Blown IVs, Oh My!

I woke up today sure that I was going to be able to go home.  On Wednesday night, an ultrasound tech came to check out my kidneys to see if they have any stones or inflammation.  Also on Wednesday night, I blew my second IV.

What does a "blown" IV mean, you ask?  It's this lovely little phenomenon that the medication that is going through the IV either gets into the tissue surrounding the entry point, or the medication being administered is bothering the vein.  I was lucky enough to have both! 

My first IV was in my left hand - I got it on Tuesday morning.  By the time Tuesday evening rolled around, my hand was swollen so much that it was starting to make me cry.  The nurse looked at it and decided to move it.  I had it put in my right arm - and that vein blew on Wednesday night.  It was decided to just give me jazz orally so we could avoid the IV altogether.

During this process, I found out the anti-nausea medication they are giving me causes veins to burn.  Say wha?  That's right, BURN.  Due to this, I have these lovely thick, red lines going down my arms where my tissue and veins are damaged from these meds.  The right arm (which was taken out on Wednesday night) is worse, but I didn't think anything of it.

Fast forward to today, where I had a BRAT diet (banana, rice, applesauce, toast) for each meal.  I was able to make it 1-2 hour each time, followed by losing all of it via mouth.  My Doctor was doing his rounds and saw me briefly, so he ordered me to have another IV put in.

It took 3 people to find an adequate vein, and they were all concerned about my right arm.  It is hot to the touch, very red, and very swollen.  The doctor looked at it tonight, and said that we need to keep an eye out on it tonight to make sure that it isn't Cellulitis (which, from my understanding, is a type of staph infection).  Bad news.  Fingers crossed that will go away - everything is painful enough.

The U/S did not show anything significant, though the Doctor said that it could still be stones, or the start of a Kidney infection (despite the fact that I don't have a fever).  So, at this point, I have to have IV fluids with anti-nausea meds mixed in and will be repeating the CBC blood work tomorrow to see if I have elevated white blood cells.  If I don't, then I will get discharged when I am no longer dependent on anti-nausea meds.

Whoopee.  I am tired, so I am going to bed.  Fingers crossed that he will look at the results and let me know in the morning.

Thanks for listening, and for the support!

M.

Another Medical Circus

Once again, I am experiencing what I affectionately call a "medical circus".  My apologies if this posts weird, but I am on an iPad and it sucks.

Anyway, on Monday 4/1 I came home and felt weird.  I laid on the couch for a little while, then went upstairs and passed out.  When I woke up around 11, I was nauseous and was vomiting, with severe pain in my mid back.  I told myself that if it was still there in the morning, I would call the doctor.

6:30 am on 4/2 rolls around, and it's actually worse.  I call the doctor's office, who told me to go to Labor and Delivery (since I am 23 weeks now).  I arrived and got me set up on the monitor.  I was in the triage area for about 6 hours - blood was drawn, I was given fluids, a catheter made an appearance, the works.

At that point, my doc made his way to the hospital to give me test results.  It showed that I had a bacterial infection but that it had not traveled to my kidneys.  He told me that he wanted to keep me for a 23 hour observation, so I was moved to a temporary room in the delivery ward.

During this time, I kept getting sick, and the pain was getting worse.  When you are at the doctor, they ask you to rank pain from 1 to 10 (which is stupid because pain is subjective).  Anyway, when I got into triage it was at a 3.  To give you an idea of my pain threshold, unmediated childbirth was a 10 for me, while meningitis is an 11.  By the time 6:30 rolled around, it was at a 5.  By 7:30, a 6.  Tylenol wouldn't touch this crap, and it felt like I was giving birth out of my back.  Science I was in pain, they gave me Percocet.  If you know me at all, you know I don't like taking any meds in pregnancy, but I was so happy for it.  Thankfully, I fell asleep not too soon after that.

This morning, they work me up with bloodwork.  My kidneys were still hurting, with major nausea.  The bloodwork indicated that my potassium is too high but the doctor doesn't seem concerned.  I did nothing but sit around all day.  When my doc came to see me at 6:45 tonight, he said that the infection seems to be under control, and that he wants to get a an ultrasound on my kidneys to make sure I don't have stones.  If everything is fine, the infection gets better, and my symptoms are gone for 36 hours, I get to go home.  Whoopee!

So that is what is happening.  I am still concerned about the high potassium, but I am not the one with the medical degree, so I will just let it be.  The doc did say that he would go re-look at the blood tests to make sure he didn't miss anything.

Thanks for all the well wishes, and I will update when I know something more.

M.

Everything Went Better than Expected!

 

I can't tell you how emotionally crazy the past few weeks have been.  Though I have really tried to keep a positive attitude, stress and fear have taken over my life.

It's not as important how I got here (well, it is to me, but not worth going through it all over again), but it IS important to note that everything seems to be getting "back to normal".   The irrational fear over this pregnancy has been crippling to me - I've had a hard time connecting to the pregnancy, because I am just afraid I am going to lose it.

Then...

 

We heard a strong heartbeat and wonderful, encouraging words from the OB today - and finally, finally, I have allowed myself to be excited, to feel that it's real.  I have renewed confidence that everything will be ok, despite my continued fear.  The fear just isn't as strong anymore (though it will likely always be there).

Look.  I know it seems that I have been really negative (though I like to view it as realistic - whatever), but I have worked hard to keep a good face and to keep the negativity (read: realism) out of conversations, facebook, etc.  Why?  Because let's be honest, folks.  We all face terrible, frightening, and awful things - but we face amazing things every day.

Amazing things present themselves to us in large and small ways - whether it is something funny your kid says, if it's being thankful you have the ability to walk, or it's the ability to do things on your own.  We all live amazing lives, my friends, though it may not seem like it sometimes.  Hug yourselves tightly, and remind yourselves of these things.  If you don't, the beast that is life will eat you alive. 

Now...don't get me wrong.  It's cool to say "THIS SUCKS" or "I would really like something positive to happen".  It's great to get those things out - however, don't blame your own unhappiness with life on other people.  Others cannot make changes to your approach or attitude - only you can.  Only you have the power of positive emotions - no one can do this for you.  In general, when I see the "blame game" happening, I think of this picture:

 

(As in - "I'm sorry, what?" )

 Or perhaps this one:

 

 (As in "You really don't want to listen to reason, soooo...ok")

I mean, common.   Take responsibility for your emotions.  Embrace your feelings, and turn it to something good.  Our deep dark places have no business in every day life.  Face those emotions head on, and make the changes necessary.

It's hard - I'm struggling with it every day.  But I am so supremely blessed that I need to recognize and respect my fear and depression, but care about it - and myself - enough to make a change.

Since this post seems to be all about the pictures and gif's, I will leave you with a picture that now sums up how I feel about this post.  It's probably one of my favorites:

Learn from today - make tomorrow amazing.

~ M.

Let's try this again!

Huzzah!  We are happy to report that we are now expecting again!

This isn't quite the timeline I was looking for - I wanted to wait a year since the miscarriage - but we'll take it!  I'm a ball of anxiety, but that is normal after a loss, so I am rolling with that too.

First indication of me being pregnant?  It was the day after Thanksgiving (November 23), and I was watching the X Factor Thanksgiving special on DVR and I was BAWLING.  Not just sniffling - ugly crying.  Poor Naomi was like "Mommy, are you ok?!"   It was super cute.

Side note - our number 23 is again making itself known.  We have discovered that major life events occur on the 23rd (Married - June 23.  Naomi - March 23.  Closed on the House - May 23.  Found out we were pregnant - November 23).  Weird, but something we have been keeping track of.

We had a bit of a scare during Week 5 (which is when our miscarriage happened in May) with low progesterone and cramping.  Got blood work done, and HCG was in the 1200s, Progesterone was 8.2.

Now, for you all playing the home game, you want HCG levels to double in 48 hours, and progesterone to be around 20 at 5 weeks.  If progesterone gets to 7 or below, it triggers a period, and game over for le pregnancy.  Of course, I began to panic, and the doc immediately put me on progesterone supplements.  48 hours later, HCG was in the 2900s and progesterone was at 43.1.  Huzzah again!

We're due in July, which means I won't be using any of my previous maternity clothes (because they were for October - March, and I am not to the point of needing them yet).  I may get some use, but not as much as I want to.  Boo.  It's also going to be hot as balls, so I am going to be staying inside for the most part.  Fingers crossed that bed rest and pre-eclampsia don't rear it's ugly head.

It's still somewhat early (still in the first trimester), but the doctor said that there is a less than 5% chance of there being a problem because of the strong heartbeat and current growth.  He thinks that the miscarriage in May was caused by low progesterone, so him catching it this time around saved the pregnancy.  I am very grateful to him, because many docs do not check progesterone (just HCG).  I lurve him.

We decided that although we are still in the first trimester we would still announce it after we heard the heartbeat (which we did on December 17).  Even if the worst happens, it's not something that I am against talking about.  What does irritate me, though, is that some think that miscarriage is contagious and don't want to talk.  I don't mean not want to talk about the miscarriage, I mean talk to me.  It's actually pretty sad, and I'm sorry that my loss affects them so much, but that isn't going to stop me from talking about it.  It is sadly such a taboo topic when it shouldn't be - and I will continue to be an advocate for those who have experienced losses.  If this is bothersome to you - to hear about the anxiety and emotion that go with it - then perhaps this is not the blog for you.  I won't talk about it all of the time, but it is a part of my life, and I refuse to be quiet about it, k?

Naomi is very excited, and has asked for a "brudder".  We'll have more of an idea on gender in February, but let's be honest, it's not 100% until le child falls out.

So, huzzah indeed, we are very excited!  I am trying to rest more than I usually would, and Michael has been great with taking more responsibility.  He's a great partner in this journey of life.  (Cough gag cough)

 

Things I Wish I Was

Do you ever have a moment where you say "man, I wish I was more like that"? I do. For example - there are certain words that people use to describe me. For example, words like sassy, strong, dedicated, brutally honest, dramatic, loyal, and funny are all used to describe me. However, words like sweet, nice, caring, etc are NOT on the top ten words to describe Meg. Now, don't get me wrong - I love me. I think I'm pretty fabulous most of the time, so self esteem is not the issue. However, I think that certain qualities that I have put me in the "not nice" category. (even N says "not nice, Mommy!" from time to time, but that's usually when I'm trying to get her to stop doing something, even if it is in a nice tone. Le sigh.) There are times that I am sitting alone, like now, and ponder my life. I think I'm nice and fiercely loyal, but my brutal honesty gets me in trouble from time to time. I tell myself that keeping people accountable and not sugar coating stuff isn't necessarily a downfall, but it can get me in trouble in certain situations. I have a little bit of a hot head too, which puts me in the "not nice" category. Does it bother me that the words sweet and kind aren't used to describe me? Yes and no. I think we all strive to be or do something that isn't inherently in our nature, though. Even when I was a kid I wasn't really referred to as sweet as much I was referred to as "difficult". The sassy part of me says screw it, but there's a little part that just wants to be known as sweet and nice. So, here's to curbing some of the dramatic and honest tendencies, and working on being a little more sweet. But not too sweet, because I don't want to get diabetes. (Update - iPad formatting sucks. I like lots of paragraphs, not just one! Blech.)

The "M" Word

Things have been stressful in our household, let me tell ya. I’m finally able to blog about it, which is a positive step for me. You know how I love to blog about things.

On Monday, April 30, Michael and I found out we were pregnant. We were so excited! Our estimated due date was 1/2/13, and I was really excited about the prospect of a New Year’s baby.

I was much less sick than I was the first time around, which was my first clue that something might have been amiss. Though I was concerned, I just kept a positive attitude and listened to those who said, “Oh, that means it’s a boy!” or “Every pregnancy is different”.

On Saturday and Sunday, 5/5 and 5/6, I had terrible cramping, but no bleeding. It was so bad on my left side that I was curled up in the fetal position and crying. We dropped Naomi off at a friend’s house on Sunday 5/6 and went to urgent care.

Hours and hours (and 2 different Urgent Care locations) later, we discovered that I had low hormone levels.

We went and picked up Naomi, and I knew in my heart of hearts that I was losing the pregnancy. Michael had a great, positive, optimistic attitude, and I tried, but I knew from the beginning that something was slightly off, so I had prepared myself for this possibility.

I had lots of blood work done, and saw my (amazing) OB on Monday 5/7/12. He looked at me and said, “It’s most likely a miscarriage, and you need to prepare yourself”. I so appreciated his honesty; it felt good to just have someone confirm what I already knew. (I am convinced that the Urgent Care doctor just didn’t want me to lose it in her exam room).

I didn’t lose it, though. My doctor gave me a hug, told me not to blame myself, and gave me instructions on what to do when it happened. Michael and I left in silence. He continued to be optimistic, and I continued to know what was happening.

On Tuesday morning, I got more blood work done and went into work. I knew that when it all went down, I would want to take time off work and I didn’t want to stress about all of the things that needed to be done in my absence. I just kept working, despite my co-worker’s encouraging me to go home. We were down to one car (Michael got in an accident on 5/3, which we are still dealing with now), so I couldn’t just peace out of work without pulling Michael out too.

Around Noon, though, I started to miscarry and I left work dazed. We called our family on the way home, needing to keep it together so not to crash the car. However, when we got home, I was a mess.

I cried, I screamed, I threw things. I thought about how absolutely unfair it was for me to lose my child, yet so many crappy parents are allowed to keep theirs. I understand that isn’t a fair way to think, but in that moment, I didn’t care.

I took the rest of the week off of work, and hung out with some friends who came into town. I didn’t feel like myself. I felt like part of me was missing. I roamed around staring at people (I was quite the creeper).

On the outside, I had to continue. I have a 2 year old – I can’t afford to lay down and lose it for an extended period of time. I wanted to, though. I had a hard time being around Naomi – not because of her, but because when I looked at her I thought about all of the wonderful memories of her being born, and knowing that I wouldn’t know the child that I lost.

Some may say it wasn’t a child, because it was so early. To me, it was 100% a child, and I will mourn it like I would mourn a living child (albeit still a little differently). And, I should add, though I think it was a baby, even that early, I still believe in women having a choice with what they do with their bodies. People should stay out of a women’s uterus, thanks k bye.

Anyway, all of this happened the week of Mother’s Day. The day was good in regards to spending it with my family, but when I was going to bed, I cried.

I’m slowly becoming myself again. A lot of other stressors happened in the month of May, and I am so glad that it’s over. I’m able to laugh again, I don’t shy away from children as much, and I’m starting to feel like leaving that house again (though I’ve been leaving the house every day, I have an enormous amount of anxiety). Holidays are rough, and I don’t think that I’ll ever enjoy New Year’s like I have in the past.

So, that’s what’s been going on in the life of us. Many thanks to those who knew and sent positive thoughts our way, and for everyone’s continued support. We’ve decided to wait a year to try for another child. Though we may change our mind, I am still pretty emotionally fragile, despite my outward attitude. I’m still carrying around guilt (though I know it’s not my fault, I still feel like it is), still cry randomly, and have a hard time being certain places that remind me of what happened.

Much love to everyone, and my future posts will be less depressing, and a little more awesome.

Children's Show Writers - on drugs or crazy? (From August 2011)

First, let me preface this by saying that I let my kid watch TV from time to time before the age of 2, despite what the AAP says. I know, crappy mom over here.

Anyway, we first introduced Word World, which actually isn’t too bad. Then, we moved forward with Seasame Street.
 
Let’s chat about SS for a moment. Can someone explain to me what half the characters are? I look at them and say, “Grover, what the hell are you supposed to be?” (please notice that I didn’t use Snuffleuppagus as an example, because I didn’t want to look up how to spell his name). My favorite part of SS? Elmo. Super annoying, but really cute at the same time. I’m doomed.

Then, we played a few episodes of Dora, to see what it was like. It is a little advanced for her, and Mamma isn’t able to listen to that for a long period of time. I get that the show is trying to be interactive – but do you really need to ask 3 times for the kids to locate the map? Just get the fucking map out already and go on your merry way. Have a GREAT time.

An episode of Yo Gabba Gabba made an appearance in our house this weekend. I am convinced that the people writing for that show are own drugs, and I would like to have some. Michael looks and me and says “there can only be one episode of this a day. I want to punch something”. It was 24 minutes of me say “what the hell is this” and laughing at DJ Lance. I could rock his hat, though.



So, is it a prerequisite to be on drugs to write for a kids show? Or just completely crazy? Do shows set out to drive the parent nuts?
Though the shows can be annoying, they give me 24 blissful minutes to be able to clean a toilet, make some lunch, or do a load of laundry. I can deal with cracked out Yo Gabba Gabba every once in awhile, right?