I’ve been having a pretty bumpy month and could use as many fingers crossed and happy vibes as anyone can spare. First I got slammed with H1N1 right in time for round one of midterms. I ended up in the hospital for that but did fine on midterms, and most importantly recovered, regardless.
Then as round 2 of midterms was gearing up I had some sort of cardiac-related event while in lab at school. I was working in microbiology lab on Thursday morning, trying to extract DNA from some soil bacteria, and was suddenly overcome with what I thought were a series of pre-syncopal episodes. Nothing new for me, but when my hearing started to go out, and I couldn’t move, it scared the heck out of me(considering I’ve got a history of asystole/sinus arrest).
My lab instructor called campus police, who in turn called paramedics and the fire department. I ended up in the hospital for observation for two days hooked up to all kinds of goodies. I’m now 34.5 weeks pregnant, and while I was there was contracting regularly at times. My BP was sky high, and I was tachy, so I ended up on mag sulf (yuck) among other things. I saw a couple of different hospitalists, OB’s and a cardiologist. The best they could offer was a theory that since my nervous system is known to deviate radically from a normal response to things, and the return in my vena cava is compromised from the pregnancy, they figure my nervous system is freaking out and boosting up my HR and BP as a result. They ended up discharging me when they felt it was safe to do so, and gave me no other instructions other than to follow up with my OB right away tomorrow. Not sure what will happen next; especially considering my baby turned breech suddenly sometime between Tuesday and Thursday of this past week and has decided to camp out that way for now. The contractions I had while in the hospital were productive…and I’m effacing already. Good times…lol.
Including this next week I’ve got 4 weeks left of the quarter and am currently pulling an A in microbiology, a high B in o-chem, then an A in history. If I can’t finish this quarter out it’ll be a whole year until o-chem is offered again so I’ve got a lot riding on these next few weeks. Hopefully I can make it through my classes and end the quarter with a near-term normal delivery! (fingers crossed)
I’m sending warm thoughts your way.
Good luck! We are thinking of you and sending good thoughts your way.
My best to you. Take care.
Best wishes. Your grades say you’re doing great. Hang in there.
Thank you for the support and kind words! I’m still hanging in there. I somehow have managed to almost get caught up again, and am trying my hardest to hang in there. Not long to go now…finals begin a week from today.
So far my heart is keeping up, baby decided to flip again and is no longer breech, and things are going much more smoothly. I’ve been diagnosed with polyhydramnios since last I posted, but without an identifiable cause. Fingers crossed that the baby decides to hang out just a little bit longer so I can get finals done. I’ll be full-term tomorrow!
Good luck and hang in there…
We made it! I got through the history and o-chem finals, and made it until about 3 hours before the microbiology final before delivering my baby girl.
Lillian Frances was born on Wednesday, November 25th (the day before Thanksgiving and last day of final exams) at 5:36am. She was 7 lbs, 11 oz and 18.5 inches long. She arrived a speedy 30 minutes after we got to the hospital. We’re both doing great and I’ll be taking a re-scheduled microbiology final exam this coming week.
Thank you for the support and well wishes! It was a crazy quarter, but I’m so glad and thankful for every moment of it!
Wow. Wonderful!
- nnylacire Said:
I rarely get surprised or amazed but this pseudo-blog is truly impressive. Academically, you managed to do well in 3 classes with two really difficult ones, and also brought a new life into this world. Wow...it tires me just thinking about it.
Congratulations on the addition to your family and also the quarter!
Congratulations! I’m laughing just thinking of the call to the biology office with relatives and babies noisy in the background…“Hi, this is a message for Prof. X…” (although I’m sure IRL you did it in an organized way). All the best!