Hospital Visit: 04/26/01


	Hospital Visit: 04/26/01

On the morning of 4/26/01 around 4am, after my normal bathroom and Tums run, I started having cramps on the right side of my lower abdomen. They weren't severe and they weren't one right after another so I didn't think too much of them at that time. I kept feeling the cramps and didn't get to sleep much after they started. I finally got up around 8:15 am or so and they were still around so I took a shower and got dressed. After that I got on the internet and was talking to my Mom and she said that I should go see a Doc because something could be wrong with the baby. I had a class that day at 10, which means I have to leave the house around 9 am. My husband came in around 8:45 to get some microphones for the computer to use at work. I told him about the cramps before he left for work and he told me not to go to class if I was feeling bad. I told him when he came in later that morning and he said that maybe I should go and see a Doc. So, I told both him and my Mom that I would try to go to class and if they kept on, I would go to the hospital afterwards. In the car, the cramps got worse and moved up into the middle of my stomach. I definitely thought something was wrong so I went to the Hospital.

All of my Emergency care and my delivery is going to be done at Ben Taub Hospital. This hospital is a "general" hospital and people who have no insurance go there for treatment. The only reason I have to go to this hospital is because my husband's insurance doesn't cover pregnancies. It covers complications but not pregnancies...isn't that a bunch of BS? The only good thing about the insurance is that as soon as the baby is born, the insurance will pay for the baby....after we pay the first 250 of it..still BS. Since I am a disabled Vet, I can be seen at the Women's clinic at the VA hospital. The VA has a contract with Harris County and there are designated clinics and hospitals we get to go to...all very poor of course, but that is the gov't for you. When I first heard that I would be delivering at Ben Taub, I was very uneasy because I have never heard anything good about this hospital. That all changed when I went on 4/26/01.

I finally made my way to the Labor and Delivery floor and when I got out of the elevators, I walked down the hall and there was the baby nursery with tiny little babies all sleeping. It was so cute. Someone had told me that Ben Taub doesn't have the facilities for newborns and that when I delivered, the baby would be taken to another hospital. Apparently that person was wrong. The whole floor is dedicated to mothers and babies, which was a relief to me. When I have the baby, I plan to keep it with me or a family member at all times. Then I make it to the waiting area, I told the lady that I had had cramps since 4am (been going on for 6 hours now because it was 10 when I got there) and before I could even sit down, they called me in to the labor unit.

They asked all kinds of questions and did all kinds of things. First they did an ultrasound. I got to see the baby!!!! It was sooooooo big to me. As I said before, I didn't get to see the baby at the last Ultrasound because I thought I would let my Mom see it and I thought I was going to get a picture of the baby afterwards but I didn't. So, it was cool to see the baby again. When she was running the ultrasound wand over my belly, the baby lifted its hand...it was so cute. It was probably either saying "let me outta here" or "get that thing ut of my face." It was very cute though. The doc confirmed my die date of July 16 and said that everything looked fine as far as the Ultrasound is concerned. When they wheeled me back to my little cubby hole, they took blood, urine by catheter (OUCH!) and put me on a Fetal Heart Monitor for 20 min's. It was funny when the heartbeat was being monitored because after every squish (heartbeat sound) you would hear a scratch in the microphone and that was the baby kicking. The little thing kicked in the same spot, after every squish for the whole 20 min's. I don't think the baby likes things pushing on it. They had it wrapped around me pretty tight too. After that they did a vaginal exam (OUCH again!) and then I had to lay in bed until the results came in. When I went in, my pulse was 138, which concerned the doc. I told her that my regular doc did an EKG and saw that everything was ok. She said that she couldn't pull up the results so she ordered another one. I was in bed for about 4 1/2 hours waiting for all the test results and the EKG people to come in and do their thing. In the end, the doc said everything is normal and that it was probably something that I ate. I know what gas pains feel like and it wasn't that. The cramps still lasted for a couple of more hours and finally went away.

I was highly impressed with the way I was handled. I was taken in and seen right way and they did everything they could think of to make sure everything was normal and going well with the baby.

When I first went in there, there was a 15 yr. old who was already 40 weeks. Isn't that sad? Another girl, who was 16, came in after me and found out that she was 2 1/2 months pregnant and she took it as no big deal and joked about everything the doc's told her. These kids just don't know what they are in for. Maybe they have rich families and will be provided for but if they don't, I am sure they are in for a treat.

There was a woman who came in after me as well and she was in labor. She was so calm and in no pain whatsoever. She had already given birth to 2 or 3 babies before and she predicted that the baby would be there by 4 pm and it was 2 pm at the time. The thing that astonished me was that she had a C-Section with the last baby and said that she wants to go natural and have a vaginal birth. I always thought that once you have a c-section, you aren't supposed to have a vaginal birth. I head the docs explaining to her the risks involved and she had to sign some paperwork saying that she knows the risks. She also said that she wants her tubes tied after this one..she said "no more babies for me." I left before anything new happened with her but it thrilled me to see that she wasn't in any pain at all. I guess the fact that she had given birth 2-3 times before helped but still.

Well, that's how my day went in the hospital. I am glad that nothing was wrong and super glad that I went in because I got to see the baby again! The next update will be on May 4, 2001. I couldn't get an appt. around my school schedule for April so I had to make the appt. in May. I know...the baby is more important than class at this point but I have been doing so well and I don't think that I will miss out on my 5 min. appt with the doc this month.