Category Archives: family

2nd Trimester Burst

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So THIS is how the 2nd trimester is supposed to feel. Wow.

I’ve never had a 2nd trimester burst before…. I’ve gone straight from 1st trimester nausea into 3rd trimester I’m too daggum big to do anything with my previous 2 pregnancies. This is kinda nice.

I’ve managed to clean the front porch, straighten up the dining room, keep the living room clean, and as my previous post mentioned, get caught up with the dishes, and still enjoy life. I haven’t had the energy to tackle the bedroom yet but I know that’s coming.

Right now I need to focus on my presentation for a local mom’s group next Friday. My plan is to create a two-sided handout. One side will specify signs and symptoms of different PPD conditions (Once I get this typed up, look for it here and at my PACE site as well) and the other side will specify what friends and family can do to help a woman and family in need. I plan on just doing a round table discussion with the group that will cover the handout as well as my experiences with PPD – treated and untreated. I also plan to cover what you can do to help prevent relapse.

One of the biggest things that I advocate is staying on medicine during pregnancy – if you’re already on it. That decision is up to you and your doctor but if it is possible – your risk of relapse lessens GREATLY. In Women’s Mental Health (Kornstein, Clayton), there is a wonderfully written section on the risks of staying medicated vs. the risks of not staying medicated. I read it completely prior to my first OB visit and was ready to stand my ground if need be. Yes, I’m doing MUCH better than I was a year ago but as I have educated myself, I am aware of the risk of relapse – and plan to do everything possible to prevent another episode. I am aware that I may still crash and burn – but this time around I already have a therapist I trust, my husband who is awesome, and a great OB who knows the risks. I also have a lot of people in the PPD Support world that i can contact as well. PLUS I’ll have my group. I’m hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. I weathered it last time and came out stronger than ever so I KNOW I can do it!

I DID IT!!!!!!

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I CAUGHT UP WITH THE DISHES TODAY!!!!!!!!

My sinks were clear, my counters were clear… WHAT a GREAT FEELING!

 And yeah, I fried chicken for dinner BUT everything i used to cook is in the dishwasher right now… everything we ate off of has been scraped clean and is soaking, awaiting its turn in the dishwasher!

WOOOHOOOO!!!!!

I was a little freaked at first b/c my kitchen hasn’t been this clean since I was in the throes of my PP OCD but then I realized I felt SATISFACTION and it was different than what i felt when I had PP OCD.

Oh, and my husband finally got my lap top up and running. Yeeehaw! It’s just been a great week.

See.. that happy magnet IS working! :-)

It’s 943am, my youngest is napping…

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And my oldest is over at Nana and Papa’s. So the house is quiet – and I’ve nothing to do. I’m sure I could come up with a project or two – I’d really like to bake some bread but the dishwasher isn’t finished yet and certain things I’d need to do that are still being cleaned. So here I sit – unaccustomed to being solo at 945am in the morning. It’s an odd yet strangely nice feeling.

I had a cup of coffee with breakfast this morning. Split some peach yogurt with Charlotte. She’s really developing her own little personality and BOY is she stubborn! She does NOT do anything UNLESS she wants to. Hrm. Wonder who on earth she got that from? (Both her father and I are very good at standing our ground when necessary – or even unneccessary) This morning after breakfast she grabbed my hand and lifted it up – wouldn’t let it go until I waved just like her. We played in the floor for about 45 minutes and then she started fussing. She crawled over into my lap and promptly put her thumb in her mouth. Naptime! So we changed her diaper and then I laid her down in her crib. Not even a single whimper – and I walked out of her room not knowing what on EARTH I was going to do…. maybe I’ll just go take a shower and enjoy the hour or so of quiet I’ll have before Alli gets home.

Oh, and one last little tidbit – when I was in college, I got this mood magnet from the on campus long distance company. You know – the one with all those different mood faces and then there’s a selector box that goes with it so you can “frame” how you feel that day – well, the other day for the first time in AGES I moved it to HAPPY. And it’s been there since. And I reallly and truly mean it! I had been hesitant to move it there because I just wasn’t sure but then I thought – what the heck – maybe just MOVING it there will really boost my mood and it has! I’ve been working really hard to clean up the house – and it feels good to know that I’m making progress. I made some serious progress in the dining room yesterday – now if I can JUST get the daggum kitchen straight – problem is that room gets used the most and it’s so hard to keep it clean when it seems like a tornado has just hit it – guess that’s what I get for LOVING To cook – I ALWAYS have a full sink of dishes to be done. And when I get ALMOST done – I decide to bake something else! LOL! Housework – it never goes away. (BUT it can go AWRY!)

Ahhh…. the miracles of modern medicine…

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I called my OB’s office after just LISTENING to cars go became nauseating! I had literally become incapacitated. Enough was ENOUGH. They called in a prescription for me and I am happy to say that it worked! At first I was taking it every four hours – and now, well, I am taking it occasionally and for the first time, I am thrilled to report that reaching the 12 week mark has somewhat miraculously eased my nausea! :-)

Checked in with my OB yesterday – blood pressure was a bit high – 138/70something but hey – I almost rear-ended someone on the way in. I think ANYONE’S blood pressure would have been high. Oh, and did I mention I had BOTH of my daughters with me??? Yeah. Justification has been served. They were both actually very well behaved – I was quite surprised and pleased. Charlotte missed her morning nap – once we got home I put her to bed after lunch – she tried some of my Big Mac. And LOVED it. Heh. Can honestly say I never thought that she’d be eating a Big Mac at this age. It wasn’t what I had planned for her lunch but she lunged for it like a squirrel lunging for the last nut on the planet and who am I to refuse a lunge such as that???

At 12n, shortly after I put Charlotte down, Alli said she had to pee pee. SO I went to take her – and discovered blood down there. I freaked out and got Charlotte up and took them both to the ER. We arrived at 1230p. Once we got checked in, we discovered that there was a TWO hour wait. So I signed out and took Alli to a nearby Urgent Care Center. They wouldn’t see her. She needed to go to the ER. I called her ped’s office that was on her Medicaid card. Nope, they didn’t take medicaid and hadn’t for 4 years. HUH?! It was now 2p. I called Charlotte’s ped’s office where Alli had been a patient to see if they could squeeze her in. Nope – not until 530-6p and besides, she needed to go to the ER. UGH! I ended up driving us all home because by that time, frankly, I was hot, tired, and getting snippy. We came home, I put charlotte to bed (she didn’t fight it at ALL), gave Alli a bath, and we laid down in my bed for a bit. We fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 520, when Chris called to let me know he was on his way home. I went to change Alli and she still had blood in her diaper.

I made the decision to cancel PACE for the night and take Alli to the ER. We had to swing by the meeting location to hang up cancellation signs first but then onto the ER. We arrived at 7p and we were out of there by 9pm. They had to cath her to get a urine sample and ended up being iffy about the diagnosis. They didn’t give her antibiotics – said it might be UTI, may also have been an anal fissure due to constipation. Alli was a brave little girl – and quite the sweetheart – even insisted that I get stickers for being such a good helper! We put them on a piece of paper today to be framed and hung in her room.

 Oh, and for added fun, a week ago today Chris tore ligaments in his left ankle so I’ve been running the household COMPLETELY since then. Life. It hits hard, and fast. And how you stand back up and deal with it determines what kind of person you are. And lemme tell you something – I am one serious butt-kicking mama when I have to be. But I also have enough sense to know when I need to rest. I’ve been going to bed at 830 or 9p most nights the past week. I am WORN SLAP OUT! In fact, I am going to bed now – naptime!

Worst Morning Sickness trigger ever… MOTION

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UGH!!!!!!!!!

Motion of any kind – and not just by me – no, motion of any kind, typing, watching letters appear (i’m getting queasy right now, actually) cars driving by, kids spinning, crawling, tv, digital photo frames, incessant leg bouncing, dogs barking, jumping, scratching, playing, etc … you name it, I’m queasy.

SO – in case you haven’t figured it out yet, that’s why there hasn’t been an update in a few days or more. And there will be sporadic updates only until this whole motion thing goes away. I can’t even text message on my PHONE without getting queasy!!!! I will be oh so happy when I can play tetris and not worry about those flipping shapes making me want to run to the bathroom!!!!!!!