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.