My first brush with Labor & Delivery

Well, two weeks ago I got the WORST stomach bug I have ever had in my life. It was brutal. I have a very big aversion to throwing up. I will avoid it at all costs. In fact, I have never even thrown up from drinking alcohol. I have been sick as a dog from drinking, but my body simply will not purge itself. Friday I threw up probably 20 times. It was awful. I thought I was going to die. And the diarrhea...well, it was a scene. I won't get into all the details, but bad things happened.


Almost from the beginning, I knew I would end up going to the ER. I couldn't keep water down and I couldn't even bear to TRY to drink any water. Now, when you are pregnant staying hydrated is very important. And it's also very easy to get dehydrated. That's what happened to me. After a little bit of coaxing, DH took me to the ER. I knew I needed IV fluids (and maybe some drugs too please). As soon as we got to the ER they sent us up to Labor & Delivery. Whoa...crazy. I had never been up there before.


Once I got there, they put me in a room (the actual room where I will deliver this baby!). They hooked me up to an IV and I almost fainted from that. Jeremy had to wave an alcohol swab under my nose to keep me awake (not a good smell when you have a stomach bug). Then they hooked these monitors around my uterus to measure baby's heart rate and to see if I was having contractions. I was, so they gave me an IV of fluid for dehydration, which was the cause of the "irritable uterus" as they called it. The baby's heart rate was REALLY high too (at one point it was up to 200) because she was running out of amniotic fluid and because I had a slight fever. I felt so sorry for her. She was kicking like crazy because she was trying to get cool, but had nowhere to go and no fluid to help either. The doctor said she'd be fine though, but it was still pretty scary. Anyway, they had me stay overnight and I had about 4 bags of fluid with anti-nausea meds. That helped. My own resting heart rate the entire time I was there was anywhere from 100-120 and my blood pressure was really low. When they released me the next day we came home and then DH got sick, so it was definitely a stomach bug of some sort.


So that's that. After about 4 days I could finally eat solid foods again. I am still not 100% though. This really did some damage. Having a stomach bug is bad enough, but being 3o-ish weeks pregnant on top of it really makes for an unpleasant time.

He's Baaack and I am so PISSED

Butters is at it again. I haven't slept over 4 hours in the last two nights. Last night I got so angry that I went in there and sprayed him with the water bottle until he was soaking wet. I cannot sleep in my own house. This morning after DH had let them out the other two cats were up as usual, but Butters was sound asleep on the couch. BECAUSE HE HADN'T SLEPT ALL NIGHT LONG. I woke him up repeatedly, but he's just going to sleep all day. I don't know what to do now. I seriously don't know what to do. I thought about putting him outside but my husband wouldn't let me. DH somehow sleeps through all of this. I am so envious. I can still hear that damn cat through EAR PLUGS!

I hate Butters. I really do. He used to be my favorite cat and now when I see him, I am just disgusted. I mean, if I could just come home and he would be dead I would be so happy. I can't take him to the vet to be put to sleep, although I would if they were open at 3a.m.! I mean, I would LIKE to have him put to sleep, but I just don't know if I can do it. Unfortunately, I think it may be our only option. Nobody would take this cat. NOBODY. What am I going to do though? I was late to work a second morning in a row today because of him. I slept through 40 minutes of my alarm going off before I woke up!!!!!!

The whole reason we have the cats in the (HUGE, SPACIOUS, NICE) utility room is to prepare them for when the baby gets here. I can't have the cats pawing at our door and meowying all night long then. And if we were to leave our door open I just know they would get in the way. #1 they'd be all over me in the bed and #2 I am pretty sure they'd try and jump in the bassinet. That's just the kind of rude, misbehaving cats they are.

Ugh, I really am in tears over this. I am at my wits end. I don't know what happened because Butters was doing so well for about 2 weeks there. Nothing has changed to make him start meowing again. But I am closer to snapping and quite literally going in there and committing some horrible act of animal violence than I have ever been. Maybe Michael Vick could help me out......

OK OK. I'm kidding on that last part. But still...the thought has crossed my mind (a lot).

:'(

Valentine's Day Update

So, ever since I posted my "lazy" blog, I decided that it was time to come up with a plan of action. I have pretty much solved all of my laziness problems by coming up with a cleaning list. Each day I have a small cleaning project to do. Monday is cleaning the bedrooms, Tuesday the bathroom and so on... DH is in on it too and really likes the plan. We've done very well the first week. I hope we can keep it up. It just feels better when you have a clean house and a routine that you should be following.

The only thing I haven't solved is my lack of motivation to work out. I have gone on small walks the last two evenings. But I am finding it very hard to carry this big body around. My stomach is pretty heavy and the pressure from the baby on my bladder is quite intense. That makes exercise a little hard. I probably should have just kept it up all alone and it wouldn't be this bad now. Oh well. What's done is done. I am trying to at least get some activity now.

I had an Obstetrician appointment yesterday. I had only gained about 3 pounds since my last appointment, which is great. The month before, I had gained EIGHT. My total weight gain is around 30 pounds now. Yikes...I was hoping to make it out of the pregnancy only gaining 25. Oops. I am measuring 29 weeks, which is perfect since that is exactly how many weeks along I am. The top of my uterus is now only a few inches below my sternum. That means all of my other organs are squished up in my chest cavity. No wonder I am feeling a bit sore! I also had to drink 10 ounces of this glucose drink for my gestational diabetes test (ick!!). I really hope I passed it. I won't know until early next week. I am now to the point where I go see my doctor every two weeks, instead of every four. I am really excited about that. #1 it means that I can get more frequent doses of reassurance that things are progressing as they should be. And #2 that means we are getting closer to meeting Jane! Wow. Just 11 more weeks. Wow wow wow.

This Saturday is Valentine's Day. DH and I will probably go to dinner and a movie. We have done this the last several years and I love it. :) I don't know why I love Valentine's Day, but all of the red, pink, hearts, flowers, balloons etc. really appeal to me. I think it's a visual thing. I always loved giving out the little paper Valentine's in elementary school. The construction paper hearts, the glitter, glue and those conversational hearts...ah. I guess I've always loved V-Day. I can finally admit it. One year, when I worked at Hallmark, I got really into it. I came up with a scavenger hunt for each of my immediate family members. I went all out. I wrote poems with clues in them and they had to go all over the house until they found their presents. That was fun. Wonder where that creativity of mine went to...??

Oh, and one final update on our cat, Butters. We have been locking him up in the utility room at night and he is doing SO WELL now. I can't believe it! I think all he needed was repetition and absolutely NO responses, good or bad, to his meows. He very may well get to meet Jane. I am in awe of how well he's doing. The last two nights we put him in the room he didn't even try to get back out but went immediately to his bed on the floor. Kind of funny how my problems tend to not be problems at all and eventually things just work out.

Cabin Fever

I have got a really bad case of cabin fever today. I am just dying to be on the beach in Destin again. DH and I took a vacation in 2004 that was the best time of my life and I want that time back today.

Flip flops and a flowy skirt, tanned skin, looking great in a bikini (2004...sniff sniff), a restaurant directly on the beach, live music in the background, that exhaustion you get from being out in the sun all day, the smell of sunscreen, cold crystal clear ocean water, the glorious after pool naps, cute toddlers running around in the sand, FRESH shrimp, a cold beer.....ah.

It's torture! I HATE winter. Everything is gray. I need some green in my life. I need sunshine and warm temperatures. Give me, give me, I need, I need!!!

It's Picture Time!

Well, we have begun to get the nursery together. I think it's looking pretty good. I have to wait until after my showers are over to buy the rest of the stuff I will need (which is killing me...my showers aren't until the end of MARCH). I still want curtains for the room, some more pictures for the walls, and of course the bedding in the crib. But I guess this is how the room is basically going to look, give or take a few items.

Here are a few in progress pics:

And here are a few pics of the nursery today. Still more to do, but you get the idea:

The other night I was just sitting in the nursery when I noticed that the stupid mattress wasn't sitting in the crib right. There are two sides that won't go down all the way. This is really stressing me out. We can't get it fixed! To be honest, it doesn't seem like a big deal. There is NO WAY that mattress is going to move in that crib. But the crazy worry-obsessed mom in me wonders if it could create some SIDS risk. Ugh....why won't the mattress just fit? I threw away the plastic on it already thinking that it was perfect. It's not. I seriously don't know what we are going to do to "fix" this problem. I can't go and buy another new crib and mattress! I guess you can't really tell in this picture. But I'm posting it anyway. It's just driving me nuts.

And I guess I will finish with some lovely tummy shots. I am starting to get pretty big. I do believe I will qualify for my own zip code by the time I hit 40 weeks.

Here is me at 23-ish weeks. I thought I was big.

And here is me now, at 29 weeks. I am starting to get that puffy face syndrome. I hope it doesn't get out of control. I am betting it will.

And let me just finish by saying that the layout of this blog is killing me. I have tried and tried to get it to look better but I guess I am just not that computer savvy or something. There are blank lines where I don't want them and no lines where I do want them. Just pretend like it looks nice, please.

I Am A Lazy Bastard

Am I the laziest person on the planet? I think I might be. I am ashamed at my laziness. I am outraged at my laziness. I am hoping that by writing about it, I can start on the road to recovery.

Here is what I did Sunday: slept until 10:30, husband woke me up for breakfast (which he made), went back to sleep at 11:30, didn't wake up until 1:30, ate a snack, fell asleep on the couch for 2 ADDITIONAL hours, went out to eat with my husband, came home and zoned out on the couch for the rest of the night only to go back to bed at 10:30 and found out that I couldn't sleep. Tossed and turned all night until this morning. Eat, sleep, repeat.

This is not the behavior of a healthy person. I have to change my ways.

I had so much potential for yesterday too. It was a beautiful day! And I wasted it.

Basic things seem to paralyze me.

Cleaning: I cannot do dishes for the life of me. My kitchen is in a perpetual state of nastiness. We let our dirty breakfast dishes sit on our kitchen table all day yesterday! How can I not just clean up after myself? Something is keeping me from doing it and my only excuse is laziness. I despise cleaning the bathroom. I can't do it. I won't. Dust bunnies are so out of control in my house that the other day I came home and there was a dust bunny on our kitchen table (sans dishes this time). Ew, that's just wrong. My window blinds are so dusty that I am thinking of just buying all new ones. Cleaning them would take too long and be too much work. I'm willing to just shell out $600 or so for all new ones instead.

Laundry: Um, I wear dirty clothes all the time. I will pull them out of the hamper, fluff them up a bit in the dryer and pretend like they are clean. I have a limited wardrobe right now and my laziness with the laundry is only adding to that problem.

Filing papers: If I could just file our paperwork as I get it, things wouldn't pile up like this. Instead I have a good 2-hour filing session that needs to be done.

Taxes: Did them at work. All I had to do over the weekend was file them. Nope. Didn't do it.

Groceries: We cannot get on a good grocery buying schedule. Every day I ask myself "what's for lunch" and "what's for dinner". Every day I am at the grocery store. I cannot plan ahead. I cannot make a list and buy what's on the list at the beginning of the week. I am an idiot. Every week my meal plans are unprepared and chaotic. And oh do I hate grocery shopping.

Working out: I used to be able to do this. Now that I am pregnant it is just out of the question. It shouldn't be. I should be working out. I have the means and the time to do this. I just don't.

Yard work: OK, well I can't really do much yard work right now, but I could nag my husband until he does it. I'm even too lazy to nag! We have tons of branches in our front yard that need to be picked up. We have gutters that are clogged, a gutter that is broken, and a fence that is damaged too. Instead, we choose to let it remain this way and to turn into big fat rednecks letting our property go to hell. Nice. Real nice!

There. Gosh, my laziness just overwhelms me. How am I going to cope with life when I add a baby to the equation? Something has got to change. I have got to get my act together.

The thing is, I am a Type A personality. I love making lists and scheduling things and sticking to that schedule. Something has slipped and my home life is just a chaotic mess right now. I don't know how to get back on track. I need an electric shock in the ass to get up and actually DO SOMETHING! But I can't just do it once. I have to keep doing it. That is my biggest problem. I can get motivated maybe one day a month, but that's just not enough. I need to be vigilant and stay on schedule.

Somebody help me! Somebody make me do my chores!!

Spring, Showers, Babies and a Suicidal Cat

It's time for Spring. I am ready. The last several weeks have been brutal. We lost our electricity for a day (nothing compared to others around here), I missed a lot of work and had to use my stinking VACATION time for it, we had tons of big branches falling off our trees and one that even damaged our gutters and broke a fence, I have had half panic attacks while driving on sheets of ice, I have nearly killed myself while walking to the car (slippery ice and pregnant do not go well together), and 5 degrees is just not my cup of tea. I cannot wait to see the first buds of our day lilies sprouting from the ground. That will be a happy day indeed!!

My baby shower has been scheduled for March 21. It's a little later than I would have liked, but apparently I have no other option. I also have a baby shower that my work is doing on March 20. It's just around the corner too, oh my!

Last weekend we had some very dear friends come up to help us get our nursery together. My husband's friends helped him paint the nursery and they put together some of our complicated furniture too. We now have the nursery well on the way to being finished. I just have to wait until AFTER my baby showers are over to see what all I will have left to buy. I am sort of freaking out about all of the stuff we are going to have to purchase. For instance, the breast pump I need is close to $300. And yes, I NEED it. Also, the travel system I need is going to be over $300. Babies are expensive, obviously. Alas, this is what I signed up for. I will post pictures of the nursery once I have more of it finished. I am bad about taking pictures. One of my "virtual friends" documented her entire pregnancy with photos. I keep meaning to, but eh...I always forget or don't feel like it.

One of our cats is giving us major problems. We do not want our cats out and about once the baby gets here (at least not at first). And believe me, our cats will most definitely try to get in the cradle/crib/bassinet and bother the baby. They are just those kind of cats. So our solution is to lock them in the utility room at night. Sounds harsh, but this room is 20'x12'. It's roomy and has toys, beds, food, water, litter in it. A nice little set up if you ask me. Well, not if you ask Butters. He hates it and meows ALL NIGHT when we put him in there. We are seriously thinking that if he doesn't get better we are going to have to have him put down (long story, but it is not cruel...ask my vet, this cat has major psychological problems and has for years). We are doing all we can to spare him. I even bought Feliway Calming Spray that is supposed to help with stressed out cats ($40 for a one month supply!). I have slept the last two nights with ear plugs in and even that can't stop the sounds of his howling all the way across the house through two closed doors. Obviously, I cannot sleep with ear plugs in once baby arrives. So if he doesn't learn to shut up, he may be out of luck. This is stressing me out to no end. We are trying EVERYTHING and it's quite ridiculous for me to be losing HOURS of sleep over a cat. It's also doubly ridiculous for me to be wearing ear plugs to bed. I hope that he can learn over the next few months to shut the hell up. So far I am thinking that Butters is on a suicide mission...and doing quite well. Last night I got so angry with him that I wanted to drop kick him. We ignore his meows, but sometimes I fantasize about strangling him with my bare hands. And I love my cats and Butters is (or was) my favorite!!! He's pushing me to my limits.