I had to work last night, all day long while I was trying to sleep I woke up short of breath and just feeling "tight" in my chest. Used my inhaler once, and tried to fall back to sleep. Went to work, proceeded to feel "wheezy" and "tight" in my chest for almost half of my shift. I used my inhaler multiple times but I still had a hard time breathing. (Background: I've had asthma since I was 15) I finished my midnight pt cares and told my lead I needed to go to the ER because I was having difficulty breathing. I thought, "this is going to be expensive, but if I'm not getting oxygen, the baby isn't getting oxygen, so it's worth it." I also cringed at the thought of incurring and ER bill...
I made it down to the ER, sat down at the registration desk, told them what was going on and that I am almost 22 weeks pregnant. The receptionist informed me that since I'm >20 weeks, I HAVE to go to L&D (Labor and Delivery). I immediately started crying... flashes of 22 weekers I've taken care of in NICU going through my head, and the fact that Joey is in Tucson right now. I was terrified. A tech then wheeled me up to L&D. I was a little annoyed that I didn't even get vital signs or pulse ox spot checked (amount of oxygen in my blood... that little red light that goes on your finger) or had eyes laid on me by atleast a nurse. But whatever.
I arrived on L&D (this is where I will eventually birth little Miss Channell in August) and had to change into a gown and they hooked me up to the monitor. The baby's heartrate was 150, and she was VERY active. I was not having any contractions (duh....) so that was reassuring. The nurse took my vitals and blah blah blah. She paged the doc on call and since my SpO2 (blood oxygen) was >92% he wanted to discharge me home and told me to take Tylenol. I tried to calmly tell the nurse "But I still can't breathe..... that's why I went to the ER, not because I thought anything was wrong with the baby!" She paged the doc back and he wanted the Internal Med resident to see me. (At this point, the L&D nurse didn't even listen to my lung sounds.... a bit odd!?) The i-med resident came in, he was very nice. He said he didn't like how I was using my accessory muscles to breathe and tachypneic (breathing fast). He ordered an inhaled respiratory treatment. RT (respiratory therapy) came in, administered nebulized albuterol, and I could breathe! The treatment made my heartrate shoot up and made me really shaky (which I already was from using all those albuterol puffs) but I could breathe! They watched me for another 30 min or so, listened to baby's heartbeat once more, vitaled me, and sent me home. I plan on NOT going back there until this little lady is ready for the outside world! The nurse did tell me though that going to ER from now on will be a waste of my time, anyone >20 weeks pregnant is automatically sent to L&D. Even if its not a baby related issue. Good to know!
So I'm home now and feeling much better. Still a little tight in my chest, but breathing well enough. I plan to hang out here for a few more hours, then head over to my parents house to sleep. I have to work again tonight. No more trips to L&D for me until August!
(PS: the photos above were added with the assistance of Google Pictures)
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