Another Emergency...

Well, it feels like this year has been rather exciting for me in the way of once-in-a-lifetime experiences...my purse was stolen in June, I had a c-section in August, and now...a severe allergic reaction.

Ryan went to Los Angeles on business this week. He left Monday morning very early and was scheduled to be gone until Wednesday afternoon.

It so happens that I started a new prescription medication on Monday - Reglan. My milk supply had begun to decrease at 6 weeks, and my OB/GYN suggested this prescription as a way to increase milk supply. I decided to at least give it a try, and finally was able to pick up the prescription on Sunday and started it on Monday...taking it 4x daily as prescribed.

On Tuesday, around 1:30, Ryan's brother Denny and his family popped in at our house. This was a welcome distraction from my boring day home alone with the kids. Monday night had been very hard for me, as I had a terribly stuffy head and a lot of sinus pressure. I had been waiting on the nurse to call me back and let me know if I could take some over-the-counter allergy meds, to make sure they wouldn't react with my other meds, and she had finally given me the ok. I had just taken the first dose about an hour before Denny and Chasity got there.

As I sat talking to Denny and Chasity, I noticed that my face started to feel really tight. I thought perhaps my sinuses were just drying out and it felt weird. But...it was also getting very hard to talk, like something was wrong with my mouth. I finally went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror to see that my whole face looked swollen, and even my tongue looked bigger. I thought it was weird, so I called the nurse back to see if this was some sort of weird side effect. She told me I should call 911 or go to the emergency room. It was really hard to talk by that point, and she was probably having a hard time understanding me, although I was trying to be as clear as possible.

Well, I just went into the living room and told Denny and Chasity I needed to go to the emergency room. Denny stayed with all the kids...my three plus his two...and Chasity took me to the emergency room. I was going to go to Methodist, but then I realized that my tongue seemed to be swelling more rapidly and I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to talk, so we just went to Immanuel, which is down the street from my house.

I could talk well enough to communicate with the desk person and a nurse came and checked my breathing right away. They didn't seem too concerned, so I tried to remain calm. They asked a lot of questions, and luckily I had thought to grab all my medications and bring them with me so they could figure out what was wrong. They kept asking if I was having an allergic reaction, but since I've never experienced this before, obviously I didn't know. They gave me a room and decided to give me some Pepcid (basically just like more of the allergy medication that I took) and steroids to reverse the swelling. When the nurse checked my throat, she said there wasn't much of a hole there, but when the doctor checked it a few minutes later, he didn't see a whole lot wrong. I was talking better by then as well, so I think the swelling had reversed, but they went ahead and did the steroids and Pepcid anyway. I was sleepy awhile, because of all the benadryl meds, but by the time they let me go, I felt pretty good (probably because of the steroids). They basically said the only thing the could figure out is that I was having a severe allergic reaction to Reglan, which I had been on for only a little more than 24 hours. Note to self...

Well, Chasity decided to stay overnight with me because we weren't sure if I would be able to get up with Micah in the night. We stopped by her house to get some things and then by Target for some formula for the babe. Then we came home and I called Ryan (Chasity had talked to him at the hospital, so he knew what was going on) to give him the full story. Chasity made supper for everyone and the kids played awhile. I actually felt great after that...thanks to the steroids. I picked up the house, gave the kids a bath, put them to bed, and was still pretty awake. I talked to Janelle on the phone until I fell asleep, but woke up twice with Micah in the night. Chasity woke up twice with Isaiah, though...his knees were hurting either due to cool temperatures or growing pains, still not sure which. Either way, I'm glad that another adult was there just in case.

So...now the miracle part of all this. Denny and Chasity actually went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch to spend the day as a family, but didn't realize that it was only open on the weekends until October. They thought about popping in, but neither of them had their cell phones to call me and check. Tuesdays are bad days for me, because I work childcare in the morning, and it was a bad time, because it was Isaiah's naptime. Chasity knew about these things, and they almost didn't come because of it. I'm glad people listen to God when He nudges them in a direction, though. He provided everything at just the right time.