ETEC 551 Test Blog

Hi! This is a test blog post for ETEC 551.

15-17 Weeks (17 weeks and a sinus infection. yuck)

Well, it's happened. I'm really, really sick. Not morning sickness kind of sick, but sinus infection/inflammation of the pharynx sick.

I am MISERABLE.

I started getting a bit of a sore throat on Saturday, but it went away. I was thankful because my dad and his wife Karen were coming over to meet Michael's mom and her husband Mike for the first time. We all went out to dinner for Michael's birthday and it was nice to see everybody. I didn't sleep well Saturday night and then Sunday, I woke up and the sore throat was still there. It went away during the day, but by Monday, I sounded like a frog and my throat hurt to talk.

It probably didn't help that I had a swim meet to coach on Monday. By Tuesday, I was in bad shape. My throat was hurting so bad, I was afraid I was getting Mono again. I decided not to go into work on Wednesday and went to the doctor.

I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and a swollen pharynx. Since I'm pregnant, there's not a whole lot of medication I can take to make me feel better. I was prescribed antibiotics, an antihistamine nasal spray, and some cough medication.

By Thursday, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to make it to work, so thankfully, my assistant coach took the swim team and all was good. I had already planned for her to take over coaching on Friday because I had to get blood drawn. By Thursday night, I was running a fever and feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

So, I've missed three days of work and thought I feel better than I did yesterday, I still feel like my head is going to explode from the sinus pressure. I haven't felt this miserable in years.

The pregnancy is going well. I did have another ultrasound about two weeks ago and the heartbeats were normal. I do have ultrasound pictures, but it's really hard to see anything. I've been meaning to have Michael scan them so I can post them here, but I keep forgetting. In one of the ultrasound pictures, the baby's spine is completely visible. It's actually really cool. :)

I found out on Tuesday, March 9th, that the school district I work for is laying off 2,800 staff due to budget cuts and that they were going to start cutting people who had seven years of service or less. This worried me until I saw the letter the teacher's union put out. They said that according to Human Resources and the number of notices they say their sending, I do not fall under any of the categories listed. I'm a permanent secondary (high school) teacher, and apparently, because the district cut so many secondary teachers last year, they're now focusing on the elementary schools. I'm glad I'm not on the chopping block (yet), but I also feel for those who are in danger of being pink slipped and I also feel for the teachers who are going to have to try and teach 35+ small children in one classroom. Being a teacher is not easy. If Michael is able to get a decent paying job, I might just stay home for a few years, taking care of the babies and once they're school age, then consider going back. We've talked about it and we both have agreed that at least one of us should stay home. I just don't know if we can live on just my salary. Especially since my illustrious district is trying to make us take a 10% pay cut next year.

When is the economy going to turn around????

Oh, and before I forget... I need to start posting a belly shot of my ginormous stomach. Soon, I promise. Who am I promising?? I don't think anyone reads this blog! Ha ha! Oh well.

12-14 Weeks

I've been a bit bad about posting... the new semester at school started and I also coach the swim team at my high school, so busy doesn't even begin to describe my life.

Michael's been taking a profile pic of me every week, but I really don't see much of a change. I sometimes wish my belly wasn't big to begin with so that I could actually start to see the growth, but with all the hormone drugs I was on for the first two cycles, my weight ballooned. I've been trying to be careful with my weight, as my doctor told me she didn't want me to gain very much. I've been hovering at the same weight for the past two weeks, so I think that's a good sign. She also gave me the go-ahead to start swimming, but because last week was so busy and craptacular, I didn't go. :( I will definitely make the effort to get back into the pool on Tuesday night.

Michael and I went to my dad's for Valentine's day, to have dinner and see a movie. He dropped a bit of a bomb on me. He didn't tell me, but apparently, the day that I found out I was pregnant, he found out he had stage 1 lung cancer. He had surgery to remove the cancer and while recovering, suffered a stroke caused by a blood clot. Because the nurse on duty noticed his stroke so quickly and because of the quick-thinking of his doctor, my dad was given some sort of medication to reverse the effects of the stroke and he came out of it without any indication he had one.

I'm glad he's OK, but I was a bit peeved he didn't tell me. He and his wife Karen didn't want to tell me because I was newly pregnant and didn't want me to worry. I can't believe that while he was here for Christmas, he actually had cancer and I didn't know it.

I've also been dealing with a lot of crap involving my swim team at school. The district I work for decided to lay off a bunch of bus drivers last year to try and save money (budget cuts and all that) and because of the low number of drivers, they could no longer accommodate our pick up times for our practice. It looks like my school and the boosters club will pitch in and help pay for the cost of using a pool that is within walking distance of our school (and the pool that the original swim team used back in the 60s through the 80s). I'm very glad we'll be using the pool about three days a week and will only have to share the other pool we use with the crazy, whacked out coach twice a week. She is a certified nut job. The latest is, she's made me out to be a trouble maker. According to the man who runs the funding for the pool we share, he said I was the one causing all the trouble with the lane issue. Oh, he has no idea. That nut job of a coach has done so much to get herself into trouble, we're all hoping it's a matter of time before she finally gets the boot. She's been formally warned by our district that one more misstep on her part and she's out. I'll believe it when I see it.

Anyway... this is supposed to be my pregnancy blog and here I am talking about work. ;) I've talked a little to Michael about names, but he doesn't want to even go there because it's still too early and he doesn't want to get attached. The thing is, I already am and want so badly to know what we're having so I can put names to babies. They're growing inside of me and they should be named rather than just referring to them as "the babies." :sigh: It looks like he won't want to even consider names until I'm halfway through this pregnancy. I know he's just being cautious, but I still wish we could discuss names. I'll give him a few more weeks.

I've been feeling OK... still no morning sickness or anything. I just have cravings mostly and aversions to certain foods. Oh, and I have to pee a lot. And when I'm hungry, I'm HUNGRY. :)

11 Weeks

I had my first OB appointment on Friday. I'm a little worried/ticked off. My doctor was upset with me because I hadn't had a pap smear in over a year. I told her that was because I called and asked about whether I should go in, since I was starting IVF in Spring 2009 and the clinic wanted me to wait, anyway. I couldn't go and have a pap smear right around the time I was supposed to be doing follicle stimulation and all that other stuff.

My blood pressure has always been normal. Always. Well, it was high yesterday. I kind of expected it would be because I haven't been swimming since August, and I've gained weight. So, she mentioned it was high and I said that it's always normal otherwise. She said it wasn't "the last time I was there" in 2007!!! So, now I'm a little irritated because something's not right with the dates. May of 2007, I was planning my wedding, coaching a swim team, swimming on my own team, teaching five classes without a conference period, and basically ran myself ragged to the point of getting a recurrence of Mono. That would probably explain the high blood pressure then. I told her that, too. I asked her what month I had come in for my pap smear and she said "May." I retorted, "well, I had MONO!" I mean, come on!

But, then, she said that I've gained about 10 pounds since my last visit in 2008, so I guess she *does* have that info. Grrr. It's just confusing to me.

Oh, and the reason why she was kind of irritated that I waited for the pap smear was because I have tested positive for HPV. :( But, what I'm really confused about (and this is what I'm going to call on Monday and ask) is, she said my Pap came back positive for HPV at my last exam. That's not true - I got a card that said my pap was normal. I tested positive for HPV after that when I had a full blood-work done before we could start the IVF process. So, she must have gotten the results of the blood work, saw that I tested positive for HPV and wanted me to come in for a pap smear, but I didn't. Hopefully, this latest test will be normal. She stated that if this "second" pap comes back abnormal (with HPV) then I'm going to have to have further tests to check my cervix. The thing that's bothering me is, my last pap smear in July of 2008 was NORMAL. I had blood work done in spring of 2009 that showed the HPV.

Grrrrrr! I'm frustrated with that.

But, everything else was fine. We got to hear our babies' heartbeats for the first time. And, when the first baby was visible on the monitor, it was jumping and moving all over the place! I was so shocked, I laughed, which hurt my stomach because of the angle I was laying on the exam table. The second baby was moving, but it didn't seem to be as much. But, wow! They were really moving!!! :)

I don't go in for another ultrasound until week 15 - and I'm going to have all kinds of tests done. Genetics testing and the like. I do NOT want to have an amniocentesis done or the other test where they take a piece of each placenta to test for disorders - I have read that there is a risk of miscarriage and I don't want to risk that at all. Apparently, there were some tests I could have had done, but they were supposed to have been done by week 10 - but the doctor said I was cutting it close, so they'd just have me do some testing in the 2nd trimester.

I was also told that I *CAN* go swimming!!!! I'm so excited about that. I won't get in the water with my high school kids... probably not a good idea for that, but I'm looking forward to doing some light swimming. :)

My spotting has also significantly decreased to nothing, with such a light color, that it's almost invisible to see. So, that's a definite plus. There's nothing worse than having all that bleeding and then weeks and weeks and weeks of spotting. Yuck.

The one negative side to pregnancy for me seems to be the headaches I've been having. I had a headache on Thursday night that mostly went away on Friday, but came back with a vengeance on Friday night. I've been hesitant to take Tylenol (I threw up the last time I took it when I was 19), but my sister-in-law, who's also pregnant, suggested I try and take it again. I also got the H1N1 flu shot while at the doctor's office on Friday, which could explain the general malaise I've been feeling.

My sister-in-law gave me some Tylenol and it totally helped. I'm finally feeling headache-free and that's definitely a relief. I can't imagine dealing with a headache while having to grade finals and get grades done this week.

Here are week 11 ultrasounds:

Both:

Dana :)

9 Weeks

I don't know for sure if I should use this blog to document my pregnancy or if I should use my old blog to do so. Either way, I suppose it's best to document this while I still can!

Today I'm 8 weeks 6 days pregnant. With each passing week, I feel a little bit more relieved as we approach the end of the first trimester.

I have had zero morning sickness. I read on another woman's blog that some people are immune to HCG and do not have morning sickness. I'm rather glad for that because carrying twins, apparently the morning sickness and all other pregnancy symptoms magnify two-fold.

I do have hunger pains that are out of this world and I'm tired more often than not. I also get up to go to the bathroom more often in the middle of the night. It's when I get up in the middle of the night that I notice I'm STARVING. I told my husband that I was STARVING in the middle of the night and he asked me if I ate something.

No! It reminds me too much of when I was in high school and I used to get hunger pains in the middle of the night. I'd eat something and then my mom would get mad because she thought I was getting fat. I don't know... am I supposed to eat something in the middle of the night when I'm pregnant? This is all so new to me, I have no idea what to expect.

I also got my first cold sore in over two years. I actually thought I was immune to them finally. Like, I wouldn't get them again. Boy, was I wrong. I know the reasoning behind it now and hopefully, I'll be more prepared for them. My immune system is not working on full-throttle like it normally is and I've also been stressing out a bit too much about this pregnancy. On Tuesday, the day we go in for our weekly ultrasound with the fertility clinic, I feel this sense of trepidation. I'm afraid the doctor is going to stick the wand up my hoo ha and there will be nothing there. But, by this point, I'm feeling a little better. Mostly because if there was anything chromosomally wrong with the embryos, they never would have had a detectable heartbeat. Apparently, the chance of miscarriage goes significantly down once a heartbeat is detected.

So, there's that. I have one more ultrasound with my fertility clinic and hopefully, I'll be released to my regular doctor and will have my first ultrasound with her. Then, I'll be weighed and told how fat I've gotten since the last time I was there. It sucks because with each IVF cycle I did, the hormones I was on led to weight gain. I don't like how big I've gotten, but with pregnancy, there's not much I can do. Thankfully, I've been craving fruits and veggies more and have been eating a lot of it during the week. I love dip, though, so I'm not sure how much I'm defeating the purpose if I eat my veggies with dip. I did buy some plain yogurt to mix in with the dip packets - that might not be so bad.

A coworker commented that she thought I was already starting to show. I have noticed that my stomach is sticking out more, but that's all I've noticed. I just feel like a bloated cow. And, walking around with the plague on my face for a few days didn't help in the beauty department.

My husband got a bit mad at me on Tuesday morning when, in a fit of desperation, I scanned the medical stuff that came with my cold sore medication, and noting that it said it was OK to use while pregnant when "absolutely needed," I put some of it on my lip. He thought I should have waited until I had talked to the doctor before even touching the stuff. But, as a cold sore sufferer, I know that if I don't get that medication on my face at the first sign of tingling, it will explode into massive proportions and will take weeks to heal.

At the fertility clinic, the doctor looked up the medication I was using in her drug encyclopedia and found that the drug is a Class B drug. Basically, it hasn't been studied on pregnant humans for adverse affects, only on lab animals (which I don't really like to talk about... I can't stand to hear about stuff like that) and has been found to not have any affects on them. Still, since it hasn't been tested on humans, it's a kind of drug that should be used sparingly. She said it would be OK for me to use it at the beginning of the treatment and then taper off within four days. Whew! Seriously, unless you've had cold sores in the past, it's hard to explain the pain and suffering they cause. They itch, they burn, they hurt, they cause the glands in my neck to swell, and if not treated right away, they take two weeks to heal.

I put the medication on every day, despite that the medication looked worse on than when I didn't have it on my face. It was HIDEOUS. Couple that with my feeling like a bloated cow and I just wanted to stay home. For the first two days, I put the stuff on every two hours while awake and then on Thursday, I put it on about every three hours. Friday, I put some on in the morning, but wiped it off when I got to work. I then put some on last night before bed, put some on this morning, and that's it. So, in five days, my cold sore is gone.

Now I feel much better about myself. :)

Here are the ultrasound pics from 9 weeks. I'll have to post the newest ones at another time.

Each baby:

Both together:

I'm sitting here, listening to The Beach Boys in my headphones because there's a dog three doors down and across from our apartment that's been crying/barking/whining since YESTERDAY. I called last night after 9:00 PM and left a message with the office management. I called this morning at 11:15 and actually talked to a live person. She said she'd investigate.

The dog is still crying/barking/whining. It's awful. I can hear the dog through my headphones.

Why is it that people who own dogs don't take care of them? It drives me freakin' nuts. It seems to me the people who live in that apartment left for the weekend and left their dog outside, alone. It's probably hungry, thirsty, and lonely.

Dammit, it's driving me crazy. I hate people who neglect their pets.

I've had a journal here for 4 years and yet I've only posted three times.

I don't particularly care for blogger/blogspot. This is mostly due to the fact that I've been a livejournal nut since 2001. I'm not sure if I like the layout and I'm also not comfortable with this blog being public.

Anyway. I'm sitting here because I have the day off and even though I should be doing other, more important things, I've been spending the morning catching up with everybody. I made myself a chai latte (I cheated... I don't have a heating wand for the milk, and honestly, if there's one thing I learned in the five weeks I lasted, er, worked at Starbucks, it's that I am terrible at steaming milk - so I heated it up in the microwave) and have been sitting on the couch, listening to trains go by and catching up with journals.

I'm not quite taken with this journal yet, as I've tried starting one twice before. What's that saying, "three times a charm"? I guess this would be the charm, then.