I had food poisoning Tuesday night. I think it was because of some contaminated vegetables on the cheeseless pizza I had for lunch on Tuesday. The pizza had tomatoes, spinach, artichokes and garlic. I also ate a side salad. By 5 pm I was extremely nauseous and by 8:30 pm I was vomiting (and more) every hour. It was so bad that I couldn't even keep down one sip of water. I tried a sip of water at 1 am or so, and it resulted in me vomiting that tiny sip as well as any bile in my stomach. It was gross and concerning. The point of the details there is to explain how dehydrated I was by Wednesday morning when Bob and I went to our scheduled OB visit. It was clear to me that my entire intestinal tract had been completely evacuated. I was literally out of juice. And didn't feel too great, either.
So when we saw the doctor, she could feel that my belly was smaller and she used an ultrasound to determine that the amniotic fluid levels were lower than normal. She sent us over to the Labor & Delivery unit of the hospital where I was given 3 liters of IV fluids (the technical term for the fluids they give is lactated ringers, which is water and electrolytes). I was hooked up to (external) fetal monitors so they could check the activity of the baby. The baby's heart beat will speed up suddenly during her movement. At first she wasn't moving much since I was dehydrated and hadn't eaten anything in 22 hours. (The baby tends to be more active after mom eats.) However after getting a liter of IV fluids and eating a little bit ( 1/2 banana, 4 ritz crackers and 8 oz of apple juice) the activity of our little girl picked up. Soon she was hitting the fetal monitor with her arm or fist and making a "punch" sound come out of the speaker. Our little drummer. (Bob is already planning for her to have drum lessons.)
So we were at the hospital on Wednesday from about 11 am until 7 pm. It was a long day. It was pretty emotional for me, too, because the doctor was using scary words to prepare me for worst case scenarios and to explain why she wants to monitor me. After getting the IV fluids over the course of about 4 hours, the level of amniotic fluid did increase, but the doctor said she wanted to see a bigger increase. I think my body just needed more time to recuperate after the massive fluid loss from the food poisoning. The plan is for me to go back to the hospital on Friday to monitor Baby's activity and to check the AFI, or the Amniotic Fluid Index (level). Then she wants me to go to the hospital twice a week for monitoring until I go into labor. After researching on the internet, from what I've read, my lowest AFI level on Wednesday morning was still within the normal range. So I think the doctor just wants to make sure it stays there. I'll write again on Friday to let you know.
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4 comments:
Yikes, Jen and Juni! Where did you get the pizza so we know to stay clear? Glad you are feeling a little better; Juni is a tough little gal. :-) Let 'er at that pizzamaker.
It was from Uncle Vito's on Bush @ Powell. However, I've been eating there almost weekly for 8 years without any problems. I'm calling it food poisoning because that's what it seems like, and that was the doctor's guess, but I can't be sure. It could also be that my now super sensitive and very pregnant body reacted badly to the large meal I ate. It was very acidic with lots of tomatoes and garlic, which can be hard to digest. It was a very bad reaction I had, but it is over now and I'm feeling so much better!
New theory.
FACT:we both ate at Herbavore the night before (monday) and ordered practically the same thing
FACT: We BOTH got sick Tuesday
More: Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but sometimes deadly illness. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea that come on suddenly (within 48 hours) of consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, fever and chills, bloody stools, dehydration, and nervous system damage may follow. These symptoms may affect one person or a group of people who ate the same thing (this would be called an outbreak).
After thinking further about the slim odds of us both getting food poisoning the same day, I remembered we ate together the day before.
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