Beyond Frustrated! (Sorry so lengthy)

MKateG

I'm 21 weeks pregnant with twins and over the past few days I've become increasingly short of breath even at rest sometimes. I'm a nurse and work 12 hour shifts at a hospital rarely have time to sit down and yesterday I was very uncomfortable all day, very short of breath, my stomach the entire time i was on my feet felt very tight (so tight I felt like I couldn't even stand up straight) and was having sharp cramps in my lower abdomen on and off. All day I just kept telling myself I cannot walk down this hall one more time! And I felt my BP drop a couple times and had to sit down, I even had to lean and prop on stuff while in patient's rooms I was so uncomfortable on my feet. I called my Dr today and talked to his nurse she offered NO advice just that I could come in and see the on call Dr if I wanted to. So I said well I really am just concerned about working 12 hr shifts on my feet and feeling that way, I wanted to see what my Dr thought about it. She said she would call back. Well after a few hours past I didn't hear from her I called and just Ok Ill come in and see the on call. I figured that way I could talk to a Dr myself in person and get the answers I wanted. So I went and saw a Dr (not my usual dr) she wanted to do a cardiac work up and rule out a PE which I was not concerned about because I would be gasping for air. So before she left the room I told her I'm a nurse I work 12hr shifts and should I be concerned about how I had been feeling while on my feet? Should I cut back? Do I need to take this as a sign I need to stay off my feet? She just asked a few questions and said well can you tolerate it? I said well not really not how I was feeling yesterday. And then she said well we will just see how all this comes back. REALLY! I'm giving you a description of how I'm feeling while on my feet and you have NOTHING to say about it! Then they hooked me up to a contraction monitor and the nurse made a smart comment when she hooked me up, " Soo were really going to try to monitor contractions on twins at 21 weeks, this will be fun" ISN'T MAKING SURE MY BABIES STAY PUT FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE YOUR JOB??? My sister in law lost twins at 21 weeks because no one would listen to her, and almost lost my nephew because the Dr was going to send her home until she made him check her again. My brother is a PA and he is very concerned about how I'm feeling and said he doesn't care if it is braxton hicks he thinks I need to be on bed rest and cannot believe my Dr had nothing to say about it! To make it worse my director texted me and asked how I was I told her everything was fine but I went to get checked out because of how I had been feeling lately and how I felt at work yesterday, I wrote a long text explaining how I had felt while on my feet yest and that I was concerned about pushing myself to far. She replied "praise the Lord"..... REALLY? Yes Praise the Lord that right now everything is fine with my babies BUT Im not trying to wait until something goes wrong before I say ok now I think I should slow down. So I just came out and told her that I felt like I needed a change up to keep me off my feet more and she is going to call me tm.

UGH! Has anyone else been through something like this? Going to the Dr and talking to the nurse just made me feel crazy and like no one hears anything I'm saying! Is it normal for my stomach to feel uncomfortably tight THE ENTIRE time I'm on my feet (even just getting up from the couch to go to the bathroom)?? I guess what Ive figured out is that NO ONE except me is going to look out for my babies....

kmc84

You have to be your own advocate!

I was working on a busy floor as an RN while I was pregnant with DD. I felt pretty good until ~31 weeks. I was in such pain- back, hips, horrendous swelling, and the crazy tight, can't move stomach. I spoke with my OB several times about my concerns, including my super concentrated urine, that as a nurse really got my attention. The OB never seemed concerned. All I was told was they couldn't pull me out unless I was in PTL or had HBP. My coworkers were wonderful and even they could see how miserable my body was. They tried giving me the lightest assignment when possible, which helped a tiny bit. I finally resigned at 36 weeks because I was DONE. I couldn't handle it anymore and my OB refused to pull me out. Well, my water broke at 36w3d and I have no doubt it was do to the physical stress of the job.

Sorry this got so long! Moral of the story is if you think something is wrong, listen to your gut! Are you seeing MFM? If your hospital is willing to work with you, ask about a light duty, like chart reviews or maybe there are trainings/inservices you can help with?

Mrs.McIrish

Ugh!! I'm 27 wks with twins and there is no way I could be on my feet for 12 hrs!!! I was out for like 4 hrs walking around stores and I am in so much pain tonight. To do that times 3 several times a week--yikes!! I'm so sorry no one is helping you. My belly definitely gets tighter when I walk around a lot. I don't get the shortness of breath though.

Grateful&Thankful

I don't know what it is like to be pregnant with twins or work on my feet for that long but I'm a big believer with going with your gut! If you are feeling this badly, listen to your body. That's really disheartening that your doctor is brushing off your concerns! 

BabyKsMommy

While I am not a nurse I am in a similar situation. Also pg with twins and I'm a waitress so I'm also on my feet constantly. I don't have time to sit at all or eat when I'm at work.

I was having a hard time around 18 wks with back pain and leg pain. My OB said to take Tylenol and get a belly support band. But she did offer to make restrictions at work for me. So one of my restrictions is I can't lift more than 10 lbs and another is I can't work more than 6 hrs.

I'm now 27 wks and I'm having a harder time again. I know my OB has no problem writing me out of work at 32 wks because they consider twins full term at 36. I don't know if I'll make it till then.

I would ask your OB about maybe limiting the number of hours you can work and then maybe writing it that you need X amount of breaks or something.

dp21

You should talk to your manager and see if you can do 8's.  Are you an all 12 hour floor?  I'm currently working four 8's, 32 hours.  I don't think I'd like 12s pregnant.  You can also see if you can reduce your hours and try not to schedule a bunch of days in a row.

mdiblasi10

I definitely agree with listening to your body and continuing to push for help from your doctor. It sounds like you need to slow down at work, so either shorter shifts or more breaks or less hours overall. Can you call and talk to the nurse again or your regular OB and make it clear that you are very concerned and need their guidance and help? I know I had to really push my OB when I needed her and the nurse the most, and finally they stepped it up and got me what I needed when I was really sick.

Good luck and take it easy!

xc1148

Sorry you have to deal with that!

Listen to your body.....rest. You're doing too much.

Listen to your gut...find a new doctor/practice if you really dislike the way you were treated. Not to generalize, but nurses are supposed to the nice ones and you'll see them a lot more than the doctors. If it's a large place maybe you won't run into them again, but based on this instance I don't know if I'd take that risk.

SKLH

Sorry your doctor is dismissing your concerns. I wonder if he is of the same "school" as my doctor. I know my example is different but I had a issue pretty early on in the pregnancy (12 weeks) and when I went to my OB ... he checked the baby on a u/s and basically told me there was nothing else they can do. He gave me a loooooooong rant about how bed rest literally does NOTHING to improve a women's chances of carrying the baby. Huh? I had never heard of that before! He said if something is going ot happen to the baby there's very little he could do. Your OB sounds just like mine wne it comes to implementing some kind of plan to keep you off your feet. I would continue to request bed rest or a letter asking to modify your work scheudle even if it's just less hours on your feet a day. 12 hours on your feet a day with 2 babies in your belly is A LOT!

MKateG

Thanks for all the replies! I called the specialist that is working with my reg ob on my case and spoke with her nurse and she agreed that yes I need to cut hours and take breaks and make time to drink plenty of water. She is giving me a list of guidelines that my manger should go by when considering my work load. She said if cutting hours and drinking extra water doesn't help with my pain I may need to consider going out of work early. So finally someone listened to me and Im not crazy! And now I won't be going in to talk with my boss empty handed!

BabyKsMommy

Yay! Im glad you at least got some help with easing up on the work load. Hopefully that will help but if it doesn't I would make sure to let your Drs know

cls78

Can you get a Doctors note to get put on light duty or shorter shifts?

MKateG

@cls78 that's what I'm going to ask the Dr to do, I just can't tolerate running around like I would have to on the floor nursing. Im actually going to more so tell him, I'm done asking what they think I know my body and its done!

chrissynena

Those long shifts are so hard. I am 26 (tomorrow) weeks pregnant with twins and I am a retail manager. We work 12 hour days also, and it's very physical and on your feet all day. Very early in my first trimester I had my RE wrote me down to 8-10 hour days (so I am impressed you made it this far). My first trimester was horrible tho. I find myself getting really winded and sore on those long on your feet all day shifts and just talked to my OB about it. She said typically they take twin pregnancies off work at 32 weeks (which fits right into my vacation/maternity leave plan) BUT she said I know what kind of work you do and don't be surprised if we talk about it earlier.

Listen to your body. I also think too I worked so hard to get pregnant with these babies (and we have no chances left) that I will do anything in my power to make sure they stay put as long as they can. So if work suffers, so be it.

Hopeful1029

I would ask to be out on restricted duty, or even bed rest. I'm a nurse and started getting terrible BH from being on my feet so long. My old OB did nothing about it. I switched at 30'weeks. My new OB put me on bed rest and I haven't had any BH. So sorry honey. Listen to your gut and take care of those babies!!

MKateG

Thanks for the support everyone! @hopeful1029, I have been tempted to switch OB's just because I WANT my OB to take this pregnancy as seriously as I do! I wasn't sure if its too late or not, but according to what my reg OB says this coming week I guess Ill make my decision. 

UPADTE: I did end up going to my OB's office and even just walking inside I was winded and my heart was pounding, but I asked to see a Dr or nurse just to talk to them. He sent me up to L&D and monitored me for several hours, did an echo, checked my thyroid, and had me on continuous pulse Ox. He ruled out anything wrong with my heart, no blood clot in my lungs, and nothing wrong with my thyroid. SURPRISE SURPRISE....I did make a comment when I first came in that the on call Dr I saw was only worried about a PE and my heart when all I think it is is how my body is handling the NORMAL changes of pregnancy (I think he took that a little bit the wrong way) But I mean seriously all of the changes that my body is going through can cause these symptoms and I KNOW THAT, why can't they just admit it??? Anyway he wrote me to be out of work for one week and Ill follow up with my Reg OB this week to discuss long term changes. UGH.