A Rough Night

We had a rough night last night - spending nearly six hours in the emergency room. The baby is fine. It was just me that was needing some reprieve from a blistering headache that wouldn't seem to go away. I had woke up that morning with congestion in my chest and a horrible, almost indescribable headache. I laid around most of the day with the lights and the television off to try to avoid having to take aspirin but it just persisted. 

Later that evening, I went to bed at around 8:30 pm but instead of sleeping, I tossed and turned, squeezing my head with both hands to try and alleviate some of the pressure. Two hours later, when I got up to use the restroom, I felt feverish, dizzy and lightheaded, which was the final straw for me: it was time to go to the emergency room. And let me just say, that was the LAST place I wanted to go. I don't like emergency rooms for obvious reasons - it's a room full of sick people. Even people who aren't typically germ phobic probably think the same thing - what else am I going to catch in the place? But I kept thinking, what if all of this is affecting the baby? It's not just about me anymore.

We arrived at 10:30 pm to a room full of people and my heart sank. All I could think was I should have come earlier because we were going to be here for hours, which meant no sleep for either of us. We checked in and thankfully found a spot in the far corner. Two television sets were on and there were people talking, texting, playing video games and the lights were super bright - not a very conducive environment for a splitting headache.

Two hours into our wait, a woman was wheeled in to the emergency room, her head and body covered in a  blanket. I won't go into the details but the image is definitely not one that I will soon forget. Part of me felt so badly for her - praying that she would be okay but the other part of me - the part that was feeling very sick and "out of it" just wanted it to be over. I kept praying they would call my name every time I heard the doors open because by this point, I was feeling nauseous and was (internally) panicking over the possibility of getting sick in the emergency room bathroom.  
   
Finally, a little after 2:00 am I was admitted and assigned to a room. The doctor ordered some blood work and fluids via an IV. An hour and a half later, we found out that the primary diagnosis was a viral infection. The secondary diagnosis was dehydration, which caused the headache and dizziness. After the IV was finished, I was given a prescription for the nausea and was told I could take Tylenol or Aspirin for the headache. It was 4:00 am and we were (finally) headed home.

I had never been happier to be in my own bed and thankfully, I am feeling much better this morning. But most importantly, I am SO relieved that our little bean wasn't affected in any way.  

Enjoy the Day!
Missy