Sometimes Life Throws You a Curve Ball...

I had well made plans to write up a summary of our Memorial Day weekend, but sometimes life has something else in mind.

So here's the summary: Memorial Day weekend was fun. We went down and visited Jonathan's family. I had a backache but I wrote it off as pregnancy nerve pain.

Then we came home and the pain got worse and included my upper thigh, groin, and hip. I felt like I had torn a muscle and sprained my hip, but it still seemed to fit the description of sciatica so I was never too concerned. I was just being a baby that my back hurt.

Then yesterday I could barely walk without writhing in pain. I was tempted to go straight to the chiropractor, but I decided to make a doctor's appointment instead. My normal doctor was pretty sure I had a pinched nerve, but had to leave the appointment early to perform a c-section. So the nurse that took over said my lab results came back as having a bad bladder infection and thought the back pain might be from that. The plan was to get the bladder infection cleared up and then resolve any lingering pain after that. They gave me an antibiotic shot to jump start the process and wrote out a prescription for an oral antibiotic.

I've had bladder infections before and though they were painful, the pain was nothing like what I was experiencing. I have never had sciatica though, so I still assumed I had a pinched nerve on top of the infection.

Last night the pain was still awful so I took a hot shower to try to ease it. At that point in time I realized my left leg was very swollen, reddish blue, and hard to the touch. I was 99% positive I had a blood clot. So we pulled Maggie out of her crib and ran to the E.R. To make a story short, my diagnoses was correct. I have a pretty extensive blood clot in my left leg. Apparently the baby has been putting enough pressure on my veins that the blood flow has been restricted to the point that the blood has been pooling in my vein instead of circulating. I'm on an injectable blood thinner now and I have to wear compression stockings. (No shorts and sandals for me this summer...unless I want to look like a fool.) I was released from the hospital this afternoon, which was earlier than expected. And I don't have to be on bed rest like I was expecting to be. I'll have to stay on the blood thinners and stockings at least until I have the baby. I'll be good to go as long as none of the clot makes its way to my lungs.

The good news is that the baby is healthy and still very active. And I'm feeling pretty good as long as I'm on pain medicine. I'll just be taking it easy for a while. So long for this pregnancy being smooth sailing.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here's the two pictures I was going to include in the Memorial Day post.
Jonathan said Maggie looked like Einstein when I took her hair out of her braids.
Spring in Idaho is beautiful! This is God's country!