Our Easter Sunday started off earlier than expected. I was awakened around 5 am with sharp, stabbing pains in my abdomen. After crying through the pain for a while, I woke Matt up and he filled the tub for me so I could try to relax through the pain in the tub. It worked pretty well and I was able to go back to bed. A couple hours later I woke up with the pains again. Strange enough, the pains were also a part of my dreams. I called the midwife on call this tie and she gave me some advice as to how to deal with the pains. We both agreed that it sounded like gas pain that just needed worked out.
Matt, Abby and I got ready for church and left. Thankfully, I was fine all through church, and thanks to our friend Debbie took over our duty in the nursery so we could go to the service and experience the Easter Sunday production. It was awesome. I am so grateful I went without pain during this time so I could enjoy the worship. (And thank you, Debbie!)
When we got home from church, Abby got to play with all the fun stuff in her Easter basket--bubbles, chocolate, etc. But just moments after we got home from church, the pain in my gut returned. From around 12:30 or so and through the rest of the night I was in excruciating pain. I could barely move. I only got off the couch maybe twice all day (to use the restroom). I tried different positions; I tried a heating pad (not too hot and only where the pain was); I tried a warm drink; I tried Tums, I tried so many different ways to get rid of the pain and nothing seemed to be working. By the time I went to bed Sunday evening I felt like it had only gotten worse, so I called the midwife again. She suggested I take some Tylenol and Benadryl and take a warm bath again until the Benadryl kicked in. The goal was to relax my body enough so I could get to sleep, hoping my relaxed muscles would help work out the gas.
As I laid there in bed after my bath, starting to feel sleepy from the Benadryl, I noticed more movement from Madison. I'd felt some movement in the tub, but I was having trouble coordinating the movements so my hand was in the right spot at the right time. While laying in bed, though, I finally felt a movement against my hand. I text Matt who was downstairs finishing up a show on TV. He came up and put his hand on my belly. It was amazing. Madison was moving so much and her movements were so strong. Matt was able to feel a number of them. What a JOY! It had been such a tough day and, though I was feeling the horrible, stabbing pains still, Madison's movements left a great memory for this Easter Sunday.
Matt finally wrapped up things downstairs, then came upstairs to bed. We laid there for a while watching TV hoping I'd find some sort of semi-comfortable position to try to sleep in, but I was unsuccessful. We discussed what to do and I decided it would be best to rule out any more serious problems. It was around 1:30 am when we decided to go ahead and go to the hospital. Thankfully, Abby had already been asleep for a few hours and she sleep for another hour or two at the hospital.
After I checked in, I was sent up to the OB department where they drew my blood, checked baby's heart rate, and monitored me for contractions. No contractions, baby's heart rate was good and she was still moving around. I talked with the doc and I was given a lovely GI cocktail to ease my 'gas'. The cocktail (made up of Maalox, Pepto, and one other medicine) was pretty nasty tasting and looked like a pasty white, glue-like substance. Because of the lydocaine in it my whole mouth went numb, all the way down my throat. It was great though--not the mouth numbness, but the calming feeling it had over my pain. I was able to readjust and drift off for a little bit. When the doc and nurses came back in, they said my potassium was really low but everything came back clear. The doc said she thought it was either acid reflux or something called GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) which causes a heartburn-like pain at the base of the esophagus. I was given potassium pills and released. We got home from the hospital around 5 am Monday morning. It had been a LONG Easter Sunday.
Regardless of the pain I dealt with all day, I was very grateful for the wonderful Easter Sunday worship at church and the awesome blessing of getting to share Madison's movements with Matt. Abby hasn't felt her move yet, but she will soon. Here are some pictures from our Easter morning. Despite my pains this Easter Sunday, Jesus has still risen and He is still alive. THIS is something to rejoice in always!
Blessings to all! Happy Easter!
