Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do. So much has happened over the last month I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll try the beginning. :)
I tested at 10 dpER (I know, it was too early) and got a BFN. I had promised myself I would wait until 14 dpER but I am not a patient person. We decided I would POAS again on Sunday, March 25th at 12 dpER. What time did I wake up needing to go to the bathroom? Yep, 4:45 am. That is how I operate. Anywho, I went ahead and POAS and a 2nd line immediately came up. As I sat there on the toilet this feeling of calm came over me. I always envisioned that I would scream, bust out crying, something, anything! Nope, I just sat there. Not sure if seeing a 2nd line for the first time confused me or if it was the fact that it was 4:45 am. I contemplated trying to go back to bed and not waking DH but there was just no way that was going to happen. I woke him and told him the news. It was such a great moment. We laughed. We cried. We stayed up for about an hour talking about it and then went back to sleep.
We woke up around 8 am and I immediately knew something was off. I really hadn't felt well for about a week. I knew I had mild (maybe moderate) OHSS but was drinking an obscene amount of Gatorade, consuming extra protein, trying to rest with my feet up and at the same time get an adequate amount of exercise. All in all, I thought I was managing. Well, this morning I felt much worse and really dizzy like I might faint. My DH was convinced that I just needed to eat breakfast (gotta love 'em). We loaded up our dogs, stopped at the corner shop to get kolaches, and headed to the dog park. It was a beautiful day and we wanted to be outside as much as possible.
I took a folding chair and just sat under a shade tree the entire time we were at the park. The weather was cool but I kept finding myself sweating. It only seemed to get progressively worse. I finally told DH that I needed to go home. Our house is about 20-25 minutes from the dog park as we had chosen to drive out to the 35 acre dog park in the burbs. By the time we got home my hair was drenched with sweat (keep in mind I am not a sweaty person) and I was having trouble catching my breath. Over the previous days I had a little bit of shortness of breath but nothing like this. I logged onto my beloved private FB group and asked the wonderful ladies what they thought I should do. Calm down? Quit being dramatic? Call my RE? Overwhelmingly they all agreed I should call the RE. I did and the receptionist (yes, they are open on Sunday) put me on hold to speak with the nurse. She immediately came back and said the on-call Dr would contact me within 15 minutes and I didn't hear from him within that time to call back. Somehow, in my head, I still didn't think it was a big deal and was almost embarrassed that I called in the first place.
Dr Williams (not my RE) called within 5 minutes. He asked me a lot of questions about my symptoms. He then very calmly told me to get in the car and go straight to the ER at Methodist Hospital - Willowbrook. Willowbrook? That's at least 30 minutes from my house? I'm 10-15 minutes from The Texas Medical Center which is the largest medical center in the world. Seriously? Anyway, I'm a rule follower so I knew I was going to do what he said. Did I immediately get in the car? Nope! I got in the shower because all I could think was that the medical staff would think I was dirty because I had been sweating profusely for the last hour. Once in the shower, I lost it. All I could think that was that after 2 years I was finally pregnant and here I was gasping for air. Can't be good for the baby, right? So let me tell you, shortness of breath and uncontrollable crying are not a good combo. I was trying to calm myself but was failing miserably. I guess I just needed a minute.
We finally make our way to Methodist where the ER staff was expecting us. It was crazy! They were treating me like I was in cardiac arrest. Long story short: they put me on oxygen, ran b/w, took me for u/s, took a urine sample. I think that covers it. Anywho, my electrolytes were way off. We actually heard the ER Dr in the hallway talking about me. She said and I quote "This is not from IVF. She is in organ failure and we need to immediately scan her organs". My DH and I were freaking out. We knew this was from IVF and definitely related to OHSS but I was terrified that it had progressed too far. I have read that it can cause organ failure but I've certainly never heard of it happening. Right then, Dr Williams walked in! Thank God! He was very nice and after reviewing all my tests agreed that I had severe OHSS and needed to be admitted to the hospital.
My stomach, by this point, was swollen to the point of looking at least 6 months pregnant. Dr Williams argued with the ER Dr about whether they would drain the fluid. He finally told her she had 2 options, she could have it drained that evening or it would to be done first thing the next morning. Either way, it had to be done. I do understand that ER Dr's know a little about a lot of medical dx but she had obviously never seen a patient with OHSS. She basically turned all the decisions over to Dr Williams and he moved forward with admitting me and scheduled an on-call team to come in an install a drain in my abdomen. I was told I would spend 1-2 nights in the hospital. At this point, I just wanted to feel better.
To be continued...
