Karla,
This is my opinion of PD, I too was doing nothing out of the ordinary on 12-26-90 at 10 pm but watching TV when it struck. However, you must go back 6 months before and take it all in perspective. (This was not explained to me early on, so the PD was very rampant and had spread to other areas affecting my life, like driving, going to work, etc.) Anyway, I will just give you a tip of the iceberg of 1 month prior to my first PA.
Nov 20th-I'm nine months pregnant-I'm tired, I advise my supervisor I will begin my maternity leave that day ( I left around noon)
Nov 21th-I'm in labor and give birth to my son around noon-so much for getting rest
Nov 22nd-I'm discharged from the hospital, as it is a small one, my son and I are the only patients on the Maternity floor and its Thanksgiving day. (WTG, Insurance Companies and Doctors!)doctor states will follow up on Home Health Care in a few days.
Prior weeks lead to many visits from friends, co-workers and family to see the baby (my second, I have a child that is 5 also, and a husband that works the night shift).
Throughout December, I'm doing Christmas shopping, putting up the tree, gift wrapping, keeping my house meticulous (company and the season-I just want this to be the "perfect" holiday). And of course, taking care of a newborn and 5 yr old, bath, feedings, etc. My husband does help. I'm feeling fine-(or so I think)
Somewhere around December 15th - I get a call from my supervisor-they are downsizing from two offices to one ( I was a manager-tells me, I will become the asst. manager of the remaining one when I return from maternity leave, which is a cut in pay-not overly drastic, but still somewhat unexpected to me. But nothing that we couldn't still afford, the house payment, car payment, etc.
December 25th-Christmas, hectic rush to get ready, as my family is extended in marriages, so we travel to see my mother and stepdad, My father and stepmom, and my in-laws (something we had done every year-nothing out of the "ordinary")
December 26th- mind you my youngest is barely over 4 weeks old, my husband is at work, I tackle to put up all the gifts received, toys, my children's clothes, etc. and have my house back in order again. It's around 9pm, I'm tired, exhausting day, and haven't eaten much. I have gotten the newborn to sleep. Whew, I think I will finally sit and relax for the day, until my husband comes in around 11:30 pm. So I watch some TV, when my eyes go blurry, dizziness overwhelms me so much, that putting my head between my legs does not work, I'm on the floor, feel I'm going to pass out. I call my mother, tell her something is wrong with me, I'm praying Dear Lord, don't let me die here with my children to see. I direct my 5 yr old to stay in the kitchen till Grammy gets there (to spare her seeing her mother die).My mother comes which is about a 15 min drive, she wants me to eat, I feel better she is there, the episode has passed, and she waits till my husband gets home.
(Nevermind the follow up with two doctors, one the very next morning-that I feel did way more damage than good in my panic, as I had about 4 more attacks on Dec 27th, while my husband was home all day).
Getting to the point, I hit on just one month, I was handling it fine mind and body wise -but do you now see where all this was a ticking time bomb ready to explode?