What a week this has been.
Monday I had to get counts repeated because they were 30 last Thursday. The OB nurse calls me about 3:30 and says, "Your counts were 9." I basically went into shock. I was not having symptoms, much less any dangerous pregnancy symptoms of cramping and bleeding. We talked for a few minutes, then she said she was going to consult Dr. Livingston (who I actually saw my last visit) and call me back. About 5 minutes later Dr. Livingston herself calls me back and tells me she's spoken with Dr. M's fill-in (he was on vacation) and they want me to come to the ER at Duke to be admitted. It took 45 minutes to get in touch with Jimmy. After about 20, I called my mother and cried hysterically. She calmed me down, and I tried Jimmy again. This time I got his 2nd level supervisor, who immediately got ahold of my husband and sent him on his way. During this time, I'm trying to pack a bag, wondering how long we'll be up there, and do a load of laundry, as well as text people what's going on. Jimmy calls me from about 2 miles away and says to fix him a cup of water and meet him in the driveway. I tell him I am still trying to pack and will need his help. He gets home, and he gets in touch with his mother to ask if she can meet us in Goldsboro to get the dogs. We finally get in the car and drive to Duke, stopping in Goldsboro to meet Jackie and Jen with the pets.
We get to Duke about 9 and there were several people complaining loudly about how long they'd been there. My first thought was, "We are going to be triaged to the bottom of the pile," and I tried to tell everyone we came into contact with that Dr. L had told them to expect me. About 45 minutes after checking in, we were called back. They put in an IV and did counts. Then began the parade of doctors: 1 4th year med student, 1 resident, 1 hematologist, Dr. Livingston, and 2 OB residents. Everyone except the hematologist was amazed at how I can have so few platelets and not be bleeding everywhere. I told everyone I was fine, but worried about the baby. I wasn't having any danger signs, but it was the first thing on my mind. The hematologist looked for a portable ultrasound but couldn't find it. The OB ladies tried checking with a doppler, but couldn't find a heartbeat, so they hijacked a portable ultrasound. I have never felt so relieved in my entire life. On the screen was a strong heartbeat inside of our tiny baby. We asked the hematologist what the plan was, and she said I would probably be there for 5 days getting IVIG and Decadron. I asked her if there was any way we could do it outpatient and she apologized, because of my counts being so low with the baby, I needed to stay in the hospital. I assured her I was willing to do whatever was needed to keep the baby safe and that I understood it was different from just me having low platelets. While in the ER, they gave me a shot of decadron through IV, which burns down your spine into your pelvic region. It was the most painful part of the entire hospital visit! I told her it was burning really badly. Thank goodness she stopped pushing it, mixed it with saline, and pushed it much more slowly. Jimmy said it was a good thing the nurse was a woman or else he would have had to get ugly. They finally moved us up to a room about 1.
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