I have been off week now since the 21st. This week has been quite the adventure. They decided to start a PICC line on Tuesday after my 2nd IV was on its way out. I went to my normal IV Center appt and told them I felt worse yesterday even with the IV Zophran (for nausea). Not sure if one had to do with the other or I was just having a crappy day. This led to a them calling Dr. P who told them to send me down to see them. I saw the nurse midwife and she and Dr. P decided to put in the PICC. A PICC is a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter.
The advantages of a PICC over IV is that it can be in for an extended period of time and I can be given nutrition through this. While the fluids help the fact that I am not eating or drinking is not good for me or the babies. It is to the point where I am keeping nothing down. Dr. P said the IV fluids keep me from getting dehydrated and gives me a little bit of sugar but I need to be getting some sort of nutrition and vitamins. It is an outpatient procedure where they feed a catheter from vein in the bend of my elbow all the way up my arm and the tip sits an inch or two from your heart (or the superior vena cava). It was surprisingly painless besides the poke in the arm. Well, that is until i got home and it felt like my heart was fluttering. I thought, well maybe this is normal. I laid down for about and hour and when I woke up it was worse. Back to the hospital I went where they pulled back on the catheter about 2 inches which relieved the fluttering. I tell, can I catch a break?They also set me up with a home health agency. I have a nurse that is going to come once a week. They set me up with my very own IV pole and Zophran pump. I stick this little catheter in my leg which is attached to a syringe in a pump that administers Zophran 24 hours a day. They are working on getting me TPN (Total Parental Nutrition) by Monday. TPN is what they give coma patients or post stomach or GI surgical patients that can't eat. It has all the nutrition you need.
I name for this lovely condition is "Hyperemesis Gravidarum". Basically is it uncontrollable throwing up during pregnancy. You can read more about here.
New Years Eve we decided to go to the Barzcak party despite how sick I have been and being attached to an IV pole 24 hours a day. I was the really cool one who had their very own IV pole at the party complete with a cocktail of fluids and Zophran. Do I know how to party or what? We had fun anyway and it was good to get out of the house. On the way home, however, I noticed that there was blood in my PICC line. I was also having pain in my upper right chest that was getting worse. When we got home I disconnected the line and called my home nurse. They told me to flush it which I tried but couldn't push it through. The blood had clotted already. So how did we spend the very earliest part of 2010? In the ER with all the drunks. It was actually pretty entertaining but a 5 hour trip to the ER in the middle of the night is never a good time. They couldn't find the source of the pain and said it was probably just irritation from he PICC. After a couple of tries they were able to clear the line of the clot and we got about about 6 am.
So, after more trips to the hospital than I have experienced in my whole life I am 12 weeks. Lets Take a look at that belly:
The babies are about the size of a lime, each about 3.5 inches long and weigh 1/2 an ounce.
No comments:
Post a Comment