I had a meeting at 9am with about 100 of my colleagues, we were all gathering to hear about the 2014 strategy of our company. I arrived about 15 minutes early and found a gal I know, we sat near the door as I assumed I would need to use the restroom at some point during the presentation. Planning ahead.
About 10 minutes into the presentation I began to feel lightheaded and short of breath, I thought maybe I was just warm so I tried to get control of my breathing and cool off a little. That didn't work, my pulse was doing strange things and at some point I realized that I may pass out. The only thing I could think about was getting out of the meeting room so I did not pass out in front of 100 of my colleagues. I know now that I should have just stayed seated as it was probably more dangerous for me to move but my mind was made up, I was out of there.
I grabbed my purse told the gal I knew that I wasn't feeling well and made a dash for the door. Thankfully our marketing person for the Minnesota region was in the hall and she knew right away that I wasn't feeling well. She got me sat down in a chair, helped me take off my cardigan in order to cool me down a bit and I said, "I am 27 weeks pregnant and I think I am going to pass out". I knew that I needed to tell her how far along I was in case I did pass out and she needed to call the paramedics.
She asked if she should call 911 and I said, "not yet, just give me a minute". She called the front desk to ask if there was anyone on staff with medical training and within 2 minutes there were 4 staff members around me. It was incredible, they asked what they could do and I asked for juice and crackers as I thought maybe it was a blood sugar issue. I swear it was 30 seconds and someone had a glass of orange juice and soda crackers.
Disclaimer: I had eaten a good breakfast not 2 hours prior to this meeting, so it was a shock to me that it may be a blood sugar issue.
The orange juice and the crackers helped but I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I called Mr. G and told him to come get me and that we needed to go to the doctor. I called the doctor and they said to come in immediately.
Thankfully Mr. G wasn't far away and was there to pick me up within about 12 minutes, he said that he was terrified but was trying to stay calm for me.
During my wait the hotel manager and the marketing women stayed with me and just kept talking to me. They were both so kind to me, it really helped restore some of my faith in humanity.
Once we arrived at the doctor they checked my heart and lungs, my glucose, hemoglobin, electrolytes and kidney function along with Baby G's heart. Everything checked out just fine but the doctor had expected it to as I was feeling better and that I had drank some juice and had crackers. The doctor mentioned that we could go further and order an EKG on me but that she suspected my blood sugar dropped unexpectedly and caused the "flight or fight" response from my body. She recommended going home and resting the remainder of the day and that if this type of thing ever happened again to go immediately to the ER as they can get an EKG done a lot quicker and we can see if it is a heart issue.
I now have a bag of snacks packed in my purse and have needed to utilize them a couple of times, I just think it is part of pregnancy...I felt like I was eating often before but now I feel like I am snacking all of the time.
My husband emailed the hotel manager and thanked him and his staff for their fast actions and complemented their efforts. I thanked the marketing person profusely for her help and kindness.
While this was a very scary situation it was made better by the wonderful concern and kindness of strangers.
With love,
Mrs. G
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