Before I start this super long post I would like to share with you a creeptastic screen shot of my phone.
I was doing a google search on "i'm pregnant with complex migraines" to see what other people do with them but these were the suggested search options.....
......
two out of the four are incestuous. oh dear.
Are these thing really googled enough to be suggestions???? anyways, couldn't keep the creep factor to myself.
I am officially 17 weeks! I kind of can't believe it.
Now that I am pregnant I just can't help but feel so incredibly grateful. Like my friend Danielle (who is also pregnant) says- any day of puking and headaches is better than not being pregnant. I would read her blog while feeling so sick and I can only agree with her 100% so while I'm going to detail my last 17 weeks- in no way do I want to come off as being ungrateful or unhappy. Although I think my physical body has never been more miserable, my mind and spirit have never been happier :)
The first few weeks I felt great! Ha, but by week six I was puking five times a day. There is nothing "morning" about morning sickness! There were some nights where I just had to sleep in the bathroom because I just couldn't stop. It was not pretty. At my worst I lost about 15 lbs- I thought, there is no way this baby is going to be able to grow and survive but, somehow the baby was always fine at checkups for which I felt very blessed. I really felt like the nausea was so bizarre. It wasn't just foods that would make me throw up- but bright lights, loud noises, or sudden movement. If I lay really still on my side without any noise and the tv off I could manage it.
and this is when my family and friends started sending me nice flowers and packages to make me feel better. I am very lucky to have so many people who care about me. I actually received the nicest gift from a girl in my ward- it was a "getting through the first trimester" gift bad. The bag was full of old chick flicks, Sierra Mist, crackers, gum, trail mix- it was the sweetest gift and I felt so overwhelmed by the kindness of this girl. I also came home one night to find a shopping bag full of Costco rolls! I never found out who left these for me but Heaven bless them. The previous week I was out at a dinner before the church Relief Society broadcast and the only thing I could really stomach was the costco roll. I lived off of those rolls that were left on my doorstep. Again, I felt so loved and thankful for the people in my life. It's a humbling experience to be on the receiving end of service and I've just learned to be grateful.
Around 12 weeks I started taking Zofran which is supposed to help with the nausea. This actually helped! However, I had to stop taking it after a couple weeks because I ended up having a weird reaction to it that made my blood pressure super low, but....it was a nice two weeks while it lasted! I actually asked my dr how important was normal blood pressure anyways? But apparently it's important. lol. I just didn't want him to take away my drugs! Thankfully when I was 16 1/2 weeks (like three days ago) I started feeling better! I'm starting to eat again and I'm not throwing up nearly as much. I feel like it's a Thanksgiving miracle!
The only other problems I had actually resulted in me ending up in the hospital :(
Around week 14 I had a "mini stroke" or a complex silent migraine. I don't like calling them mini strokes because that makes them sound scary-which I guess they are- but that's what my doctor calls them. All of a sudden my hand, arm and half of my face went numb on one side of my body. It was the weirdest experience and it lasted for about 15 minutes. I didn't really know what to do or what was going on. I didn't have a headache or have any warning signs. I told Jeff and he didn't know what was going on either. I called my doctor and he told me as long as I was feeling okay to rest and call him if it happened again. Well, about a week later it happened again. Except this time my vision went, I felt like I was going to pass out and it was scarier and freaked me out more. We called my doctor who told us to go to the ER- the fact that half my face had gone numb was what bothered him the most- me too! It was 11:00 PM and I didn't really want to go in and Jeff had a big test the next day but we were both freaked out enough that we did what my doctor said and booked it to the hospital. Little FYI about the ER- if you have stroke like symptoms you don't have to wait in line. We were in our little room ASAP and I had a giant honking needle attached to my arm while they took blood and I was being prepped for a CT scan. Normally you don't want to have a CT scan when you're pregnant but you gotta do what you gotta do when the doctors think there's something wrong with your brain. I was extremely protected though. I wore double the radiation suits and a third radiation cover wrapped around my neck. I was weighed down! I had to have help to move onto the table because those things are heavy. I'm not going to lie, the CT scan was scary. I was terrified and couldn't stop shaking. I don't know how little kids do it. I just couldn't stop thinking about everything that could be wrong and about the potential harm I was doing to the baby. After the CT scan I was wheeled back to our little room where they did more tests on me and we waited for all of the results.
My little hospital bracelet. You know things are bad when I leave the house in my glasses- I've had contacts since I was twelve and I can count the number of times I have gone out in public while wearing glasses on one hand.
I actually had a very nice nurse the whole time I was at the hospital and right before I left I couldn't stop wincing every time he would rip off a piece of tape from my arm. I didn't mean to make him feel bad, but I now have patches on my arm where my arm hair used to be.
Poor Jeff. We were up all night and he had a 7:00 AM test in the morning. Bad timing complex migraine.
THANKFULLY, all of the tests results came back normal! Even the CT scan. Whew. I think my doctor was a little surprised by all of the normal test results We talked to another doctor at that point who suggested that these episodes could possibly be complex migraines- even though I didn't actually have a headache at either time of the numbness or vision loss. Okay. Good news is that is wasn't a real stroke! However, my doctor said that it was still considered a mini stroke due to a lack of oxygen getting to my brain.Okay. He also said that these were most likely brought on due to all of the pregnancy hormones that are going on inside my body and that they were making my body much more sensitive and vulnerable to these complex migraine triggers and that I had to start taking it easy ASAP. Done. He told me I was not allowed to get stressed out, excited or tired. Yeah, show me a pregnant woman who doesn't get stressed out, excited or tired lol
There's also some foods and drinks I'm supposed to stay away from and I'm not supposed to go out marathon shopping in big crowds or exert myself in any way. Okay. I was actually having a hard time not getting excited while my doctor was telling me this because I was just so happy that it wasn't a real stroke or a brain tumor. So yeah, Jeff and I left the ER that night feeling relieved, and a little wary about how I was going to relax. We weren't sure if this meant I'm supposed to stay in bed all day or if it meant I couldn't travel over the holidays? The next few days I felt like I had been hit by a truck and I really couldn't leave my bed other then to go in to different doctor's office for more tests. However, I felt so much better a few days before I was supposed to leave for Boise and I thought if I was really good and stayed calm and rested I would be okay to travel. And I totally was. This whole thing makes me feel silly and like I'm a total invalid, but my doctor just told me that taking it easy (even though it makes me feel like I'm being lazy and super selfish) is going to be so much better than having to be hospitalized- or having permanent damage. Blurg.
And that is my SUPER LONG post about the last 16 weeks! Can I just give a shout out to my normally awesome health though? I feel like I'm normally very healthy so don't think this sick, numb gimp thing is permanent or anything.
Jeff and I spending all day Saturday in our sweats watching movies. Proof I am taking it easy. Anyone want to come watch movies with me during the day? I have a lot of free time now ;) My grandma also sent me a puzzle to work on so if you're nice I'l let you help me with it.