We didn't announce this when it happened because we didn't want anyone to worry because there was nothing to worry about. After the annual manager's meeting in Baltimore, I caught a stomach bug (or food poisoning, we're not sure). I landed in NOLA and called Brad and told him that I was not feeling well. I felt nauseated. Brad was convinced I just needed to eat because in the first trimester every time I was nauseated it meant I was hungry.
By 3 AM I was violently ill. I'll spare everyone the details but it felt like I threw-up a trimester's worth in 12 hours. Brad found me on the couch in a fetal position when he woke up at 5 AM. By 6 AM we had paged my doctor and gotten prescriptions. By 7 AM, Brad had run to the pharmacy and back (yea for late rounds that day!) and I had taken medicine. By 2 PM, nothing was working and I was still ill. We called the doctor back, and he said it was time to head to labor and delivery - hopefully our one and only practice run!
By the time we started the drive out to Metairie where the hospital is, it was rush hour traffic in NOLA. With major construction on the road that goes to I-10, and massive traffic, we finally showed up at the hospital an hour later (we have a much better route planned out for next time!) We followed the signs to labor and delivery and were checked into a room by 5:15 PM. After 2 liters of fluid I was feeling much better. My blood work finally came back and my potassium was 3.1 (normal is 4.0, Brad later told me at 2.8 your heart can have arrhythmias). He got up, kissed me on the forehead and said babe I'll be right back, I'm going for food. 20 minutes later I called to tell him that I was going to be ready to go in 30 minutes, but to take his time eating dinner. He calmly said ok. 5 minutes later I called back! "Nevermind babe, they are going to do a potassium drip and that takes 3 hours." Brad: "I know. That's why I went for food. I'll be back soon." I was released at 12:15 AM, and we headed home.
This whole ordeal was the Thursday before Brad's huge annual exam. He had set his alarm early to study before rounds and instead spent the whole morning taking care of me. All the residents were given the afternoon off to study, and Brad came home to take care of me and then spent the night in the hospital reading flashcards. I was so upset that I was sick because I was worried about his exam. In the end, all was okay for me (we're still holding our breath about Brad's exam). I wish we had not had the experience but it was comforting to have a practice run to the hospital.
