Attorney Work Product

Trauma and Drama

No posts last week because I was, well, otherwise occupied. Hospitalized with a kidney infection, to be exact. I went to the ER Monday night, and got out of the hospital Thursday afternoon (earlier than predicted but three days too long for my book). Babybean and I are both fine, thankfully.

Flowers I received while in the hospital. Thanks Keri and Chris and Sean and Mom and Dad!

There's more to the story. Click below to

The Story:
A week ago today, around 8 or so, I started to notice a backache, on the right side. On top of the cold I had already been fighting for a week, it made me kind of tired. I decided to take a warm bath and go to bed early.

Monday at work, my back still hurt, it was hurting to walk, and I would occasionally get a shooting pain in my right side. Ick. By 2-ish, I decided I should be sure and mention it at my scheduled doctor's appointment on Thursday. By 5-ish, I talked to Mom and, at her behest, gave myself a (light!)diagnostic kidney punch. Saw stars. Said, hmmm, I'd better go to the doctor first thing in the morning. By the time I got home from work around 8-ish, I thought I had better call the doctor on call and let them know my self-diagnosis, thinking maybe they would call in antibiotics for me sooner.

The doctor didn't want to call in antibiotics -- she wanted me to go to the hospital. So Mike and I grabbed some reading material and headed out to GW (in downtown DC) to hit the ER.

The ER was a nightmare. I told them when I signed in that I was 25 weeks pregnant, and that I was in a lot of pain that I thought was a kidney infection. They told me to just wait, that I couldn't go to labor and delivery unless I was in labor. So we waited. After about 45 minutes, I marched up to the window and said that I had to pee and it would be in everyone's best interests if I did so in a sterile cup. The triage nurse gave me a cup, and off I went. At that point, the pain was bad enough that I also threw up. I forced the cup on the triage nurse, and she deigned to talk to me for a few minutes, take my temp, etc. I told her I was 25 weeks pregnant; she didn't seem to care. I still didn't have a chart or a wristband yet, though, so they couldn't actually do the lab work.

It was a full hour before they even started a chart for me. After four hours (and maybe one or two patients called that whole time), a nurse came out and announced that every ER in DC was slammed and no one should expect to be seen for several more hours. At this point, I called my doctor's service -- we were actually considering leaving and going to a different ER back in Arlington -- and boy am I glad I did. When she called me back, she was in a panic -- where have you been? I've tried calling you at home several times. I told her I was sitting in GW's ER, and had been for 4 hours. She asked me to hand my cell phone to the front desk, and proceeded to ream out the poor woman there (who herself was 7 months pregnant, and wasn't the one who had refused to send me to labor and delivery). Lickety split, I was whisked upstairs. (In hindsight, I can't BELIEVE they didn't send me up right away. A 25 week pregnant woman walks in presenting with abdominal and back pain? Hello, shouldn't such a person be put on a fetal monitor right away? Turns out the hospital's standard practice is that any pregnant woman greater than 16 weeks pregnant is supposed to be sent to labor and delivery right away. The supervisor who kept me sitting in the waiting room should have known better).

Thankfully, Labor and Delivery was fantastic. Everyone up there kept saying "we've been waiting for you; we've been worried about you." Within 10 minutes of my arrival, we were in a private delivery suite and my nurse Florence (not Nightingale -- a nice Jamaican woman, actually -- but close enough) had me on a fetal monitor, on IV fluids and antibiotics, and had tapped me for a clean urine sample. Baby was fine, had a nice strong heartbeat, there were no signs of labor, and the baby was actively kicking the fetal monitor. Florence made up a bed for Mike, and we rested a little.

At 3:30 am, they decided to move me to regular room rather than a labor suit, since it looked like I wasn't going to go into labor (Thank God!). They made up another bed for Mike, and we rested a little bit. At 4, they woke us up yet again, and Mike and I decided he should go home and get some real sleep, since he would have had to get up to move the car in 2 hours anyway.

Tuesday was a blur. I saw Dr. Hammond, and she said they would keep me awhile. I wasn't with it enough to ask how long. Mike came to visit me after work. I mostly slept. Slept and peed, because of all the fluids they were pumping into me.

Wednesday was better. I saw Dr. Kesselman. She said 5-7 days were likely. She told me that the labs came back and I definitely had an elevated white blood count, and bacteria in my urine. They were puzzled by my lack of fever -- my temp never went higher than 99.5. I got to shower -- which I really needed -- and I talked on the phone a bit more, but slept and read a lot too. Slept, read, and peed. Mike stayed with me in the hospital much of the day, God bless him. He worked, I read and slept. Just as he was about to leave for dinner, my favorite nurse stopped him, as she had finally gotten radiology to commit to giving me the sonogram Dr. Kessleman had ordered at 7 am. Mike and I got to see the baby's perfect little nose and mouth. We watched baby breathe and swim. Baby weighed in at 2 whole pounds, and looked none the worse for wear. They also took pictures of my kidneys, which weren't nearly as interesting.

Thursday I was markedly better. I saw Dr. Miller, my primary doc. He got back further test results, and was convinced I did in fact have a kidney infection despite lack of fever (I believe his exact words were "you've got two nasty, nasty bugs in your urine"). He decided to send me home with strong oral antibiotics for a week. I go back on Thursday, at which point he will put me on low grade antibiotics for the rest of the pregnancy.

I am feeling a lot better now. I didn't go to work on Friday, and relaxed a bit longer. Also got my hair cut and nails done, since I felt so grody from my hospital time. Tried to relax most of the weekend (I barely left the house!), but also ended up doing a lot of little things to get the house in order, which set my mind at ease, which was overall a good thing. I talked on the phone a lot, trying to catch people up on my recovery, and tried to make myself drink, drink, drink and drink some more. Talked, drank, and peed.

It was a bit of a scare, but baby and I will both be fine. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers and phone calls. It really helped.