Monday April 6, 2015 my husband and I came down with flu. Pretty much at the exact same time. I was in one bathroom and Brandon was in the other. So my Mom came and got Whitney so we didn't have to worry about her. The next question was, I'm 38 weeks pregnant, what is this going to do to me?! I called the doctor and got exactly what I knew they would say...stay hydrated and if you feel faint go in and get fluid, also there is a chance it can put you into labor...great! So I was chugging water and a little Gatorade to stay hydrated in between my bathroom episodes. Every now and then Brandon and I would check on each other to see how things were going and if the other was OK. Brandon unfortunately continued to get worse and worse until he finally said he needed to go in. So, I took him to the ER.
The ER was crazy busy at the time but thankfully I only had one bathroom episode while we were waiting for him to get called back. Anyway, once we got called back I started to feel really faint and uncomfortable so I asked one of the nurses about it because I knew she once worked on the OB floor. So she thought I should go up stairs and get some fluid, which made me feel better because then they could monitor the baby. Well, sure enough I was completely dehydrated, baby's heart rate was a little high, I was contracting and at a 3. They hooked me up to an IV, gave me some anti-nausea and started watching my contractions. Around midnight I begged to go home because I needed some sleep and I really wanted to get the house clean before we had a baby. I was NOT ready for her. They actually let me leave even though I was dilated to a 4-5. We came home, I took a little nap and woke up because I was sick again. As I had my head in the toilet heaving away I felt a squirt of water come out. So, we packed our stuff and headed back to the hospital.
I was still at a 4-5, but almost a 5. She couldn't tell if it was my water or not because the test wouldn't work because of too much blood. So they just monitored everything and let me get some rest. The doctor came in and said he wanted to put me on pitocin to get things going. Which I was very hesitant about because I've heard terrible things about how it makes everything much more painful and I was already in tons of achy pain from the flu. But I let them anyway, and it actually wasn't too bad. I could feel the contractions a lot more but they were still bearable. I finally got to about a 6-7 but was still slowly moving.
At about 11:30 the doctor came back in and broke my water. All hell broke loose after that. My contractions started getting unbelievably intense. So intense that I was basically screaming through them because that was the only thing that sort of helped. About 10 mins later my contractions started making me feel like I need to go poop, and they reassured me that it was just baby coming down. So they checked me and I was almost fully dilated and ready to have a baby. They called the doctor to come back in a panic and they made me hold my urge to push until he got there. Once he got there I actually got a little laugh out of myself by asking "does this mean I don't get the epidural" hahaha. Good one huh? They got everything to have a baby ready and I gave a handful of pushes and she was here...at 12:03 p.m.! That's 30 minutes after he broke my water.
Thankfully she was OK, healthy and beautiful. But our next concern was the flu. Brandon was still feeling pretty cruddy, I was basically over it because well I just pushed a baby out, the flu was the least of my worries. But basically my advice is to not stress about the baby getting the flu, but do stress about hand washing and basic hygiene.
So, if any of you ever find yourself in labor with the flu, you will find some comfort to know that once they put you on an IV your life gets much better. You still might have a few bathroom episodes but it is comforting to know you are in a hospital and they are watching the baby closely. Giving birth while you have the flu is completely doable.
Make sure to have someone come by and clean the bathrooms for you before you get home, maybe the house too. Also make sure and bring a pillow and blanket for both you and your husband to help you feel a little more comfortable at the hospital. All in all it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it is something I never want to ever have to do again.
If you ever find yourself full term with the flu, make sure and keep an eye on yourself. If for any reason you feel faint or just not right, go in because you never really know how dehydrated you really are.
Hailey Sue graced us with her presence April 7, 2015 at 12:03. 7lbs, 10oz. and 20 inches long!
