Category Archives: Health

The Ultimate Catch-Up List

Posted on by
1
  • We had fun in California. Zoey did AMAZING on the flights and never really cried.
  • Zoey rolled over from back to front, found her feet, began grabbing things more precisely, her squawks got louder and her hair got a little more thick while in California
  • We went to see The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and we got GREAT seats.. and on camera! Crazy. Didn’t wanna be on camera but was happy to see Conan live. Was on my “To do before I die” list.
  • Astro didn’t eat for the 10 days that we were gone and was practically emaciated when Gene picked him up from the vet’s office. I’m still confused as to why they didn’t TREAT him or something when he had gone that long without eating in their care??? He has been eating wonderfully since he has been home and has gained his weight back.
  • Someone e-mailed me to tell me that they found a spam e-mail in their inbox and when they clicked on it, it sent them to a PHP file on my domain that was showing a porn site. I found the PHP file that was importing the header/footer information from an external porn site. They were using my domain to host their porn site!! I have no idea how it happened but I still feel really violated. I cleaned up my domain, changed file permissions, changed passwords, got rid of unnecessary stuff, etc. Hoping I am all secure now.
  • My right foot has been causing great pain for a few months now so I finally went to the doctor for it on Monday. She said I have Plantar Fascitis and that I need to get special shoes and insoles and start doing exercises on that foot. She also gave me a tetanus shot because a couple days prior I had cut my leg pretty bad with rusted chicken wire.
  • Tuesday I had a root canal and my jaw has been in horrible pain ever since. I still can’t eat anything that requires chewing. I think it’s either an infection or the shots. For some reason I have major issues with the numbing shots that dentists give..I’m always in awful pain for DAYS afterwards, even for something easy like a filling.
  • Yesterday I somehow threw my lower back out. I don’t remember doing anything specifically to cause the pain but today I can barely lift Zoey and barely walk without excruciating pain. I’m wondering how exactly I’m supposed to take care of a baby when I can barely lift her?? Ugh :(
  • This morning I woke up and I felt yucky (foot, back, jaw) and I went in to say Good Morning Sunshine to Zoey and my voice sounded really raspy and my throat was hurting pretty badly. If I’m getting sick I will be sooooo mad!! That is all I need on top of everything else. Needless to say, I am downing the Emergen-C.
  • And last but not least, about an hour ago I started getting some pretty bad lower abdominal cramp. I guess to warn me of what is in store for me this weekend. And to make it worst, those cramps are causing me to have some pretty bad lower back pain, ON TOP of the already pulled muscle or whatever it is that I’m already experiencing in my lower back. Not fun at all.
  • So today I am going to my dentist office to have my permanent crown put on and my teeth cleaned.
  • Zoey? She is doing wonderful. She can sit up on her own for a minute or so.. She’s getting there! Her favorite position to be in is standing up with your help. She loooooves standing and has super strong legs. I will help her stand by holding her waist and say “Look at you big girl!” and she will just arch her back to stand more up-right and grin from ear to ear like she is SOOOO proud of herself!

Sorry for the lame list but I had no idea how else to catch up from all the time I’ve been gone. I’m wanting to get this place back in order and start writing more regularly again. We are still cloth diapering and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I’ve got a few cloth diapers and accessories that I would love to write some reviews on so expect that in the near future!

Just a bad day for this mommy!

Posted on by
1

It’s 10:30 PM and I’m washing diapers. Today was a pretty awful day so I was lazy and used my All In One diapers all day, therefore I am out and have none to take with us tomorrow when we’re out. I really need to purchase some more so I can have a good stash.

Tomorrow morning we’re taking Zoey to an ENT to check on her tongue. I just want a specialist to look at it and tell me if we need to have it taken care of or not. Personally, I’d like to at least try to get her to latch on if it gets fixed but I’m not getting my heart set on anything just yet. It may be way too long gone for me to re-establish my milk supply but I can at least dream, right? Hee hee.

Today Zoey had her first shots. The shots themselves weren’t too awful and I only got a few tears in my eyes. She slept really well for quite a long time afterwards but then the rest of the afternoon if she wasn’t sleeping, she was screaming and crying. It was awful! We spent most of the afternoon crying together on the couch. I slept almost all day and all evening. Just a depressing day due to a few other things that happened. I’m feeling a LOT better right now though.

Last night I had an “episode” similar to what I experienced Memorial Day weekend and wound up in the ER. Luckily I had the pain pills the ER gave me so I took one of those and felt better pretty quickly. I went to the doctor this morning and she put me on Prevacid for a month. We’re gonna monitor it and see if I have any episodes again. I’m hoping it works. We’re trying everything we can before resorting to surgery.

AGAIN?

Posted on by
Reply

Last night I had another one of those gall bladder attacks. Well, that is what I am calling them. I have no idea if it really is my gall bladder or what. I was about to put my laptop up and it started really quickly out of nowhere and got bad pretty quick. I took 2 extra strength Tylenol and then ended up taking a Hydrocodone that the ER had given me a few weeks ago when this happened last. It did help and I was able to get to sleep by about 1 AM.

I feel kind of queasy and weird this morning. Zoey is fed and changed and I have an appointment with my doctor at 10:10 AM. I may just have them give Zoey her shots while we are there. Anyway, I need to get dressed and get the diaper bag packed so I am ready to go in an hour.

I just want them to get to the bottom of this. That kind of pain is excruciating. I can’t even describe how horrible it is. Wish me luck.

No Surgery!

Posted on by
1

6 Weeks Old

So my doctor called (after I called them) and my HIDA scan results were normal. As happy as I am to hear that and know that it looks like I wont be needing any surgery, I am a little bummed because it leaves me in the dark about what actually happened. It could have been the Ecoli and they told me to go ahead and keep taking my antibiotics and eating a tame diet for the next 2 or 3 weeks. I guess we’ll just play it by ear and see if any of that pain comes back again. If it does, at least I have some hydrocodone on hand to help with the pain.

In other news, today was a very trying day for this new Mommy. Zoey would not get comfortable and was fussy most of the day. I pretty much had her in my arms the entire day and by around 5 PM I was really wanting Gene home. We both laid down in the bed around 6 PM and we slept until about 8:30. Gene got home sometime around 6:30. He has been taking care of her since we got up this evening. I’m tired and hoping that he will take the night time duty tonight so I can get some rest.

I was so exhausted by about 5 PM that Zoey and I both just cried and cried for a good 20 minutes. Well, I cried for a solid 45 minutes but she only cried off and on for about 20 minutes. I just held her close and rocked her and cried. I just didn’t know what else to do to make her stop being so fussy and I was so tired that I just couldn’t hold back anymore. I’m sure a lot of this has to do with the fact that I just started my first period since she was born and it is a vicious one. The pain is full throttle and I’ve been having to take extra strength Tylenol around the clock. Thinking I need to get back on the pill soon to tame this beast.

Mom told me my Grandpa was taken to the hospital via ambulance this evening. A neighbor went to check on him and found him slumped over in his chair due to low blood sugar. The paramedics were able to get his sugar up and get him somewhat coherent but they are admitting him into the hospital tonight. Also, he fell and cut himself and couldn’t get it to stop bleeding (he is on blood thinners) but luckily the neighbor helped him bandage it up. Oh and the neighbor found him on his riding lawn mower and he couldn’t get off so the neighbor had to help him with that too. It really stinks that he is so far away (3 hour drive) from us. I wish we lived closer so that I could go check on him several times a week. I miss him a lot and had a good time being there over the weekend. It seems like it is always something lately!

Anyway, that is all for tonight. Hoping to have a mild weekend. We’ll see.

Possibly faulty gall bladder

Posted on by
1

Haven’t been good with taking pictures lately, or posting updates for that matter. A lot of it has to do with how busy we’ve been. I’m trying to be better.

Today I went and had the HIDA (I’ve been spelling it Hydascan all this time, oops!) scan done. It was pretty bad. They started an IV (first try! I wanted to kiss the poor girl! I told her I wanted her number so I could call her any time I ever needed an IV in the future) and injected something into it to make my gall bladder fill. Once it was full, she injected something else into my IV to make the gall bladder start contracting and to empty. Almost instantly the horrible abdominal cramping and nausea started and it lasted a good 5 minutes. I was laying there, trying to breathe through the pain but she told me not to breathe so heavily as it would cause my gall bladder to move on the screen. Ugh!! I’m sooo glad it’s over. I am hoping to hear from my doctor by tomorrow about what the results are and whether or not I’m going to need the surgery.

I went online to the hospital I had Zoey in to check my balance and I found that it looks like this little munchkin is going to end up costing me about $2,600. I’m still paying on my knee surgery (though not a whole lot left) and if I end up having this gall bladder deal done, that will be one more surgery to add to the list. Ugh.

Right now I am just going through the motions. Trying to get back to normal, whatever that is. Our time with Zoey is going sooo quickly. It seems like just yesterday we were driving home from the hospital and here we are, in disbelief that she is 6 weeks old.

She definitely has her fussy periods and they seem to be mostly in the evenings. I think a lot of the time it goes on for so long is because we are trying to guess what exactly it is she is crying about. We have most of her cries figured out but sometimes she changes is up on us. When we think it’s her boredom cry, she’ll end up just needing a diaper change so it takes us a bit to figure that out. Like Gene once said, we need a newborn flow chart so that we know exactly what step to try/take next.

I’ll let everyone know how my test results are as soon as I find out. And I’ll try to take more photos and start posting more again. It seems like these newborn baby days go by so quickly. I hardly have time to go pee, eat or drink. I’m not even breastfeeding either. I think the key to getting more done is hiding my darn laptop. Every time I get a few minutes, I end up on this stupid thing and waste an hour on here.

The Mother Load

Posted on by
1

The drive to Grandpa’s house went smoothly. We stopped half way to feed and change Zoey and then got back on the road. We got there just in time as a short but heavy thunderstorm passed through just as we got into the house. It was soo nice to see Grandpa again and I think he really enjoyed the company. We’re going back at the end of June because my Aunt (the one who just had a baby, as well) will be in town.

Sunday afternoon we met my Uncle and his family at a Mexican restaurant in town and had lunch. It was so good to see them all again! Well, after we ate there I started having some mild cramping in my upper abdomen, right under my breasts. I didn’t really think much of it and tried to just ignore it. We had dinner at Grandpa’s house and then Gene and I went to Walmart to get food/snacks for our family reunion on Monday. While in Walmart it got increasingly worse and I just wanted to leave.

I tried to get into bed sometime around 11:30 but could not get comfortable. It was hurting to the point where I was holding my stomach and could not get into a position to relieve the pain no matter what I tried. I fell asleep for a good hour but woke up still in horrible pain. I tried the recliner, the couch and the rocking chair and could not get comfortable. The pain was getting a lot worse. I took 2 extra strength tylenol and woke my Mom up at about 2:30 AM to see what she thought was going on. She said it sounded like my gall bladder.

It started to subside a good hour later so I took another tylenol. In the mean time, Zoey woke up for her next feeding so Gene and I took care of her and put her back down around 5:30 AM. We went to bed and slept until 8. I was rushing around trying to get ready for our family reunion (we wanted to leave around 9:30 AM) and the pain started to return. I sat down and tried to relax and it just got increasingly worse, very quickly. By about 9:00 I was in horrible pain and we decided I needed to go to the ER. Gene drove me to the ER and I got in immediately (small towns rock!).

They hooked me up to an IV (but not after 3 horrible sticks, 2 blown veins!) and gave me morphine. The pain almost completely went away. I did a urine sample for them and they had to call in an ultrasound technician. Since it’s a small town, we had to wait for the ultrasound tech to drive in from ANOTHER STATE (about 30 minutes away). He showed up and checked me out, no signs of gall stones. They gave me more morphine and told me I needed to have a Hydascan done when I got back home, it could be a malfunctioning gall bladder. Monday was the very first time that both Gene and I had to leave Zoey. We left her at my Grandpa’s house with my Mom while Gene took me to the ER. Of course, Grandma took really good care of her and I wasn’t worried at all.. But after a good 5 hours in the ER, I was really missing my baby. Add to that the fact that I was in the ER in a town 3 hours away from home, I just felt really uneasy.

So unfortunately, I totally missed the family reunion. And it took us a good 5 hours to make the 3 hour trip home. We had to stop half way because I was so sick and miserable. We ate at Arby’s and I was feeling quite a bit better. I slept the rest of the way home because I was too scared to wake up in fear that I would get nauseated again. Ever since, I have felt fine. I went to see my general physician on Tuesday and they ordered the Hydascan for Thursday morning. Tomorrow we have to be checking in at the hospital at 7:30 AM. Gotta love these early appointments with a new baby! Looks like I’ll be getting up at 5:30 or 6 AM to get ready to leave.

In a way, I hope they find something wrong with my gall bladder just so I will know what is causing this pain. I hate to become a medical mystery.. it scares the living crap out of me. But at the same time, I just had a pretty major surgery (c-section) 6 weeks ago, am I really ready for yet another surgery? At least this one would be a lot quicker healing process and less invasive. But still, it’s a surgery!

Add to all of this the fact that I am really needing to get a root canal done but haven’t been able to schedule that appointment.. I have a pretty full plate. Too full. I just want to be at home and take care of my baby girl. I don’t want to deal with any of this crap!

Oh and btw, the nurse from the ER in my Grandpa’s town called me today and said my urine came back positive for Ecoli. She called me in a prescription for a strong antibiotic. I seriously just laughed out loud when she told me this. Because really? Is there anything else wrong with me?

P.S. Cute/Funny baby story. So at Arby’s we need to change Zoey but there are no changing tables in the restrooms. Gene lays her on his lap and is going to change her that way. Mom and I joke about her peeing on him because lately she likes to pee once you open her diaper. I joke that she is going to “mark her territory” as soon as he starts. Well, what do you know! She pees all over him. And it just so happens to be on his crotch. It was the funniest thing ever! He finished changing her and wore a receiving blanket tucked into his pants to hide the evidence. As we were walking to the car, I was behind him and all the back of his pants/crotch area was wet lol Little girl really soaked him :D

One of those lame excuse posts

Posted on by
2

So, I haven’t been writing lately and I’m really disappointed in myself. I’m using this as a place to keep track of Zoey’s milestones and our day to day gig we got goin’ on over here. I want to have something to look back on so I can remember these early days of Motherhood. Because honestly, my current memory is long gone and I’m not sure if I’ll ever get it back.

Anyway, the reason for my lack of posting is a couple of things. 1) I have been really busy with this little munchkin. Gene went back to work full time on Monday so it has just been Zoey and I from about 6 AM to 6 PM. I also do all of the night time feedings during the week so that he can get some rest. It’s been tiring but rewarding at the same time. I just love spending time with my little munchkin. 2) I am having some serious teeth issues. First of all, I need to call a couple of dentists because I have to have a root canal done. I am not looking forward to this at all. Also, my teeth are really sensitive lately. I don’t mean the kind of sensitive where it may hurt briefly whenever you eat something cold in a specific part of your mouth. Oh no, I’m talking, it hurts in my entire mouth, on every single tooth, just to breathe in air. To talk. To drink. To eat. To bite. Every single thing that involves opening my mouth hurts really, really bad. I have been dealing with this pain since early last week and I am almost to the point where I’m about to rip my hair out over it. I’m going to the dentist tomorrow afternoon to discuss this.

I really think this tooth issue is gonna be the death of me. It hurts to sit here and just breathe. With every inhalation, my teeth and mouth just shoot with horrible sharp pain. I tried to eat some Oreo pudding that I made earlier and the cold was killing me. I was even trying to eat it so that it wasn’t directly touching any of my teeth and it didn’t matter. I finally gave up after a few small bites. Last night I couldn’t even bite into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without horrible, shooting pain.

I have so much to talk about. I have so much I want to document. But until I can gather the strength, I can’t quite get to it. Hopefully in the next week or so my teeth will get better. Because right now the pain is so much that it is taking over my life.