Past 48

I've returned home from yet another lovely stay at the hospital.

This time they got serious though.

I stayed overnight. All by myself.

Sigh.

I honestly feel so out of control right now, but I have hope. I KNOW things are going to get better. I feel like my OBGYN's office is now realizing how critical my situation is and they are being very proactive, which I am so thankful for.

Sunday night and Monday were 1000 times worse that I could have imagined. The Boy didn't sleep on Sunday night. I was up every 20-45 minutes with him, until finally getting out of bed at 5. The worse thing for me was to have such a drastic change in sleep.

I got really, really sick. Seriously, Monday night took the cake. I should have gone in for IV then, but decided to be brave (or stupid) and wait it out. Tuesday I was sick before my feet even hit the floor. By 10AM I knew I needed help. I called Hubs, but it's his busy season and he couldn't make it home before 3. I couldn't wait. I called my mom's boyfriend. He showed up in a half hour, with the plan that he'd stay with The Boy and I'd drive myself to the hospital, about 25 minutes away. He took one look at me and said, "Get in the car, no arguments. I'm driving. Go!" We buckled The Boy into his car seat, Walt drove me to the hospital, came back home and wrangled The Boy until Hubs could make it home, much, much later than he anticipated. Words can't express my gratitude for that man right now.

I was so sick that by the time I made it to the Maternity ward, I had to grip the edge of the desk to hold myself up. What the hell was I thinking trying to drive myself?? Hello??

The nurses took charge. They got me hooked up to the IV, told me to rest...and did the best thing- found my doctor and brought her to me while I was in that state. The doctors only saw me after I had had fluid. I think they just didn't realize how sick I was getting or that I was getting worse.

My doctor gave me more meds, including an acid reducer. She told me if my blood work came back iffy, that I'd stay overnight. Needless to say, they came back way iffy.

Long night. I was hooked to a machine that beeped and rattled all night. I couldn't get a good rest.

This morning I woke with a headache. A hormone headache. Anyone who gets PMS headaches know exactly what I mean. Painful. I typically take two excedrin every 6 hours to help with it, but you can't take that drug while pregnant. The headache laughed at the tylenol I that tried to suppress it with. It's still laughing. And pounding.

In talking with the doctor last night, I told her that I wanted a pic line put in. She agreed. This way I could get my fluids at home, I could finally stop being a human pin cushion AND have instant relief with iv drugs, which work faster.

So this morning they put the pick line in. I was petrified. But like a brave beaver, I had it done. I didn't hurt since they numb the area. It was surreal though...it was treated like a surgery...can't wait to get the bill from that procedure...

Anyhow, I'm home again. No nausea. Pic line ready for the nurse to come tomorrow. I'm also going to check out nursery schools for The Boy. He desperately needs the interaction with the other kids and I can't give him the attention that he was getting at home while I was well. His behavior is starting to show it. So we had a family meeting and nursery school it is!

And best of all, Hubs has stepped up and decided that it was high time this place got cleaned up a bit. My downstairs sparkles. He promised to help me tomorrow with the upstairs.

Now if I could just get him to wash some underwear...

Day at a Time.

I'm not dead. Yet. I swear this child is trying to kill me. I've been in the hospital 3 times in 6 days for I hydration. I spent most of Thursday (when I wasn't in the hospital) and all of Friday and Saturday in bed. Today I'm forcing myself out of bed. I feel dizzy and lightheaded, but I just can't stay in bed one more day.

My inlaws have had the Boy since Thursday. He comes home tonight. The house has been quiet, except for Hubs doing work on the library. I have to somehow find the strength to make it through tomorrow. At this point, I can't even think of Tuesday.

I'm on a new mix of drugs that make me sleepy beyond belief. There's no way I can take care of a 3 year old like this. So, tonight is the last dose. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring.

The worst part- I'm still barfing way more than I should be. I've lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks, with 5 coming off in the last week. I went from being in my fat clothes and some maternity, to my skinny clothes.

And there's been little to no housework done. No one has clean clothes. There's no clean dishes. There's nothing clean anywhere in my house. Sigh. I'll get right on that.

Tomorrow is a new day.

How?

Question: How do you dress a three year old who wants to play in the beautiful 63 degree weather, knowing full well that the first thing he's going to do is lay down in the 4 inches of snow still on the ground or stomp in the largest mud puddle in the world (which currently resides in my driveway)?


Answer: T-shirt, long sleeve lightweight fleece top, lightweight snowpants, lightweight mittens and snow boots. He was sweaty but he ran himself into exhaustion. Yahoo!


And look what I discovered:

SPRING!


And the temperature today (upper left hand corner):


This is even in the afternoon, after the sun went behind clouds. I think it was warmer earlier.


I am so done with winter. Unfortunately, due to the complete lack of any birds (besides crows) in my back yard, I thinking that winter isn't done with me.

What a Deal!

I've wanted a fancy-schmancy Kitchenaid mixer for a long, long time. I enjoy baking a lot. Stand mixers just make the process easier. But Kitchenaid was just too costly.

I told Hubs that if he didn't get me a weather station for Valentine's Day, that I was going to go blow $300 bucks on a stand mixer. Well, V-Day came and no station. Sigh.

We bought a station that night, after many apologies from Hubs. He knew he screwed up, not only V-Day, but also Christmas (which is when I first begged for the damn weather station).

We were in Lowe's together and although I drooled over the mixers, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't friviously blow that much cash on something that wasn't 100% necessary.

I knew Kohl's had sales. I waited for the next one a couple weeks ago. Stand mixers were an extra 10% off.

And again, although I stood there like an idiot, drooling over the mixers, I couldn't bring myself to spend $299, less 10% on the thing.

My mother in law lives near a Kohl's in her town. She called last Saturday to say that she was going there and would look at the mixers, that perhaps she could find a better deal. I told her to get me black or red.

She called a few minutes later, literally giddy. A blue 5 quart mixer was on special- it was the display model, but came with everything. No box, but the accessories were all there.

How much?

$179.00

Get it, I told her.

Oh wait, she said...Mixers are 15% off today. They'll give it to me for $153.00.

I told her to take it and run.

A few minutes later she calls again.

They let her use a 20% coupon on top of the 15% off price.

Total for the $299.00 mixer?

$129.73

Well, that's a good deal, I'd say.

But wait, there's more.

There were no instructions with the mixer. No biggie, I'll go on the site and ask to have them sent to me.

Yesterday I went online to the Kitchenaid site, went under customer service and live chatted with a rep. She sent me a link to the instructions and warranty info. As we were signing off she wrote, "Don't forget to fill out and send in the rebate info by the end of next month."

Rebate offer??

Yeah, $30 back on a prepaid visa card, a year's subscription to Food and Wine magazine AND a free cookbook.

That, my friends, brings our total for a $300 mixer to under $100 bucks.

Now THAT'S a bargain.

Find any good sales lately?

Today I Feel Human.

It's a miracle! I feel human for the first time since early January. Like I can do human things- clean my house, chase after The Boy outside in the snow, make pizza dough, even knit without barfing.

Amazing what less nausea can do for a girl. (Notice I didn't say total lack of...I'll deal with on and off bouts of it.) I haven't thrown up since Monday. It makes a huge difference on every aspect of my life. I feel strength again. I feel like I can walk up and down my stairs without shaking. My attitude is better, although I could use a nap. Amazing.

Sorry for the lack of photos. No idea where my camera made off to. Promise I'll have something soon.

I feel like I could honestly do anything today.