Stupid stomach bug!!!

I thought I was safe...I was wrong!

Beth, Nathan and the girls were in DC for the weekend and I convinced Ben to take a short trip up to see them. I was actually about to take Alison myself and leave after church on Sunday, but thankfully my very wise husband said absolutely not and arranged for us all to leave after his meeting Sunday night. I'm so glad he was stubborn in his decision-I can't even imagine what would have happened if I had been by myself. We got to DC about 1am, checked into our hotel and all crashed. About an hour later I woke up with a fever and started throwing up. I'll try and leave the gross details out. I didn't leave the bathroom all night and being sick while pregnant was far worse than I could imagine. By a miracle, Alison slept through the whole thing-Ben wasn't so lucky. We finally called Beth around 7am and she quickly saw that I needed fluids and fast. Ben ran to get some ginger ale, but that didn't stay down for long. Beth wisely knew that if I didn't get fluids quickly I would go into labor-she was right. By the time we got to a prompt care I was having contractions. They quickly told us to go to the ER. When I walked through the doors of the ER this little Vietnamese woman looked at me, her eyes got wide and she said, "You pregnant, I must get you to labor and delivery!" She threw me in a wheel chair and proceeded to run through the hospital. I felt like a hippo with this tiny women trying to push me, but it made me laugh which is exactly what I needed at that time. She wheeled me up to the nurses station and said, "This woman's about to have a baby!!!" and ran away. Ben and I just started laughing-maybe she should have tried asking us some questions. We explained what was going on and I have to say that the staff at this random hospital were awesome (I hope the staff at our actually hospital are just as good). They quickly got us in a room and tried to start an IV. I was so dehydrated my veins kept exploding. I didn't know this was possible, but it was SO painful. They finally got an "expert" in that was able to get a small IV in and start some anti-nausea medicine and fluids. They also gave me one shot of medicine to stop the contractions (I had 3 of these shots with Alison. They make your whole body shake, but this time was not as bad as the first). By the time the IV in was in I was having strong contractions every 2 minutes and was dialated 1.5 centimeters. I remember looking at the nurse through my tears and saying, "That's not good, is it?" She was so calm and said, "It could be worse". Definitely could have been worse, in fact my prognosis only got better from there. They ran a preterm labor test and it came back negative-PRAISE THE LORD!!! This means that the contractions were only because of the dehydration and would not produce a baby. It also means that there's a 99% chance I will NOT deliver this baby in the next 2 weeks! They also ran a preeclampsia (extreme vomiting can be a sign of this) test which also came back negative. After 3 bags of fluids and 2 rounds of anti-nausea medicine, my contractions had stopped and I was feeling much better. We were released from the hospital and got in the car for a 3 hour drive home. Ben and I were beyond exhausted. I'm not sure how Ben drove the whole way home, because I couldn't even keep my eyes open, but we made it home and all crashed.

So much for our fun trip to DC. Beth took Alison for the morning and let the girls play in the hotel room. I asked Ben to take a quick picture so I could at least see the girls together. I am so disappointed I didn't get to see the girls in person or spend any time with them.

Ben had to get Alison when it was time to check out of our room. Thankfully the hospital had just lifted the no kid ban and she was able to come to my room. Ben told her to lay down on the couch and close her eyes and she crashed there for the entire afternoon! I have no idea what happened to our child. I've never been able to just say, lay down in this random spot and fall asleep, nor has she ever slept that long, especially with so much commotion going on. She was only awake for about an hour in the hospital and then fell asleep again when we got in the car.

I went to my doctor yesterday and was very afraid they would put me on bed rest. The doctor assured me that everything I was feeling was just because of the stomach bug. I am still only dilated to 1.5 centimeters, which is really good. He said although it's early to be dilating, it doesn't necessarily mean I'll have the baby early. I have to go to the doctor weekly now, but I'm not restricted in my activities-HURRAY!!!

So today I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm thankful the stomach bug is behind me and I still have my baby boy inside of me. I'm thankful it was just a bug and not my body going into early labor. I'm thankful for all the people praying for us through this and for family willing to drop everything and come help us if we needed it. I'm thankful for a little bit more time with just Alison and time to finish my nesting list. I'm thankful Ben said "in sickness and in health" in his vows.
We still have some recovery to do, but things are looking so much better. Ben was at the doctor's yesterday as well getting more medicine for a sinus infection that just won't go away. I've never experienced a sinus infection, but I can imagine it's not fun. So we're praying for a quick recovery for him as well, as this weekend he's preaching and it's his birthday.