Well, the dizzy spells got the best of me on Tuesday afternoon. I actually passed out while walking the dogs (good timing, huh?). Luckily I recognized the feeling and sat down on the curb, got out my cell and called Kevin who just happened to be on his way home from work. I did my best to communicate my location to him and he stayed on the phone with me until he got there. I remember getting in the car using his voice commands since I could only see yellow spots. Next thing I knew I was in the house, so I'm guessing I blacked out on the way home.
Kevin treated me for my hypoglycemia with orange juice and a peanut butter sandwich, which had me feeling better within 10-15 min. He decided to call the OB just to see what we should do since I actually lost consciousness at some point. They advised us to go to the ER, just to make sure everything was okay with both the baby and myself. I really did not want to (I was confident it was just my blood sugar) but, boy am I glad we went!
At the hospital they hooked me to an EKG machine, took blood and insisted I provide a urine sample. It was later determined that I had a vasovagal reaction due to dehydration (they did not rule out that my blood sugar was part of the problem, since we had stabilized it at home they could not test my levels). I also have a UT infection to make matters even worse! According to my research dehydration, anxiety, and pain can trigger a vasovagal reaction and pregnant women are more vulnerable to it. Lightheadedness and warning signs such as a feeling of warmth, paleness, sweating, nausea, yawning, and hyperventilation often precede vasovagal syncope. These actions can prompt a vasovagal response (that is, an effect on your circulatory system by your vagus nerve) — a decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, leading to dizziness and fainting. (The word syncope means fainting.)
Guess I should have been more concerned with the dizzy spells I was having over the past few weeks! I am thinking there came a point in the pregnancy where my body needed more water and more sugars. So, I am literally walking around with a water bottle in hand and sipping on it ALL day long (torture for me, as I HATE water). In short, keeping my blood sugar stabilized over the past few weeks was just NOT enough.
My discharge paperwork said it was time for a slow down. Thus, I've spent the last few days in bed, drinking water, eating well and being sick to my stomach (my antibiotics make me so sick!). I've actually had to decrease the amount of antibiotics I was taking in a day, as I was experiencing terrible headaches, heart palpitations, nausea, vomiting and the feelings of a "head cold." Today I am doing much better (although I think the antibiotic brought out a cold I was "cooking" up, so I'm not quite 100% yet). I am hoping this will be my last day in bed... I am so looking forward to SLOWLY getting back to my normal routine tomorrow (I am hopeful my body has adjusted to the antibiotic--finally!).
Unfortunately, we had made plans to attend an awards banquet this week for the entire L.A. Recruiting Command. Kevin and I were pretty excited about it (we've missed every Navy ball and ceremony in the past due to deployments and TAD assignments) so this was really exciting for us. I encouraged Kevin to go but he felt uneasy about leaving me behind, under the circumstances. So he braved the fight with his boss, which did not go so well, but he ended up staying behind. I am hoping it won't have detrimental effects on him at work. Unfortunately, we've learned that recruiting is a completely different field, with completely different people in it. We're not quite used to it, at every other command family ranks right up there with your obligations to the Navy. If the service member is home during an emergency or family problem, then they give you time (and support you/your family) while you tend to the issue. If the service member is not home, someone from the command tends to your family while you're away. This command is definitely different, which puts Kevin in a rock and a hard place (and makes me feel terrible for being the "cause" of the problem).
Anyways, in better news I ordered a fetal heart doppler and it arrived yesterday. Kevin and I used it twice and got Baby F's heartbeat both times. We tried to record it with the cable that was provided, but the result is a lot of static. So, we're still trying to figure out a way to get a good recording to share with everyone! In the hospital, Baby F had a heart rate of 128 and last night we calculated it at 130 or so. So, who believes in the following myth? "A normal fetal heart rate is between 120 and 160 beats per minute (bpm), although some people think if it's faster (usually above the 140 bpm range) it's a girl and if it's slower it's a boy." I've felt from Day 1 that it is a boy, guess we'll see here soon....
Next appointment is Monday and we're thinking they will set us up with an appointment for determining gender on/around that day. So we should know the gender within the next few weeks (if our little peanut cooperates)... stay tuned!!!
Kevin treated me for my hypoglycemia with orange juice and a peanut butter sandwich, which had me feeling better within 10-15 min. He decided to call the OB just to see what we should do since I actually lost consciousness at some point. They advised us to go to the ER, just to make sure everything was okay with both the baby and myself. I really did not want to (I was confident it was just my blood sugar) but, boy am I glad we went!
At the hospital they hooked me to an EKG machine, took blood and insisted I provide a urine sample. It was later determined that I had a vasovagal reaction due to dehydration (they did not rule out that my blood sugar was part of the problem, since we had stabilized it at home they could not test my levels). I also have a UT infection to make matters even worse! According to my research dehydration, anxiety, and pain can trigger a vasovagal reaction and pregnant women are more vulnerable to it. Lightheadedness and warning signs such as a feeling of warmth, paleness, sweating, nausea, yawning, and hyperventilation often precede vasovagal syncope. These actions can prompt a vasovagal response (that is, an effect on your circulatory system by your vagus nerve) — a decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, leading to dizziness and fainting. (The word syncope means fainting.)
Guess I should have been more concerned with the dizzy spells I was having over the past few weeks! I am thinking there came a point in the pregnancy where my body needed more water and more sugars. So, I am literally walking around with a water bottle in hand and sipping on it ALL day long (torture for me, as I HATE water). In short, keeping my blood sugar stabilized over the past few weeks was just NOT enough.
My discharge paperwork said it was time for a slow down. Thus, I've spent the last few days in bed, drinking water, eating well and being sick to my stomach (my antibiotics make me so sick!). I've actually had to decrease the amount of antibiotics I was taking in a day, as I was experiencing terrible headaches, heart palpitations, nausea, vomiting and the feelings of a "head cold." Today I am doing much better (although I think the antibiotic brought out a cold I was "cooking" up, so I'm not quite 100% yet). I am hoping this will be my last day in bed... I am so looking forward to SLOWLY getting back to my normal routine tomorrow (I am hopeful my body has adjusted to the antibiotic--finally!).
Unfortunately, we had made plans to attend an awards banquet this week for the entire L.A. Recruiting Command. Kevin and I were pretty excited about it (we've missed every Navy ball and ceremony in the past due to deployments and TAD assignments) so this was really exciting for us. I encouraged Kevin to go but he felt uneasy about leaving me behind, under the circumstances. So he braved the fight with his boss, which did not go so well, but he ended up staying behind. I am hoping it won't have detrimental effects on him at work. Unfortunately, we've learned that recruiting is a completely different field, with completely different people in it. We're not quite used to it, at every other command family ranks right up there with your obligations to the Navy. If the service member is home during an emergency or family problem, then they give you time (and support you/your family) while you tend to the issue. If the service member is not home, someone from the command tends to your family while you're away. This command is definitely different, which puts Kevin in a rock and a hard place (and makes me feel terrible for being the "cause" of the problem).
Anyways, in better news I ordered a fetal heart doppler and it arrived yesterday. Kevin and I used it twice and got Baby F's heartbeat both times. We tried to record it with the cable that was provided, but the result is a lot of static. So, we're still trying to figure out a way to get a good recording to share with everyone! In the hospital, Baby F had a heart rate of 128 and last night we calculated it at 130 or so. So, who believes in the following myth? "A normal fetal heart rate is between 120 and 160 beats per minute (bpm), although some people think if it's faster (usually above the 140 bpm range) it's a girl and if it's slower it's a boy." I've felt from Day 1 that it is a boy, guess we'll see here soon....
Next appointment is Monday and we're thinking they will set us up with an appointment for determining gender on/around that day. So we should know the gender within the next few weeks (if our little peanut cooperates)... stay tuned!!!
Comments
Can't wait to hear whether we can buy blue or pink!