Sixteen Weeks

Fetus at sixteen weeks

Baby Labrador is now between 4 and 5 inches long, and he or she weighs anywhere from 3 to 5 ounces. This precious cargo continues to make me sick. I'm still dealing with nausea and these painful headaches. I've spent the last few days at my parents' with Buffy. They are taking good care of both of us. I'm hopeful that I'll have my referral to the neurologist by Monday, and that I can get an appointment this coming week. I suspect my problem might be occipital neuralgia, and I think it was brought on by all the vomiting. Of course, my medical degree is from Google, so I may be wrong.

I can tell you that it's really hard to be disabled, even to a slight degree, after being healthy for most of my life. On Thanksgiving, I did go to my sister's, but after eating I crawled into her bed and slept for about four hours. I was miserable. Tonight, I should be at a wedding with Michael's side of the family, but I'm just not well enough to leave the house. I miss having the freedom to do the things I enjoy doing.

Time Out

I saw the OB this morning. After going over everything I've been through in the last couple of weeks, she was very concerned about my headache/head pains, and the fact that I've been on Tylenol as much as I have to deal with the pain. She prescribed something else to replace the Tylenol, decided to refer me to a neurologist to investigate the cause of the pain, and put me on a leave of absence from work. I'm not scheduled to return to work until the second week of January. She hoped that would be enough time to get to the root of my problem and treat it properly.

It's a relief to have work off my plate, because now it's time to focus on my health.

15 Weeks

Fetus at fifteen weeks

At this point, Baby Labrador measures about 4 1/2 inches but only weighs 2 or 3 ounces. This was the first week since week five that I haven't had a ultrasound to see the baby, but I will in just a few more days.

Yesterday morning my mom and I decided that I'd been sick long enough (nine days of diarrhea and eleven days of head pain), had complained to my doctors enough without much response on their part, and it was time to get some more immediate treatment/action. So we went to the ER.

On Monday, my GP had surmised that I had a viral infection, but yesterday's blood tests did not confirm that. Instead the ER staff determined that I have a bladder infection. Funny because I had no symptoms for that. The PA said that catching it was a good thing because it can cross the placenta and affect the baby. I was also dehydrated. Not too surprising after nine weeks of nausea and vomiting and nine days of diarrhea. They gave me two IV bags, and an intravenous antibiotic. As for the head pain, they are thinking that I have a tension headache. I can continue taking Tylenol for that, use hot and cold compresses, and get a massage. I'm still not sure that I agree with the cause of the head pain, but I'll follow their instructions and see if it improves.

They also allowed me to take Imodium, and that was something my GP and OB would not allow me before. Needless to say, it worked! I felt better while getting the IV fluids, but by the time I got home, I was pretty nauseous once again and I had a hard afternoon and evening with that. My mom stayed with me until I was ready to go to bed. It just helps having someone here with me.

Of course, spending the morning in the ER meant that I had to call for a sub. I emailed my principal right away, tried to get a good sub, but eventually had to leave it up to the system. A sub I know picked up the job, and I think she has a pretty good reputation for classroom management. I heard that the principal walked through my room more than once, and that several parents volunteered to come in and help during the day so that the kids didn't get out of hand. I had just received two more expressions of support the day before from two other parents, so I hope this didn't undo that goodwill.

I have the upcoming week off, and I hope to rest up and feel better soon.