Pregnant and Sick

This was originally written on Thursday, February 07, 2008

Unfortunately my nausea hasn't quit from Tuesday. I had a bad night last night, which meant Joe also had a bad night. I told him maybe I should sleep in our guest room the rest of my pregnancy so I don't bother him. He said "no," but suddenly our queen bed feels terribly small and I wish we had a king.

Aside from feeling sick, I kept getting hot then cold (and never felt comfortable), and so finally I went downstairs to lay on the couch--but apparently the dogs then starting crying as they do whenever they know that I'm not in bed (bad news for when L.J.'s here and I'm up constantly for him). So then Joe let them out of the closet (where they sleep) so that he could get some sleep, but they wouldn't stop crawling all over me. News for those with lap dogs: they will annoy you when pregnant. Prior to being pregnant, I enjoyed them always cuddling and wanting to be close. Now, it's like "give me some space, let me breathe, get away!"

Joe finally put the collar on Cosmo, yelled at Bella, and put them back in the closet, and from 4 am on we were able to sleep well. But, due to the hours prior (and now) I had to call Jenn next door and tell her I'll have to take a raincheck on scrapbooking (which she invited me to do at her house every other Thursday). Hopefully I'll feel better tonight for our second childbirth class.

I hope my parents have a good week in Chicago, as they are going to be in the audience of the Oprah show!
-----------

This was originally written on Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I thought I'd post a picture of L.J.'s swing! It arrived a couple of days ago from my aunt (mom's sister-in-law), her two daughters (my cousins), and her daughter-in-law (my other cousin's wife). It's called Nature's Purest Swing-Hug Me by Summer Infant from Babies R Us. Isn't it soooo cute?!?!?! It has three different speeds and plays music & other sounds. Our house is looking more and more like a baby lives here :-)--------
This was originally written on Thursday, February 21, 2008

I'm up early this morning, due to having menstrual-like cramps during the night. They are better now (due to drinking a lot of water, going to the bathroom, and walking around), so I'm not going to freak out. . .plus, I have my next doctor's appt. tomorrow.

I have been "out of commission" since Saturday, Feb. 9th. I began to feel I may be in jeopardy of catching a virus a couple of days before, but had hoped I could prevent it. That day (Thurs, Feb. 7th) Joe left work early because we had a ton of stuff to do. At night we had to rush to our childbirth class which, even though the topic was "relaxation exercises" to do while in labor, it was exhausting. All I could think about was getting home and going to bed. Unfortunately, we still had some last-minute stuff to do. I was so run down that I was going to leave Joe my cell phone and go home, but instead I left with my cell phone, and so I realized I was going to have to go back where he was because otherwise I wouldn't know when to pick him up.

First, though, I stopped off at home to let the dogs out and was greeted with a not very nice present: there had been a trash bag sitting by our garage door that was now in shreads. Kleenex or toilet paper was strewn all over our living room. Tears that had been on the verge of coming--came. I haven't had to dog-proof my house since they were puppies--what in the world?! Ugh.

Anyway, I drove back to Joe and finished helping him. I was so happy when I finally went to bed.

But on Friday I had to go "out and about" and felt run down again very quickly. So I e-mailed my writers critique group to let them know I wasn't going to be able to make it that night. I needed to go to bed at 8 pm! Needless to say, the following week I decided to resign permanently. I just can't seem to commit to being a member these days. Plus, I don't know what my life is going to be like once L.J. is here. I've had a really hard time working on my manuscript lately, but am hoping to keep on trucking because if I put writing on hold then it will be that much longer before my dream comes true. So, I'm still keeping in contact with everyone in the group and will attend the main writers group meetings.

On Saturday morning we had the meeting for this month, which was very motivational. Amber joined me and then we met our husbands afterwards for lunch.

I'm 29 weeks pregnant and have gained 25 lbs., so I'm on track again. I already grew out of one of my pair of maternity pants, though. They were the first jeans I bought last fall. So, I bought myself a new top yesterday!

After lunch on the 9th Joe and I picked up our car seat/stroller. It's been sitting in our living room since, and I smile every time I see it :-)

We also went to Verizon to finally get Joe a cell phone! I've had a plan with them for a year-and-a-half and so we got a family share plan and changed my phone # to an Omaha number. It took nearly two hours (thus why it's taken us five years to get Joe a cell phone) but I feel a lot better now knowing I should be able to get a hold of him whenever I go into labor.

By the time we were finished, though, I was coughing like I had bronchitis. We came home and I put on my pjs. . .but it was too late. I got worse each hour. By Sunday morning I was a wreck. I couldn't get out of bed all day. Monday was the worst. It had developed into a painful sore throat (and still the bad cough), as well as a headache, stuffy nose, earache, and I even threw up that morning. Joe worked from home so he could keep an eye on me, as I also kept getting sweaty (burning up) and then cold. Fortunately, I never had a fever and so supposedly L.J. was/is okay. (I kept turning on a fan or placing a cold washcloth on my forehead when I became hot.)

Joe called my doctor's office to find out what I could take, and they said that Robitussin is all right. So, he went to the store and bought me some, however, it didn't work (I might not have taken it enough; I just didn't want to risk it, so I only took it four or five times throughout the week). I was still a disaster in bed all day on Tuesday and Wednesday, drinking tons of orange juice and eating chicken noodle soup.

Joe spent every night in our guest bedroom, but still managed to get sick as well. I'm not sure if he caught the same virus because his wasn't as serious, or if it just affected him differently. He mainly just had a runny/stuffy nose and a slight cough. But he worked from home again on Wednesday.

Thursday was the first day I noticed some improvement. I still had a sore throat & cough, but my other ailments went away (although I'd still been having nausea since before my virus). I was able to go to our childbirth class that night, but that was it for Valentine's Day.

For our childbirth class, we received a tour of the hospital. It was another realization that "the end is near!" Without these moments, the whole thing still doesn't seem real sometimes! How can I really experience labor and childbirth?!?!? Wow, it's really going to happen. . .!

The hospital was really cool. The rooms were bigger than I had imagined, and it sounds like we can pretty much do whatever we want--their goal is to give us the birth plan that we want, so Joe and I wrote out ours this past weekend! (I'll explain in a future blog.)

The next day (Friday, February 15) I took it easy again so as to finish recovering from my illness.

Saturday I finally felt up for keeping our tradition of going to my favorite restaurant to celebrate holidays/special occasions (since we didn't go on Valentine's Day). We also went to the mall and then crashed for the night.

On Sunday, Joe and I packed the recommended bags for the hospital so that we are now prepared to leave at a moment's notice!

Monday I could tell I was almost recovered (and Joe was fully recovered). All I had left was a slight cough. So I was able to go to the grocery store.

Tuesday I stayed home, and by that evening felt as if I was my old self (well, old pregnant self) again. Since then, my nausea has been gone for good again.

So, yesterday (Wednesday, February 20) Joe and I were able to meet our pediatrician! Originally, we'd had the appointment scheduled for the previous Wednesday when I was sick, so we were glad we could make it this time. We loved him!!!! At first I didn't know if I'd be up to driving 20 minutes (when there are several much closer to our house). But it seems worth it. The facility was nice and he was awesome. He was so friendly and knowledgable and experienced. We were really impressed; he seemed to have all of the traits anyone would want (and he answered most of my questions before I even asked).

Unfortunately, he works with another hospital (Methodist rather than the Alegent Health System) so he won't be able to be with us when L.J. is born at Bergan Mercy, but he has a doctor at our hospital who takes his patients until he can see them on the third day (and he does the same for that doctor when her clients deliver at Methodist). He says a lot of parents are doing the "delay vaccination thing" now, so he will not kick us out of his practice like most doctors if we want to wait. He said that all doctors agree that the one given at birth--hepititus B--is completely unncessary. . .but parents aren't really informed of this. In truth, a baby can only get the disease if the mother is sleeping around or doing drugs. Hospitals are required now to get a parent's consent before giving the baby the shot, but most people still go along with it. He said that his first priority is to the parents and children--not the hospitals--so he will always inform us of all of our options rather than tell us what we have to do.

So I'm glad we have another box checked off our list!

Tonight we have our 4th out of 6th childbirth classes, and then our one "breastfeeding class" on Monday. We decided to postpone our one "new parent class" until April 14th. Originally, we were supposed to go last Monday and so I was hoping to reschedule to March, but that was the next option.

For lunch today I am meeting Melissa. . .as I have some sad news. She and her husband are moving to Arizona :-( It came as a total surprise. A couple of weeks ago, a recruitor asked Jake to interview at a company near Pheonix. He did and he was offered the position of manager. So they put their house up for sale this past Friday, and he is moving the second weekend in March; she's moving the first weekend of April.

I can't believe she won't be around to see the birth of L.J.. . .also, they were planning to start trying to get pregnant this summer, so I had pictured our kids playing together, etc. It's always sad when a friend moves away, and she was my first friend in Omaha.

On a brighter note, my parents had a great time at the Oprah show! They left for Chicago on Feb. 10th and returned home on the 12th. The show aired on Valentine's Day, although they weren't in any of the shots :-( But my parents had great seats and my mom loved seeing Oprah in person, as well as Patti Labelle who was the celebrity guest. I watched and thought it was a good show.
I'll conclude this blog with information on sickness during pregnancy.

Pregnant women are more prone to colds and flu because the immune system is lowered during pregnancy in order to stop a pregnant woman's body from rejecting the unborn baby. Pregnant women may be more vulnerable to infections. Fortunately, the placenta acts as a barrier to prevent the baby from contracting most viruses. For your health, though, take the proper steps (along with washing your hands constantly and taking your vitamins):

Drink eight to 10 glasses of water each day.

Get plenty of rest.

Elevating your head and torso helps you breathe easier as well as stopping post nasal drip.

Use a steamer and/or humidifier to help moisten your nasal passages. You can also drape a towel over your head and shoulders over a pan of steaming water.

For sinus trouble apply warm compresses to help alleviate the congestion.

Make sure you keep track of your temperature at least once daily, and call your doctor or midwife if your temperature rises over 101 F. You should also call your doctor if you begin to cough up green/yellow pghlem or experience shortness of breath, persistent chest pain, or severe sore throat. If you are less than 12 weeks pregnant, or more than 38 weeks, doctors usually advise no medication. Otherwise, the following mecications can be used sparingly for cold symptoms according to package directions:

Sudafed nasal decongestant

Robitussin and Robitussin DM cough syrups

Vicks plain cough syrup

Tylenol (generic name acetaminophen) for aches, pains, and temperatures over 100 degrees.

Hopefully I won't have to go through that experience again during these last 10 weeks. Being sick is bad enough when not pregnant! I hope you are all staying healthy!!!!!