Medical Updates

Tuesday I had a migraine. This was probably the weakest migraine I've ever had (thank goodness). This was supposed to be my last week teaching Joy School. One of the other mom's had offered to take over for me, but I really wanted just one last day with the kiddos. So Tuesday even though I was hurting pretty good, I decided that I would just push through it and let the other mom have Thursday. Well, as I'm in the shower, my vision starts to go, then I start going numb....so we have to cancel Joy School. I really think it was Heavenly Father's way of telling me that I wasn't supposed to do Joy School. "Well...if being in pain isn't enough to get her to give up....lets try a migraine, she can't ignore that!"

Yesterday I saw my doctor. It was supposed to be the follow up appointment for the contractions from last week, but ended up being more. So first we talked about the contractions and this weird pain I keep getting on my right side. I have really just been attributing it to growing pains or gas pains, but the first thing she tells me after I show her where it's at, is that it's not gas, because the only thing that is right there is the uterus. So she has me lay down and pokes at me for a while. She tells me that it's some layer of my skin or under the skin, but it's the part above the muscles that have been shoved out of the way (she told me the name, but I have no idea what it is now) that has just stretched and now has holes in it and the muscles and stuff underneath are trying to push up through the holes. And that's what's causing my pain. When I told my mom she said "Oh, like a hernia..." Great! So there's nothing right now they can do for it other then "no lifting, lots of resting...." so just what I'm already doing. She said that the pain might have been what started the contractions on Tuesday though. Just all the stress from the pain and everything. She checked me and I'm still about a 2, and they did an ultrasound of the cervix again and it still looks good. We talked about the test they did in the hospital to check for preterm labor and since a negative is 98% positive that you won't go into preterm labor for 10-14 days, it looks like we're going to be doing the test every other week (unless something changes). Just so we have a chance to give me the steroids if needed. She said that with the risks the steroids have they don't like to give them until they absolutely have to (benefits outweigh the risks).

And my new medical symptom...I'm swelling...

This was my finger this morning. It has a figure 8 shape!

So on Monday I'd had to loosen my watchband, which I really didn't think anything about. But then on Wednesday I happened to look at my hand and notice how tight my ring was. Now my ring has always been loose, not very loose, just enough that since the bands aren't sautered (not sure how to spell that and spell check didn't help) together they spin around and are never together like they should be. I tried to take it off, to no luck....so at my appointment that afternoon I told my doctor and at first she was like "Oh no big deal (because my blood pressure looks good) but then she really looked at my fingers (and my feet) and said "Yeah you're starting to swell up a bit, keep working on that ring and get it off as soon as possible". I also had protein in my urine, so I had to do another urine test down in the lab (which I suspect maybe today I'll hear the results of). So with all of my lovely complications and non-normalcy, I get to go into the doctor every week now, so we can monitor EVERYTHING! And while you might think that would put me in a panic, it actually reassures me. Just knowing that I get to see the doctor that often means that they can keep track of me and the baby and make sure nothing goes wrong. I did get my ring off in the shower this morning though, lots of shampoo and pulling but it did finally come off. I was getting worried for a minute when even that didn't seem to be working.