Last week was super stressful and hard. Hubby had early meetings and late dinners Tuesday through Friday and the weekend before he was away Thursday to early Monday taking care of family business. Which left me alone with the kids, basically 24 hours a day for almost days straight (he was home MLK Monday). And it was nasty, just like the way I was feeling.
When hubby finally walked in the door Friday evening, dinner in hand, I felt relief like I’ve rarely felt before. I ate my dinner and took my place on the couch, as I usually do after a meal, as the icky feelings took over me. And as I laid there, listening to him clean, the girls jollily helping and Doodle laughing alongside, I began to cry.
I cried because I was so relieved to have help. And because I was feeling sick, sooo sick. For the first time in over a week, I was able to just be sick, just lay there and be miserable. It was as if the icky had built up over the week, filled me from the bottom to the top and finally bubbled over uncontrollably.
As I cried, it reminded me of when I was at about the same time in my pregnancy with Honeybun. I had been coughing and having trouble getting full breaths and was running a low fever so the day before my birthday, I took off from work and headed to a walk in clinic. But when I told them I was pregnant, they sent me away, refused to touch me and told me I had to make an appointment with my OB. I called the office when I got home but they couldn’t get me in for another 10 days.
Two days later, hubby left for a business trip to Dublin. I assured him I’d be fine and not to worry. We talked every day and I was fine. I went to work and though I was tired and still coughing, I didn’t have a fever and easily survived the week.
Hubby got home Friday night and Saturday, it was bad. I woke up with a high fever, vomiting uncontrollably and unable to get out of bed other than to pee and throw up. Finally hubby insisted I go to the doctor.
Another walk in clinic, another doctor that refused to see me (I threw up in their waiting room as a “thank you for your help.”) He insisted I need to go to the ER immediately. So we stopped home, grabbed a few things and headed in.
When I got to the hospital, my temperature was over 103. After they confirmed my pregnant status (me telling them wasn’t enough, they had to verify for themselves), they immediately got me in a room.
I was given Tylenol to help bring down the fever and then the tests began. Bloodwork. An ultrasound to check on Honeybun (our first glimpse of our first baby, seven weeks and five days.) Finally when they couldn’t find anything wrong by the less invasive tests, they ordered a chest x-ray, a last resort for a pregnant lady.
It was confirmed, pneumonia. It wasn’t super severe or serious but it still landed me a three-day stay in the hospital while they pumped me full of antibiotics and monitored my temperature and chest congestion. I went home on Tuesday but was put on bed rest, ordered not to return to work until the following Monday.
I don’t know what caused the sudden change in my condition. Maybe my body just knew to wait for hubby. I don’t know what would have happened if I had gotten so sick before he was home, I certainly couldn’t have gotten my self to the hospital and I didn’t have any friends or family in the area who could help.
I am just thankful that my body knows how to be strong when it needs to. I’m thankful that I have hubby to help me through the tough times when they happen. And I’m thankful that I’ve survived these ordeals relatively unscathed because either one (pneumonia and home alone with three kids) could have easily ended disastrously!
