I'm Hurt!

I can't believe my luck. I got a cold on Memorial Day, or so I thought. It turned into bronchitis, and I had a really bad cough. Well, one night, at a birthing class, I had a coughing spell, and coughed with such force that I threw a rib out of place. The pain was bad, and I went to the chiropractor and the doctor. Dr. said it didn't look broken, gave me an inhaler to help me to stop coughing so much, and the chiropractor fixed my back, near the place where the rib was messed up.

Then, I had another bad cough, and the rib went out again, but this time felt more painful, and was accompanied by a 'POP'! It hurt way worse than the first time, and so I called the doctor and she called in a prescription for these pads that have lidocaine in them, and would numb the area a bit. She told me this was the only safe thing I could take. Tylenol didn't help at all. The pads didn't seem to be doing much, and when I woke up the next day, every move I made was excruciating. Dan offered to take the day off, and I took him up on it, since the pain was so bad, I knew I wouldn't be able to drive. I was moving very slowly, and couldn't stand up straight or breathe normally. I couldn't believe how bad it had gotten overnight.

So, we went to the ER, got right in, and they took my blood through an IV. Yuck! I was dreading the day I might have to have an IV. I couldn't look at it. My blood pressure was kinda high, since my body was all stressed out. The baby's heart rate was higher than normal, too. 160. Last week, at the OB, it was 147. The Doctor said I could take vicodin as long as I didn't overdo it, and I could stick with the lidoderm patches to help with the pain. They sent me for an x-ray of my chest. It turns out my rib is broken! I couldn't believe it! The blood work also came back saying I MAY have a blood clot, but since I have no leg or arm pain, they aren't going to do anything about it. That freaked me out more than the broken rib.

They told me that I should feel better in a couple of weeks. What sucks about that is, we go on vacation in a week. To the shore. I hope I am not feeling miserable on vacation. Now it's two days later, and everyday seems to be better than the one before, so that's good. I am just mostly freaked out that this is going to affect the baby, or my rib won't heal properly in time for me to deliver, and maybe they'll say, 'Well, you hurt your back, so why don't we do a C-section so you don't have to do all that pushing?' I have so much to do yet, too. We still have to choose a color for the paint in the nursery, and we have to clean up the room and get it organized so he can paint. I want to get the carpet in there shampooed, too. I am used to doing the physical stuff. I guess I won't be much help for a while.