it took me down. way down.

Last Saturday around lunchtime I just started not feeling very well. By that evening I was feverish and achy. By Sunday night I was miserable, crying because I was just in so much pain from the fever, vomiting, coughing, I've had every symptom on the list. It is now Wednesday and I am able to get around the house for a few hours before the nausea comes back. I got the regular flu shot this year so we can only assume that this was the dreaded swine flu, and it hit me hard. Somewhere between all of my symptoms and delirium Gene was also hit with something, we're not sure if it was a milder form of the flu or if he just had a stomach bug but thankfully his peaked at its worst before mine did so someone was always well enough to take care of Luke. Gene's was also much shorter. While he is still not at 100% yet, he has been going to work and running the household and stuff. My doctor called in some Tamiflu for me on Monday and after about three doses my fever finally broke. Having the flu is awful, having it and being uncomfortably pregnant is a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone. Plus with all those scary "Pregnant woman dies of swine flu" stories out there I found myself praying more than once that this wouldn't kill me. I think I am over the worst part of it and am hoping to be back at work by Sunday. I am thankful that Luke hasn't gotten it yet and hope it is not on the horizon for us. Just staying at home now and taking it easy for a few more days.

Baby steps

So I have been trying and trying to finish this post and I just can't seem to do it. Every time I get back to finish it, I have more I want to write and don't get to the next part. So I have decided today that I am just going to break it down into smaller sections and get it done, otherwise I may never get back to my blog. Forgive me as my blog may be out of sequential order, but you'll get the picture.

Part I:

Baby Numero Dos Update--Where did I leave off last? Oh right, gaining too much weight... story of my life. Well, my weight checks have been fine at my last few appointments. I did, however, fail my first glucose test so I had to go in for the three hour test--which I passed with flying colors. Also that week, I developed a pregnancy-induced arrhythmia which was so severe initially, that after 72 hours of my heart literally bouncing around at will, it sent me crashing into my doctor's office without an appointment, ugly-crying to my poor doctor because I just wanted it to stop. I had been told by numerous Dr's and CRNA's at work it was a "normal" arrhythmia and pregnant people's hearts just do funny things. Don't worry--they say. You've probably had this too. Ever feel like your heart has skipped a beat? Medically, it was a PAC or a PVC. Well my heart was skipping about 10-15 times a minute constantly for days. At times I felt weak and light-headed, but overall I just felt awful. After I got a few days off work and relaxed a bit, they just dwindled off to where we are now which is that I maybe have a few a day--and often don't even notice any. I went to a cardiologist anyway just to get everything checked and they found no problems. For now, we are not going to do anything about them. I can easily live with a few a day. If I get bad again, they may do some more studies just to evaluate me while the arrhythmia is active, put me on restricted activity, or give me some drugs to take. I'm hoping it is not an issue again.

Baby is growing right on target for now, not too big, not too small. I am not as big as I was with Luke, which has been a blessing because I am not nearly as uncomfortable yet. I just started having some slight swelling in my hands and feet this past week. With Luke, I think I started swelling somewhere around 26 or 27 weeks. I am pretty pathetic to watch roll over in bed though. And poor Luke, no matter how much he adjusts himself, he just can't get comfortable on my lap the way he used to.

We've pretty much settled on Will for his name and Luke has learned it. He can now tell us that "baby Will is in mommy's tummy." I don't think that he actually understands what is going to be happening at our house in a few months--well, weeks, really. We are continuing to transition all the baby things from Luke's room to Will's room. Gene & I got his room painted this past week and Gene is planning on putting up a chair rail this weekend. Then the work will really begin as we start to pull all the baby things out of the attic and clean them up.

I have been working on getting my Christmas shopping done as I have no desire to do it all with a newborn and a two year old in tow. I am doing great but running out of hiding spaces. Guess we'll have to start putting out Christmas stuff early!

We've been trying to help Luke prepare for having a baby around. I bought Luke his own baby to play with and he has been practicing feeding and diapering the baby. Don't worry about what effects the baby doll might have on my son, he is still all boy--he spent the first two days "fixing" his baby by smashing it on the head with his hammer. While I got these cute pictures of him being sweet and nurturing to his baby, well, we haven't seen too much more of that around here. He really still prefers his cars over any other toy right now.

Okay, so I finished the first part. I feel accomplished for now. I plan to head back for part two later this week. Hopefully I'll get to it. xoxo