Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Be Careful What You Ask For
As I mentioned in a previous post, Stephen and I were at the beach this weekend with two of my closest friends and their families. Quinn and Meriwether were so cute and really loved the sand...especially eating it! You all have been dying to see more belly pictures, but I don't know if you are prepared for this. As a note of caution, put your sunglasses on right now because you are about to be blinded by my whiteness!
The Before and After
Stephen and I LOVE our house and our blessed to have found such a great home to start our family. For the past three years we have slowly been upgrading and renovating both the inside and outside of the house. We have just completed one of our major outside projects and had the house painted. Enjoy the before's and after's of the journey of our house.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Hits Keep Coming
Well it has been another eventful day at the Crigler household. Stephen and I got to go to the beach this weekend and spend time with two of my closest girlfriends from Atlanta, Laura and Jen, and their families. We had a great weekend and so much fun...up until last night. Beginning at around 9:30 last night the abdominal pain that had sent me to the doctor for the first time started to come back. I wasn't suprised or concerned, just uncomfortable. I decided I would go to bed and I was sure it would get better. I was up several times during the night with pain and having to go to the bathroom but was able to manage it. I finally woke up at about 4:30 and I knew something was not right. I tried to lay in the bed and see if I could find a position where it would not hurt. After 15 minutes, I woke Stephen up and told him something was wrong. We called the paging service at the doctor's office and they said to go to the ER. I informed them we were four and a half hours out of town and they said to go to the nearest ER. I really didn't want to try and find an ER in a city I didn't know, with Drs I didn't know, so we gambled and packed up our stuff and started driving home. We got on the road at around 5:30am.
Stephen was a very good, safe, yet aggressive driver and got us to Birmingham in 4 hours. My pain level was continuing to really increase as we were driving and I was in a good deal of pain. I called my dad at around 7:30am and he was trying to help me and do some diagnosising over the phone. We really thought that I might have appendicitis based on the location and severity of the pain. We made it to the Birmingham at around 9:30ish and went straight to the hospital where my dad met us. We went straight to labor and delivery and they got me back and on a monitor right away. They were so nice and helpful and really took good care of me. They had me give a urine sample and took my blood and started watching me and baby crigler. Baby Crigler had been very active the entire time we were on the road and I told Stephen that this was the first time that I was more scared for myself then I was for him. He looked great on the monitor and made sure to put on a show by kicking the monitor almost continuously.
They told me that they were going to take me down to ultrasound and see if they could see my appendix. They took me down there and even let Stephen and my dad be in the room with me as they were doing the ultrasound which was very nice. They started the ultrasound and checked out my appendix which they could not find...a very good sign. If the appendix is not visible, then it means it is not inflamed. She then told me we were going to check my ovaries and bladder, etc. She asked me to push on the area were it was hurt. I showed her were and she started checking it out. As soon as she pushed down on it with the wand it brought tears to my eyes it hurt so bad. On the screen we could see this big white thing and we knew that it was not something normal. In fact, it was so big I thought I was looking at my actual ovary. She told me that she was on my ovary and I was like what is that big white circle thing. Dad told me that it was a hemoblahblahblah cyst. Basically I had a cyst that had bleed into itself and had grown to an inch. Which definitely would explain the pain. It was so big it was taking up almost half of my right ovary. After we saw that, we were convinced that that was what had been causing the tremendous amount of pain.
Luckily the radiologist was still at the hospital and he was able to read the ultrasound while they were getting me back up to the observation room. They called the doctor on call and told her all of the test results and then I was able to go home. I have been contracting for the past two weeks and they were able to monitor some contractions while I was hooked up. I could feel them, but they were not painful. The doctor decided that they were not enought to make me dialate and I didn't need a cervical exam because sometimes that can cause more problems then it solves. I am a little nervous that I am contracting this much this early, which the nurse did say was unusual but not unheard of based on everything that had been going on with me. I am going to watch them and see if I can figure out any kind of triggers or pattern. The sad news is that there is nothing they can really do for me because it is something that has to resolve on its own. They said either the cysts will rupture and the pain will immediately go away or it will just gradually re-absorb and the pain will start to lessen as it gets smaller and my body gets used to the pressure.
So that is the next chapter of what is turning out to be a very difficult second trimester. Please pray that the contractions completely go away once the pain has subsided and that Baby Crigler will stay safe,healthy and happy until his due date. Please pray for me that I a) don't loose my mind worry about all of this :) and b) am able to get past this and get back to enjoying my pregnancy.
Stephen was a very good, safe, yet aggressive driver and got us to Birmingham in 4 hours. My pain level was continuing to really increase as we were driving and I was in a good deal of pain. I called my dad at around 7:30am and he was trying to help me and do some diagnosising over the phone. We really thought that I might have appendicitis based on the location and severity of the pain. We made it to the Birmingham at around 9:30ish and went straight to the hospital where my dad met us. We went straight to labor and delivery and they got me back and on a monitor right away. They were so nice and helpful and really took good care of me. They had me give a urine sample and took my blood and started watching me and baby crigler. Baby Crigler had been very active the entire time we were on the road and I told Stephen that this was the first time that I was more scared for myself then I was for him. He looked great on the monitor and made sure to put on a show by kicking the monitor almost continuously.
They told me that they were going to take me down to ultrasound and see if they could see my appendix. They took me down there and even let Stephen and my dad be in the room with me as they were doing the ultrasound which was very nice. They started the ultrasound and checked out my appendix which they could not find...a very good sign. If the appendix is not visible, then it means it is not inflamed. She then told me we were going to check my ovaries and bladder, etc. She asked me to push on the area were it was hurt. I showed her were and she started checking it out. As soon as she pushed down on it with the wand it brought tears to my eyes it hurt so bad. On the screen we could see this big white thing and we knew that it was not something normal. In fact, it was so big I thought I was looking at my actual ovary. She told me that she was on my ovary and I was like what is that big white circle thing. Dad told me that it was a hemoblahblahblah cyst. Basically I had a cyst that had bleed into itself and had grown to an inch. Which definitely would explain the pain. It was so big it was taking up almost half of my right ovary. After we saw that, we were convinced that that was what had been causing the tremendous amount of pain.
Luckily the radiologist was still at the hospital and he was able to read the ultrasound while they were getting me back up to the observation room. They called the doctor on call and told her all of the test results and then I was able to go home. I have been contracting for the past two weeks and they were able to monitor some contractions while I was hooked up. I could feel them, but they were not painful. The doctor decided that they were not enought to make me dialate and I didn't need a cervical exam because sometimes that can cause more problems then it solves. I am a little nervous that I am contracting this much this early, which the nurse did say was unusual but not unheard of based on everything that had been going on with me. I am going to watch them and see if I can figure out any kind of triggers or pattern. The sad news is that there is nothing they can really do for me because it is something that has to resolve on its own. They said either the cysts will rupture and the pain will immediately go away or it will just gradually re-absorb and the pain will start to lessen as it gets smaller and my body gets used to the pressure.
So that is the next chapter of what is turning out to be a very difficult second trimester. Please pray that the contractions completely go away once the pain has subsided and that Baby Crigler will stay safe,healthy and happy until his due date. Please pray for me that I a) don't loose my mind worry about all of this :) and b) am able to get past this and get back to enjoying my pregnancy.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Another Update
I love my doctor. He is the most personable, friendly, caring OBGYN I have ever had. That being said, I don't always love his practice. It is big and you are sometimes passed around without people always feeling a vested interest in your care. These past two weeks have been stressful and a bit of a roller coaster ride. I have not felt great, I have been scared, confused, and stressed out. I have had a really hard time getting the answers and information I needed and I typically would get off each call more confused then before I got on the call. I went in for what will be the final "emergency" appointment this morning. Ater I got the call about the Group B Strep infection in my bladder, I had a lot of questions that I have had a hard time getting answered and I have still been having a lot of pain. This is the final read on the situation. I do have Group B strep in my bladder, and we have decided that with a two year+ history of undiagnosed pelvic pain, that I probably have been harboring this infection for some time and it flares up periodically. When I have my urine tested when I go to the doctor it doesn't show the traditional signs of infection. It is common for Group B Strep to not show those kinds of signs. The problem with my case is that because I am PCN allergic, I have a higher likelihood of my strain of Group B Strep being resistant to my antibiotic. This is the part where I don't like big practices...there was apparently some miscommunication between the doctor and the lab and they didn't test my culture for sensitivity to certain antibotics. So basically they are not sure if I am still having symptoms because I have a resistance to that drug or if the drug just hasn't had time to work yet. We have sent out another culture to try and figure it out.
So back to loving my doctor, he answered ALL of my questions (and there were ALOT of questions) and I feel confident that we are doing the right thing and I am not in any danger and neither is the baby. Now if we can get my bladder to stop spasming (seriously being 4 times in one hour!) and make the pain and pressure go away then we will be all set. Phew! Hopefully this will be the last time I have to go to the doctor's office without a regularly scheduled appointment.
So back to loving my doctor, he answered ALL of my questions (and there were ALOT of questions) and I feel confident that we are doing the right thing and I am not in any danger and neither is the baby. Now if we can get my bladder to stop spasming (seriously being 4 times in one hour!) and make the pain and pressure go away then we will be all set. Phew! Hopefully this will be the last time I have to go to the doctor's office without a regularly scheduled appointment.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Mystery is Solved
Well it appears that the mystery of my abdominal pain has been solved. The doctor just called and apparently I have a Group B Strep infection in my bladder. The first time I went into the doctor they did not do a full urinalysis, which irritates me a little bit, but they did do one the second time. Now that I am a known Group B Strep carrier, a few things will happen. First of all, I have to be on antibiotics right now to try and cure the infection in my bladder. I am going to pick up a weeks round of antibiotics at lunch time so I can go ahead and start taking them today. The nurse assured me that they will not hurt the baby. I then will have to be on IV antibiotics prior to go into labor. I know that they need to treat me before (or immediately after) my water breaks, so I have a feeling this means they will not let me go into labor naturally. I might be a candidate for being induced. Of course I am allergic to the main drug they use to treat Group B Strep, Penicillin, so I am going to have to be on some alternate drug. I have my 22 week appointment on Thursday and Stephen is going to come with me to make sure that we understand everything and have all of our questions asked. The nurse assured me that my infection was not reaching the baby right now because he is in the membrane, but I want to hear those words come directly out of the doctor's mouth! I will keep you posted and let you know what they tell us on Thursday.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Half Way There
I have been putting off posting because I wanted to put up a picture of the belly at the half way point, but we haven't gotten a chance to take a picture yet, so I will post without it. Poor Stephen has been slammed with his clients and trying to get their taxes done, so I haven't even gotten to look at the computer in the past few weeks. Luckily there is a light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully he will finish up his last two tonight and no extensions will be necessary. I know he has been working so hard and I appreciate it so much because we are going to get to use that money to buy furniture for Baby Crigler's nursery.
As you can see, Baby Crigler does not have a name yet. We have two that we really like, but Stephen won't commit to one yet because he's afraid that once he does it is set in stone. Does he know his wife or what? Baby Crigler continues to do well and is a very busy boy. He is constantly on the move and I often wonder where exactly he thinks he is going in there. My belly is definitely growing, so much so that it appears that Baby Crigler has pulled one of my abdominal muscles on my right side. I went in to the doctor for it yesterday and they didn't seemed too concerned, but they took a bunch of bloodwork anyways. I am pretty uncomfortable, but am definitely hanging in there. You forget how often you use your abdominal muscles until you notice them every time you do anything.
Stephen and I had a great Easter weekend. He surprised me on Valentine's Day with tickets to go see Wicked, so we got to do that on Friday night. It was awesome and even he admitted that he liked it. On Saturday we went to register for Baby Crigler at Babies R Us. Our dear friend Katie came and helped us and she was a lifesaver!!! I can't imagine us having to figure all of that stuff out for ourselves. I have been working on my Target registry and she is going to help me with that too. We are so blessed to have such good friends who are so excited about Baby Crigler's arrival. On Sunday we went to Easter service and then got to celebrate Mary Laslie's 1st birthday at an Easter lunch. My parents came over for Easter dinner, so needless to say we did a lot of eating on Sunday. I will post pictures of everything soon.
As you can see, Baby Crigler does not have a name yet. We have two that we really like, but Stephen won't commit to one yet because he's afraid that once he does it is set in stone. Does he know his wife or what? Baby Crigler continues to do well and is a very busy boy. He is constantly on the move and I often wonder where exactly he thinks he is going in there. My belly is definitely growing, so much so that it appears that Baby Crigler has pulled one of my abdominal muscles on my right side. I went in to the doctor for it yesterday and they didn't seemed too concerned, but they took a bunch of bloodwork anyways. I am pretty uncomfortable, but am definitely hanging in there. You forget how often you use your abdominal muscles until you notice them every time you do anything.
Stephen and I had a great Easter weekend. He surprised me on Valentine's Day with tickets to go see Wicked, so we got to do that on Friday night. It was awesome and even he admitted that he liked it. On Saturday we went to register for Baby Crigler at Babies R Us. Our dear friend Katie came and helped us and she was a lifesaver!!! I can't imagine us having to figure all of that stuff out for ourselves. I have been working on my Target registry and she is going to help me with that too. We are so blessed to have such good friends who are so excited about Baby Crigler's arrival. On Sunday we went to Easter service and then got to celebrate Mary Laslie's 1st birthday at an Easter lunch. My parents came over for Easter dinner, so needless to say we did a lot of eating on Sunday. I will post pictures of everything soon.
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