My NOT so boring 19 week OB check up
Well as many of you know I've been sick since Tuesday - to me it felt fluey and I had a fever. But it wasn't all that high so I didn't worry too much knowing I had a regular old OB appt today. This am I still register a fever on the ear therometer- which I'm now thinking is not a wise idea to use on yourself. ;) D'uh moment. Anyway... off I go to the doctor. He tells me I sound like I have a head thing. Yes I do sir, and I feel like crap, my ears hurt...and I think I had a fever.

Dr - Do you have one now?
Me - Ummm, not sure I did this morning I think, assuming the therometer was accurate.
Dr - Oh. Umm, well look hopefully it never happens again, but next time call us and we'll send you to the ER instead of having you in here to possibly get others sick.
Me - thinking not saying - gee thanks so for your concern. Should I don my face mask now or do you want to make sure the potential fever hasn't caused any concerns.
Dr - let's check for heartbeat then we'll send you next door for a checkup and ultrasound.

The hosptial, btw, is LITERALLY right next door. As in walk across a few parking spots and into the ER.

So he looks for the heartbeat - finds it right away and its very strong and beating very well. Off I go to the hosptial - him not yet deciding if I have to come back in 2 weeks or 4. Now mind you I love my OB practice, but of the three docs, this one is my least favorite. I tend to think he has a fast panic button. . .and that was before today.

So here I am in the ER. They do my vitals -no fever. Nope, its 98. . . and my BP is perfect (as it was moments ago) but my pulse is a little high although coming down. Well sure, hello, pregnant women to ER? I could feel my heartbeating through my chest.

Back I go to Triage. The nurse peppers me with questions. How long (since Tuesday pm), how high (101 was highest but down to 99 with tyelnol), how do you feel? (like shit) ANy cramps? (no) Any discharge? (not unless you mean my stuffy nose) Any bleeding? (nope) Any vomiting? (Me, not unless you count morning sickness which had showed signs of letting up last week. . .oh yeah and tuesday night's dinner. And frankly it may be pure mind over matter because frankly my throat hurts like Girl Scouts are holding a bonfire in it and puking would be akin to torture of the cruelest kind.) Nurse, says - I think its the flu. now what did the doctor say? So I tell her again how we talked very little about before he kicked me out and sent me here when he heard "I'm sick, had low fever." She laughed. Then she called back to Quick Care to see if they'd look me over instead of making me sit for hours on end in the other side of the 'regular' ED. The very nice (and cute) doc in the Quick Care says "Sure!" So I'm off again.

Quick Care is wonderful - they pull you back fast, they see you fast, and the doctor is cute. ;) Oh, and he's really nice...and thorough. So we do the questions again - you know, when, how, discharge, bleeding, cramping... I tell him about Logan's virus and add - you know Dr. P did find the heartbeat fairly quickly and said it was nice and strong. Is it really a concern at this point? ER doctor - let's check you out first. Peeks in ears - ears clear. Peeks in throat - throat very red and swollen. Peeks up nose - nasal membranes swollen.

He says to me - Did you ever have a sinus infection before?

I laugh - Uh, yah. Annually it seemed like there for a while. It seems since High School everytime I get some sort of head or upper respirotory cold I get a sinus infection.

He says - Yeah, well I'm fairly certain you're working on one now. Does this hurt?

Me - Ummm, yeah!!!!

Him - Yup. Ok, so you're allergic to like what.

I tell him the two antibiotics I can't take - I fail to mention that this is yet another fun detail from my chronic respirotory infections in High School. Several rounds on Penicillin and Eythoromicyn (sp?!) and I get what looks like prickly heat. Can I blame the crappy, bacterica festering closed air circulation in that 1970s shoe box?! Of course the Pen. is also a big HUGE issue for my mother and my brother...both had serious reactions.

He laughs.

Me - I know, I'm fun. Doctor's love me when I'm sick.

He says -What can you take?

Me- Oh geez, well I forget what I had the last time but I know I used to get Ceclor a lot and never had problems.

Him - Good you can take that now too. Ok, nurse will be in for a strep culture.

Me - what about my ulstrasound?

Him - Huh? Why?

Me - Dr P said I was coming here for an eval and an ultrasound.

Him - why did he say that?

Me - Because of the fever stuff.

Him - Did he know you did'nt have a fever now?

Me -Well no because this morning I thought I did.

He says - Well now you don't. How high did it get?

I tell him again. He stares at me for a minute.

He says - No vomiting? No diaherra, no discharge, no bleeding, no cramping? He found the heartbeat and it was strong.

Me - says what is basically a lot of nos and yes he did and he said it was.

ER doc says - Sometimes they get a little panicy there. Did he ask you about the cramping and stuff?

Me - no he rushed me over here.

Doc - other patients?

Me - Yeah.

Doc - Well look. To be quite honest, this fever wasn't high enough to cause problems and what you have is not related to the pregnancy. You have no signs of the pregnancy in distress and the baby seems to be doing well based on hearbeat. Do you feel movents?

Me - some...I think. Its still kind of early but sometimes either I'm hallicinating or I feel her moving.

Doc - Ok, well there's a 3 hour wait for the u/s in the ER which is where you'd have to go AND since its in the ER and not scheduled they won't have you drink water even with a wait because they can't be sure how long it'll be so they're going to insert a catether to pump fluids into your bladder and its not going to be fun. I really don't want to put you through something like that if you don't have to do it. Know what I mean?

Me - If you are comfortable with the idea that its not needed after all this then I'm ok skipping the catether.

Doc - I'll call Dr. P for you and explain what we discussed. He'll be ok. (And he winks...did I say he was cute?)

He leaves and the nurse that I now hate for no other reason other than she brings in with her the giant evil cotton swab for my tonsils enters. Swab, Swab, gag. I tell her its VERY mean to do that to a woman who is JUST finding her way out of morning sickness from hell. She laughs and says - I hate it too. When I have to have it done, I make them let me do it to myself. (Ok, so she's just weird)

Doc comes in less than 5 minutes later - I'm still sitting there swinging my feet off the bed and wearing the lovely hosptial gown with my yoga pants grumbling to myself how at least in the OB's office I had magazines and in the lobby here I had CNN to watch. Now I get to count drips of water from a leaky faucet.

He says - Ummm, you are getting an antibiotic because you do have a sinus infection AND you have strep throat.

Me - WHAT?! No.

Him - Yes. The strep is positive.

Me - no way. L's wasn't!! Both times?!

Him - Laughing - well ok, but yours is...so you're getting an antibiotic and you're going home and I'll talk to doc P about why you didn't get an ultrasound. Put your shirt back on, leave the gown there and hang in the waiting room a few more minutes while I type this up.

Me - Shit. This sucks.

So I dress and I wait....I get my discharge papers and I tell the nurse how extremely sorry that I am now one of "those" people that go to the ER for something her primary care doctor (no matter how much I hate said PC) should have taken care of and I really would have gone to the aforementioned out of favor PC had my OB not freaked out about me being Typhoid Mary and sent me immediately over here. The discharge nurse laughs and says "Oh, yeah, we get that alot, don't feel bad." But I do.

I call my mom from the car - she's home watching L. Gram also with a fever and sore throat now. I tell her about my adventure and suggest before she heads off on vacation she may want to see her Doctor for one of those delightful throat swabs. She's going tomorrow am.

So I'm now on the search for a regular old fashioned oral temp taker. We used to have one in the house. The ear thingy is still saying I've got a fever...but its hard to believe since I'm so paniced over what I could have screwed up before I know I'm not getting a good angle now. The only other thermometer I can find is one we used under l's arm and eventually...ahhh...other places. I know the new ear thingy is accurate when I use it on L because the first few go arounds with the 'new mommy ear toy' as L calls it - I did a second test rectally on him = it matched up each time almost within a tenth of each other. I am convinced that I did have a fever at least some time during this ordeal because I FELT feverish - the chills, the fact that my skin hurt to have something on me. Sweating even though I was dressed lightly and it was 70 in the house. Now I just wonder how long I had said fever and how high it really didn't get. ;) UGH!!!! WHY MUST THE DEAR HUBBY TRAVEL WHEN I'M SICK AND DELIROUS?!