Mid-week Madness

Today was back to work after a long weekend.  I had a nice 3 days off, and I think I really needed it. 

Yesterday, I spent the day relaxing and doing chores.  Arthur spent the day off at my parent's house, helping my dad.  My dad is remodeling their master bathroom and adding in one of those walk-in bathtubs.  They're not in major need of it, but I'm sure someday they'll appreciate having it.  Arthur helped my dad put some splash walls around the sides and bottom of the tub.  My dad paid him, and my mom got him a Subway sandwich.  He was very tired when he got home, but he still was a trooper and did it.  I am always amazed at how hard he works, and continues to work.

For example, today he spent the day at the dentist, and then came home and is remodeling our laundry room.  It's pretty crazy down there, and even though I like to watch him work on putting up wood framing and plumbing, I can tell he doesn't want me to bug him.  So, I'm up here blogging.  :)

Last night was kind of dumb, sleep-wise.  I went to bed (passed out on a sheet-less mattress) at 9:45 or so.  Arthur got me up briefly to put the sheets on the bed.  I fell back asleep until 1:45 AM for my first potty break.  I woke up again at 4:00 AM with my alarm blaring.  Apparently in my half-asleep state, I told him to set my alarm for 4AM and not 5AM. 

I went back to sleep for 45 minutes and then woke up to my real alarm at 5AM.  I had some tea and cereal and was still too tired to function.  So, I went back to sleep around 6AM and slept until 7:15AM.  I got ready and left for work at 8:15.  Arthur had a dentist appointment this morning, so we went separately.

At work, I had a fairly busy day, but I was able to get through it ok.  I didn't have whole lot of time to eat, so I stuck to granola bars and some leftover pizza.  I had to work until 6PM and got home by 7.  Arthur traded me cooking nights, so he made me sweet and sour chicken and jasmine rice because I'd had a long day at work.

I also took a few minutes tonight to call my cousin, who is in the hospital after surgery.  She is ok, she is just dealing with some issues related to breast feeding.  She is very strong, and I am very proud of her for staying so positive, even though it's really tough for her.  She told me that she reads this blog, so I figured I'd say hello to her and tell her that I'll be thinking of her over the coming days.  She is such a great mother and wife, and I admire her for being so strong.  She was a little worried that her experience would scare me, but it doesn't at all.  If anything, I love to hear experiences of others so I can be prepared for anything when I move into that phase.

How far along:  19 Weeks, 5 Days
How much time left:  20 Weeks, 2 Days

Top two symptoms:  I have been feeling a lot more "movement" these past couple of days.  I can feel little flips, or pops in my lower abdomen.  I always try to figure out whether or not it's gas bubbles, or if it's little Finn swimming around.  I think it's him, but just to make sure, I always put my hand on my stomach to see if I can feel him through my skin.  I feel like my mind plays tricks on me, but it's possible I've felt a few little taps on my had here and there.  Other than that, I dealt with exhaustion related to not sleeping well last night, and some foggy brain. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  Arthur got these fat nectarines from Costco, and I've been eating one a day or so.  They are so good!

Mood:  Today my mood was mostly good, I was focused on getting through the day and that helped me get past how tired I was.  I also had a mood lift at the end of the day when I got to talk to my cousin.  :)

Worried about:  I wasn't too worried about much today, which was nice. 

Excited for: Still counting on looking forward to my ultrasound on Friday.  I'm extremely excited to see Finn again and hear the good news from the Doctor about how well he is growing!  :)

Pregnancy + Sick = Bad News Bears

I normally post every day, but this past week I've been really sick.  :(  I've got the next 4 days off, so I'll definitely try and blog over the holidays.  

I got a lot of great feedback after posting my initial announcement to the limited number of people on FaceBook.  I got a lot of blog views, and a bunch of people who commented on the post.  It made me feel good to know that I have so much support.

So, about being sick... I always have a very dull headache due to hormones.  The headache usually gets worse if I haven't slept much or if I'm getting hungry.  It comes along with nausea and so if I don't eat at the right time, it gets worse.  I hadn't slept well on Sunday night through Tuesday night.  I scheduled myself to work from home on Wednesday because I didn't have any meetings in office.

As I was working comfortably from my office couch on Wednesday morning, I noticed that my headache was getting worse than normal, and I was feeling a bit congested.  I brushed it off as nothing because congestion comes and goes for me.  By Wednesday afternoon, I started feeling dizzy, and my back was throbbing.  I decided to log off a couple of hours early (I let my boss know) and go try and sleep.

I got into bed and I started having chills really bad, and so I plugged in the heating pad.  It was nice to get a nap and warm up.

A few hours later, I woke up with the worst headache of my life and a terrible backache.  I was worried about the backache because that combined with cramping (which I didn't have) can be a sign of the beginning of miscarriage.

Fast forward to Thursday morning.  I woke up very sick and had congestion like crazy.  Because I'd slept on my heating pad, it helped my back a bit.  I had to call in sick because there was no way I could go to work.

I stayed in bed most of the day on Thursday.  Arthur had the day off, which was nice for him.

I had to go back to work on Friday, because I had a mandatory 2 hour meeting that I had to run and my team's Christmas party.  I wanted to go to that, so I really pushed myself to get up and get going.  I got to work by 9:00 AM.  Barely.  My cough was so bad, I had to pull over a few times on the highway to cough a bunch before I could drive again.  Ugh!

At work I was in a daze.  I don't remember much of the meeting at all.  I do remember that my boss gave everyone on the team a gift, and I got a great present from my friend Ashley.  She gave me a funny Awkward Family Photos (siblings edition) puzzle, and my first gender neutral baby outfits!  When I say first, I mean the first from someone that's not me.  :)

One was a onesie pack of 3, with tan, white and yellow.  The white one has a super cute little duck on it, and the yellow one has a brown and yellow print on it.  The one on the left is footie pajamas with a hat.  The hat, it's the cutest part.  Arthur loved them as well.  :)  They're hanging in my office closet with some of the other stuff that Arthur and I bought (even before we were pregnant...)

Anyhoo, work was done by 12:30 PM and so I went with my team for our Christmas party lunch.  We went to the Olive Garden.  I was so sick before I went in.  I sat in my car and just coughed for like 5 minutes straight because I knew that coughing in a public place like that wouldn't fly with strangers.

I ordered my food (Chicken Parmesan) and was a zombie the whole time.  I had a few coughing fits, but made it through alive.  When the check was signed, I was OUT OF THERE.  I couldn't stand to be sitting up anymore.  I was worried about the drive home because of how I was feeling.  But, I made it home.  I don't remember the drive, but I know I ended up in my bed about 45 minutes later.  I slept until it was time for the Christmas party at our house.

We had Arthur's family over for the "Festivus for the Rest of Us".  It's a knockoff from Seinfeld.  We ate sandwiches and treats, and played games, including a gift exchange.  I was in bed most of the night.  I felt so bad because Arthur's family was so nice to me and no one was frustrated that I didn't socialize much.  I also felt bad because Arthur worked from early in the morning on Friday until his family got there at 7 on getting ready for the party.  He cleaned the whole house (every room, including my office) and prepared the meal.  I did nothing but lay in bed.  :(

Last night after everyone left, Mike gave me some TheraFlu.  I drank it so fast.  Within minutes I started feeling drowsy and so I was able to sleep.  I woke up this morning feeling a bit better.  My temperature was down (from 100 the night before) to 97.9.  I was so grateful for that!

Arthur woke up sick, unfortunately... so he is going to go through all this tomorrow through Christmas, probably.  I feel really bad for him, and I understand.  I'm going to do what I can to make it up to him for all of the hard work he put in while I was sick.  :)

Tonight, I'm feeling fair.  My cough has gotten significantly better.  I continue to have a few violent coughing fits, and it hurts pretty bad when I do.  The worst thing right now is my congestion.  The good news in all of this:  It's masked my pregnancy symptoms, so I haven't really dealt with (or cared much about) nausea or anything else.  Amazing!

How far along:  11 weeks, 2 days
How much time left:  28 Weeks, 5 days
Top two symptoms:  Pregnancy related...exhaustion.  Cold related?  Congestion.  I can't WAIT to breathe normally again. 

Favorite thing I ate today:  A Kraft Mac and Cheese bucket.  It was so good. 

Mood:  My mood was normal.  Not as grumpy as I've been over the past 4 days or so. 

Worried about:  Not feeling well enough to get the house clean before Christmas.  I hope I feel like a rockstar tomorrow. 

Excited for:  CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't Sleep

I've been struggling over the past week or so with this cough that has been in my lower throat.  I thought it was on it's way out, but I just woke up at 2:00 with some pretty nasty throat pain.  I took some Tylenol and drank some juice so I hope that helps.  :(

I'm pretty tired still and I know I need the extra sleep, because that's when my body heals itself.  I don't like not feeling 100% ok while I'm pregnant. 

I also think I've got a glorious yeast infection coming on.  I don't know if I care if that is TMI, but I do know that I can't go my normal route of a prescription-strength pill to knock it out like I normally do.  I will probably have to go with the route of Monistat or some other equally horiffic thing.  Well, it's worth it I guess so my baby doesn't come with some random medication-induced deformity.  :/

I just have to figure out how I'm going to get back to sleep now that I feel so awake... 

This is the first time since I've been pregnant that I don't feel happy.  Ugh!!