Updates on Me

There isn't too much to tell on me. They still have no idea what's going on. I think the last thing I posted was my hospital stay at Christian Hospital. Well, I went back to the hospital the very next weekend with the exact same problem. Numbness and no feeling on the right side of my body. It started in my arm this time and went to my face next and ended in my leg. Nick dropped the kids off at my mother in law's at took me to Missouri Baptist Hospital and they admitted me and again found no answers. They did the same stroke protocol and found no problems. However, this time they also did a lumbar puncture test to check the pressure of my spinal fluid and to check my spinal fluid. Everything was normal except the protein level in my spinal fluid was elevated. After doing this check I felt amazing. No more headache, no more pain, I felt amazing. I was discharged the next day and told to follow up with the neurologist.

I felt pretty good for a bit, but then got another migraine a week later. My mom picked me up and brought me to my regular doctor. I was throwing up the whole way there (don't worry, I brought a bag - thank goodness my mom doesn't have a weak stomach) and I just felt awful. I told the doctor about the lumbar check and feeling better and he thought because of that, that I had a psuedo tumor. So he prescribed a drug to help with that. Acedozolomide or something like that. So I started taking that. I felt ok for a bit and then I started having tingling. Mainly in my hands and feet but it was all the time. So I started freaking out about that! Now I was worried about MS and all sorts of other things.

Luckily I had another appointment with my neurologist. I went to see him and told him about my tingling. He was worried until I told him about the new medicine. That's apparently a side effect of that drug. He checked my eyes and told me I didn't have a psuedo tumor and switched me to a new med, but warned me this also has a side effect of tingling. So now I'm on a migraine prevention med twice a day. He also set me up to do another lumbar check on Dec. 26th to re-check the protein levels.

My dad picked me up at 6 am on the 26th to bring me to MoBap to do the lumbar puncture. I got checked in and set up and everything was ready. My dad went back to work with me promising to call when I was ready to go home. My appointment was for 7:30 and I got back into the x-ray room at 8 am I think, so not too bad. They did the lumbar puncture and everything went well. Not too too painful and I was back in recovery.

I got to order breakfast but had to stay on my back for about an hour and a half. I thought this was weird because when I did the first one I had to stay on my back for 4-6 hours and my paper for my instructions before I went in for this procedure said I'd be in the hospital for 6-8 hours, so an hour and a half was not a long time. Especially with the risk of a spinal headache for getting up too early, but they are the docs right??

Around 10:30 I was completely discharged with the instructions to stay on my back all day and night and drink plenty of fluids. My dad picked me up and I went back to his house and laid in bed all afternoon. Nick picked me up and brought me home where I stayed on the couch all evening until I went up to bed. The next morning I got up for work and it went well, but by the end of the shift, my head started to hurt. Like I was getting a migraine. I was nervous, but went home, took some meds and tried to relax. 

It ended up being the worst migraine I ever had. I made it to work...for an hour or so. I made it home from work and my dad had to meet me there to take me back to MoBap for a blood patch. I had studied blood patches in school but wasn't entirely sure what they were and didn't really know if they would work. What a blood patch is: They basically are giving you an epidural. An anesthesiologist comes in and sticks a needle in your back and puts a tiny catheter in the epidural space in your spine. Then instead of amazing drugs going into your spine to make you feel numb, they put in your own blood. So I had to sit up (which caused my head to throb so bad I just wanted them to kill me, and I wish I was kidding but sadly I'm not), sit extremely still while they got the catheter in the right spot, then wait with the catheter/needle in my back and hold my arm still while they drew out 20 mL of my blood from my arm and then transferred that into my spine...

Luckily it only lasted about 5 minutes for the whole thing. Then I laid back down because I felt dizzy and nauseous. She wanted me to sit up and tell her if I felt better because apparently you are supposed to feel better immediately. I didn't feel better immediately and I couldn't sit up right away. So she left. They gave me more drugs and I slept for a bit. When I was able to get up I still had a pounding headache. Not a migraine, but a pounding headache. I took this as a good sign. They gave me a prescription for a pain med which I was excited about until I got it filled and it was actually Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen which makes me sick...It took 3 days but that migraine is now finally all the way gone. I'm taking my other meds and I'm hoping it's GONE gone.

I'm hoping also that these migraines will STAY away!! Like Nick said: I have school and work and I can't afford to miss anything! I need to be healthy!

Anyway, those are the updates on me. :)

Pictures!

My grandpa holding Gretchen and talking to Annabelle

My little dare devil. She climbed up onto the coffee table 

at my parents house and was smirking as if daring us to tell her to get down...

Gretchen napping in the pack n play while I cooked dinner one night. 

It amazed me how close in size she and the doll were!

HAHA, I HAD to post this picture!

Cecilia is SO skinny and tall. Her pants can't even stay up. When this happened

I asked if she needed help. She said, "no". She was more concerned with playing 

than worrying about her pants! 

Annabelle, Dominick and Cecilia

Cheering on the Cardinals!

Go Cardinals!!!

Big girl Gretchen!!

My Grammie, Gretchen and me. 

Gretchen at 1 month

Dommie and Addie cheering on the Cardinals. 

I haven't hardly taken any pictures, but this is what I have. Hopefully I can add more to it soon!

1 month old

I need to bring my camera downstairs and update all my pictures, but I wanted to post Gretchen's 1 month stats.

She turned one month old on Thursday and we had her appointment with the pediatrician. She's doing great! She's up to 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 21" long. So she's back on track with her weight and doing fabulous. She got 1 shot and only cried for a few minutes.

She's tracking with her eyes and starting to hold her head up. She's already getting to be so big!

She just got out of newborn clothes. Literally yesterday. As of Thursday she was wearing newborn and then yesterday she was just too long. Now I'm sure that has more to do with the brand and the actual onesie I put her in, than the idea that she grew overnight, but still. I'm moving her to 0-3 month clothes. It's crazy. Dominick and Annabelle NEVER were able to fit in newborn clothes and Gretchen wore then for a full month!

One thing that the doctor said at the visit was that Gretchen was going to start giving me longer stretches at night on sleep. She said within the next month I should start getting 4 and 5 hour stretches as well as more awake time during the day. Well the last two nights have been AmAzInG. Last night she ate at 10, and then slept until 3 and then again until 6:30. It was great. GREAT I tell you!

I can't believe she's getting so big!! I'll update with pictures soon!

Obviously...

I've been gone for FOREVER! I feel so stressed and overwhelmed and have FINALLY had a chance to come up for air. It's short lived as I have 5 tests in 4 days next week but I'm off for a bit today and thought I would catch up.

First things first: School is hard. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I'm always stressed and overwhelmed and always feeling like a failure. I've questioned whether or not I thought I would be a good nurse because I'm struggling with some of the information. Luckily I work at a hospital and my co-workers have assured me that while school is important, I can still be a fantastic nurse without a 4.0 GPA. Thank goodness.

Secondly: Probably everyone who reads this knows already since I've posted on facebook, but if not, I'M PREGNANT. And slightly terrified...

I don't know how it happened! (Ok, I get the whole physiology of how it happened) but seriously we had so much trouble with the first two and were told we wouldn't have any on our own without fertility treatment. Well, there goes that! I'm 16 weeks and 1 day along and things are going fine. The first trimester was AWFUL. I threw up a lot. But now I've actually gained one whole pound and I'm on the right track! (I had lost a ton of weight from being so sick, so being up 1 pound is awesome and I wish it was more actually!). I started checking my blood sugar just to see if my sugars get too high and right now they are ok. Close, but ok.

Here is actually my babycenter update for the week:

Your pregnancy: 16 weeks

 

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.
See what your baby looks like this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)
Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

The top of your uterus is about halfway between your pubic bone and your navel, and the round ligaments that support it are thickening and stretching as it grows. You're probably feeling a whole lot better as you settle into pregnancy, too. Less nausea, fewer mood swings, and "glowing" skin contribute to an overall sense of well-being.
Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, many don't feel their baby move until about 18 weeks or more. (And if this is your first baby, don't be too impatient — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so.) The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll be able to feel them much more frequently.


So that's pretty cool stuff.

Obviously I have a lot of changes on my 30x30 to do. We won't be doing as many trips as we were hoping with three kids (3 and under, YIKES!) but I'm hoping to do some fun things before I'm thirty still. I'll get to changing that soon. Any ideas?? Send them my way!

That's all I got for now. Back to studying!!

I'll try to do weekly updates again, if I can.