30. Urgent care centre and emotional day

Yesterday's input.

The swelling in my legs has become worse by the day. I now brace myself whenever I sit down or stand up. Standing alone is also pretty sore now. It's happened very quickly in comparison to all the other things I've dealt with throughout the pregnancy. I've gone from being OK standing for 30/60 minutes, to much, much less. It's been really weird with the swelling, because I've only ever experienced it when I have a bad hay-fever reaction. This has been visually, as I expected, but I didn't know it could hurt! Very odd, and annoying! I think I'm mainly feeling my thighs because of my tummy pressing down on them when I sit. Also, the muscles I use to sit and stand must be right there. 

Today's story. Very different.

I ended up calling our midwife Caroline late on Friday afternoon just to talk through the swelling. She told me there is a risk that it could be a blood clot and that I really should call triage and speak to them about it and probably get it checked out. 

I called triage and they asked a few questions about it. She asked if it was red and painful and I said yes, very painful indeed. She told me I need to be seen by urgent care. I decided to try and catch the day maternity unit that we had seen last week before they close to get a second opinion of where to go. Unfortunately, as soon as I mentioned pain and redness, she said the same thing. 

We called James's mum for last minute babysitting duties and she came to pick up Jack with a smile on her face. We were hoping to only be a couple of hours.

Oh how naeve we were. 

We got there and the board was estimating 4 hours. Oh well, we had a few snacks. 

We saw the triage nurse within the hour, and because of the pain, she said we should be rushed forward a little. Unfortunately, no such luck. It was about 4 hours until we saw the doctor. We had been told I would probably need a blood test to confirm if there is a blood clot. This would then need to be sent off to Blackburn and then the results sent through. 

James found me a wheelchair with a padded seat which was a bit more comfortable than the hard wooden seats. But not for long. I was trying to shift my weight around from hip to hip, but the pain in my legs gave me very little freedom to do this. I was getting up and down and pacing about a bit, but this put more strain on my back. Needless to say, I became more and more uncomfortable by the hour. I was also getting very hungry for proper food and was feeling a little woozy and lightheaded because of it. I felt really hot too which didn't help. James popped out to get me some paracetamol for my headache and came back with grapes, which helped a bit. But I was desperate for food and a lie down. The paracetamol didn't touch the sides by the way. 

When we eventually saw a doctor, she explained that being pregnant will show that I do have raised levels, and therefore will show I do have Deep Vein Thrombosis, so I will need a scan. She looked at my legs and feet and prescribed me a preventative medication to bring down the swelling and possibly prevent development of DVT if I do have it starting. She referred me for the scan which should happen on Sunday. 

When I went for the meds, the nurse asked me to show my belly for the jab. I clutched my belly and asked "how do you know you won't get a baby?" She pinched skin and did it into that bit. Silly mummy! 

After that we were free to go. I was in a lot of pain in my ribs, back, headache and obviously my legs. I cried pretty much all the way home and James bundled me straight into bed, helping me to lift my legs up. He then brought me some food and my meds. 

I struggled to sleep again, even more so because of the back ache I was now enjoying along with everything else. 

I woke up hoping for a miracle cure and less swollen legs, but alas, they were still swollen, even more on my feet, and still very painful. 

My friend came over this afternoon who is a physio, and I asked if she knew anything about DVT and the treatment. She said it can take 24/48 hours to start to take effect. This was reassuring to hear and something for me to look forward to! 

As the day has gone on, I feel like my mobility has got even worse. It's so painful to stand and I can't straighten one leg fully, and I can't straighten the other right away. Which isn't helped with the fact that my ankles aren't very flexible either. 

I'm really not looking forward to being admitted, but I'm glad I will be there now for 2 reasons. 1, for the medics all around who I can just call over and ask if this is normal. No more urgent care visits. But the other reason, sadly, is Jack. He wants to play and forgets that he can't touch my legs or belly, and now my feet too. He is a very tactile little boy and does a lot of clambering on you when he us playing, and runs up for cuddles. He keeps running over and I can't move myself out of the way fast enough before the full weight of 2yr old collision lands somewhere on me. I have screamed in pain a number of times, and today I had to tell him off because he kept touching my legs. I have been very emotional today, and this makes me cry every time. He came over to me to kiss my feet better, then my legs and tummy. But he leans with his elbows. It was the most adorable and kind thing for him to do, but I had to tell him to stop, and of course, I was in tears again. 

I've been an emotional wreck all day. Partly because of the lack of sleep and hormones, but also the pain is a massive contributer now. My neighbours popped by with some food for the freezer and it set me off just them being here and asking how I am and giving me a hug. 

I just said goodnight to Jack and burst into tears because I won't be here now for a few nights,  he then offered me his bottle to make me feel better and now there's no stopping me! 

Tomorrow.

So tomorrow I will be admitted for the jabs, drip and blood checks. I should also hear about the scan and hopefully have that too. However, the thought of an ultrasound doppler rolling over my legs makes me feel sick. But this needs fixing as soon as possible now. I can't cope with it for much longer, and this is something I haven't said about any of the things I have experienced over the last 8 months. Unfortunately, this is the only one that won't just go away when the babies are born! It will take some time. But it will go, and I won't be pregnant any more so everything else will be much easier at least. 

I'm assuming I will do a couple of posts just as an update for treatment and how I'm coping before the babies arrive. Then soon, it will be all about life as a family of 6 with 3 newborns!