let my fingers do the talkin'

So, yeah, another week has passed and here I am just now making myself write. I log on almost daily and read what y'all have to say, but I need to get better about writing myself.

My birthday party Friday was fabulous. There were lots of old college friends, so it was good to see them. Mark and I decided to share the Peanut News with our friends that night, so it was extra exciting. I got my first few belly rubs too, and oddly enough, I wasn't put off by it...probably because I totally adore the folks who touched. It was funny too-- they rubbed my tummy above my belly button (wouldn't expect them to grab lower), and I said, "That's not Peanut, that's fat. Peanut's down here, but you better watch out-- Mark's here." It got some good laughs and comments about how I'm not fat.....yeah, well, I've lost 20 pounds since getting knocked up....and you can't tell!

I've been sicker than a dog again, which totally sucks. After the basketball game last Wednesday, I knew I was in trouble. I used my sexy phone operator voice to teach classes Thursday and Friday, but by Saturday, I was a mess. My throat has been hurting pretty bad lately, and my ears have been aching too. I finally got in with a general practitioner on Tuesday (stayed home sick from work too due to a low grade fever), and he thinks all I've got is allergies....boooo! Allergic Bronchitis-- there's nothing wrong with my throat and he didn't even look at my ears! I got some new meds, called the OB to make sure they're alright and went about my business.

Despite having absolutely NO voice, I went back to work today. I taught my 8am class at the high school, which was delightful and then managed to get to my 10am class as well. We were almost done with class when I had a coughing attack. I'd already left the class once to refill my water bottle and bum a cough drop or peppermint off the secretary. So, when I started coughing again, I excused myself. Got some more water and then went to the bathroom to cough it out (kinda like "walk it out" but a lot less cool). I had tears running down my face as I coughed my little head silly.....then simultaneously threw up and peed my pants! Uh, yeah-- can't go back to class now. I had the secretary dismiss my class and I made some quick preparations for my final class of the day to be cancelled....what a day!

I got home from work and changed into some comfy pants. In the process, I stepped on Shi-Thead. He yelped and I did all I could to not put weight on his little paw....and fell down. Luckily, the majority of the impact was on my hip/butt area, but I was still a bit shaken by falling on Peanut's poor noggin'. I know Peanut is protected in there and all, but I hate to have shaken baby syndrome before the child is even born!

There are days when you should just go back to bed, pull up the covers and try again. I think today was one of those days....I'm going to carve out some time in the next few days to write about some of my friends. The deserve a shout-out even though they don't know this blog exists.

They say it's your birthday...

Yeah, it's my birthday and I had to go to work. Sure, I realize this is part of being an adult, but I don't have to like it. I was truly hopeful for a second day home from work due to the ice storm, but I had to settle with one day off and one day of late arrival.

It was absolutely ridiculous that we had class today. In my first class, I had 4 students (out of 25) and in the second class, we had a whopping 6! It was a complete waste of time for all involved, and it bothers me that our administration would encourage students and employees to drive on unsafe roads.

I'm certain there's a logical reason we had class today when there was ice on the road and it was cancelled yesterday when roads were clear. I'm sure the administration made the decisions they had to with the information available. But-- I don't have to agree with it, and I don't have to like it.

For my birthday, I got some fabulous gifts from my husband: Tommy Bahama "Very Cool" perfume (it rocks), a Bella Band, a gift certificate to a maternity store, and a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure. I'm totally spoiled, and I love it! Tonight we're going to my college basketball games, so I can support my students. It'll be good times.

Crazy Texans!

One thing I've always loved about being a Texan (and there's lots to love) is the reaction most have to any sort of cold precipitation. At the slightest mention of ice, sleet, or the rarely seen snow, folks are headed to the grocery store to stock up on bread, milk and canned goods. It cracks me up, really.

What makes me very happy about this is that my college was closed today, so I was able to spend some quality time with my couch. We're supposed to get another round of wet stuff in just a little bit, and it won't get above freezing until noon or so tomorrow. This makes me hopeful that we won't have classes tomorrow either. Now, THAT is what I call a birthday present!

Other than that, I'm 13 weeks today. All is well.

Another day, another ER visit

I had a rough night of breathing last night, so I called the OB's office. (I don't have a general practitioner since I'm new to the area and can't get in for 6 weeks.) The OB's office said they'd work me in, but I'd have to see someone other than my OB- no biggie.

On my way, I stopped by Target and got a book to read to keep me company while I waited to be worked in. I couldn't get into the book, but I'll try again later. I forget the title, but it's about some folks who helped those taken hostage by Nazi's in Germany back in the day. Should be good if I can get past the first chapter.

Long story short- I spent 2 hours in the doctor's office and it was very pleasant. The nurses are amazing. The doctor I saw was a bit alarmed so she wrote up some orders and sent me down to the ER. Two and a half hours later, I walked out of the hospital! The ER doctor said I have Allergic Bronchitis- uh, yeah, okay, so how can we get it to go away because I've been sick since November! He tells me I'll probably have to deal with it for the duration of my pregnancy- fun. I'm not happy with what he has to say, but I'll take it up with my OB later. I wasn't in the mood to play with Mr. ER Doc since I'd been at the darn place for 4 hours total and was a hungry, hormonal pregnant woman.

The plan of attack-- I did a breathing treatment and will do two more days of oral steroids. ER Doc says I can stay on the Amoxil (although I've built up a resistance), but doesn't think it's going to do anything since "all (I) have is allergies." The OB's associate gave me some Robitussin with codeine so I can get some sleep-- that should be fun.

I've got a birthday party next weekend, and I plan to share with our friends that we're expecting. Y'all pray I feel good enough to enjoy the fiesta!

Oxygen would be nice

I'm doing alright, but this bronchitis is kicking my ass. I'd be so happy if I could sleep through the night and take a good, deep breath. I've got a call into the doctor, so hopefully he can provide some relief somehow.

One of the bad things about having bronchitis and being pregnant is that every time I cough, I pee. I'm tired of peeing on myself. I try to empty my bladder often, but serious- I took care of business 7 minutes ago, coughed and now have to change my pants....again. I may start wearing Depends or something. wth?

Classes are going well. I've got a lot of really outgoing students, so it should be a pretty energetic semester.

Yup- that's it. Posting more often is fun, eh?

I amaze myself sometimes!

Look at me posting two days in a row. Amazing stuff, eh?

Not too much going on around here. One of Mark's employees came over this morning to install some surround sound speakers in the ceiling. It's almost 5 hours later and the poor soul is still here working away. I've locked myself in the bedroom to avoid the dust and whatnot that comes with cutting up the ceiling. Shi-Thead is in here with me- although he's sitting by the bedroom door pacing and whining.

I've caught up on my Office watching, which is pretty cool. Thursday nights get pretty busy around here with tv watching, so I've resorted to watching The Office online.

I told y'all- nothing going on around here today. Classes begin tomorrow, and I'm SO not ready. I finally finished my syllabi, student information sheet and the infamous Grade Sheet (it's a list of all their assignments for the semester and allows space for the student to record due date and grade earned). I still need to do my course schedules; I always have trouble with those. I managed to get my Mississippi online course up and ready to go, so I rewarded myself with a brownie from Chick-fil-a. Yumm-o! Yeah, I know you're not supposed to reward yourself with food, but considering I've LOST about 15 pounds since I got knocked up, I think the brownie will be okay. (On a total side note: Did you know the "Chick-fil-a Sauce" is a whopping 13 grams of fat per tiny container? Yeah, I opted for the bbq sauce which is 0 grams of fat.)

Okay, ramblings are through-- see what happens when I post daily?!? lol

Okay, seriously...

why do I find it so difficult to post regularly? December 26th? That was, what- three weeks ago? Good grief!

So, in my last post, I said I was feeling better- yeah, well, that was true until this week. The bronchitis has come back (or maybe never went away). My OB (who I adore) wrote me a prescription for some antibiotics, and I feel alright as long as I sit still and stay unproductive. In spite of the respiratory crap, I feel alright. Peanut is still picky about some foods, but I'm able to endure almost anything. I still need my naps, but they don't seem to be as long as they used to.

Let me backtrack:

Dec. 28-30: Trip to Fredericksburg, Tx for a friend's wedding-- this was lots of fun. Somehow they all found out I'm pregnant, so my mysterious napping and avoiding of the wine was quite the topic of conversation. Mark and I stayed at the winery where he proposed- it was a great surprise.

Dec. 31- First appointment with the new OB. He's a freakin' riot! My RE referred me to this guy because he thought our personalities would match-- he was right on! OB tried to let us hear the heartbeat, but at just 9 weeks, it was sill a bit early. He felt my uterus though and said "yup- you've got something in there." Uh, okay-- that was reassuring. They did lots of blood work, a pap, breast exam, etc. Mark sure enjoyed observing all of that.

New Years- yeah, I was in bed by 9pm. Mark woke me at 12 and said "Happy New Year," gave me a kiss on the forehead and walked out of the room to where my parents were chilling. We're a wild and crazy pair, I tell ya!

Jan. 7- We closed on our new house! The moment was really less climatic than I expected, but we were happy (and ready) to move out of mom and dad's casa.

Jan. 12- I went back to work and the menfolk (Mark, dad, brother) moved us into the new house. We managed to get the bed put together and stayed the night in our home. It was really nice to wake up to OUR place. Of course, I had to run by the parents' to get something to wear to work because clothes are semi-important.

Jan. 16- Second appointment with the OB who apologized for being "stupid" since he "delivered 2 babies the previous night and had one more brewing." He was really pleased. I was 11 weeks, 3 days at the appointment. Sonogram looked good. Peanut was all wadded up in one side of my uterus. Heard the heartbeat, which was super cool-- 173bpm. OB says we should expect peanut in early August (the 4th), which works well since classes begin at the end of August. I can go in to teach classes but have modified office hours the first few weeks of classes. Mom will watch Peanut for a while...at least the first semester of school.

So, yeah, I guess that brings us up to speed. We still have a lot of stuff at mom and dad's, but have managed to get everything out of storage. I don't live well in chaos, so I'm looking forward to getting things put where they belong. Mom took care of the kitchen for me, so that's real progress.

Now that school is back in session, and I'll be at a computer each day, maybe I can update more regularly...