Bad Week/Good Week

Last week I missed a concert for one of my favorite bands, but by the end of a week of self-imposed bed rest, I was able to roadtrip to Chicago to see another favorite band(s) play! Allow me to explain.

Last Monday, the 9th, was one of the worst days of my pregnancy so far. I made the mistake of going to the grocery store to get cereal and something else that sounded good for me to eat. Claire went with me and that's never a fun time. I could barely walk down the aisles. Everyone was probably scared of the death rays coming out of my eyes, it was bad. I took Claire to the library to get some books and couldn't even read them to her. I felt so bad because we usually do fun stuff on our Mommy Mondays. But I was in a bad way. I went home, set her up on the couch with a Kids Cuisine and Phineaus and Ferb and konked out in my room for almost 3 hours. By the time I woke up, Claire had gotten her princess pillow and fallen asleep on the couch, so I didn't feel like the worse, most neglectful mom in the world.

Mike and I had tickets to see Phoenix at the Pageant. I was really excited to go b/c I don't think they have ever come to St. Louis and the tickets were fairly expensive. By the time Mike came home from work, I was seeing stars with a horrible headache and wanted to hurl everywhere, so we had to miss the show. Booooo. We tried to give the tickets away on facebook, but no one took the bait. I hate having to miss stuff because I'm pregnant and sick! With Claire I had to miss seeing "Wicked" at the Fox with a bunch of friends and I'll never forget it!

I tried to go to work the next day, but only lasted through my first meeting. I spent the rest of the day in bed. Later, I got a phone call from the NP at my OB/GYN office regarding some blood test results. Apparantly I'm not immune to chicken pox even though I officially got them when I was in 3rd grade. So I have to steer clear of any little rugrats with chicken pox or anyone that has shingles. I'm guessing it's just active cases? She also told me that my progesterone was low. This concerned me a lot, but she said my levels weren't that bad and they were prescribing an oral hormone to take every night "because it will make you nauseas and sleepy". I'm like "Wait - you already realize I'm ridiculously nauseous and sleepy already?!? right?!" Well obviously, this was too important not to treat. So I was really looking forward to those side effects!

After talking to my supervisor at work, we agreed that I would take a week's vacation to rest at home. It was really what I needed. I took Claire to Grammy's every day and then would come home and either take residence on the couch and catch up on my Bravo Reality TV, or take hours and hours of naps. This is in addition to sleeping my 12 hours each night mind you! The exhuastion this time around is unbelievable!

By Friday I was feeling very well rested and that was important. Because Mike and I were planning on driving to Chicago to see some old friends play a reunion show for Dovetail Joint and Ivory Wire. The venue was blocks away from Leah's apartment and she and her boyfriend, who was also a big fan of the band. I was so proud of how well i did on the majority of the car ride. I even drove for a couple of hours so Mike could take a nap (he had played a show the night before). But after getting slowed down at no less than FIVE construction zones on 55 and TWO accidents, it took us over 7 hours to get into the city! I wanted to punch someone in the neck! Leah ordered take out, I had two bites and then - you guessed it, went to bed. With a bag of frozen berries on my head no less.

Saturday Mike, Leah and I went to see "The Other Guys" at a big movie theater downtown. It was funny. The show at Lincoln Hall was fantastic! Leah called ahead to reserve me a seat (she used this pregnancy card more than I have!) and Mike was front one. There was a lot of hooting and finger pointing going on. Rock signs were thrown. I stayed up until like midnight! Couldn't believe it.

Our Good News

in case you haven't heard yet, the Lowder's are expecting! Yep :) I'm 8 weeks pregnant, due in mid-march 2011. we had our first ultrasound last friday to make sure i wasn't having twins because of my history of hyperemesis. just one baby in there! claire got to see it too and she thought it was cool, but i think she was expecting a miniature fully-formed baby!

a lot, i mean a lot, of people have been asking me about what my chances of getting hyperemesis or preeclampsia again. as my OB says about hyperemesis, "If you're a puker, you're a puker." So I can expect to have some issues with naseua, vomitting and/or dehyrdation during this pregnancy. I'm preparing and counting on it in fact, not to be morbid, but I guess I'd rather be pleasantly surprised that it isn't happening.

The chance of someone developing preeclampsia in subsequent pregnancies after having it during your first is 33%. So my chances are better there, but at least we know the signs to look for. Last year with Claire I developed preeclampsia and HELP syndrome with Claire at 32 weeks and we wouldn't have caught it so fast if I hadn't been weighing myself every day, which I was doing as a part of my hyperemesis protocol. I had lost 20 lbs in my first trimester, and it took me the rest of the pregnancy to gain it back. I gained like 8 pounds in one weekend and that's what concerned my nurse and prompted me to go in to my OB and eventually get admitted to St. John's...and 5 days later Claire Michaella was here!

SO, so far so good. I'm taking preemptive Zofran. Research is showing that is can stave off symptoms of hyperemesis or prevent them alltogether. So I'm fairly naseuous, I probably have average first semester morning sickness. The exhuastion is overwhelming though. I can't believe how sleepy I am! I go to bed early and sleep until the last minute. At least one day a week I'm going home early just to take a nap and every night after work i'm napping. as Aunt Jackie says, "making a baby is hard! every time you're taking a nap, think about making a cute nose or a little heart..." So on that note, I have some fingers and toes to make, I'm going nighty night!