Friday... gratitude and I had no clue

So, yesterday was an, um, interesting day.

The "I had no clue" part: that you can have a blood pressure of 50/26 and still be alive. Did you know that? I even worked in the medical field and so does my mom, and she didn't really think you could be either.

The gratitude part: I am so grateful that I and my baby girl are both alive and healthy right now.

I spent the day in the ER because I was having chest pain yesterday morning. My doctor told me to go in to make sure it wasn't a blood clot. After quite a few tests, they found out there was no clot. But it was an absolute miracle that I was in the hospital at that time, because I ended up losing consciousness about midday and my blood pressure dropped to the aforementioned 50/27.

I started feeling weird, then it kept progressing until I felt like something was really wrong. Lightheaded, my limbs all felt heavy and shaky, I was out of breath, intense hot flashes (but was cold to the touch), etc. At the worst point, when my vision was going black and I could barely breathe, I heard my ER dr yell, "We're going to need help in here!" and then I don't remember much.

Another thing you don't want to see/hear (which I didn't, but SHH did, since I wasn't coherent) is one of the many doctors in the room pointing at the monitor above me and saying, "Is that real?" (Asking about the blood pressure reading.)

The great news is that I did revive, the baby was fine during the whole episode (her heart rate dropped a little bit but nothing significant), and I am back home on bed rest for now--on my left side. The only thing they could guess had happened is that reclining on my back or my right side (the two positions I was in before it happened) put the baby on my vena cava and cut off my blood return.

So here's my tie in to writing: Sometimes things happen in our books that we don't anticipate or want. A plot hole opens up it's gaping jaws. A character falls flat. The stack of cards we assemble collapse. We get frustrated, we get anxious, we have to figure out what went wrong and try to fix it. But sometimes, these problems end up being a blessing in disguise. Maybe they unmask a deeper problem with our manuscript that, once fixed, truly makes our story shine.

Did that tie in work? Sort of? Well, anyway, whether it did or not, I am glad to be okay. Let's hope I stay that way. Today was scary enough to last me a long time. I'm ready for a nice, smooth labor sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. Sounds good? I think so!

Why am I sharing this? Well, to get sympathy of course! No, just kidding. Actually, it's to let you all know that I may be more sporadic with my blogging until the baby gets here (when I'll be taking a break for a couple weeks). Between the bedrest while taking care of two young boys, trying to finish the revision I'm working on for my agent before the baby comes, and everything else, I'm a little overwhelmed. Also, it's much more difficult to type when you're forced to lay on your left side all the time than you might think. I'll do my best to keep up my schedule, but if I miss a time or two, I hope you'll understand.

So, did you all have a great week? I hope so. Happy weekend to everyone! I'll be wishing us all nice, normal blood pressures! ;)