911

I was sure that my next trip to the hospital would be when I was ready to deliver the baby...but that was not the case this past Saturday. I have had asthma since I was about 8 and thought I was pretty familiar with what an asthma attack was. To me it was a rapid heart rate and shortness of breath. Turns out that was not asthma at all but a heart arrhythmia called SVT. I guess I have it..weird. Anyways I was showering Saturday morning and when I bent down to get my razor I stood up and my heart went crazy. I immediately jumped out of the shower with a full head of conditioner and yelled for Kary. He came running and brought me my inhalor. I took a few puffs and it didn't help. He moved me to the bed and got me ice water. I sat up unable to talk and took breaths and tried to stay calm. It had lasted for about 20 minutes (which was typical for when this happens) when Kary looked at me and said, "I'm really scared." The whole bed was shaking because my heart was pounding out of my chest. I was super freaked out but the cost of an ambulance ride and hospital trip held me off for about another 10 minutes. Then I looked down at my belly and realized it wasn't just about me anymore so I looked at Kary and whispered, "Call 911." He called and they had him check my pulse which was 200 beats/ minute. The ambulance showed up in about 2 minutes and about 8 big southern dudes were in our bedroom. I managed to throw on some sweat pants and a t-shirt Kary grabbed for me before they got there. They hooked me up to an oxygen tank and a heart monitor. When the medic was sticking heart things all over my back and chest he asked me if I had breast implants...I laughed. They tried a few things to slow my heart rate and nothing was working. The medic told me that since I was pregnant they really could not do what they usually do. They took my blood pressure which was low...weird...and loaded me on a stretcher down the stairs to the ambulance. Kary stood at the door and waved to me and smiled as they closed the door. As soon as I got in the ambulance I felt much more relaxed. The medic told me the OBGYN said it was ok to do the procedure he wanted. It would mean he would inject me with something that would stop my heart for about 2 seconds and reset it. This of course terrified me! Luckily, as he was about to do it my heart rate fixed itself without meds. I rode to the hospital and by the time we got there I was doing much better. The nurses instantly hooked me up to more monitors and scanned for the baby's heartbeat. At first she could not find it. It took her about 3 minutes to find it and it felt like an hour. I did not look at Kary because I knew he was worried too. Finally, she found it and said it was strong and that baby was just jumping all over not cooperating. Apparently, since the baby's heartbeat averages 160 beats/ minute my rapid heart rate didn't affect him/her too much.
We stayed in the room a few hours while they monitored me and I called my mom. Then the nurse gave us some towels so Kary could wash the conditioner out of my hair in the hospital bathroom. They took my blood and said I had low potassium and they gave me some pills, juice, and graham crackers. They told me I was good to go home and I needed to follow up with a cardiologist to make sure everything is ok with my heart. The doctor gave me instructions on what to do if it happens again. Risa came to pick us up and I was standing outside the hospital with hospital footies, shiny blue sweat pants, an old hot topic t-shirt and a giant messy curly afro...but I was just happy to be going home and to have a normal heart rate again. The whole thing was super freaky but I remained surprisingly cool and so did Kary. I don't know what I would have done without him. Now I am just taking it easy and hoping everything goes well at my cardiologist appointment. Next blog will be after our sonogram and we'll reveal the sex of the baby! Hopefully, no more drama til I poop on the delivery floor! ;-)