January 15, 2014

• A Regression :(

  I’ve been feeling pretty normal again aside from the lower back pain and the occasional nausea/vomiting. Yesterday I grabbed breakfast and headed to my salon. As I was doing some emails on my laptop, I suddenly felt my tummy ache. So I stopped to go to the bathroom but suddenly I felt REALLY dizzy for a second before I lost my sight. Everything was black and I thought to myself, “omg! I’m blind!” I reached out to feel to get a sense of where I was and instead I felt my head hit the shampoo sink. I must have been falling and didn’t realize it. I came to on the floor and felt super sweaty and lightheaded. I waited a few seconds until I felt more stable then I crawled for my cell phone. I called my husband at work and told him what happened and to come get me. Luckily he picked up because he normally doesn’t at work. Next, I texted my clients for the day and asked them to all reschedule, which they were all understanding of. I googled fainting while pregnant and while it’s not normal, it’s not uncommon at this stage as halfway through your blood pressure is at it’s lowest. I took off my shoes to help with circulation. Then I texted my neighboring stylists and told them what happened to just keep an eye on me while I waited for my husband. No one had seen me because the curtains for my salon was drawn.

  A stylist friend came into my salon and sat with me for about 15 minutes and Won showed up in record time. We work at least a 20 minutes drive from each other not to mention the time it takes to walk to the parking lots. We sat on the floor for another half an hour while we called out midwives to tell them what happened. They insisted I 1. go to my Regular physician or 2. go to the ER. They were adamant that I get seen the SAME DAY. So I called and couldn’t get in with my physician… but thinking back, if I knew what the ER was going to be like.. I probably would have BEGGED to be seen to save myself the time and money of going to the ER.

  So off to the ER we go, not even the closest one to work or the one closest to home, no we went to the farthest ER, which is the one we’re giving birth at because the Midwives insisted and Won was too worried to question anything at this point. So here we are in the ER. The staff looks tired and irritable, I’m sure with all the shit (literally) they deal with. But they were nice to us because 1. I was pregnant and 2. I had a nice engagement ring which they oohed and ahhed over. Even though I was a high priority for being pregnant, it was still over an hour before we got called in to get blood work, not even to see a doctor yet. The staff was nice enough to let us know we had time to go grab lunch somewhere before we would see the doctor.

  After lunch we waited another hour before we got called for our insurance information.  And then another hour before we got to go back into the ER treatment room. All that time we spent in the waiting room, the nurses told me to stay away from everyone else since a lot of people were there for the flu/fever. We also lots of drunk people, drug addicts (i’m sure), a hooker (or we thought she was one), and just generally really crazy people we were glad we weren’t sitting next to. I’ve actually never been to the ER in my life so this was all very new to me.

  The nurse led us to the ER and my eyes got wide, what a shit show… There were multiple people/beds in each of the rooms and all the doors were open so I could peek in. Then there were people laying on beds outside of rooms. And there was a nurses station with probably 10+ nurses are super busy. We got led to a single room in the back with only one bed. On our way into my room, we passed by a patient laying outside with like 5+ police officers surrounding him. Won got excited and kept trying to peek out at what was happening. Our nurse was super nice and I felt gave us a lot of privacy. So I changed and we waited another hour with an IV bag in place while we waited for a doctor. The doctor looked about Won’s age and very kind. We talked about all the possible reasons for me passing out blah blah blah. Then he went to check on my blood work and we waited another hour to do a heartbeat and ultrasound check on the baby.

  Then I REALLY had to go pee, which you’re not supposed to because you need a full bladder for an ultrasound but I been holding it for so long I REALLY needed to go. So a really nice nurse came in and let me go pee. She offered me a double gown to cover my back but I didn’t really care considering I still had my pants on but she told me there were weirdos out there. The ER seemed to have doubled in busyness since I was in that room. Now ALL the stretchers in the main area were FILLED with people either laying or just sitting, sometimes 2 – 3 people were sitting on a stretcher that was partitioned off by some plastic boards. And there was still tons of police around and Won said our doctor was running around like mad. It wasn’t until we got back to the quiet privacy of our own room that I realize I was the ONLY one with both a curtain AND a closed door. Not to mention, I was the only room with a door that was even closed and ALL our nurses made it a point to knock when they came in and close our door when they left. ALl the other rooms had 2 – 4 beds in them.

  I wondered if maybe because I’m pregnant that I’m considered high risk for catching whatever else everyone had so they put me in my own space. Won thinks it has more to do with the nurses just liked us better because we’re normal peoples. They did seem to have this .. us (nurses + Won & I) versus them (all the other sick people) mentality. The nurses would tell us about their kids and vacations, which I can not imagine them wanting to get personal with some of the other patients in there. It made me question are ALL ERS like this? Do really rich people go to the ER? Do they get better treatment because they look nicer and aren’t bitching and complaining and smoking all over the place? Even with the procedure of how things are done, human nature of the nurses HAVE to play into effect right? Whatever it was, I was very glad we got the nice treatment that we did.

  Finally we got our ultra sound and were discharged. Good, I was getting nauseous and hungry again. Just in time for dinner. Everything was fine and I felt everyone made a bigger fuss over it than necessary. But I know everyone just wanted a peace of mind. The doctor said I’m supposed to monitor myself and follow up with my midwives because blacking out for no reason can be an indictor sign of something much more serious. Anyhow, Won and I were pooped and glad to be back in our own beds. This morning I forced myself some breakfast and now back in bed because I feel nauseous..UGHHHH I’m regressing back into my pregnancy stage. DAMMNIT!!!

  The ER is really expensive and Won seems stressed about it. I know we have good insurance but we still are responsible for at least a small percentage of it. I’m guessing with all the testings and ultrasounds and stuff that our bill is gonna be like like $10k+ of which we’ll still have to pay at least a few hundred, if not thousand. See.. this is why next time I will fight harder to see my regular physician, if not, at least ANY regular physician in my hospital network which would only cost a few hundred for something so minor.

  Anyway, I had a nice-ish time at the ER with Won. I didn’t think it felt that long and as much work as he has to catch up on now, I thought it was kinda nice we got to spend a whole random day together. I’m sure Won doesn’t agree… Hahahahaha. He said he rather spend our day together doing something for less expensive than an ER and hospital food.

  PS. I get REALLY annoyed everyone keeps lecturing me about eating and drinking more and taking it easy. I AM taking it easy!!! You’d think I’d lost two legs and a limb since I’ve been pregnant. Won totally babies me and never asks anything of me and I’m not exactly the least lazy person in the world. Not to mention I DO eat and drink just fine. More-so than I did before I was pregnant but you really can’t expect me.. a 4’11″  100 lbs person to just start eating as much as a “normal” person. Yes, I eat less than everyone else but I ALWAYS have my entire life. I usually eat about 1/3 of what everyone else eat.. now I eat about 1/2. I can’t just FORCE FEED myself!! And I feel that unless you cook for me directly or give me money to eat out, then you don’t get to lecture me about anything. I know everyone means well but I get really annoyed. Like are people implying I don’t take care of myself and WANT something bad to happen to me or the baby? Or that I’m too dumb to know that I need to eat and drink and not lift heavy things. Are all these random never-been-pregnant or had-good-pregnancies people suddenly smarter and an expert on MY body, the one I’ve had for 26 years now?! If an ER doctor can’t pin point what is wrong with me and explain WHY I passed out, what makes everyone else think they’re qualified to? For your information, I DID eat that morning! THe doctor actually never even said ANYTHING about me eating more. Hmph!!

  • 4:09 pm
  • 3 Comments