Nights in the hospital were always the worst for me. During the day there is a lot going on and there are more distractions. At night even though I had a family member with me and nurses checking on me I felt more alone. I had two desires every night that I went back and forth between. The first was for the night to move quickly so I'd stop agonizing about what could go wrong and we could start another day. The second was for the night to move slowly because a new day could bring new problems. It was a long night because I was still worried about what the ultrasound had shown, but it was eventually over and breakfast arrived along with my doctor.
Since I was showing no signs of infection, he decided to stop my IV antibiotics. I was still taking one orally because he didn't want to take me off of all of them, but again, he needed to push things a bit to see what happened. His ultimate goal was for me to go home on bed rest and taking me of the IV antibiotics was a step in that direction. He also wanted me to stress myself a bit more today (more like what it would be like at home) so he could do an exam of my cervix the next day to see how the extra stress affected it. That meant going all the way to the bathroom instead of using the beside commode, taking a shower (sitting down) and sitting up even more. Compared to the past few days, it sounded like doing a triathlon, but I knew it was a step towards going home which meant things were good.
My nurse found a shower chair for me and got everything set up in the bathroom. I was so excited to take a shower. I'd had a couple washcloth "baths" but they're just not the same. Not to mention my hair was super gross and only a shower could help at this point. Mom offered to help me and I accepted. My nurses had been wonderful, but I felt more at ease having my mom help. They bagged and taped my IV arm so it wouldn't get wet, unhooked me from all the machines and into the bathroom I went. It was the best I'd felt since I came into the hospital. It's amazing what a shower does to make you feel more human again. Mom braided my hair again afterwards and I got into a bed with fresh sheets. Even though I had help and sat down, the shower really took a lot out of me. I slept for about 2 hours afterwards. I guess when you've really only been laying in bed for 5 days, a shower is a lot of activity.
Since my Mom made me take a walk down the hall the day before (forgot to mention that in yesterday's post), my only activities out of bed for the day were the shower and getting up to go to the restroom. But believe me, that was a lot. My temperature remained normal throughout the day and my belly wasn't tender, still showing no signs of infection. While the activity made me tired, I wasn't bleeding or leaking, so thus far the activity seemed to be OK. The cerclage was holding. Our daughter was still moving and had a strong heartbeat, so another good thing.
That afternoon some family came to to visit me. It was lovely to see them because we don't get to see them often because they live overseas. I felt bad they had to come to the hospital, but seeing them lifted my spirits. I was also glad I'd gotten to shower that day. My hair would have terrified them. We had a nice visit and then Mom went with them to get some dinner. Adam's sister had night duty and she came a little later. Overall it was a good day. I felt a little more confident again. I was showing no signs of infection, I'd had a shower, the extra activity wasn't causing any bleeding or cramping and I felt more like myself. The exam in the morning would tell us for sure if things were still OK, but after a not so great day yesterday, today was a day of hope.
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