It is a little after midnight and I am awake-not because I want to be but because I seem to have little to say in the matter. Actually, I am exhausted and all I want to do is sleep but I don't think it is going to happen for awhile.
I went to bed 3 hours ago. I had a good supper, went for a swim so I was cool and relaxed and had a good book to read. I was in bed for about an hour when the fun started: acid reflux, constant peeing and extremely sore and restless legs. At least I wasn't hot, compliments of my $99 air conditioner from Wal-Mart. Then the baby started kicking and squirming. He is so low in my crotch I swear I could reach in there and yank him out. There is so much pressure in my lower abdomen, I can't believe my water hasn't broke yet.
So, now I am sitting here chewing a piece of Bubblicious in my mom pj's with one loyal dog for company. I want to go back to bed but I am pretty sure it will be a futile exercise as I am more comfortable being up that down right now. Yes, this is a "woe is me" post. To think I could possibly go another 2 weeks is more than I can handle thinking about. Is there such a thing as PRE-partum depression? Because if there is, I think there may be a case of it brewing here.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sick As A Dog
A few days ago, Kristi, Andrea and Julia were over for lunch. I walked into the kitchen and found on the floor a crushed pill bottle-my last stash of Diclectin (pregnancy anti-nausea pills). I weaned myself off of them a few weeks ago-I wanted to be clean when I had the baby-but I kept about 6 pills as a back-up just in case I crashed. Funnily enough, this is how I quit smoking, too.
Obviously the bottle was not crushed by human teeth and the culprits were wagging their tails at me. I decided I better call the vet and was imagining the cost of the bill in my head-some of you may be aware of the extraordinary bad luck Iain and I have with inadvertently always choosing the most expensive (medical wise) pet from the SPCA. I am embarrassed to call the vet because I feel like one of those irresponsible owners you read about in the bottom left hand corner on page 8 of the newspaper.
The vet had to call a pharmacist (apparently this does not happen to everyone) and she called me back and said I had to make the dogs throw-up (rather ironic considering what the pills are for). I had visions of shoving my arm down their throats to make this happen but she reassured me that 15 mls of peroxide will do the trick.
At first I wasn't sure how to get the peroxide in the pups but then I remembered they were half goat and eat anything (obviously) so I poured the prescribed amount on a piece of bread and they gobbled it up then we went outside. The vet said they should puke in 5 minutes and if not, to administer another dose. They trotted merrily around the yard, quite pleased that 4 people came out to watch them.
After 5 minutes and no results, I got the girls to open the dogs mouths and I just poured in the next dose. Within about 3 minutes, the vomiting began. It was rather humorous-they went from fine to heaving in about 15 seconds. They were puking all over the yard and if you know anything about dogs, especially Labs, they love to eat puke. We managed to avoid any re-eating of the pills and it was a rather exciting topic over lunch.
The dogs are fine but I am a little shaky without my stash.
Obviously the bottle was not crushed by human teeth and the culprits were wagging their tails at me. I decided I better call the vet and was imagining the cost of the bill in my head-some of you may be aware of the extraordinary bad luck Iain and I have with inadvertently always choosing the most expensive (medical wise) pet from the SPCA. I am embarrassed to call the vet because I feel like one of those irresponsible owners you read about in the bottom left hand corner on page 8 of the newspaper.
The vet had to call a pharmacist (apparently this does not happen to everyone) and she called me back and said I had to make the dogs throw-up (rather ironic considering what the pills are for). I had visions of shoving my arm down their throats to make this happen but she reassured me that 15 mls of peroxide will do the trick.
At first I wasn't sure how to get the peroxide in the pups but then I remembered they were half goat and eat anything (obviously) so I poured the prescribed amount on a piece of bread and they gobbled it up then we went outside. The vet said they should puke in 5 minutes and if not, to administer another dose. They trotted merrily around the yard, quite pleased that 4 people came out to watch them.
After 5 minutes and no results, I got the girls to open the dogs mouths and I just poured in the next dose. Within about 3 minutes, the vomiting began. It was rather humorous-they went from fine to heaving in about 15 seconds. They were puking all over the yard and if you know anything about dogs, especially Labs, they love to eat puke. We managed to avoid any re-eating of the pills and it was a rather exciting topic over lunch.
The dogs are fine but I am a little shaky without my stash.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Splish Splash
I have found relief...the swimming pool. We finally got our pool up and running this week and it has been wonderful!! The water is a bit cool so when I immerse my swollen feet and hands into it, I feel like a new woman. I also read that if you go into water that is at least 5 feet deep, the water pressure helps decrease any swelling also.
The cool water is lovely but best of all is getting a pool noodle and going in the deep end and floating aimlessly-no pressure on the joints and I actually feel light for the first time in months. I float until I have been eaten alive by mosquitoes or I am a prune. It cools me down for a good hour plus I guess there is the added benefit of exercise-floating does involve a lot of intense training.
I also went to the obstetrician yesterday where she gave me a lecture about not getting excited about going early, especially since this is my first pregnancy. Everyday I am convinced this is going to be it and I am only 38 weeks. I could go another month. Warning-if I go over, don't call me, I can hardly stand myself as it is.
The cool water is lovely but best of all is getting a pool noodle and going in the deep end and floating aimlessly-no pressure on the joints and I actually feel light for the first time in months. I float until I have been eaten alive by mosquitoes or I am a prune. It cools me down for a good hour plus I guess there is the added benefit of exercise-floating does involve a lot of intense training.
I also went to the obstetrician yesterday where she gave me a lecture about not getting excited about going early, especially since this is my first pregnancy. Everyday I am convinced this is going to be it and I am only 38 weeks. I could go another month. Warning-if I go over, don't call me, I can hardly stand myself as it is.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Strep Crotch
I had read about how you are tested for strep in the last month of your pregnancy but I had never heard exactly how the testing was done until I went to the obstetrician last week. By the way, I think that one of you moms could have mentioned this to me!!!!!!!!!
I did the usual stuff-got weighed, blood pressure, fetal heart beat, etc then the nurse said we were going to do the test for strep. Having read a fair amount about this, I cockily nodded my head and added a few slightly pompous comments about it.
The nurse then pulled out this super long Q-tip in a plastic sleeve and said it was a vaginal/rectal exam. I thought that she was giving me a choice of where to stick this thing and in my head I was thinking, "What kind of a weirdo would choose the rectal option?!" It took about another 90 seconds of conversation before I realized this was not a multiple choice question. Iain looked at me and said with a smarmy voice, "Have fun with that" and headed back to the waiting room. As I made the lonely walk to the bathroom, I had two thoughts running through my mind, "Ouch" and "Can I even reach my asshole?".
I decided to pee in the bottle first, which suddenly seemed rather fun in comparison-who really cares about a little urine on the hand? Then I stuck the Q-tip up the va-jay-jay, took a deep breath and started probing.
Let's just say there is no doubt when you find the right spot.
I did the usual stuff-got weighed, blood pressure, fetal heart beat, etc then the nurse said we were going to do the test for strep. Having read a fair amount about this, I cockily nodded my head and added a few slightly pompous comments about it.
The nurse then pulled out this super long Q-tip in a plastic sleeve and said it was a vaginal/rectal exam. I thought that she was giving me a choice of where to stick this thing and in my head I was thinking, "What kind of a weirdo would choose the rectal option?!" It took about another 90 seconds of conversation before I realized this was not a multiple choice question. Iain looked at me and said with a smarmy voice, "Have fun with that" and headed back to the waiting room. As I made the lonely walk to the bathroom, I had two thoughts running through my mind, "Ouch" and "Can I even reach my asshole?".
I decided to pee in the bottle first, which suddenly seemed rather fun in comparison-who really cares about a little urine on the hand? Then I stuck the Q-tip up the va-jay-jay, took a deep breath and started probing.
Let's just say there is no doubt when you find the right spot.
Ultra-Welfare Craftmatic
It has been awhile since I last posted but it has pretty much taken me this long to recover from work. The last few weeks of teaching were difficult-I was not sleeping well therefore getting up at 6AM and then dealing with 26 fourteen year olds was not exactly an idyllic way to spend the last few weeks of work before going on maternity leave.
I am still not sleeping well but at least I can nap whenever I feel like it, which has brought me somewhat back to sanity.
Back to the title of my post...we are all familiar with the Craftmatic bed that features old grannies and grampies high fiving each other as they raise, lower and vibrate the separate sides of their $10 000 beds. Well, the no-name version has hit the Aitken household and has provided better sleep for one of us.
As I had previously mentioned, I have become intimate with the flavour of my gastric juices this trimester on a nightly basis (which I think is extremely unfair). Since I can only lay on my sides now, you can only stack those pillows so high before your body refuses to bend anymore. As limber as I am right now, the pillows were just not cutting it, so I asked/demanded Iain to put some wood under the legs of the bed to give it an incline. The change in juice flow was minimal plus due to my insane wiggling and whale like breaching technique for turning over, every once in a while the legs would slip off of the wood and the bed would thump to the ground, which was pretty exciting at 3:38AM.
Next plan, elevate the actual mattress. In one of my preggy bibles, I read that 6 inches was the ideal height for your bed to be raised. This may not seem very formidable, but once you see a stack of 2" x 4' s that high, it certainly is. So Iain scuttled down to the garage to find some wood (I think I had this slight spazz attack at about 11:30PM) and came back up with a bunch of boards taped together with red tape you use to lay down laminate floor. So we heave up the front end of the mattress and place the wood between the mattress and the box spring and voila, the Ultra-Welfare Craftmatic is born. I was delighted with the sharp angle of the mattress, Iain was a bit apprehensive. Then I remembered Andrea left a big foam mattress here when she went overseas so I found that, folded it in half and put it on my side of the bed . Now my side of the bed is a good 4 inches taller than Iain's plus I have 4 pillows and body pillow. Let's put it this way, it is a good thing Iain is a stick. I would post a picture of my marvelous invention but that would mean I would have to go make my bed but you can call now for your no obligation free video and brochure.
I am still not sleeping well but at least I can nap whenever I feel like it, which has brought me somewhat back to sanity.
Back to the title of my post...we are all familiar with the Craftmatic bed that features old grannies and grampies high fiving each other as they raise, lower and vibrate the separate sides of their $10 000 beds. Well, the no-name version has hit the Aitken household and has provided better sleep for one of us.
As I had previously mentioned, I have become intimate with the flavour of my gastric juices this trimester on a nightly basis (which I think is extremely unfair). Since I can only lay on my sides now, you can only stack those pillows so high before your body refuses to bend anymore. As limber as I am right now, the pillows were just not cutting it, so I asked/demanded Iain to put some wood under the legs of the bed to give it an incline. The change in juice flow was minimal plus due to my insane wiggling and whale like breaching technique for turning over, every once in a while the legs would slip off of the wood and the bed would thump to the ground, which was pretty exciting at 3:38AM.
Next plan, elevate the actual mattress. In one of my preggy bibles, I read that 6 inches was the ideal height for your bed to be raised. This may not seem very formidable, but once you see a stack of 2" x 4' s that high, it certainly is. So Iain scuttled down to the garage to find some wood (I think I had this slight spazz attack at about 11:30PM) and came back up with a bunch of boards taped together with red tape you use to lay down laminate floor. So we heave up the front end of the mattress and place the wood between the mattress and the box spring and voila, the Ultra-Welfare Craftmatic is born. I was delighted with the sharp angle of the mattress, Iain was a bit apprehensive. Then I remembered Andrea left a big foam mattress here when she went overseas so I found that, folded it in half and put it on my side of the bed . Now my side of the bed is a good 4 inches taller than Iain's plus I have 4 pillows and body pillow. Let's put it this way, it is a good thing Iain is a stick. I would post a picture of my marvelous invention but that would mean I would have to go make my bed but you can call now for your no obligation free video and brochure.
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