The Sea Monkey Chronicles

I’m just a little leery of something happening to me again so I saw Dr. Awesome this morning to discuss how to keep me healthy in all that we’re going through with Daniel.  Her nurses were overjoyed to see me which was nice — apparently, I’m the worst pre-eclampsia patient that Dr. Awesome has ever had and they were surprised at how I had recovered.  It’s pretty humbling to think that a week ago, my life was in danger.

Dr. Awesome and I talked about what I need to do today to prevent severe postpartum depression as I’m pretty susceptible to depression and with all that’s happening, I’m a pretty decent candidate for something happening.  We’re going to up me to my normal dose of Effexor XR as I’m not in danger of passing it on to Daniel through breast-feeding.  I’ll also see her again in two weeks and we’ll figure out if I should go back to work temporarily to conserve my FMLA time.

Daniel’s CaringBridge site is up and it is located at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/danieljameskm

After ending up in the ER last night with abdominal pain, back pain, leg pain, and coughing fits from the EEEEEEVVVIIIIIILLLLL respiratory crud that Jon gave me, I came to my pre-natal appointment today to find that they were going to do a TON of bloodwork and make me do a 24-hour urine collection.  When I asked if I could just do the urine collection on Sunday because of work tomorrow, my doctor just looked at me and told me that there was no chance in Hades that I’d be going to work tomorrow.  Or Monday.  Or any day until they figured out why my blood pressure is so high.  (High = 140/100ish for the last week or so.)

Apparently, the doctor I had to see in the ER last night looked at my urine specimen and my blood pressure and prematurely diagnosed me with pre-eclampsia, the cure for which is getting Daniel out of my tummy.  As I’m only abut 28 1/2 weeks along, they really DON’T want to do that.

So… I get to be on bedrest for the four days.  I hate bedrest.  Bedrest drives me crazy.  Did I mention that Jon will be gone for three of those days and I’ll be without human contact unless I call my teenager to come over and help me with stuff?

Prayers for my sanity are encouraged.

Pre-natal appointment was on Thursday afternoon.  Only a 0.9 lb weight gain this time (despite the 6 lb gain at my last appointment which made me a little irritated) even though I’d eaten my weight in junk over the last two weeks.  Dr. Awesome told me that she could give me a water pill if I couldn’t get the swelling down any other way.  The swelling did not go down so I went in on Friday (less than 24 hours after my pre-natal appointment) and told Dr. Awesome that I wanted the water pill she offered on Thursday.  NOW.  I was wearing flip-flops and she took one look at my lovely cankles and handed me the script for it.

So… the water pill has gotten rid of most of my cankles and the swelling in my feet.  The swelling in my hands, however, is still there.  The problem: it’s mostly in my right hand and I’m right-handed.  I can’t take the water pill every day because it’s not good for Daniel so… I’m typing 8-fingered  and trying to use my touchpad with my left hand instead of using my mouse.

My 7th wedding anniversary is tomorrow so Jon and I are headed out for a nice dinner tonight in town after his Cub Scout meeting.  (It would be after work tomorrow except that he has a mid-week Lenten Bible study at his faraway church.)

Also… a shout-out to Jon’s aunt Jan who is reading this.  We’re both tickled that you’re looking forward to being a “great” aunt.  🙂

I will try to get tummy pics this week…

I haven’t updated because life has been throwing me curveballs lately, the most recent being that my hands are all painful and swollen.  I saw Dr. Awesome last Thursday and she gave me splints to try and get some of the swelling down and take care of what looks to be pregnancy swelling mixed with carpal tunnel syndrome.

I’ve gained at least 10 lbs in the last month.  While this is all OK with Dr. Awesome, it’s making me feel like a beached whale.  I’m guessing that Daniel is a growing boy and needs the extra weight — well… either that or it’s serious water weight gain.

We’ve also got MAJOR kicking going on.  I have a little soccer player in my womb and the kicking is so hard that it will actually make me flinch on occasion when I’m not expecting it.  The little beast has also figured out how to stick his foot between my ribs.

I will *try* to get tummy pics this week.  Because it’s not in my morals to do so, I won’t (hopefully) be showing any tummy skin.  You will, however, see THE BELLEH which enters a room just before I do.

So I’m actually calling the sea monkey by its given name now.  Yes, I’ve accepted that I’m pregnant — that moment came in December when we had the first ultrasound and I saw him moving around.

I did see Dr. Awesome two days after the ultrasound.  It was a minor visit — she just wanted to see me and make sure all was well.  Daniel was asleep so his heart rate was only about 120 instead of the normal 140-150 that we normally get when he’s doing somersaults, kickboxing me, or playing with his feet.  Measurement-wise, I’m also where I should be which I guess is good.  Weight-wise, I gained 0.6 lbs which I find so funny because I’ve just gained and lost that weight since about December with little change.

Last Sunday (a week ago), I got hit with severe nausea and was up a good chunk of the night vomiting and cleaning out the sink drain because my stomach contents plugged it up.  I have plastic bags near wherever I’m sleeping because the nausea usually hits pretty fast and the other part of the night, I was making trips to the bathroom because of all the ginger ale and club soda (basically carbonated water) I was drinking to try and settle my stomach.  Going into work on Monday morning was NOT an option due to having no sleep.

As for my tummy, there’s debate on whether or not it’s all that big.  I’m definitely pregnant-looking but people have commented that I’m not “showing” as much as I could.  (This is so nice to hear because I do feel like I resemble a beached whale on occasion.)  I’m fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes kind of intermittently and shirts are long enough as long as I’m aware of where they are relative to my waistband.  (I consider it impolite to show off belly skin.)

In my non-pregnancy life, I’m reading a really great book by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life.  I should be feeling guilty because I eat a lot of processed foods these days as well as lots of Subway (serious convenience factor on my part, not to mention that they’ll make me whatever I want in terms of a sandwich) but I’m not due to not having the time or energy to have a social conscience at the moment.  It’s kind of amusing because it theoretically would not be that hard to actually eat the way she describes in the book during much of the year as I can get (and probably store) vegetables from neighbors and from the Hutterites.  As far as meat/dairy, the Hutterites slaughter chickens and do eggs, most of my parishioners raise cattle (and would probably sell me beef if I wanted it), a couple of my church kids sell eggs, and one of my neighbors milks her own cattle.  Looking out over the vast whitescape right now, this is all pretty far-fetched because it’s very definitely WINTER here and my local grocery store (while fairly good) doesn’t import all that much variety out of season.  Once Daniel is born, I might actually have the time to have a food conscience (strange as it sounds) because I can take him to farmer’s markets with me and I’m sure my neighbors wouldn’t mind a visit if I wanted meat or milk or eggs.

Off to curl up with the panther who is probably wondering why Mommy hasn’t come to see her yet.  (Then again, she had me this morning because I was sleeping some Sudafed instead of being in church like a good pastor’s wife.)

My MSAFP test came back slightly elevated for Down’s Syndrome.  Ummm… have I mentioned that I did not want the test in the first place and was kind of talked into it?  The bruise from the bloodwork had finally disappeared too!

Dr. Awesome had left a message on the answering machine last night saying that she wanted to talk to me about my bloodwork.  This was a red flag because they NEVER call you unless there’s a problem.  I got ahold of her today and she told me that the test was elevated for Down’s Syndrome but not to panic because this apparently happens when they test people as late as they tested me.  Apparently, it’s not uncommon and not a panic thing but OMG… they got my appointment with the high-risk person in Great Falls moved up PDQ!!!

The really cool 3-D ultrasound will be next Friday.  We’re putting off the discovery of the gender of the sea monkey until then because I’m not thinking that my insurance companies want to pay for two ultrasounds and would likely stick us with the bill for the more expensive one.

I had my pre-natal check-up on Tuesday.  I was late getting there because I got stuck at work… literally.  (Melting ice is bad under the front wheels of your car, especially on an incline.)  When I got to the clinic, I had to wait almost 40 minutes to be called back because it was one of those “OMGWTFBBQ-I-HAVE-TO-BE-SEEN-TODAY!!!!!!!!!!” days for my doctor.  Having had a glass of water before I left, I was a little uncomfortable.

After getting called back, doing the UA, having my vitals taken, and all that stuff, we checked my measurements (I’m perfectly where I need to be), my weight (lost 0.1 lbs this week), and listened for a heartbeat.  Given that the little parasite baby has been eating off my fat reserves, we got the heartbeat immediately as it has pretty much lost all of its padding and hiding places!!!!!!!!

My next ultrasound (for gender) will be on Friday, January 30th at 9 a.m.  This is good because it means that I don’t have to deal with all the “OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I’M IN THE E.R. AND I HAVE A BROKEN BONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” people (who were going to be shot last time if I’d had to wait any longer — they make you have 32 oz. of liquid in your bladder for two hours prior to the ultrasound and I was getting crabby) and I can actually work most of my day.

The “superspecial ultrasound to check for PAA” will be on February 20th at 10 a.m. in Great Falls.

Meanwhile, I’m thankful that one of my regualr skirts from before my pregnancy still fits.  Granted, I got it a size larger because I hate having pencil-thin skirts but it does fit and it works for winter weather as long as it isn’t sub-zero.  I’m also carrying my baby fairly high so my hips and lower abdomen are still pretty normal.