11 Weeks 5 Days

These are perilous days I am experiencing!

My morning started out well. Blake and I both slept in, surprisingly, til 10:45am! I woke with a slight headache but no pain otherwise. We had our typical morning routine and got ready to leave for Lodi. Mom arrived to pick us up at 2pm and I took some of my daily pills with a bit of juice and my sandwich. 

By the time we drove across town, getting ready to hit the back roads, I was getting quite nauseated. Mom had to run into the store and I laid back in the truck with the air conditioner blowing cold onto my face. 10 minutes later, we were sitting at a stop light and we decided that I needed to go home because I was feeling so much worse: Major nausea and a growing headache. She made the left turn and turned directly into the gas station as she turned toward home. I motioned for her to roll down the window as we sat at the next red light. Within seconds of the window being all the way down, I completely lost my lunch, projecting it 2 feet into the next lane. {Thinking about this later, I realized I hadn't checked beforehand to see if there was a car there!}Luckily for any potential driver there was no one! The light turned green and 100 ft down the road, I went again! She turned back into the grocery parkinglot and parked as I hurled another time... My truck door on the outside was a disgusting mess. I continued to gag and heave with nothing else coming out. I wiped my face, we cancelled our trip to Lodi, and I took an antinausea and started munching on glucose tabs. Now we had to prepare for a low. I had 4 units of active insulin on board but no sugar for that to team up with. We started toward home once more. 2.5 miles down the road, my bloodsugar was at 60. Instead of just treating the low, I decided that mom would inject me with 1/3rd of a glucagon shot. We don't like to do the whole syrenge because of the extreme nausea and spike to the bloodsugar of between 300-400 points. 

She then Flew down N.Orchard Ave at 50mph, slightly tailgating the person in front of her til they moved (wisely) out of our way =) She turned into the fire station by my house and ran inside. I checked my level again and was at 59blood sugar. I wanted the hospital because with all the insulin on board, I needed to make sure I had sugar in me and with that side effect of nausea, I feared that I wouldn't be able to keep anything down. This was a very dangerous situation. I was taken by ambulance to the hospital with Mom, Blake, Joseph and later Dad meeting me there. I was dealing with extreme nausea still and dizzyness from the low. My headache was building and my foot pain was beginning. In a fairly good amount of time, I was given the medications I needed for my headache. At this time, the headache was my 'main complaint', since at that time my bloodsugar was around 90 and they no longer considered me as being low. Blood was drawn, doctor came in and went out. Mom and Dad left with Blake to keep him for the night. 

While waiting for my headache to leave, I checked my levels again and finally spiked to 175. My foot pain increased and we asked for ice packs to help. I expected the medication they gave me previously to kick in and help my foot without needing more. Finally I got to the point of moaning and groaning, writhing and nearly crying from the pain. Joseph went to ask for medication. We had been in the hospital for about 1 hour 30 minutes at this point. The ice packs didn't come for at least 30 minutes and the medication at least twice that time. By then, Joseph had gone out multiple times to bug the nurse and I was bawling and writhing all over the bed. This pain was immense and rubbing my leg only kept the throbbing from killing me completely. Another nurse came to help and gave me my second dose. She told me to try and relax to help the pain. I held my screaming and sarcastic reply at bay and kept my wet eyes shut as I continued to roll around the bed and move my leg up and down the sheet. That second dose didn't do a darn thing. 45 Minutes later I got a new nurse. He came in and as I was crying and rolling around, CLEARLY in tons of pain, he asked how I was feeling, if I was feeling any better.  I told him my pain was at a level 15 and I needed more drugs. He went to ask the doctor. Joseph stood out in the hall after 15 minutes and couldn't see the guy anywhere. He finally came back after being gone 30 minutes and was able to get another dose in me 10 minutes after that. He stayed in the room and after a few minutes he said, "Is it not helping?" NO YOU NINCOMPOOP! I'm still moaning and groaning and moving all over the place unable to keep any kind of still OF COURSE it isn't helping. So he went out and after another 45 minutes of Joseph rubbing my leg best he could, the med finally took the pain out of my thigh.  He came in a while later and said the doctor was ready to release me and that they would give me another dose before I left. I couldn't believe I was in this much pain, with medication that barely worked, and were going to send me home! Yes, Joseph and I were ready to go to the comforts of home, but my pain level was insisting otherwise. Another half hour passed and the fellow came in to give me my last dose of medication. He released me 15 minutes later. He took out the IV and put the gauze and tape on it. When I went to get into the wheelchair, my sleeve had a huge blood spot where the blood from the IV site had soaked through the gauze. We had the nurse come back and give me more gauze.. 

We drove to the nearest car wash to get the nasty off my truck. It wasn't super effective so Joseph used the windshield washer thingy to scrub my running boards and door. I was nauseated again because I wasn't given another dose of anti nausea to combat the side effect of the pain med so I took my own antinausea that I always keep on hand. We got home and I had a bowl of cereal since I was now at 95 after dropping from that previous number in the hospital of 175 and the nurse gave me a juice before leaving. Hopefully that bowl of cereal will be enough to get me up so I don't have to worry about lows tonight.

It has been a long day and 4 hours in the hospital was good enough.

4 doses of Dilauded in me and I feel the pain coming back now.

 It is time for Tylenol, and early dose of Methadone, and ice packs.

11 Weeks 4 Days

This might be a TMI (too much info) post for some readers: You've been warned :)

So pain levels during the day are still rising. My nighttimes are doing okay though. I'm still taking the 5mg/2x daily Methadone and Tylenol to help kick the rest of the pain. Tylenol only works half of the time so I've been substituting with ice or heat. I iced my foot yesterday but left the ice on too long. Even though my foot was super red and totally frozen, my foot and leg still hurt. My back has been aching so I'll need to go to the Chiropractor again. I missed last week and I shouldn't do that! I'm pretty much on a countdown to this MRI. I'm praying for a huge, extremely visible something so that there will be a diagnosis with no doubt! I've dealt with this pain for 11 years now. God sure is testing me! I know for sure that I can't do things on my own strength but only through His help. I'm still praying for His healing on my foot/back. In His time, it will come.

I had to cancel my OB appointment yesterday because I woke up to extreme intestinal cramping which caused me to throw up multiple times due to super-no-bueno-constipation. I haven't gone hardly at all in 2 weeks and a stool softener is definitely not making anything soft or working in any other way that I can tell. So I sat on my throne for 45 minutes, talked with an advice nurse a few times, and called my Moma to come bring me laxatives and to babysit... Blake AND ME! Dealing with the throwing up left me with a concern for my blood sugars. If I ate anything, and then was back on my throne of pain-stipation and threw up, then I would be risking a low and that is... It's just all bad!

She brought me lax's and they didn't do a thing except take away my cramping. So that was good. But I was still majorly blocked up.

2 Days ago, at my parents' house, I stepped on the scale before attempting to get rid of the nasties. I was quite surprised to see that I had gained 7 lbs in the last 2 weeks since my appointment! My thought was that I needed to start limiting my carbs if I was gonna gain that fast!... After I was done in the throne room, I stepped back on the scale and saw that I had lost 3.5 lbs! Guess I don't have to diet after all! haha. 

Yesterday afternoon, I emailed my doctor, since I had to cancel my appointment, about the issues I needed to discuss with her. The nurse that I had spoken with that morning while on my throne emailed me back and wondered why I didn't tell her I had things to talk to the dr about. -- I had requested a phone appointment since I couldn't make the appointment in person. I was denied because 'we usually don't do it like that'. Yeah well usually I'm not constipated either so it's a different situation all around! -- She asked me when she called why I didn't tell her previously that I had issues to discuss. I told her that "I was a little distracted with the amount of pain I was in" and should have said, don't forget I was literally on the toilet and throwing up when you called. That's why I couldn't think of talking to the dr about a prescription I needed refilled. DUH! =) She had some doctors to talk to then she would be able to get back to me with their answers to my questions.

So last night around 10 pm... I had taken a little more than the recommended dose of lax for a day (on accident) and it had been 14 hours since my first dose and I finally started my bowels starting to move and grumble. The bathroom stood by, waiting for me. . . Slowly but surely I'm starting to feel better. One little bano trip after another. It has now been 28 hours since my first dose of lax and I have no need to take more but am continuing to get cleaned out. I wonder how much weight I've lost now!?

I read online that a woman who was super constipated took some lax and 3 days later, after she was all cleared out, she stepped on the scale to see that she had lost 8 lbs! If I lose more than 7 lbs, I'll be just below my pre-pregnancy weight!

I got a call this morning from a nurse at my OB office. I had emailed the doc about my pain level and if I needed to increase my dosage or take another OTC besides Tylenol. They scheduled me for an appointment next week with the dr that is managing the Methadone and will see about increasing the dose then. On that same day I have an appointment to have my 12 week ultrasound to see if there is any risk for Down's Syndrome. If B does have issues, I want me and the hospital to be fully aware so that they are ready for B's birth no matter if he/she is healthy or will be arriving with a set of challenges for us!

I took a 10 week side profile and will take a 12 week profile. If there is any difference, I will start to take weekly pictures. Last pregnancy, I didn't show til 16 weeks.

11 Weeks 1 Day

I'm back to waking up during the night with lots of pain. Yesterday evening I iced my foot because Tylenol wasn't working and after 15 minutes that finally started helping enough for me to take a 6pm nap. I woke from that nap at 9:30pm! 

During the night I was hurting quite a bit and got up to take a Tylenol but the walking on my foot made the pain far worse. Joseph rubbed my leg and it didn't help so he got the icepacks and that helped after a few minutes. I slept with the icepack for a little bit and then when the pain was gone, I pulled my foot off the packs. 

This morning around 8:30, I woke to a lot of pain again and put my foot back on the now barely cold packs. Walking today is NO BUENO! I have pain radiating up my leg but not quite to my knee. 

I spoke with the people at the MRI place and as long as I sign a consent form, Ill be okay to do the MRI next week

10 Weeks 6 Days

My bloodsugar levels have been pretty good even though I've been having some lows.  I have not wanted to make the basal changes necessary because I don't want to deal with high levels. The lows are not too major and I feel that I can deal with them alright.

With my pain level, the Methadone has been a huge help.  I'm doing alright at night and a Tylenol once or twice is necessary. I usually rub my leg/foot on the mattress to help the pain subside for about a half hour. Thankfully I haven't had to wake Joseph for help except maybe twice in the last week. During the day my pain has been increasing and the Tylenol is getting to where it is helping only minimally at times. My back has been aching quite a bit as well and nothing can really help that pain. Standing is still the worst thing for me. Washing dishes and making dinner cause me the most pain. I've been washing dishes once a day and then sitting down to rest after. Joseph has been very helpful to do the second batch of dishes after dinner! For making dinner, cereal has been a new favorite of mine! and I keep dinners simple otherwise. I have been able to devote a lot of time to my handquilting projects. Blake has been such a good kid to be content to play by himself in the same room as me. Sometimes he comes up on the couch and we play together too though =D I'm very glad to have a small apartment so that when Blake is in his room playing, I can still see him from my couch perch! 

I'm still dealing, just a little bit, with feeling yucky after eating. It isn't too bad and I handle it fine. I have been very tired! I don't remember being this tired when pregnant with Blake. I have been taking 2 hour naps when Blake does and I try to go to bed early, between 8 & 9. Sometimes I'll even take a nap in the evenings when Joseph is home =) 

So far, I've gained 3.5lbs, 3 inches around my belly and 4 inches around my hips. I'm measuring and keeping everything written down in my pregnancy journal because it was something Grandma Dorothy had always asked me to do when I was pregnant with Blake. I never measured back then, but I am now, not just because of her, but because I'm curious to see how much I change and (don't) change back to! haha Other than my pain levels and diabetes, I would hardly know I was pregnant! The symptoms, Thank GOD!) are so very minimal to some others I know who are expecting. 

I'm scheduled for a foot MRI in a week and a half. I went in to give my doctor's note stating that I can have the MRI. The person I spoke with said that she didn't think I could do it and that she would have to ask the doctor who was there. She spoke with the doctor and the doc said no to the procedure because they have no evidence of whatevers so there is a 50/50% risk to the baby. I then said, well I'm on Methadone to control my pain now so there is a risk anyway because if I continue on this treatment path, the baby will be born addicted to it. They asked, "Can't you get off of the Methadone now before you get too far into your pregnancy?" I then told them that I had JUST STARTED the Methadone that week because of my pain being so severe and that I need the MRI so we can hopefully get a diagnosis and be able to treat this problem in a better way. But, until I can get a diagnosis, I have to continue on the Methadone. I left them scratching their heads over my predicament with a promise to talk to whoever is in charge and get back to me. So far it has been 2 work days with no call back. urg.

SO anyway:
According to my countdown I have 173 days to go!
ANY pressure on my foot today is no bueno. I'll be a couch potato again til Blake wakes up =D

10 Weeks 4 Days

Blake woke up earlier this morning at 7:30 and this tiredness is kickin' my butt! My back is aching quite a bit and I have been taking it easy. I woke twice through the night in a lot of pain. At 2am I took a Tylenol but at 6 I couldn't take another dose because it had been too soon. 8:30 I took a Tylenol and its starting to kick in but it only helps my foot, not my back. I can't wait for naptime! =)

10 Weeks 3 Days

Today has been a good day. My back has hurt down my leg but my foot hasn't been too bad. When it was hurting it helped to walk on it. I took a 2 hour nap with Blake and have been in the 80bgs almost all day! I'm pretty sure the Methadone is making me slightly dizzy... or that could have been because I was in the 80's all day... haha! My nose has been insanely itchy for a few days though and that's gotta be because of the meds. But hey! I'm sleeping well at night and daytime is bearable/tolerable! Hallelujah, Praise the Lord for strong drugs that help!

10 Weeks 2 Days

I had good levels through the night and slept very well. I woke once with foot pain and I took a Tylenol. Joseph rubbed my foot/leg for about a half hour and we went back to sleep!! Blake and I woke at 9. I felt very rested and had minimal pain. I will have to take another Tylenol in a few hours though because pain is returning. Today I'm back to keeping an eye on my diabetes. Last week was tough to do it all and I took a break from the diabetes. Today I will start writing down my numbers and analyze everything! So all day, I've been eating to stay level at 80. I've been dizzy all day and every time I check, I'm at 80 no matter what I eat! I needed a nap an hour ago when Blake went down, but have had to stay up eating instead. I'm so tired!!! My foot has been aching but I haven't had to take a Tylenol yet. I am getting another headache and don't know why. This is the 4th day in a row at least that I've gotten one.

9 Weeks 6 Days - 10 Weeks 1 Day

Sunday:

I had good numbers through the night but woke around 3 to major pain. Joseph rubbed my leg/foot for two hours. I slept through some of it, but he was faithful to keep going! He is so good to me! I didn't start the Methadone in the evening like I had planned. Mom has some concerns so I planned to start it during the day. After church, we came home to have lunch. I took my first dose at 11:45am. By 12:30pm, my blood sugar RAPIDly dropped to 60 and even though I had 2 glasses of rootbeer and 1 glass of juice, I was still low. The juice didn't settle very well and I became nauseated. I ate a piece of bread hoping that it would help the nausea and then decided to take one of my Zofran. I keep those with my glucagon shot because the glucagon, if I had to use it, has a nasty side effect of nausea. Eventually I came up, topping off at 180. I read online that Methadone uses in mice have lowered their hyperglycemia and reduced the incidences of diabetes... Does that mean it will make me go low?! Oh No!!! My doctor told me it would't affect my levels, but they say Vicodin doesn't either... Instead, Vicodin spikes me to 400's every time. I spent the day cautiously between 180 and 220. =( I never went low again. During the afternoon I was in quite a bit of pain, but it was bearable. I had mom rub my back, butt, upper leg, and calf for at least a half hour if not 45 mins.. After the rub was done helping my pain, I iced my foot and took a Tylenol on top of the Methadone. After another half hour was done, the Tylenol finally kicked in and I was feeling some relief. I was worried that the Methadone was not working effectively enough! Bedtime, I took another Methadone. 12 hours later than the previous dose, and went to bed. I checked my bgs multiple times and stayed level at 135! I woke around 5am to foot pain. Instead of waking to a level 9 pain, it was a level 6 or so. Joseph got me a tylenol and rubbed the bottom of my foot for about 5 minutes and then we went back to bed! We weren't up for hours!!!! 

Monday:

I decided I needed coffee with my breakfast. I've been limiting coffee to less than 3x a month because I don't want to mess with my BPs. Before coffee my BP was 131/100 with a pulse of 98. I took another Tylenol to combat the pain that was sticking around. 30 minutes sooner than 12 hours, I took the Methadone again. 1 hour after taking the pill, 12:30 or so, I was dropping quickly down to 60. I drank a juice, 2 things of orange juice, 10 glucose tabs, and lots of licorice bites. After about 40 minutes of eating this all, I finally hit 100. I resumed the basal delivery on my pump and slowly climbed to 140. My pain during the day was tolerable even though I could still feel the pain. We went to visit my in-laws. Elaine has been reading up on essential oils and she had one for me to try on my ankle for inflammation. When I arrived I had taken a Tylenol because of my building pain. 10 minutes later, she rubbed the oil into my ankle and foot. I don't know if they Tylenol happened to kick in within those next few minutes or if the oil was working effectively. Elaine let me bring the oil home to try and see if it might be helpful! I took another pill at around 11pm and then went to bed. 

Tuesday:

I woke around 4:30, with Joseph's alarm, and my foot starting to throb. I took a Tylenol and Joseph rubbed my leg for a few minutes. At 5am, my bg dropped to 64. I drank 2 juices and did a one hour suspend on my pump. My bg raised to 157 and then dropped back down to 97 by the time I got out of bed at 9am. 

I've changed my noon basal so I don't drop so badly today. My methadone will be taken at 10:30. I'm slowly working my way back to taking it at 9am/pm. It is much nicer to take a pill twice a day rather than every few hours as needed. I'm glad this medication is working well enough! I was definitely afraid that it wouldn't.
December 14th, my A1C was 8.2
January 13th, my A1C is 7.1
One month's time, I've lowered it that much!
It will be interesting to see how low it is at my next set of labs!

9 Weeks 5 Days

I went to bed last night with a headache and the plan to take a norco around midnight, before my pain kicked in. Then take another at 4 am to hold off the pain until I woke up with Blake. Instead, I woke at 10:45, a little more than two hours after my previous norco. Joseph rubbed my calf, and I rubbed my foot against the sheets trying to numb it a little bit. It didn't work. I finally got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore. I took another norco which stacked it on top of the previous dose and waited for it to kick in. Joseph got up to put the heat pack in the microwave and I started soaking my pillow with tears. The pain wasn't super intense in my ankle, but in my calf and no matter how hard Joseph rubbed it, my calf still throbbed. My headache was getting worse and then I realized that I had missed my afternoon Elavil. I took the Elavil and a norco and it took so long for the pills to kick in. The pain finally slowed down around midnight. I had gotten up to hit the bano and that is when I realized that in all my writhing around, I had ripped my infusion set out and didn't even feel it. Joseph put a new set in and I set my alarm to take another norco at 2am. That way I wouldn't be stacking doses and surprisingly I slept solid til 5am when Joseph's alarm went off for work. I was soooo tired. I slept solid after he left until 8:45. Blake was still asleep, which was nice, and didn't wake up til about 9am. My blood sugar was 65 after treating it with some grape juice. I took another norco when I started walking about. My back is aching, but it isn't too bad.
I'll be starting Methadone this evening before bed. Once I start it, I can no longer take my Norcos....

I'm finding it difficult to manage my pain and pay attention to my sugar levels too...

This pain especially during the night is getting to be so much. 

I don't know how I will bear this for another 6 1/2 months. 

I guess that is where I have to lean on God even more.
He is the only one who can carry me through.

9 Weeks 4 Days

We went to bed late and I took a Tylenol before bed to hopefully keep pain away. 3am I woke to major stabbing pain in my foot, not the usual throbbing. I ended up taking two Norcos and after they kicked in, I was still in pain.  I finally got comfortable enough a little after 5am. I closed my eyes and heard little pitter patters down the hall. I reached my arm out, expecting Blake to be there and he wasn't. I called for him and it turns out he was looking for his boba in the dark living room. He then got in bed with us and slept with me after Joseph left for work. I took a Tylenol when Blake got up around 8 and I was definitely not ready to get up. We cuddled on the couch for hours while I combatted sleepiness and he watched Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
Blake was so helpful this morning! I was sitting on the couch and after he had some food, he went to the fridge, deciding he wanted more and brought me two yogurts and a spoon from the drawer!
I decided my dishes were stacked high enough. Getting halfway through washing them, the throbbing pain came in strong as could be. Looks like standing today is no bueno =(
I got most of my dishes done with a Tylenol... Norco is being considered after trying heat to see if that helps.

 I had to take a norco later on. It helped, but then I got a headache :( 

Bedtime 9pm sharp.

9 Weeks 3 Days

I woke twice to pain in the night and took a norco both times. I slept through most of my alarms and didn't wake until 9:30... and then drifted off til 10:15... and finally got out of bed at 11am! (Blake is with my parents since last night) I'm still tired like yesterday, but not in pain right now! I did have to take a Tylenol at 9:30 for my foot pain. My bg at waking was 65 so I got up and felt like eating the whole kitchen  multiple items and settled for french toast and cereal. haha! Even though my body is feeling tired, so far, my back is not aching like yesterday!
I took one norco in the afternoon for my foot pain. It took a while to kick in, but once it did then I did just fine. My main thing I dealt with today was being tired. I wasn't able to take a nap like usual so I had to work through today =)
It was a good day. I'm praying for more good days like this!
One pill and tiredness is so do-able!!

10pm: Another Norco on board. It's taking a long time to kick in =(

9 Weeks 2 Days

I only woke once last night with pain and didn't go low at all! I stayed between 132 and 117 all night!!! This morning I woke with my body feeling very worn out like I've been working all day. My back is aching today and that is something that will cause me to feel this way. Thankfully my foot isn't hurting too bad so I'm able to do more today than previous days!
I was pretty tired all day and took a nap when Blake went down. Later on, I battled a headache and by bedtime it was the headache pain, not the foot pain that held on!

9 Weeks 1 Day

I only had to drink 1/2 a container of juice during the night! I'm almost staying level and that will be so nice! Mom stayed the night last night and she attended my appointment with me this morning. I had to do labs before my appointment and because I didn't know how long the wait would be, we arrived at the dr. office an hour and 10 minutes early. 2 weeks ago when I went to do labs, it was almost an hour wait. I was seen and out of the lab within 10 minutes of arriving! I checked in early for my ultrasound appointment and we wait about an hour, which wasn't bad since I had nice company! I had to drink 4 cups of water before heading to do the ultrasound. Surprisingly, I never got uncomfortable with it! According to the ultrasound, I have a "septumed uterus". Whi ch means it is shaped like a heart with the middle line dividing the uterus in a sort of half. Baby can only grow on one side, but his shouldn't cause any problems. I'll have a more thorough ultrasound post partum to see what the uterus normally looks like. Directly after this appointment, I had an appointment with my OB team. I had another ultrasound so they could see the baby's heartbeat. We can now see the baby's arms and legs. Baby B was moving nicely and that was fun to see! The main topic of conversation today was about my Norco and pain issues. They are putting me on Methadone to see if that will help my pain at all. When a baby is born addicted to pain killers, this is the medication a baby is put on to get it off it's addiction. I will be set up with Pain Management to see if there is any other way I can help my pain. We can't do too much right now because I have no diagnosis for my foot pain. After the Feb. MRI we should (hopefully) know more. As far as I understood, I will become dependent on this new medication. In all the years that I've been consistently taking Norcos, I have never been addicted to it and that has been nice. It will be interesting to see how this new medication works. If this new medication doesn't work as well as the Norco, the ONLY medication I can stack on top of it is Tylenol. No more Norco for me once I start the Methadone. I sooooo hope it is very effective! This pain I've been in will be no fun if I can't take Norco for an ineffective medication. Blake fell asleep during my appointment. Mom took us out for lunch on the way home and after my WIC appointment, I came home and slept a solid 2 hours with Joseph and Blake! My levels/rates are good and doctor only made one adjustment to my dinner ratio since I tend to be on the lower side after dinner!

Aside from being tired, I had a good day, bg & pain-wise. I had taken 2 Norcos though.
I have gained a total of 3.5lbs now. 

9 Weeks

Woke to a low of 60 at 2:30am. Then was unable to sleep because of foot pain which lasted fully until 5am. I finally fell asleep around 5:30. I had taken another half Norco around 7:15 and when I got up, at 9:15, I was in minimal pain! I have places to go today and lots of things to do, so walking is definitely on my list. I took a Norco in the early afternoon and my pain was minimal today. My foot pain isn't bad, but I have been feeling more stress in my back today. It was a good day and am looking forward to another good day tomorrow!!! 

For now, I'm off to bed. My alarms, like every night these last few weeks, are set to go off every 90 minutes for blood sugar checks through the night! Pattern has been that I go low shortly before the alarm rings so tonight I adjusted the time a half hour back for each. I have 5 alarms set between now and  my waking hour!

8 Weeks 6 Days

I was awake, moaning, whimpering, and rubbing my leg from about 3:00-5:00am. Joseph came in to say goodbye a little after 6. Then my idiot neighbors made all sorts of racket from 7am-8:30am. I'm going to put a big bold sign and tape it to my window that will say, "SHH BABY SLEEPING". Well... Maybe I will. I wasn't very happy waking up from all that ruckus and to add to that, my foot was throbbing yet again. Still annoyed, I decided I'm going to walk on my foot today. Turns out pressure on my foot is what is helping it today. 

Go. Figure.

8 Weeks 5 Days

Typically, I'm not a very emotional person. Yes, I can get hot headed sometimes and I'm definitely spiteful, but not emotional in the way of crying easily. Today, however, is another story. 

First, I'm treating lows again, and that is frustrating because I feel yucky after eating. I had to take another Norco, 3rd once since 2am, and I really am trying to not take them. I'm extremely missing Blake, who has been gone for 4 full days, and to top it off, I'm watching the Stargate episode where Daniel dies for good... or at least this one season. Unless someone comes over, I'm pretty sure I'll be crying before Joseph comes home! haha! 

I had my diabetes group today at Starbucks and there were only 3 of us. We visited for about an hour and a half. I did have to walk to get there and I had to massage my leg the entire visit and I'm definitely paying for it now. Today's pain isn't too bad, but it is bad enough for a Norco. I am back to crawling 'round my house. My lower back is starting to ache which, thankfully, is something I haven't been dealing with too much in the recent past. 

I had a visitor for a few hours in the afternoon. This visitor had the gall to remark on my dirty kitchen. I'm in too much pain to stand or walk so while I crawl around my house, my top priority should really be to go wash my dishes. It really set me off so all yesterday evening, I was quite irritable (remember that emotional comment in the opening?) and set myself to clean my whole house no matter the pain. Joseph washed the dishes for me and I juiced oranges, organized the piles of paperwork on the table, picked up and vacuumed my room, and moved my bed from one wall to the other. The only way to move my bed is to pull the legs with my hands and then bounce 'round to the other side and push the bed to the wall with my ...feet. Yeah. I paid for it later.

Too bad I couldn't have remembered this verse I had quoted in the morning....

"I have trusted in your Mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me! - Ps 12:5,6.

8 Weeks 4 Days

2:35am I woke up to the bedroom light still being on and also feeling a little strange. My alarm was set to check my blood sugar at 3am, but I was awake and so decided to check my level. In a normal voice, not anything louder than usual, I stated the number to Joseph who was sleeping soundly. 46. He quickly rolled over (from practically snoring) and asked what I needed. I tossed two juices onto his pillow for him to open for me while I chugged my apple juice. When I started on my 3rd juice, he got out of bed to get me some food. I don't remember if he asked me or not, but he quickly came back into the room with strawberry jam on a piece of bread. 'Good idea!' Next thing I knew, he was handing me a second piece of yummy bread. I prayed that when I checked my level that I wouldn't be responding to this low like my recent lows...where after a boat load of carbs I stay level... I checked it and I was at 65! Joseph got back in bed and I laid down next to him. With the light still on, we went back to sleep with an alarm to check my level 10 minutes later. 145. Another 10 minutes alarm and I hit 180. Surprisingly, with an intake of 140 carbs, I topped no higher than 180... That was a massive low!

My foot hurt through the night. I had taken a tylenol when going to bed and within a few hours, Joseph gave me a norco because it was too soon to take another Tylenol. He put the heatpack on my foot which helped and then he rubbed my calf til I fell asleep and out of enough pain. I checked my levels at 5:15, 6:00, 6:45, 7:30 which I suspended my basal because of a major b.g. drop, 8:15, and 9:00. From that 2:30am bg of 180, by the time I had suspended my basal and then checked my level at 9am, I had dropped to 122. If i didn't suspend, I would have been a bit lower.... Glad I didn't raise my basals like my doctors wanted me to do 2 days ago!

When I got out of bed this morning, I considered walking on my foot today. I crawled everywhere yesterday and it's no fun... I started to put some pressure on my big toe as I slowly dropped my foot to the floor. Instantly, I had shooting pain go into my foot. I will NOT be walking on my foot today... But I gotta go to the chiropractor =(

Time to call goodwill and see if they can put some crutches on hold til Joseph can pick them up for me.
2:45pm. Low again at 69. Drank some juice and ate Chicken Pot Pie. 10 minutes later when I'm full, I check again. 53. Let's just chug the juice now and hope it doesn't make me sick from being so full!! Joseph is headed home early from work for a second time this week.
I changed my basals for the afternoon/ evening and stayed level at 180. Tomorrow will be the test to see if I can stay level at 108 and not go low again. I had to give in and walk on my foot. It was no bueno and as soon as I  got off my foot and got my butt back on the couch, my pain subsided.... Weird. I sure hope the MRI in Feb shows a whole heck of a lot of what's going on!

All in all. 189 days left to go!

8 Weeks 3 Days

After walking yesterday evening, I was in quite a bit of pain through the night. 2am I had taken half the norco and at 6 I took another half but neither one helped a whole lot. This morning, I am resolved to not use my foot at all! Getting breakfast and taking it to the couch was slow moving, as I pushed my plate and drink across the carpet, slowly, until I reached the end table =) Woke up at 220 so Joseph will come home on his break to change my set. My site is bad so that is the reason I'm high. Lame sauce. 

I've been sitting on the couch for the last few hours. My foot is throbbing a bit, but it wasn't to bad until I got into an upright position to make my lunch.... Standing is bad today. No bueno!
Better levels with my basal adjustments. Only one low so far at 6pm of 65! Don't feel anything but tired... which is either me being low... or just being tired everyday at 5:30!
Tsk Tsk. That 6pm low took 2 full glasses of juice to correct and at 8pm I'm at 66 again! SO.. Basal is too high for my 4pm on. I didn't eat dinner so I KNOW that it's my basal =) More changes!
Foot is stabbing me off and on randomly, but no pain pills today yet!!
I have been getting random twinges in my lower belly and it's making me excited to feel baby B move around.. I'm sure when he or she actually is big enough to move around, it won' be comfy movements I'll be feeling. I will be glad to have the movement though to know he or she is alive.. It's a little worrisome right now with only seeing the heartbeat once, two weeks ago.. Trusting his/her life to God is a daily exercise. Even though I have all this pain, I'm still extremely excited (on the inside) to be awaiting baby B's arrival!
Strawberry Jam on English Muffin with Blackberries =) mmmm. Sometimes treating lows is fun!
I'm just hoping I have no high rebound!
For hours this morning, literally, I researched baby names online. I came up with a grand total of 5 boy names that I  like. I think only 2 of them I realllly like though. Since Joseph has been home, every once in a while, I randomly shout a name out. My method of eliminating one name at a time. If Joseph or I get tired of hearing the particular name, then we cross it off the list. If we don't get tired of it then it gets to stay on the list!
We already have our girl name so we are only trying out boy names!

10pm: took a Tylenol. Praying for a night of deep sleep!

8 Weeks 2 Days

I took a Tylenol at bedtime and can you believe I slept solid til Joseph woke me at 6 ?!?! I took another Tylenol then, and half crawling thru my house, putting minimal pressure on my foot, and 6 hours later, I'm doing very well! My ankle is VERY stiff though and if I end up bumping it on anything, I will be in major pain! I plan to be very careful! I'm sure if anyone were to watch me get around my house, they would laugh. I hop on the linoleum to a chair and then push myself backward on the chair to where I want to go then I crawl on the carpet to the couch, and then jump over the couch with my good foot to land on the cushion, crawl across to the end table, over the couch arm and bounce into my seat =) It's like a jungle gym! Too much hopping and boucing though will evenntually hurt my back! Go figure! haha

After breakfast today, I've felt no bueno so I made me some "Bad Girl" drink (mexican hot chocolate is rule #1 no-no for a preg. diabetic). Sipping on it slowly over an hour or so helps combat the yuckyness I feel!
2pm. Just like yesterday, I'm having a 'major' low. Down to 50 and having a little hard time coming up. Glad I didn't raise my basal like my Dr suggested yesterday =) I actually lowered the basal.
SO. Drs want before and after each meal. and that's it...... I didn't give them the low levels between meals and all the extra numbers I have and of course, their suggestions were WRONG! I just told them that I didn't agree with their suggestions and if I am running on the 'higher' side, then by friday, I'll make their suggested changes... Well.. today I'm low. Looks like I won't be making their changes.
Joseph is coming home early from work to be with me just in case. So far I've had 6 glucose tabs and 2 juices (that didn't settle well) and I'm still below 60. Whoop-de-do!
Joseph and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary so the walking that I did was more than originally planned. 10pm and my foot is starting to throb and stab me. I've been on it in the last few hours though. Walking into/out of restaurant/theater and grocery shopping....
My lower back isn't giving me problems, but I can feel something out of whack in my LOWER back/hip level..... Feels like the pelvic joint issue I had with my last pregnancy.
So! We shall see how tomorrow goes!
Good BG's today. A high after dinner of 170. Not bad for guessing the amount of carbs =)

8 Weeks 1 Day

I battled a mighty headache through the night. No Tylenol helped that pain so Joseph continually reheated the heat pack for me. I took half a norco (5mg) at 6am when Joseph left for work. 8:15 I woke to my foot starting to throb and stab me. I decided I'll try to put no pressure on it today, no walking on it at all, and see if it helps. So far, I've been crawling all over, hopping on my left foot, and having Blake grab the things I need (diapers & wipes). My foot is hurting some, but it is not bad at all.. Maybe a level 5 or 6. It's very difficult to not walk on my foot but I hope it will help! My MRI will be in Feb, so I have a full month to wait =(
By 2pm, I got a Norco on board and walked a little through the kitchen and my foot felt funky, like tight as if it was days rather than hours I hadn't walked on it. I didn't think the no pressure did much but a few minutes after being on the couch, I think it did help. My foot quickly started throbbing and thankfully the Norco kicked in quick!!
My in-laws came for a visit and decided to surprise me by bringing dinner! How wonderful!, since I'm not planning on making dinner today because of the pain recently! My parents will be here in the afternoon to pick  up Blake and take him for a few days to see if a break from "Moma duties" will help my pain level.
Two days ago, I was tired of all my 'highs' and because I couldn't see any patterns, I randomly made insulin changes. Wellllll. Now I'm dropping a little too low =) I sent in my levels to my dr and I will let her make the necessary changes if she can make sense of my funky levels!

8 Weeks

Combatting pain with ice, heat, and Norco. I had another long night. As soon as the Norco wore off, my pain was back, nearly as bad as it had been before taking the pill. Joseph gave me more Norco around 5am. Because I was awake early I was quickly becoming nauseated. When the 10mg Norco kicked in and made me dizzy, that made my nausea even worse. 8am I woke up with a bg of 355. Somehow my pump was disconnected all night. ugh.. Within 10 minutes I was in EXtreme pain. Joseph suggested urgent care and I told him he could take me to the E.R. I limped to the bathroom, then hopped to the bedroom, moaned as I put on my clothes and then crawled into the living room while Joseph got Blake ready to go and gathered our things. I was changing between sobbing and holding my breath while Joseph got Blake into the truck. He came back and carried me. Of course we had to hit every light and slow person in vaca. I rubbed my leg and it wasn't really helping. Joseph parked the truck and started to gather the stuff. I got out and hobbled toward the entrance. I got 3 cars down before bending over and sobbing. I heard someone shout at me, asking if I needed help or a wheelchair but I was totally unable to respond. Before I knew it, Joseph picked me up and carried me while Blake followed us with Joseph encouraging him to quickly cross the street. He sat me in a wheelchair and I think I was bawling the whole time we were in the waiting room. Joseph checked me in and came back to help rub my leg. Blake stood by me without either of us needing to tell him to stay close. In the room they quickly got a doctor to me and gave me Dilaudid and Zofran. One shot in each shoulder into the muscle. After a half hour, the meds kicked in enough to take all the pain from my back, upper leg, and most of my calf. But, my foot was still sending random stabs of pain. Joseph rubbed my leg and Blake played trucks on the extra chairs in the room. He was watching Daddy and came over to help massage Moma's leg.

A whole of two hours from when we left the house, we were headed back home.
Joseph stopped by the apartment office so I could go ask the manager if there was anyway we could get a dishwasher in our apartment. I talked with the manager for about 10 minutes and all of a sudden, I got dizzy and not feeling well. I quickly left her and got in the truck telling Joseph I was about to throw up! I held back my gags and Joseph parked crooked and ran to open the house and clear out the bathroom for me. I ran (as much as I could) and sat on Blake's little toilet in front of The toilet. All of a sudden, I was feeling totally normal and fine as if nothing happened!! I think the mix of the meds making me dizzy and the smell of the office got to me in a bad way! Thankfully I've felt fine since! This is the first "morning sickness" I have experienced.
Joseph and I were talking about my pain on the way home and this pain I've been experiencing is already worse than what I experienced with my last pregnancy.

7 Weeks 6 Days

The only difference between yesterday and the last couple of days is that I stood, washing dishes and making dinner for about an hour... I paid for it. Tylenol did nothing for my pain all night. I was awake quite a bit and if I wasn't awake from pain, I was awake from lows. Lows of 75 or so but I had symptoms so I treated. Even after treating, I was still at 75 =(.  I had taken Tylenol around 1am and a Norco around 4am. This morning, we left for church at 8:45 and it was too soon to take any more meds so I left them at home. We went out for breakfast and attended the 10am service at church. There was no room in the sanctuary so we occupied the empty 'cry room'/ 'nursing room'. I rocked and tried to rub my bare foot numb on the rough carpet/ chair in front of me. The pain got worse and worse. Of course I couldn't take my meds because they were at home, but I doubt I would have taken them even if I had them. I sat there, watching the service on the large tv and moaned and groaned and rubbed my foot and leg. Joseph wanted to go home early but I wanted to finish the sermon. Immediately after the last point was given, Joseph went out to pull the truck up to the entrance. He escorted me out, heavily leaning on his arm. I was limping and walking very slowly. My foot hasn't hurt THIS bad since Christmas, and this day is much worse. It is very difficult climbing into an suv when you've only got one foot to hop on... I got in and held back my throbbing tears. I called the advise nurse at UCD. I wanted to know why I couldn't take any anti-unflammatory pills and how often I can take the Norco. Turns out, anti-inflammatory pills cause heart defects... there is NO WAY I am going to take that risk. The Norco I can/should continue to take as regularly as before being pregnant. The only risk is that the baby will be born addicted to it, "but after the baby goes through the withdrawl, they are just fine with no lasting effects." Joseph helped me into the house. Once inside, I crawled and tried to stifle my shouts of pain as I made my way to the couch. Joseph laid out the icepacks for me and gave me 10/325 Oxy. For the next half hour, I screamed, cried, moaned and asked for God to take this pain from me. The pain engulfed my entire foot, all the way up my leg, into my hip, and thru my lower back. Blake came and put his bear and his hospital doggie on me and just stood there. Joseph rubbed my calf and the bottom of my foot. I screamed and bawled into the pillow and the couch. Clutching the cushion with all my strength in my hands. The pain in my hands helped to distract some but not enough. I was tempted to have Joseph drive me to the hospital to get better meds but decided to hold out a little bit longer. Joseph came and laid his head next to me knowing there was nothing he could do but sit back and watch me writhe.

My pill finally kicked in, my back and butt painfully numb from the icepacks, and my foot still tender on a heating pack.

Joseph is such a wonderful husband.
He is there especially when I am in great need. He is patient, understanding, and willing to help with whatever is needed. I have been so blessed to have him for all my life.

Now I get to do some research: Newborns addicted to Norco

7 Weeks 5 Days

Blood sugars are a little all over the place. Don't quite know what's up. I'm probably needing to change rates again. My foot and back pain have been increasing every day since right after Christmas. The Tylenol is not as effective anymore and I haven't wanted to take the Norco yet. Because of the pain, I haven't been sleeping well. I have to lay in a specific position with one leg bent just so and the other leg stretched out as much as I can, laying slightly turned to the side so that I get the right amount of stretch/pull in my back to relieve the nerve pain. Going to the chiropractor hasn't helped too much, but I take that as a good sign... Being that my back isn't out of whack, it's just painful! I keep getting random stabs of pain in the bottom of my foot. I haven't experience this location before so I'm very curious to find out what's going on. I have an MRI to see what's up in Feb. I've been dealing with some mild cramping and slight nausea in the middle of the night. Tiredness is kicking in. I've been going to bed between 8 & 9pm and taking naps in the daytime! I've been feeling a little yucky after eating, but it isn't anything that is affecting me much =)
This evening, I took a nap on the couch at 5pm and didn't wake until 11:30pm! Joseph let me sleep even though we planned to watch a movie. That was quite the nap!