Jimmy and I got settled into our room, and left alone about 2:20. Because of all the drama, it was about 3 before I finally went to sleep. Jimmy was up a little later and when people tried to come in and check on me or take my blood, he would tell them I was sleeping. Unfortunately, that is no reason for people to leave you alone in the hospital! They drew blood about 5:30 and I don't know if I went to sleep between then and OB rounds. The OB attending doctor came in and checked me out, basically saying it was just a waiting game to infuse medicine and get my platelets up. The IVIG finally got started about 10. Jimmy went to run some errands and move the car, and Erin came to visit! With sweet Anouk! It was so wonderful to get to see them! Aunt Mary Ellen, Jimmy's aunt, came to visit as well. I did get to tell her I was worried about Wednesday being Jimmy's birthday and him being stuck in the hospital with me. She said she would talk to Jackie and try to work something out for dinner. We finally found out my counts that had been taken that morning and they were only 11. So disappointing. I did get permission to walk around, because sitting/laying in the hospital bed made me SO SORE! When I did lay down to sleep, my back hurt so much I couldn't rest. For evening rounds, the hematology group came to visit. I really really like the hematologist we worked with in the ER and was pleased to see her again. Jimmy and I thought I would be getting IVIG constantly, since that's the way it's done in the day hospital, but they were splitting the dosage over a few days. I thought I would have another at midnight, but they said it was postponed until the next day.
Around 7:15 that evening, the nurse told us we were going to be moving floors, to a floor that had OB patients, not just a hodge podge. It took about 2 hours, but they finally moved us. We had also been waiting all day on someone to come do "fetal heart tones," so the nurses on the new floor tried to get the baby's heartbeat on doppler before calling someone up from Labor and Delivery to do it. The first nurse spent a long time trying, but called in her partner when she couldn't find it. Sure enough, the second nurse was able to find the heartbeat on doppler! The heartrate was averaging about 160! It was so exciting and special to hear. Afterwards, we went to get Jimmy something for dinner and on the way back, he looks at me and says so excitedly, "We're going to have a kid!" I never get tired of hearing him say that or seeing how excited he is.
That night, I managed to sleep about 5 hours! Woohoo! I did wake up for rounds with the OB doctor, meet my new nurse, and get counts done. The nurse also works L&D and I've decided I must have her when I deliver. She was AMAZING. When she came in with my meds, I was getting some clothes together. She asked if I needed anything and I sheepishly said, "Well, I wanted to wash my hair before we got started. It's feeling gross." She immediately grabbed a latex glove, put it on me, and taped it over my IV so I could wash. She also ran my decadron through an IV pump instead of pushing it through and said if I felt the slightest bit of discomfort to call her. I think I thanked her like 20 times. Afterward, we did the IVIG and I slept for 2 hours. It was wonderful. When we were done, I asked her about counts and she went to check. When she came back in, she asked for a drumroll....."198,000!" WONDERFUL NEWS.
The hematologist came in to see us about 30 minutes later right after lunch was delivered. She asked if I liked hospital food. I told her it was okay, that Duke was better than some. She asked if I preferred home cooking and I said especially if I could cook. She laughed and asked if there were any restaurants around I'd rather go to than eat hospital food, because they were discharging me. What a change from keeping me for 5 days! She said we would need to come back in Thursday for IVIG in the outpatient clinic. We told her that was so much better than sleeping in a hospital again! I began packing immediately because as soon as they say, "You can go," you want to run, not walk, away. I had to have counts drawn again before I left and naturally it took forever to find a vein. My nurse had to call in her charge nurse to find a vein. As soon as they drew that blood, we were free to go!
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