Strange Dreams

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Most women who have been pregnant are familiar with the vivid dreams that come along as part of the territory. The first time I had a vivid dream, it scared me quite a bit. Now, I’ve learned to expect them but they still surprise me occasionally. Last night was one of those nights. I can’t even tell you what the dream was about because it was so jumbled… but it was a WEIRD one, I can tell you that much. I woke up in the middle of the dream and realized I really did have to go to the bathroom. At least I woke up, right?? :-)

I have been physically sore the past few days – my upper back, neck, and shoulders have all been killing me. I worked my butt off this past weekend cleaning the house and I think I overworked myself. I’m also horribly out of alignment in the pelvic area and can’t quite get it to re-align.  I have PT on Monday – you better BELIEVE I’m looking forward to that. And normally I would take a hot bath, but um, the high temps here in GA have been in the low 100’s and our back porch (where the bathroom is) has no AC. I think a hot bath back there might do more damage than good to my already ravaged pregnant body. (And just an FYI,  it’s nearly 10a here and already 86 degrees)

On a funny note, Alli stood and shouted at my stomach this morning … “GOOD MORNING CAMERON!” I laughed.

And upon being licked by the dog, she promptly wiped it off and said, “Dog spit! GROSS!” I laughed again.

Charlotte was full of kisses this morning and has officially learned the sign for “Thank you” and used it whenever I would put her sippy cup back down on the tray. She sits in my lap when she eats her meals. It’s my way of bonding with her because we weren’t able to bond via breastfeeding. Her EI therapist comes today and I’m looking forward to the visit, if for no other reason than to tell her that Charlotte now has two signs! It does get frustrating to not really have her talking yet but she is great at communicating her needs. If only she could learn words! Still, she is doing things in her time, and I have certainly learned the meaning of patience from her.

A bit off topic…

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Tonight I went and dropped off my Maternity & Baby Fair items and paperwork. The Fair is next weekend (the 11th) and I am very excited to be participating and getting the word out not only to attendees but to other exhibitors as well!

Now, about the off topic part. On the way home, two motorcyclists pulled up beside my car. Both had helmets on (law here in Georgia), however, they lacked any other protective gear. They were both wearing cotton shirts, khaki pants, one did not have socks on, and the one without socks also was wearing short sleeves. I don’t even want to begin to go into what would happen to him IF he were to wreck – which is something that can happen very quickly when you are on a bike. I immediately thought, Wow. You really don’t care about yourself at all, do you? To top things off, once the light turned green and traffic started moving again, the first biker properly merged into right lane traffic. The second biker however, had his left blinker on and proceeded to merge right, (the guy didn’t use hand signals either) cutting off the GMC SUV in front of me, causing him to slam on his brakes, and I had to slow down quite drastically as well. It was at that moment I decided to blog this experience. Why, may you ask?

I’ll tell you why.

My dad is a biker. Not a Harley stereotypical biker, but a sports biker. A RESPONSIBLE BIKER. He wears his helmet, gloves, leathers, etc, ON EVERY RIDE. Why? Because it’s the right way to do it. And my Dad believes in doing things the RIGHT WAY… the RESPONSIBLE Way. Trust me… it’s been drilled into me since childhood. And I appreciate that value. Greatly. In fact, while it does worry me sometimes that he rides so much, I take comfort knowing that even though he could wreck (and has, but it wasn’t his fault, some woman clipped HIM because she wasn’t paying attention!), at least he believes in wearing the proper gear EVERY TIME HE GETS ON HIS BIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!

The picture included is a pic of my dad and his friends on a recent bike trip. My dad is the one in the jacket with what look like white lightning strikes on the back. The blue bike is his. Notice my Dad and all those with him ARE ALL WEARING SAFETY GEAR.

Drivers, Please, watch out for bikers.

BIKERS: PLEASE, PROTECT YOURSELVES!

safe-biking.jpg

I’m EXHAUSTED

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I am probably going to go to bed shortly after my daughter does this evening.

Her bedtime is between 7p & 730p.

I am feeling very nauseous and am just plain exhausted.

Charlotte’s been teething the past few days and she has quite the temper… if she doesn’t want to do something, she is NOT doing it. No amount of coaxing seems to work. She drank a grand total of 10oz of apple juice today. She’s at least eating – had 3/4 cup of cereal or more for breakfast, probably a whole cup of goulash for lunch (pasta with green peppers, ground beef, onions, and tomato plus seasonings), and about 1/2 cup of apple sauce for dinner. She’s refusing her bottle so she finally took the juice via sippy cup. I’m hoping that she will improve tomorrow. Today seemed to be a bit better than yesterday. She has been sleeping a lot, but when she’s awake, she’s quite the handful and quickly wears me out.

I’m craving spaghetti right now. Maybe that will help with the tummy issues. I think I also forgot to take my meds this morning.. overslept and had to rush off to therapy and then once I got home, I was straight into mommy mode as Chris rushed off to work.

On a postpartum work note, my bookmarks for the Athens Maternity & Baby Fair are being printed up today – got my proof last night and it looked great! I have to run all of the registration stuff + bookmarks over to the Coordinator’s house tomorrow evening. Also, there is a training/workshop coming up here in Athens as well. I’m hoping to be able to attend and plan on calling the office responsible tomorrow. I’ve already spread the word among the PSI Coordinators as well as to Postpartum Progress. And I’ve already put a little bug in my mother in-law’s ear about possibly watching the girls that afternoon. Please pray that I am able to attend. It would be a wonderful educational and networking opportunity for me.

OB Appt this morning…

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Didn’t actually get to see the OB this morning – he had 3 deliveries. (Busy week!)

I spoke with his primary nurse and mentioned that I have been having pelvic issues again. I have a history of my sacro-iliac joint becoming misaligned during pregnancy. During my first pregnancy, it was horrific. I couldn’t get into or out of bed, the car, the shower, put on socks, turn over, put shoes on, etc, without tears streaming down my face. My first OB told me “Welcome to pregnancy” HAH! yeah, um, pregnancy should NOT cause so much pain that you’re in tears. Labor maybe. But not pregnancy. My second OB sent me to PT. I’ll be doing PT this time around as well. I’m also trying to get a wedge pillow so that I can sleep on my back – sleeping on my sides is just not an option. My hips are KILLING me.

I was hoping to be able to speak with the OB this morning on a somewhat professional level about PPD and give him some of PACE’s handouts, etc, for him to give to his patients. Of course I wanted to see where he was at as far as treating PPD prior to just handing stuff over. I would have at least been that considerate. But because he wasn’t available, the nurse made a note that I wanted to speak with him about PPD and hopefully we’ll be able to work something out.

As far as the baby goes, they had a heck of a time finding a heartbeat. My babies do NOT like diagnostic equipment while in the womb. Both girls were hiders too. They finally found the heartbeat for just long enough to get a measurement and it was in the 150’s, which is good. Still haven’t gained much weight this pregnancy, if any, which I’m still dumbfounded about because I’m eating so much stuff that I probably shouldn’t be.

So therapy is tomorrow and I am really looking forward to sitting down with Jane and a cup of coffee and just having a quiet hour of reflection out of the house.

Speaking of reflection, today’s appt was kind of odd for me. After they finally found the baby’s heartbeat, I was both  relieved and still a bit disappointed. As before, more relieved than anything because I got sick earlier this week due to something I ate so I had been worried about the baby – I had started to feel movement mid-last week and the past few days not so much movement. I was quite relieved that the baby was still ok – and maybe because I had been thinking that miscarriage was a very real possibility – maybe that’s what caused my emotional response this morning. It was pretty difficult when they were trying to find the heartbeat and couldn’t at first. I started to think that maybe I had lost the baby. *lightbulb* And hey, you know what, I DON’T want that to happen. I am a mother of three. One of them just isn’t here on the outside yet. Wow. I’m gonna go now and just let that sink in. I’ll be back when I get a minute or two.

One step closer….

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The following is a press release from Rep. Bobby Rush’s office. GREAT news on the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research & Care Act of 2007 and its journey through Congress! If you haven’t already mailed or spoken with your Congressional Representative, please do so now.

Press Release from Congressman Bobby L. Rush
July 19, 2007

Chairman Bobby L. Rush Wins Unanimous, Bipartisan Support, In Health Subcommittee, For 1st Federal Postpartum Depression InitiativeH.R. 20 provides new mothers with tools to treat postpartum depression

WASHINGTON DC: U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, proudly marked a major step forward today in advancing the rights of women’s health with his successful effort in gaining unanimous support from members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health for H.R. 20, the Melanie Blocker Stokes Postpartum Depression, Research and Care Act of 2007.Today’s action came as a result of more than six years of tenacious work by Rush to gain passage of the legislation to secure much needed resources for research and medical advances in the treatment of postpartum depression and psychosis.

“As proud and excited as I am by the progress we’ve made today, I remain focused on the fact that thousands of women, of all colors and from all walks of life, will continue to suffer in silence without the help they need in what should really be a joyous time,” said Chairman Rush. “I applaud the valiant work of Melanie’s mom, my constituent, Carol Blocker, for turning her pain into a passionate and ongoing effort to help make sure that no other mother suffers the needless loss of her daughter from this terrible syndrome.”

Rush, along with thousands of concerned activists around the country, continues to work to secure much needed resources for research and medical advances in the treatment of postpartum depression and psychosis, which afflicts far too many women in their child-bearing years.

Because of the failure of our nation’s health system to effectively address the medical ramifications of postpartum depression and psychosis, I will continue to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to join me, Melanie’s mom and millions of concerned families throughout the country to ensure
enactment of this legislation,” Chairman Rush added.

Postpartum depression is a serious and disabling condition that affects approximately 1 in 7 new mothers resulting in about 800,000 new cases each year. Of the new postpartum cases expected to be diagnosed this year, fewer than 15 percent of mothers will receive treatment. However, research has proven that, with treatment, more than 90 percent of these mothers could overcome their depression and lead healthy lives.

H.R. 20 prioritizes research and treatment of postpartum depression and psychosis by expanding and intensifying research through the National Institutes of Health and the National Institutes of Mental Health on the causes, diagnoses and treatments of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. H.R. 20 also encourages the National Institutes of Health to work in partnership with local communities to coordinate and broadcast heightened public service awareness about postpartum depression and its symptoms. H.R. 20 further provides grants to groups that have a track record of working with women who suffer from postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.

Following today’s Subcommittee vote, the bill proceeds, next week, to the full Energy and Commerce committee for approval.