pain. Needless to say I was rather upset that they couldn't have just been honest with me from the beginning. Also, if I hadn't been pushy about finding an answer to my pain I think they would have just let me continue like that for the next 3 months. I have to say that my experience with German doctors has not been very good so far. There were other situations that I won't mention on this blog, but I was to the point of wanting to pack up and head home until after the baby was born.
Anyhow, back to yesterday. After hearing that the pain was probably due to the stiffer stent used, I asked him to change it out. The Urologist didn't seem to like that idea, but I told him it was either that or he could take it out completely because I could not handle the pain I've been in for any longer. He finally said he would try to use the larger, softer stent. I absolutely hated to have the procedure done again, but that was my only option. What makes it even harder here is I don't understand German, so I have no idea where they are in the procedure and the doctor sees no reason to update me along the way. It was very painful, but he said he was able to get the softer stent in this time. I wasn't sure if that was my answer, but was sure praying it was.
Leaving there I was still in lots of pain, so I just came home and laid down for most of the day. I was hesitant to believe it could be better because I had been in such pain for over a week, but as the day went on it seemed to be getting better. By the time I went to bed last night I was feeling so good. It was such a relief to not feel constant pain. It's hard to appreciate health when you have it, but I am so thankful to be on the mend. I still have a little pain, but I believe it's going to be better. I still can't believe the doctor would have just let me continue like I was if I hadn't pushed for an answer. I was really feeling hopeless about the situation, but thank God there was an answer. I know my family and friends back home were praying for me and I so appreciate that. It's definitely an answer to prayer. I feel like a load has been lifted and I can get on with my life again. I can get things done in preparation for the baby and can enjoy all her kicks again. Which, by the way, constantly amaze me. She moves so much and has the hardest little kicks. At times it almost feels like she's rolling around. At one point it felt like she was jumping in there. It's just amazing to me to see my stomach moving from her. What a miracle!
Well, I better get myself moving. I have another appointment with Dr. Van de Castel today. I always look forward to those appointments. Whether I'm hooked up to the fetal monitor or having an ultrasound it's nice to see or hear the baby. We got about 2 1/2 inches of snow overnight. It's beautiful, but Sam said the roads are pretty bad, so I need to leave a little early.
Sunday evening I didn't have quite as much pain in my lower stomach, so I decided to postpone calling the Urologist until Tuesday. That wasn't such a great idea since the pain seemed to get worse throughout that day. On Tuesday morning Sam called the Urologist I saw on Friday, Dr. Schafer. He called the Sindelfingen hospital to set up an appointment for me to return to them. (Sindelfingen hospital is who put the stent in, so I had to return to them, but Dr. Schafer wanted to call the Chief of Urology there to discuss my situation and to tell him that my last experience there was really bad). I really like Dr. Schafer. He even called Sam back yesterday after the appointment to check up on me.
My appointment was set for yesterday morning at 8:00. I was hoping to get a different urologist since the one who put the stent in is who I was unhappy with last time, however, it ended up being the same people.
I get very frustrated with many of the German doctors because they don't seem to think that the patient needs to be told anything of their health. They don't like to be questioned and just expect you to accept what they say. From what I've heard the Germans go along with that, but I do my own research and want to know what my options are and be involved with the decisions that affect my health. I guess he didn't think I needed to know last time I was there, but the cause of all my pain and problems with the stent was caused because he couldn't get the larger (softer) stent into my ureter (tube that runs from the bladder to the kidney), so he used a smaller, but stiffer stent. Also, they had to create a pigtail curl at the end in my bladder, but due to the problems I had early on that was cut off and so all that time, the stent has been poking my bladder, causing all that pain. Needless to say I was rather upset that they couldn't have just been honest with me from the beginning. Also, if I hadn't been pushy about finding an answer to my pain I think they would have just let me continue like that for the next 3 months. I have to say that my experience with German doctors has not been very good so far. There were other situations that I won't mention on this blog, but I was to the point of wanting to pack up and head home until after the baby was born.
Anyhow, back to yesterday. After hearing that the pain was probably due to the stiffer stent used, I asked him to change it out. The Urologist didn't seem to like that idea, but I told him it was either that or he could take it out completely because I could not handle the pain I've been in for any longer. He finally said he would try to use the larger, softer stent. I absolutely hated to have the procedure done again, but that was my only option. What makes it even harder here is I don't understand German, so I have no idea where they are in the procedure and the doctor sees no reason to update me along the way. It was very painful, but he said he was able to get the softer stent in this time. I wasn't sure if that was my answer, but was sure praying it was.
Leaving there I was still in lots of pain, so I just came home and laid down for most of the day. I was hesitant to believe it could be better because I had been in such pain for over a week, but as the day went on it seemed to be getting better. By the time I went to bed last night I was feeling so good. It was such a relief to not feel constant pain. It's hard to appreciate health when you have it, but I am so thankful to be on the mend. I still have a little pain, but I believe it's going to be better. I still can't believe the doctor would have just let me continue like I was if I hadn't pushed for an answer. I was really feeling hopeless about the situation, but thank God there was an answer. I know my family and friends back home were praying for me and I so appreciate that. It's definitely an answer to prayer. I feel like a load has been lifted and I can get on with my life again. I can get things done in preparation for the baby and can enjoy all her kicks again. Which, by the way, constantly amaze me. She moves so much and has the hardest little kicks. At times it almost feels like she's rolling around. At one point it felt like she was jumping in there. It's just amazing to me to see my stomach moving from her. What a miracle!
Well, I better get myself moving. I have another appointment with Dr. Van de Castel today. I always look forward to those appointments. Whether I'm hooked up to the fetal monitor or having an ultrasound it's nice to see or hear the baby. We got about 2 1/2 inches of snow overnight. It's beautiful, but Sam said the roads are pretty bad, so I need to leave a little early.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Health update
It's Friday evening and I had hoped to be feeling much better. Unfortunately, I'm still in pain. We went to my doctor appointment this morning. Considering what I've been through this week all she wanted to do was to monitor the baby and make sure she's doing fine. Thankfully, she's great. I love laying there listening to her little heart beat and hear/feel her kicking. I think she must feel the monitor on my belly because she kicks right where it is. It's pretty cute.
I told my doctor about the pain I'm still having from the stent that was put in on Tuesday. She agreed that it wasn't normal to be in so much pain. After telling her about my bad experience at the Urologist the other day, she said she would call another one that she knows. She was able to get us in to see him at 10:00.
The good news is that I really liked this new urologist. He was very kind and compassionate about the pain I'm dealing with. The bad news is he couldn't do much for me. He said that, unfortunately, some people just have pain from the stent, but it must be left in or the kidney will get blocked again. I guess the way the baby is laying is what's causing this problem. They say this is common during pregnancy, but I've never heard of it. There could be an underlying problem such as a kidney stone, but they can't check into that until after the baby is born. He did an ultrasound on the kidney and bladder to make sure the stent was in place and it was, so there is nothing he can do at this point. We agreed for me to wait until Monday and see how I feel at that time. If I'm still in pain, I'll call him back and he'll set up an appointment for me to return to the Urology clinic that put the stent in. (Oh...joy!)
Needless to say I feel pretty discouraged about the prospect of dealing with this pain for the next 3 months. It's just constant, no matter what I do. It doesn't seem normal to me that there's nothing they can do to help. Anyhow, I would so appreciate your prayers.
I told my doctor about the pain I'm still having from the stent that was put in on Tuesday. She agreed that it wasn't normal to be in so much pain. After telling her about my bad experience at the Urologist the other day, she said she would call another one that she knows. She was able to get us in to see him at 10:00.
The good news is that I really liked this new urologist. He was very kind and compassionate about the pain I'm dealing with. The bad news is he couldn't do much for me. He said that, unfortunately, some people just have pain from the stent, but it must be left in or the kidney will get blocked again. I guess the way the baby is laying is what's causing this problem. They say this is common during pregnancy, but I've never heard of it. There could be an underlying problem such as a kidney stone, but they can't check into that until after the baby is born. He did an ultrasound on the kidney and bladder to make sure the stent was in place and it was, so there is nothing he can do at this point. We agreed for me to wait until Monday and see how I feel at that time. If I'm still in pain, I'll call him back and he'll set up an appointment for me to return to the Urology clinic that put the stent in. (Oh...joy!)
Needless to say I feel pretty discouraged about the prospect of dealing with this pain for the next 3 months. It's just constant, no matter what I do. It doesn't seem normal to me that there's nothing they can do to help. Anyhow, I would so appreciate your prayers.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
An unexpected hospital stay
It's been a rather draining week so far. I'm finally home from the hospital after being in and out of there since Monday. It's been a tough few days, but I'm very thankful to be home. I'm feeling quite a bit better, but I still have some concerns and will probably have to make another appointment with Urology. I have my regular appointment with my doctor tomorrow (Friday) morning, so we'll see what she says. With the language barrier it's been hard to know for sure what's going on with me, but after doing some research online I think it's called Hydronephrosis of Pregnancy. Basically it's a blockage in the kidney.
It all started Monday afternoon. We were up so late Sunday night with Super Bowl that we didn't get up until 11:00 on Monday. As Sam was leaving for work a little after 12:00 I mentioned that I wasn't feeling very good. I just thought my stomach was a bit upset and didn't think much of it. Throughout the day I was feeling worse, so I laid down on the couch. When I woke up a little later I felt much worse. I had a burning discomfort in my lower stomach and my back was killing me (it had been hurting for several weeks now). I thought it was probably a urinary tract infection (even though I'd never had one), but it just kept getting worse.
I took a shower to see if that would relieve the back pain. Finally around 5:00 I couldn't hold out any longer and called the doctor. She could see me at 6:30. I drove to where Sam was working and we went from there. I was in so much pain that I could barely talk though it. When we got to the doctor's office their first concern was that I might be having contractions, which I was pretty sure wasn't the case, but they hooked me up to a fetal monitor just to rule that out. It was excruciating to sit for the 30 minutes they monitored the baby, but at one point I couldn't help but smile because she's so active and kept kicking the monitor. It was funny because Sam could finally see how active she is too. He could hear every kick.
After monitoring the baby, Dr. Van de Castel did an ultrasound just to make sure the baby looked good and I told her I was hurting badly in my right kidney area. Looking at it with the ultrasound she could tell there was a blockage. She called it a stau (German for a backup - like a traffic stau). She wanted to admit me to the hospital overnight which I was not excited about. I was still under the impression that I just needed antibiotics and pain reliever. On the way home, Sam ran into the Apotheke (German pharmacy) to get the medicine. I took a pain pill right away. Thankfully, by the time we were getting home to pack for the hospital I was feeling much better. It felt so good not to hurt - it's something we truly take for granted.
After checking into the hospital, they hooked me up to another fetal monitor. During that time the pain started coming back. I don't usually have a hard time with needles, but the IV they put in my hand really hurt...and I had to leave it in all night. Just another miserable aspect of being in the hospital. At some point I told them I was having a lot of pain in my back again, so they gave me this herbal pain reliever through the IV. It did nothing to help the pain and I was finally in tears when I told them I needed something stronger.
I was checked into a double room (another American girl came in around 2:00am). Sam couldn't stay with me because there was going to be someone else in the room too. I had a long, miserable, painful night. The pain kept coming back every 2 hours after taking medication. The only nurse they had working the ward did not speak English, so it was hard to communicate. I tried to tell her I was in a lot of pain, but she would just look at me and smile. That wasn't much comfort when I was in so much pain. She hooked me up with another bottle of the herbal pain reliever. Of course, it didn't work. Finally, an hour later she brought in a midwife that spoke English. I was crying again from the pain and told her I needed real medication, not the herbal remedy I was hooked up to. This continued through the night. The other girl sharing the room was in there for a bad cold. We ended up talking several hours through the night. It helped to pass some of the time.
Sam came back around 7:00 the next morning. Dr. Weiss (the chief of OB/GYN at the hospital) made his rounds at 7:30 and said he wanted to send me to another hospital so I could be checked by Urology. Sam drove me there even though they wanted to take me in an ambulance. I was really sick and hurting again by the time we got there. The appointment at urology was absolutely miserable. They decided to put a Ureteral Stent (what they called a catheter) in from the blocked kidney to the bladder. That, on top of feeling so bad, was almost more than I could take.
The only good thing from that appointment was I guess it did what it was suppose to do since my kidney was able to drain and I didn't have that severe pain anymore. When we left there I told Sam to just take me home. I knew we had to go back to the hospital later to get signed out, but I just wanted to be home at that point. I crashed on the couch and slept awhile then later that afternoon we headed back to the hospital.
I won't go into detail here, but by the time I got back to the hospital I was having some problems with the stent. They tried to fix it there, but I'm still having a lot of pain in my stomach, which is why I will probably have to go back to Urology. Seriously, I've never been more tired of being poked and prodded. I feel like you lose all dignity in the German hospitals and you just become a body - not an individual who is in pain. I felt that especially at Urology. I didn't feel like they were professional or caring in any sense of the word. They were laughing and joking all through the procedure and I was in so much pain. It was a very frustrating experience.
Anyhow, when we went back to the hospital that afternoon, I was determined not to spend another night there. I felt like the longer I was in the hospital, the worse I got. Dr. Weiss wanted me to get a couple of cortisone shots in case I went into pre-term labor. I had never heard of that, but they say it helps the baby's lungs to develop in case of early delivery. I thought it was a little dramatic to be talking pre-term labor at that point, but the doctor said because I have an infection in my body that it could cause contractions. Sam and I discussed this and didn't feel entirely comfortable with it, but in the end decided to trust the doctor. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor again that evening to make sure she was still doing alright. I told them I was signing myself out of the hospital that evening and just like I expected, they really put up a fight. We promised to be back at 7:00 the next morning and finally were able to head home around 8:30.
It felt so good to be home. I was still in pain, so I took 2 pain pills before going to bed. I slept better than I had in a long time.
Wednesday morning we had to be back at the hospital by 7:00 (since we promised the nurse). Dr. Weiss came around at 7:30 and I told him I felt good and he said I could leave after they finished the paperwork. I talked to him about the cortisone shots and voiced my concerns. Some doctors seem to get very offended when you question their recommendations, however, I was pleased that he heard me out and in the end said it was my choice, but that he thought the pros outweighed the cons in this situation. (In the end we decided to go ahead with the second shot, so we went back last night for that.)
We're learning that when the Germans give you a time frame of when to expect something that we need to add on another hour or two. The paperwork was suppose to be finished around 8:30, but we didn't get called until much later. Even at that point we were called to Delivery to have the baby monitored again. Sam couldn't stay because he had a meeting at 10:00. I was a little concerned about the baby yesterday because she didn't move most of the day. I'm used to feeling her all day now and when I don't it concerns me. I was thankful to hear her little heart pounding away while hooked up to the fetal monitor even though she didn't move much. I think the medicine I took the night before must have knocked her out for the day.
That's been a difficult aspect of this hospital experience. Throughout the pregnancy I have tried my best not to take any medication because I didn't want to put anything in me that could harm the baby. Well, the last couple of days that has been thrown out the window. I'm on penicillin and had lots of pain medication there for a couple of days. It was so good to feel her start moving around last night. She's been a busy little girl all of today as well. It feels so good to feel her moving again.
So, as of today I'm still hurting in my lower belly and am afraid I'll have to go back to Urology. We have an appointment with Dr. Van de Castel tomorrow morning. I'll tell her what's still going on and get her opinion. She'll probably send me back to Urology. I just hope it's not as bad as last time. I'm really hoping to get feeling much better soon. Sam got everything emptied out of the nursery over the weekend, but I haven't been able to do anything yet. I have so much to do, but just don't feel healthy enough to attack it all yet. My main concern is the baby and I have to make sure I don't do something to jeopardize her health. We need her to stay put for another 12-13 weeks. Anyhow, that's about it for now. Hopefully tomorrow after our appointment I'll be feeling much better.
It all started Monday afternoon. We were up so late Sunday night with Super Bowl that we didn't get up until 11:00 on Monday. As Sam was leaving for work a little after 12:00 I mentioned that I wasn't feeling very good. I just thought my stomach was a bit upset and didn't think much of it. Throughout the day I was feeling worse, so I laid down on the couch. When I woke up a little later I felt much worse. I had a burning discomfort in my lower stomach and my back was killing me (it had been hurting for several weeks now). I thought it was probably a urinary tract infection (even though I'd never had one), but it just kept getting worse.
I took a shower to see if that would relieve the back pain. Finally around 5:00 I couldn't hold out any longer and called the doctor. She could see me at 6:30. I drove to where Sam was working and we went from there. I was in so much pain that I could barely talk though it. When we got to the doctor's office their first concern was that I might be having contractions, which I was pretty sure wasn't the case, but they hooked me up to a fetal monitor just to rule that out. It was excruciating to sit for the 30 minutes they monitored the baby, but at one point I couldn't help but smile because she's so active and kept kicking the monitor. It was funny because Sam could finally see how active she is too. He could hear every kick.
After monitoring the baby, Dr. Van de Castel did an ultrasound just to make sure the baby looked good and I told her I was hurting badly in my right kidney area. Looking at it with the ultrasound she could tell there was a blockage. She called it a stau (German for a backup - like a traffic stau). She wanted to admit me to the hospital overnight which I was not excited about. I was still under the impression that I just needed antibiotics and pain reliever. On the way home, Sam ran into the Apotheke (German pharmacy) to get the medicine. I took a pain pill right away. Thankfully, by the time we were getting home to pack for the hospital I was feeling much better. It felt so good not to hurt - it's something we truly take for granted.
After checking into the hospital, they hooked me up to another fetal monitor. During that time the pain started coming back. I don't usually have a hard time with needles, but the IV they put in my hand really hurt...and I had to leave it in all night. Just another miserable aspect of being in the hospital. At some point I told them I was having a lot of pain in my back again, so they gave me this herbal pain reliever through the IV. It did nothing to help the pain and I was finally in tears when I told them I needed something stronger.
I was checked into a double room (another American girl came in around 2:00am). Sam couldn't stay with me because there was going to be someone else in the room too. I had a long, miserable, painful night. The pain kept coming back every 2 hours after taking medication. The only nurse they had working the ward did not speak English, so it was hard to communicate. I tried to tell her I was in a lot of pain, but she would just look at me and smile. That wasn't much comfort when I was in so much pain. She hooked me up with another bottle of the herbal pain reliever. Of course, it didn't work. Finally, an hour later she brought in a midwife that spoke English. I was crying again from the pain and told her I needed real medication, not the herbal remedy I was hooked up to. This continued through the night. The other girl sharing the room was in there for a bad cold. We ended up talking several hours through the night. It helped to pass some of the time.
Sam came back around 7:00 the next morning. Dr. Weiss (the chief of OB/GYN at the hospital) made his rounds at 7:30 and said he wanted to send me to another hospital so I could be checked by Urology. Sam drove me there even though they wanted to take me in an ambulance. I was really sick and hurting again by the time we got there. The appointment at urology was absolutely miserable. They decided to put a Ureteral Stent (what they called a catheter) in from the blocked kidney to the bladder. That, on top of feeling so bad, was almost more than I could take.
The only good thing from that appointment was I guess it did what it was suppose to do since my kidney was able to drain and I didn't have that severe pain anymore. When we left there I told Sam to just take me home. I knew we had to go back to the hospital later to get signed out, but I just wanted to be home at that point. I crashed on the couch and slept awhile then later that afternoon we headed back to the hospital.
I won't go into detail here, but by the time I got back to the hospital I was having some problems with the stent. They tried to fix it there, but I'm still having a lot of pain in my stomach, which is why I will probably have to go back to Urology. Seriously, I've never been more tired of being poked and prodded. I feel like you lose all dignity in the German hospitals and you just become a body - not an individual who is in pain. I felt that especially at Urology. I didn't feel like they were professional or caring in any sense of the word. They were laughing and joking all through the procedure and I was in so much pain. It was a very frustrating experience.
Anyhow, when we went back to the hospital that afternoon, I was determined not to spend another night there. I felt like the longer I was in the hospital, the worse I got. Dr. Weiss wanted me to get a couple of cortisone shots in case I went into pre-term labor. I had never heard of that, but they say it helps the baby's lungs to develop in case of early delivery. I thought it was a little dramatic to be talking pre-term labor at that point, but the doctor said because I have an infection in my body that it could cause contractions. Sam and I discussed this and didn't feel entirely comfortable with it, but in the end decided to trust the doctor. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor again that evening to make sure she was still doing alright. I told them I was signing myself out of the hospital that evening and just like I expected, they really put up a fight. We promised to be back at 7:00 the next morning and finally were able to head home around 8:30.
It felt so good to be home. I was still in pain, so I took 2 pain pills before going to bed. I slept better than I had in a long time.
Wednesday morning we had to be back at the hospital by 7:00 (since we promised the nurse). Dr. Weiss came around at 7:30 and I told him I felt good and he said I could leave after they finished the paperwork. I talked to him about the cortisone shots and voiced my concerns. Some doctors seem to get very offended when you question their recommendations, however, I was pleased that he heard me out and in the end said it was my choice, but that he thought the pros outweighed the cons in this situation. (In the end we decided to go ahead with the second shot, so we went back last night for that.)
We're learning that when the Germans give you a time frame of when to expect something that we need to add on another hour or two. The paperwork was suppose to be finished around 8:30, but we didn't get called until much later. Even at that point we were called to Delivery to have the baby monitored again. Sam couldn't stay because he had a meeting at 10:00. I was a little concerned about the baby yesterday because she didn't move most of the day. I'm used to feeling her all day now and when I don't it concerns me. I was thankful to hear her little heart pounding away while hooked up to the fetal monitor even though she didn't move much. I think the medicine I took the night before must have knocked her out for the day.
That's been a difficult aspect of this hospital experience. Throughout the pregnancy I have tried my best not to take any medication because I didn't want to put anything in me that could harm the baby. Well, the last couple of days that has been thrown out the window. I'm on penicillin and had lots of pain medication there for a couple of days. It was so good to feel her start moving around last night. She's been a busy little girl all of today as well. It feels so good to feel her moving again.
So, as of today I'm still hurting in my lower belly and am afraid I'll have to go back to Urology. We have an appointment with Dr. Van de Castel tomorrow morning. I'll tell her what's still going on and get her opinion. She'll probably send me back to Urology. I just hope it's not as bad as last time. I'm really hoping to get feeling much better soon. Sam got everything emptied out of the nursery over the weekend, but I haven't been able to do anything yet. I have so much to do, but just don't feel healthy enough to attack it all yet. My main concern is the baby and I have to make sure I don't do something to jeopardize her health. We need her to stay put for another 12-13 weeks. Anyhow, that's about it for now. Hopefully tomorrow after our appointment I'll be feeling much better.
Monday, February 02, 2009
What we've been up to
Last Wednesday I finally attended my first Pregnancy Support Group at Panzer, which was a huge step for me since I don't usually venture out on my own, especially to attend a group meeting. BUT....I really enjoyed it. What spurred me into going this particular time was that they were going to have several ladies there who had recently given birth at the German hospitals - two who gave birth at Böblingen where I will be. I thought it would be a great opportunity to hear first-hand what it was like.
I would have liked to hear more and ask more questions, but even so I found out some helpful information. There are two main hospitals that the Americans usually deliver at. One is Robert Bosch and the other is Böblingen . Robert Bosch is probably about 30-40 minutes away from us, which made our decision easy seeing how Böblingen hospital is jut 5-10 minutes away. The ladies who were at Böblingen said the staff all spoke English and being Americans with private insurance they felt they got more attention than the average German patient. One lady said she wouldn't want to give birth in America after having a baby here. That sounded positive.
Friday morning I finally went to the gym with Sam, but I felt rather defeated. I hadn't slept well that night due to back pain, so I wasn't feeling the best even before going. I did cardio and wanted to do some weights, but standing in the weight room I didn't know where to start. Prior to pregnancy I knew what my routine would be, but now I'm so restricted on what I can do....especially with having so much back pain. Anyhow, I'm trying not to feel too discouraged about it and want to go back next week. Hopefully I'll get into a routine that works for my pregnant self.
Gabby gave me a scare Friday afternoon. She came running downstairs acting funny. When I looked over at her, I noticed she had foam pouring out of her mouth. She was running around acting crazy and dripping foam everywhere. Immediately I wondered what she had gotten into. I ran upstairs and noticed one of my pills was laying on the floor with bite marks in it. It had been in my jeans pocket because I planned to take it at lunch, but forgot. It must have dropped out of the pocket when I changed after getting home. I didn't know what to do, but soaked a towel with water and tried to wipe out her mouth. I tried to call the Panzer vet clinic, but they were closed and I didn't know any German clinics to call. When I called Sam, he suggested I call the vet clinic back in Alaska. (I married such a smart man :) I called them and they said I should rinse her mouth out and try to give her fluids, but otherwise she would be fine. What a relief! I was so scared, but I think she was just foaming from getting the medicine on her tongue. Thankfully, she didn't swallow the pill. That probably would have been much worse.
I am constantly in awe of how much this baby moves. Sometimes it seems like she never takes a break. I love it though. It's wonderful to feel her moving around. Knowing she's in there for such a short time makes me enjoy it even more. I could do without the back and sciatic nerve pain, but otherwise I really enjoy being pregnant. It's a miracle to have a baby growing inside of me. Saturday night we were in bed and the baby was moving so much that I looked at my belly and I could see the little kicks. Sam was able to see her kicking too. That was pretty neat. Since then I've been able to see her kicking a lot.
Sam and I are signed up for several childbirth classes in April. I think they'll be really good. I'm glad Sam's so willing to go to them with me. I think it's important for him to be involved in what he can be. I won't make him go to the Breastfeeding Basics though :)
Sam invited several guys over tonight to watch the Super Bowl. He was all prepared for his "guy fest", but wouldn't you know none of them showed up. Poor guy. Rochelle was the only person to come so he ended up watching the game with two pregnant women. Not quite what he had in mind I don't think. He's been getting sick throughout this last week, so I don't think he minded not having a crowd here. Well, it's very late, so I better head to bed.
I would have liked to hear more and ask more questions, but even so I found out some helpful information. There are two main hospitals that the Americans usually deliver at. One is Robert Bosch and the other is Böblingen . Robert Bosch is probably about 30-40 minutes away from us, which made our decision easy seeing how Böblingen hospital is jut 5-10 minutes away. The ladies who were at Böblingen said the staff all spoke English and being Americans with private insurance they felt they got more attention than the average German patient. One lady said she wouldn't want to give birth in America after having a baby here. That sounded positive.
Friday morning I finally went to the gym with Sam, but I felt rather defeated. I hadn't slept well that night due to back pain, so I wasn't feeling the best even before going. I did cardio and wanted to do some weights, but standing in the weight room I didn't know where to start. Prior to pregnancy I knew what my routine would be, but now I'm so restricted on what I can do....especially with having so much back pain. Anyhow, I'm trying not to feel too discouraged about it and want to go back next week. Hopefully I'll get into a routine that works for my pregnant self.
Gabby gave me a scare Friday afternoon. She came running downstairs acting funny. When I looked over at her, I noticed she had foam pouring out of her mouth. She was running around acting crazy and dripping foam everywhere. Immediately I wondered what she had gotten into. I ran upstairs and noticed one of my pills was laying on the floor with bite marks in it. It had been in my jeans pocket because I planned to take it at lunch, but forgot. It must have dropped out of the pocket when I changed after getting home. I didn't know what to do, but soaked a towel with water and tried to wipe out her mouth. I tried to call the Panzer vet clinic, but they were closed and I didn't know any German clinics to call. When I called Sam, he suggested I call the vet clinic back in Alaska. (I married such a smart man :) I called them and they said I should rinse her mouth out and try to give her fluids, but otherwise she would be fine. What a relief! I was so scared, but I think she was just foaming from getting the medicine on her tongue. Thankfully, she didn't swallow the pill. That probably would have been much worse.
I am constantly in awe of how much this baby moves. Sometimes it seems like she never takes a break. I love it though. It's wonderful to feel her moving around. Knowing she's in there for such a short time makes me enjoy it even more. I could do without the back and sciatic nerve pain, but otherwise I really enjoy being pregnant. It's a miracle to have a baby growing inside of me. Saturday night we were in bed and the baby was moving so much that I looked at my belly and I could see the little kicks. Sam was able to see her kicking too. That was pretty neat. Since then I've been able to see her kicking a lot.
Sam and I are signed up for several childbirth classes in April. I think they'll be really good. I'm glad Sam's so willing to go to them with me. I think it's important for him to be involved in what he can be. I won't make him go to the Breastfeeding Basics though :)
Sam invited several guys over tonight to watch the Super Bowl. He was all prepared for his "guy fest", but wouldn't you know none of them showed up. Poor guy. Rochelle was the only person to come so he ended up watching the game with two pregnant women. Not quite what he had in mind I don't think. He's been getting sick throughout this last week, so I don't think he minded not having a crowd here. Well, it's very late, so I better head to bed.
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