Monday, November 26, 2012

I Always Wanted A Little Pup..p...p

I quite like dogs.  I think little puppies are the cutest ever.  However, fully grown dogs that are the size of puppies are not so cute.  That is the only kind of dog Hod has ever been OK with.

But I found another way to sneak a pup into our lives.  Alright, really, I have discovered PUPPP. 

Turns out it isn't the dream I thought it would be.

PUPPP is a really lame-o rash that some pregnant women develop.  It usually develops in the first pregnancy (This is my 2nd to go this long), normally develops around 35 weeks (I'm only 28), 70% of cases are women pregnant with boys (I'm having a girl), and is most common if you are having multiples (I've only got one in there).  It is safe for baby and mom, so that is good, but that is where the positive ends.  This rash starts out on your stomach, and if you scratch it it can spread over your entire body, only excluding your face.  It is only a little bit itchy at first, but then it gets worse and worse until you get to the point that every place that has been touched by it constantly feels like millions of needles are pricking you.  It is irritated and aggravated by heat, clothing, stretching, any applied pressure, and looking at rainbows.  (OK, I made that last one up.)  It usually clears up about 2 weeks after delivery.  That is the current fix for the problem: have the baby.  That works a lot better if you develop it around 35 weeks.  You only have 2 weeks before you are technically full term.  If you are only 28 weeks, it makes the next 2 1/2 months sound like pure torture. 

Not a whole lot is known about PUPPP.  Some say there is no treatment, some say some prescriptions will help.  Some say it is just freaky hormones that cause it, some say it is actually a problem with the liver.  Most say it really doesn't cause any problems at all, however some doctors say that they have never met a woman who developed it who didn't deliver in the next 3 weeks.

I'll be honest, we aren't 100% sure this is what I have.  I have an appointment next week and we will find out for sure, but from my research this is the most likely.  (I've spent hours looking at pictures of rashes and this is the closest match.)  The second most likely is that I am developing shingles.  But I'm pretty sure that isn't it, because it isn't really growing.  I am exercising great will power and not scratching. 

PUPPP is not widely known about.  Not unless you have experienced it.  Pretty sure I had no desire to join that club.  Ignorance really is bliss.

Monday, November 19, 2012

It's Alive!!

When I was about 16 weeks pregnant with #1, I was informed that I had an anterior placenta.  Not a big deal, it would just make it much harder to feel movement.  (There is some debate as to whether or not an anterior placenta more often leads to a posterior birth - which #1 had - but that is not the point of this.)  Seeing as it was my first pregnancy to go past 9 weeks, I had no idea what movement felt like anyway.  I didn't feel #1 until well after 20 weeks.  Then during the pregnancy, there was a time that I hadn't been able to feel her for way too long, so we went to the Dr, hooked me up to a machine, and I got to listen to her heartbeat for 30 min.  Well, 30 min on and off.  She kept wiggling, so it was hard to stay right on her heartbeat.  But wiggling was fine, we were just checking to make sure she was doing well, and wiggling was a great sign of that.  As a general rule, the only way Hod could feel #1 moving was when he would squish my stomach.  Basically we had to get her ticked off in order to feel movement from the outside.

Well, with #2, it couldn't be more different.  Around 11 weeks I thought I could feel her moving.  (I know, that is super early, but there was something moving around inside of me and it wasn't a normal feeling.  It was new.)  Hod has been able to feel her for a few months now.  She is a wiggler and a kicker!  Most of the time that is just fine with me.  It makes me giggle when I get a minute to sit down and read, and I rest the book on my tummy only to have #2 kick it off.  I have been amazed at how it feels when she kicks.  It is so different than with #1. 

Part of me thinks that #1 and #2 are already friends.  Well... maybe friends is the wrong word.  Every time I am sitting with #1 and #2 kicks, #1 gets a concerned look on her face and hits my stomach.  Then #2 kicks back and they go on for a bit.  I think this is how they communicate their plans for the night time.  They have this awesome schedule where every 45 min #2 will kick my bladder as hard as possible, thus waking me up and often making me run to the restroom.  Along with this, every 4 hours #1 is waking up and wanting to play.

This makes for a pretty tired Paily.  But it is a lot of fun feeling all of the kicking going on!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

It's Venting Time!!

I am now going to complain.  A lot.  If you are looking for something happy, keep moving friend.

We are currently in a fight with the USPS.  They've messed up with things before (Like sending my wedding announcement to my own parents instead of the person up the street with the same last name.)  But this time, they have really messed us up.  We had lived in our new apartment for just a few days when we filled out the happy pink card provided by the USPS found in our mailbox to say that yes, we lived here.  We also filled out all of our change of address forms so everything could be forwarded.  The mail started coming.  We were getting everything we expected to get... almost.  However, the 2 things that we were missing were coming from people who may or may not have actually put things in the mail.  Because we were getting so much, we had no reason to assume that there was a problem with our mail.  After getting mad at other people for messing us up so much, today we discovered the truth.

The USPS has sent back our debit cards (twice) and Hod's last paycheck (twice).  They just didn't know if we really lived here, so they sent those back.  Don't you worry, they let all of our bills, and our personal checks (that have all of our account information on them) come through, but the debit cards that have our faces on them, thus making it hard for strangers to use them, and the paycheck that you have to sign for and is only made out to one person, those they sent back.

How in the world were we supposed to know that there was a problem?  Our bank didn't actually have a record of sending out our cards so we just assumed that they hadn't.  Today we found out that our cards had just been sent back and had arrived on Friday.  Hod knows that his boss is really slow at sending checks, and even though he asked her to send them, and she claimed she did, that didn't mean anything.  Except she did send them!  And we could really use the $600 that she was sending us.  But of course USPS says that it isn't their fault.  Um... exactly how is it not your fault?  We filled out all of the paperwork you gave us.  Why do you get to pick what mail we get and what gets sent back?  If people send mail, you deliver it.  That is how it goes.  We pay for stamps, so we aren't asking for free services.  We told you we lived here.  You just decided that we were... kidding???

In other things I can complain about:

When we first moved into our apartment, we discovered that the carpets had never been cleaned.  Actually besides what the previous tenants did, nothing had been cleaned at all.  We got the carpets cleaned, but since all of our furniture was already here, they didn't clean under it.  We just can't ever rearrange our house.  Kind of a bummer, but fine.  (Well, except for the random day that we weren't allowed to be home for 7 hours because they were cleaning our carpets.  That was a bummer.)  We have lived here for 1 month, and already had 4 problems.  And some of them were pretty big... like the gas leak because of their faulty water heater connector that could have killed my daughter.  The smaller problems... well, they have both become a bit bigger.  The lame maintenance man who has come twice (we quite like the other guys) doesn't seem to know how to clean up after himself.  We work very hard to keep this house safe for #1.  She is still putting everything in her mouth, so we are very aware of choking hazards.  The first time he came to fix something, I caught her as she found a loose pointy, sharp, screw and tried to put it in her mouth.  Yesterday he came, and we assumed he had cleaned up, but no, later I had to pull a washer out of #1's mouth.  Wow... I didn't know that by having you come fix something at my apartment I was putting my daughter's life at risk.

Then, today, they turned off our water.  It was a scheduled thing, but they decided not to tell anyone because it would only be off for 20 min.  Of course those were the 20 minutes that Hod was getting ready.  Guess he'll just bust out the super scruffy look because without water he couldn't shave.  Luckily he had just finished washing himself in the shower when they turned it off.  And also lucky, that we have 2 bathrooms, thus making so we could use the bathroom twice.  As a pregnant lady, I need to know if you are going to make it so I can't use the toilet.

What in the world is going on here?  Why is everyone crazy?  I can only do so much, but when others are stupid and I get messed up because of it, I get a little ticked!!