Last Tuesday, one week ago today, provides a good snapshot of some of the unforeseen challenges of our vacation. It was about 65 degrees and pelting down rain in central Maine... fairly standard weather for the few weeks we were in New England, with a few happy exceptions. Q and I had come down with a cold that my family was passing around to each other, and she had a fever of 101. I was in the maternity ward of the local hospital having the new baby's heartbeat monitored.
Why? Because 48 hours before we left, I discovered at my 32-week OB appointment that the baby's heartbeat was abnormal. She has an arrhythmia, specifically a relative common situation called premature atrial contractions (PAC's). In most cases the heartbeat irregularity resolves itself without intervention in utero or within hours of birth. I learned all this the day before we left for vacation when I saw a perinatologist for an ultrasound, and the morning of our departure when I met with the pediatric cardiologist. Happily the baby's heart itself looks great. The cardiologist advised me, however, to have the heartbeat monitored while on vacation on the off chance that the arrhythmia might convert to tachycardia - a consistent fast heartbeat which is often much more problematic than a PAC. So I had it monitored three times while we were away. The second of the three times had slightly worrying results but the others were fine.
As I was driving home from a 2-hour stint in the hospital for the monitoring last Tuesday, I spoke with Y who was not in a good way. A lump he'd discovered on his tailbone late Monday had grown increasingly painful throughout the day, and by the time I returned home it was so bad that he immediately went to the ER (of the same hospital from which I'd just returned) where they gave him no real helpful input and prescribed him Vikiden for pain. 36 hours later he wasn't able to sit, walk, or function due to the pain so we got him to the local clinic where they diagnosed an infected abscess related to a pilonidal cyst. They drained it - the most painful experience of his life, he said - and immediately put him on antibiotics and Oxycontin. Two days and another draining later, he was vastly improved - enough that he could actually move around and somewhat enjoy the sun that had finally come out. And travel home on Sunday in relative comfort. Praise God.
Doctors appointments for both of us yesterday (OB for me - thankfully he is not too concerned about the baby's heartbeat - still a standard PAC; our PCP for Y) and a consult with a a surgeon for Y today as he'll have to have the underlying tailbone cyst removed surgically. Typical post-op recovery: two weeks. Not ideal given less than 5 weeks now till the baby's due date...
All that said, it was lovely to see family and friends and be in New England again. We hit Dunkin Donuts probably 20 times while we were there. We enjoyed the thunderstorms and the thick trees. One thing's for sure - it's not a vacation we'll forget anytime soon.
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