What an ordeal!

So, it all started Monday morning while I was getting ready for work. I was standing at the bathroom counter drying my hair, when things started getting blurry on my left side. I went about my getting ready thinking it was just something that would pass but after a few minuets it was worse. I got Stratton up and situated on the couch with something to eat and drink and called Jarrod to come home. I called the Angels hotline at UAMS and talked to a nurse who instructed me to get to a hospital as soon as possible. Jarrod got home, we ran by and dropped Stratton off at school and went to the hospital. I started having some numbness in my left hand also and my head was slightly aching, but I chalked that up to sinuses. I was concerned it was preeclampsia. I had been on my feet a lot over the past weekend and started noticing more swelling in my feet, legs and a little in my hands over the last week.

My blood pressure was on the high side when I got there but after laying on my side and resting it went back down, and was never dangerously high. It just so happened that Dr. Layton, the ob/gyn that I have seen in the past, was the one on call. She knows my history so that was reassuring. She really thought it was just a spell brought on by an increase in blood pressure. She said that at this point even just standing in one place too long can spike bp enough to make me dizzy and lightheaded along with the other symptoms. She also told me to make sure I ate. (which I do, I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet at 7 am!) She let me go home with instructions to rest the rest of the day and drink lots of water. So that’s what I did.

I took a nap and watched some tv, pretty much was a bum all day. Then about 5 pm my left eye started doing the fuzzy/blurry thing. So I laid down and rested on my left side, while in the middle of this episode Jarrod and Stratton came home so Jarrod took my bp and it was ok. I started feeling better so I got up to sit and eat with the boys. About 5-10 minutes into sitting at the table I all the sudden got to where I couldn’t talk. It was the scariest feeling. I was trying to say something like “Stratton, wasn’t it nice of daddy to bring supper home tonight?” and only about every 3rd or 4th word would come out and it wasn’t the words I was intending to say. Jarrod had the strangest look on his face, really confused looking. And I just burst out into tears! I did manage to get out “I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”. Jarrod calmed me down and Stratton was asking a thousand questions of course but he was really sweet, and looked concerned. Jarrod called Dillon who rushed over to stay with Stratton and we headed back to the hospital. With this episode my left lip was numb and my left hand was numb and tingling. I was seriously worried I was having a stroke!

Jarrod checked me in, since I couldn’t really articulate what was going on with me and they quickly took us back to a triage room, hooked me up to the monitors and started checking my bp. Everything checked out and was fine. They came and drew blood, and then not too long after that Dr. Layton came back in. This time she thought my symptoms sounded more like a migraine. Since all my vitals seemed to be checking out, she couldn’t come up with any other reason why I would be having those symptoms. And of course by the time she got into see us, the speech impediment was all but gone and I was starting to feel like myself again. She said she wanted a neurologist to have a look at me. So they moved us to a real room while we waited for the neurologist. My mom and dad came to check on us.  It was probably 7:30-8pm by now. Jarrod ran home to take a shower and get some stuff (like our ipads) in the case that we had to stay the night. We called in and checked on Stratton and he was already taking a bath and Dillon went back over to our house and gathered up the stuff he needed for bedtime, since it looked like it would be late by the time we got out of there. By the time Jarrod got back I was having my doubts. Between 9:30 and 10pm the nurse came in and we asked her about the consult and she told us that more than likely if they hadn’t showed up by 9:30 they probably weren’t coming till in the morning. Great. So we were stuck. My mom and dad left a little before 10pm and I decided to take a shower and maybe being warm and clean would help me  be able to rest in those awful hospital beds. We did have a pretty restless night. Poor Jarrod tried to sleep on the chair that pulls out into a sleeper! Ouch! However the nurses and staff left us pretty much alone. They came in around midnight and then again about 5am. Not bad for a hospital! When the nurse came in around 6 she told us the Dr. was making rounds and would be around to see us soon, but he’d already seen my chart and thought everything looked ok, and they were going to discharge me around 8 am. I asked her about the neuro consult and she didn’t seem to be very positive that anyone was coming. She said they were extremely hard to get to come in, but for me to ask the Dr about it when he came by. Sure enough when the Dr came by he suggested that we just go home. He said that unless he has a patient stroking out right in front of him that it’s almost impossible to get a neurologist to come in. (Good to know!) He thought it would be in our best interest to go home, and if it happens again come back or take it up with my Dr at UAMS. He said there are so many things that these symptoms could be caused by, and while it could be anything from a migraine to a pinched nerve it might just be some weird fluke. He said some really weird stuff can happen when your pregnant that there is just no explanation for! I was really frustrated, but glad he was honest with us. Otherwise we might have waited all day long and who knows if they would have even showed up?! At least I was under observation all night and nothing happened, so maybe that’s a sign that this little spell, or episode or whatever is over or at least on its way to being over!

Tuesday we got home about 9am. Jarrod decided to stay home with me. Dillon had taken Stratton to daycare to keep him on his normal schedule. So Jarrod and I got something to eat and then we both crashed. I’m not sure when the last time was that I slept that hard! I think I got up around 11 am and Jarrod fixed us some sandwiches. Then the rest of the afternoon I did laundry and piddled around the house. Jarrod had a dr appt at 4pm so Brandye went to pick up Stratton and brought him home. He was mad because he wanted to stay at their house again! Brandye gave me what I hope is the last of my progesterone shots! Then Jarrod fixed us some dinner and we were all in bed pretty early! I did have another small spell last night around 8pm. But it went away pretty quickly. We went ahead and checked my bp just in case, but it was good. 

I did get word from my Doctor at UAMS. While she thinks it all sounds extremely rare and is concerned, she didn’t seem to think that I should rush to see a neurologist. I have an appointment with her next Tuesday, so I am guessing we will discuss it more then. She said if I had anymore issues to either go back to my local hospital or call the Angels Hotline. She said that they could arrange for me to see a neurologist at UAMS but she wasn’t sure how long it would take for me to get an appointment. At this point I almost feel like going back and forth to another Dr. in LR these last few weeks of pregnancy aren’t worth it. Especially if we do a bunch of testing, which come out inconclusive and then all my symptoms go away after childbirth anyway?! I think we will just play it by ear, at least till Tuesday and go from there. I do feel a little better since all this has happened a couple of people I know who have regular migraines said those symptoms are familiar to them and others that are in the medical field have said they also have seen these symptoms play out in migraines, even migraines without a headache? Weird, but not unheard of.

I didn’t sleep much at all last night. Probably from taking a nap yesterday? So I am so tired today! But so far things are ok. My eyesight is a little blurry and splotchy, and I’m a little lightheaded but overall I feel ok. I decided to come into work. I was already bored at home yesterday, and I think as long as I feel like it and am able I will try to work. And there is plenty for me to do at work still to keep me busy!  I’m not far from home if I need to go home, too.  Plus, I don’t need to sit at home with time to twiddle my hands and Google all my symptoms . . .