LAYING ON THE BEACH

My baby doing some serious lounging! :)

Laying on his back, legs stretched out and ankles crossed. Life doesn't get any better.

KAISERSLAUTERN ZOO

My AMAZING neighbor mentioned in a previous post coordinated a trip to the K-Town Zoo on Sunday. T'was nice to get out of the house, Nathyn had a blast, and I met a couple nice new chicks. Really, I don't call girls "chicks".. Anyways, I forgot my camera so these are stolen from Marsha (the kick ass neighbor!).

I LOST MY HEART

She packs. She moves. She follows. Why? What for? How come? You may think she's lost her mind. Actually,she's lost her heart. It was stolen from her by a man. A man who puts duty first, who longs to deploy, who salutes the flag, and whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Army Man, She will remain his Army Sweetheart.

RANDOMNESS AND SUCH

• Nathyn has bronchitis so he's home from school all week. He has more energy than ever in between coughing and wheezing. Crazy kid.
• Since changing the dosage on my blood pressure medicine I've been feeling a bit better, but still not 100%.
• I go in today for a blood pressure check to make sure it's not going up. Hopefully all is well.
  
• On 26units of insulin, my fasting blood sugar was finally where it needed to be. Still having a bit of trouble finding the right breakfasts to get my blood sugar down after that. It's not too terribly bad though.
• My next OB appt is October 20th. Next high risk appt is November 14th. WIC, January 5th.
• I technically have 16 weeks left of this pregnancy. I'll schedule a c-section 1-2 weeks early, so it actually will be only 14 weeks left. I'm wondering if this baby comes early like Nathyn did. Then only 11 weeks left. And I've read a TON of cases where Mothers who had preeclampsia and delivered early in the first pregnancy actually deliver earliER in their second. So it COULD be less than 11 weeks. That's scary. I need to get on the whole baby shopping thing!
  
• Terry left last Saturday for the field. His command didn't honor the note from my doctor; we're both pretty upset. He's supposed to be back on my Birthday. I hope the schedule doesn't change. If he's not back for my birthday, he will be missing 3 years in a row (last year, this year and next year thanks to the upcoming deployment).
  
• I've been driving against doctor's advice but I really have no choice.
• Life would be SO much easier with Terry around right now, especially now that my lovely son has shared all his sick germs with me. But I'm glad he's getting the training he needs.
• I have an amazing friend downstairs who has been a HUGE help to me! I'm definitely thankful for her. It's very comforting knowing I have someone so close that I can go to for darn near anything. It doesn't hurt that my kid AND dog love her and her whole family too!>

And at this very moment Nathyn is trying his hardest to get his "Baby Bear" from out of my closet. It's one of those fur real friends that he got for Christmas last year. It's in the closet because he says it talks too loud at night and keeps him awake. I told him if he wanted it, he had to get it. He is one determined little boy! :)

SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM?

You know the feeling you get when you ride on an AWESOME roller coaster? Lots of speed, twisties and turnies and loop-da-loops? You hop off the ride and for just a few seconds your head is spinning, can't really walk straight, a bit of nausea creeps up, you can't catch your breath and sometimes you even see spots? It's the BEST feeling in the world, right?? Well, I've had that feeling for 11 days now. I've seen 4 doctors and no one knows what's wrong. They've checked all they can think to check (as far as they're telling me) and so far everything comes back perfectly fine.. blood, urine, blood pressure, blood sugars, even an EKG for good measure.

I came home the other day and decided to look up a few of the medications I've found, most specifically, the Labetalol for my blood pressure. On Sept 22nd the doctor increased my dosage from 100mg twice a day to 200mg twice a day. The next day I started feeling like crap. Here's what I found pertaining to side affects...

• slow or uneven heartbeats;
• feeling like you might pass out;
• feeling short of breath, even with mild exertion;
• swelling or rapid weight gain; or
• nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).
  

Less serious side effects may include:

• tingly feeling in your scalp
• dizziness, spinning sensation;
• mild nausea, upset stomach;
• tired feeling

My scalp isn't tingly, definitely haven't lost my appetite, and my poo isn't funny colors, and I'm NOT yellow. Other than that... I pretty much have all of these symptoms. I've whacked into a few walls, taken 2 falls, I can't drive and I'm constantly feeling like I'm bouncing all over the place when I'm sitting still and it's making my sick to my stomach! I've complained and complained and NOTHING. Yesterday I called Labor & Delivery and told them what I FEEL is wrong so I went in, went through a BUNCH of tests and after everything came back normal, the doctor decided to lower my Labetalol back to my original dose. I really hope this works. Suppose I'll know by Thursday.

Because of all the problems I've been having,and the fact that I just started insulin shots, my doctor wrote this letter for me.

Terry was due to leave Saturday the 2nd back to the field for a month but he turned this in to his command so that he can stay back to take care of us; make sure Nathyn gets to school, do the cooking since I've had trouble standing that long and help out with driving me to me appointments and to do the household shopping. He also wouldn't get any cell phone reception where he's going, so there would be the constant worry between us the whole time.

Terry left Saturday the 2nd at 0630. I was pissed. He was pissed. I'm home with Nathyn, he's sick, I feel like I'm on drugs, and the house is a mess. Thankfully I call from him yesterday and he does in fact have reception where he is [enter sigh of relief here]. Hopefully I find the strength to make it through this month, but it's gonna be tough.