Preggosaurus Rex

I’m not gonna lie; it has not been a great month, and I am in a crap mood. I spent the last two days in the hospital with what the doctors could only assume was a kidney stone. Because I’m pregnant, they couldn't do a CAT scan to confirm it, but I've never felt pain like that before. I’d rather give birth naturally to triplets than go through that again. I managed not to have any pain from 3:00 am yesterday through 3:00 pm, so they let me go home.

Last night I had some tenderness in the general kidney area, but no significant pain, so off to work I went this morning. Now I've got tender kidneys and the constant urge to pee. Freaking wonderful. So I get to go back to the doctor at 4:00 today. I asked Husband to pick me up some of those pills that make the urge go away unless you really have to pee, but he’s got gout, and needs to wait for his own pain to subside before he can help me.

Oh, and because I was stuck in the hospital on Tuesday, I had to cancel/reschedule the ultrasound I had scheduled at The Big Hospital that day. So you’re all going to have to wait to find out if Tempest is a boy or a girl.

On top of this, I got an email from the job I was hoping to get, saying they’re not even going to interview me. So I’m stuck in my dead-end job for who knows how long.

My car’s alternator shat the bed last Friday and I had to pay out the nose for the tow; and while our friend The Ginge gave me a break on the cost of replacing it and came to our house early Saturday morning to do it, it still didn't do the bank account any good, and ate into our rent budget for March. Plus, I got chased by a skunk while walking The Ginge’s new puppy while he was working on the car.

Husband has gout and therefore lots of pain of his own, and Pooka and I are dealing with a crap-ton of stress on another level which I will not discuss here.

I am therefore demanding that March be a good month, because February SUCKED.

Good News, Bad News

Yesterday’s OB visit was uneventful. I got to see our favorite nurse, which is always nice. She weighed me in at 3 pounds more than last time, which I’m told is perfect; one pound per week is what’s expected during this stage of pregnancy. We talked about my current medication, which now includes amoxicillin for my sinus infection (only 2 more days to go on that!) The funny thing was, I couldn’t remember the milligrams I’m taking, and she couldn’t remember how to spell it, so while she puzzled that out, I called Hubs to ask him to check the bottle and tell me. Turns out I can spell amoxicillin unaided (see? I’ve done it twice now) so that worked out well.

Tempest decided to hide from Dr. Badass when she went to find its heartbeat with the Doppler machine, but once she found it, she declared the heart rate perfect and said I’m pretty much on auto-pilot, and the easiest patient she’s ever seen. We talked a little bit about the integrated screening that’s being done, and the various ways that each doctor might choose to review it. I.F. and I were both a little nervous when the Big Hospital contacted me to set up the second blood drawing for it, because we still hadn’t heard back on the first set of lab results. Turns out that whoever is reviewing the results this time prefers to wait until the second set is complete, so they have the full picture before notifying us of anything. Which makes sense, but still nerved me up. No need, though. Things look good.

On the downside, I popped over to the local Coop where my ex (Pooka’s biological father) works after the appointment. We have a standing arrangement: Every year when he gets his W2s, I do his taxes. He’s generally good about paying me for it, so I don’t worry about getting a check up front. He didn’t have it with him, so I drove him back to his place to get it.

While I waited, I got a text from Pooka, relating some physiological information such that I called Mama and asked her to pick up Hubs and Pooka and drop them off at the ER so I could meet them there. I had the school nurse release her early and rushed back from the Queen City. The doctor checked her over for about 3 minutes and declared it a minor problem, gave her a mild medication to take for 10 days and sent us home.

Except that when I was pressing on her belly last night (and this morning), it was enough to make her jump when I touched above her belly button, and a narrow swathe curving along the right side of her navel. She called me from school today, begging to be allowed to go home. I told her no, that based on the doctor’s prognosis, she wasn’t going to feel better for a couple of days, but something still nagged at the back of my mind, and Hubs agreed that it didn’t sound like the ER doctor’s prognosis was correct, based on his own experiences.

I called her doctor and spoke with the triage nurse. After describing Pooka’s symptoms and yesterday’s situation, the nurse felt that Pooka should be seen as soon as they could fit her in. She has an appointment for noon today. Thankfully Hubs is home today and can take her over.