Out of the Puking Pan and Into the Flu-Like Fire

Whee! My Pooka is home from an almost three-week vacation on the West Coast (visiting grandparents, aunts and uncles). We picked her up at oh-dark-thirty on Sunday. I can't tell you folks how good it is to have my baby home again. Yeah, I know: She's not a baby. She's almost fourteen. But she's mine. I gave birth to her. Therefore she's my baby.

Monday I had to call in sick at work due to what I can only guess was food poisoning of some sort. It started Saturday night and lasted through Sunday; leaving me queasy and headachey on Monday. Of course I had forgotten that Hubs had to work the day shift that day, which left me to take Gytha (new car) in for scheduled maintenance.

Pooka and her long-time besty joined me in heading to the Queen City where we met up with Mum and Dad for lunch. By that point my tummy was feeling better enough to be hungry, so I had a light soup and salad. Mum and Dad found Pooka and her friend to be charming and funny (because they are), and we wound up late for our appointment because we lost track of time talking and enjoying ourselves.

We saw Dr. Colorful again (and have set up our appointments through our due date so that all but one is with him, because we all like him best). He started to revisit the Tdap (Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertussis) vaccination but Mum made it clear that she did indeed want me to get the booster. The nurse who administered it was VERY good. It felt like she prodded me with a finger and it was done.

Nugget also prodded his/her parents a bit while we waited for Dr. Colorful to come in. I laid down on the exam table and let Mum and Dad poke and press on my belly to try to get their silly baby to kick them properly. Well, Nugget seems to find his/her parents soothing, because while they did get to feel SOME movement, it was nowhere near the kicks I get when I'm trying to sleep or snuggle with Hubs. They did get to hear the heartbeat though, and the doctor declared it... Yeah, you guessed it: Perfect. My uterus is measuring at 31cm and Nugget is still in a “transverse lie” which means s/he is sideways. Not a big deal, really. Dr. Colorful mentioned that he'd like to see baby head-down by 34 weeks (2 visits from now) but I reassured him that all three of the babies I've birthed, including Pooka, were in the wrong position until about 36 weeks, at which point they went breech and then flipped into the right position; engaging at the last minute. He told Mum and Dad that at worst, we'll do an external cephalic version (where they turn the baby from the outside). I doubt it'll be necessary.

Of course, we absolutely didn't joke that perhaps the heartbeat might be a little irregular and therefore an ultrasound might be prudent. And Dr. Colorful completely refused to go ahead and fit us in for one just after I got my shot. It definitively never happened. Ever.

On the way home, my head started to pound like mad so the kiddos (who spent the duration of my OB appointment shopping in the Queen City) and I popped off at Hubs' work to have dinner while we waited for his shift to end, and I popped a Tylenol. It helped a little, and I figured that would be the end of my “Tdap side effects.” Ha ha ha ha! NO.

I woke up this morning with that telltale throbbing at the injection site; a headache the size of my hometown and joints that squealed and protested with every movement. I shouldn't have been surprised; it happens every single time. Ah well. It's temporary and fairly minor, all things considered. As of right now the headache is barely more than my head reminding me that it still exists and my joints are a little tender but I can move without cringing. The only thing that really still hurts is my arm. Piddly.

I did, however, have a brief moment of carpal tunnel-like symptoms after work today, but they seem to have abated for the time being. I'm grateful for that. I hate carpal tunnel.