A New Mama

WooHoo!!  Guess who feels like a million bucks today!!!  There is nothing like some decent sleep to make one feel like a new Mama!  I had very little pain yesterday, but by the time I picked my daughter up from school, I was feeling like I'd been hit by a truck.  The lack of sleep for a few nights, plus the nerve pain, all served to simply exhaust me.  It was all I could do to stay awake through class last night!  I went to bed at 9:00 and just couldn't get comfortable.  So I removed my eye patch and readjusted my pillows, and lo and behold - save for being awakened by the boys at 1:00 AM - I slept ALL NIGHT!!!  No pain, no heating pad, no eye patch (which is really more uncomfortable than it sounds)!  WooHoo!!  I'm not suffering through blurry vision all morning, and my eye isn't burning.  I'll take it!  My mouth still doesn't work right, and my taste is still weird, but my eye is apparently getting better, so I'm taking that as a good sign that more healing is to come.  Oh, and I'm feeling more baby movements at random times, too.  "She" is fluttering around!  I'll keep y'all posted!

Good Heartbeat

My doctor appointment today went well.  The baby's heartbeat is very strong, and the midwife assured me that all the stuff I've got going on with this Bell's Palsy and the meds I'm taking are not affecting the baby.  She also encouraged me to continue taking the Valtrex that the ER prescribed last week.  Although my research showed it would do little to help, she indicated it might shorten the duration of this crap.  So I'll at least finish the bottle.  Anything to make this stuff go away faster is a plus at this point.  She also assured me that taking the extra pain meds wasn't going to hurt the baby, so I don't feel as bad taking them to sleep. 

THE BIG DAY IS SEPTEMBER 16TH!!!  

That's when we find out if we're pink or blue!  We are all hoping for pink, but, as my husband said yesterday, blue won't disappoint us, either.  So long as the little tyke is healthy, we're happy. 

That's all the news that is news right now.  I had a really rough night with pain last night, so I'm hoping for a better night tonight.  I hadn't gained any weight since my last appointment, either, so that was a good thing.  It's not so easy to eat right now - maybe that's a positive?  LOL!

When we do find out the sex next month, we shall figure out a really cool way to let everyone know.... so stay tuned!

Whiny Pot

So I finally broke down and had to call my OB's after hours number last night and ask for pain medication.  Y'all, this nerve pain, completely out of the blue on a normal afternoon, sent me to bed with two Tylenols and the heating pad, and it was still hurting an hour later when I decided to get up.  I cannot function well with the intense throbbing behind my ear and down my neck.  To make matters worse, something began to bother my eye, so I spent more than an hour last night, while waiting for Hubby to get home from a side job and take the kids, holding my eye shut and trying desperately to relieve the burning.  Not even the eye drops helped.  So yes, I'm complaining again about this crap that's taking a toll on not only my vanity, but my time with my children and my ability to function normally.  I don't normally take medications, not even pain meds, but I needed something if I was going to sleep last night.  The doctor called in some Hydrocodone for me, which did little for the actual pain (still Tylenol), but did put me in the twilight where my heating pad helped me drift off to sleep.  You can't take Hydrocodone in the third trimester due to the risk of the baby becoming addicted and having respiratory issues at birth, so I am seriously hoping this mess goes away before I hit the third trimester.  Else, there will be nothing I can take.

Anyway, other than that, the pregnancy is going fine.  I'm feeling more and more baby flutters lately, which is reassuring.  We are getting close to the big day of finding out the sex.  As soon as I know when the ultrasound will be, I'll let y'all know.

Please keep praying for me?  Being unused to illness (and very thankful for that) renders me a complete whiny pot when I can't get something under control!

OVER It.

Well, I'd like to post something happy and encouraging this morning, but instead I'm choosing to complain.  Why?  Because I need to, and this is my only venue to do so.

Did I mention how much Bell's Palsy sucks?

Yes, the paralysis is inconvenient and annoying.  Yes, I get tired of people staring at me when I speak.  Yes, it'd be nice if I could blink my eye properly, so it didn't burn half the time.  But all of that stuff is temporary (hopefully) and cosmetic.  What is really irritating me is the pain.

I am sitting at day 10 of this crap, and I was up half the night last night with terrible pain from my ear all the way down my neck.  Pain that I can take nothing for except Tylenol - which did nothing.  Pain that could've been alleviated days ago if I could've taken the steroids and the anti viral med and the ibuprofen.  Pain that was so painful, I finally got frustrated about 1:00 this morning and threw both my eye patch (necessary to keep my eye closed for sleep) and my heating pad in the floor, nearly in tears. 

I knew at work yesterday that I was hurting, but it wasn't debilitating.  It was an annoying, intermittent ache that I could work through.  But when I tried to lie down and sleep last night, holy cow - and yikes!  It wasn't childbirth kind of pain, but it wasn't too far from it, either.  I did call my OB yesterday and ask her about having pain this far into the palsy.  She indicated it was nothing to worry about and that I should "start to feel better soon."

And that may very well be, but I can't help but wonder if I'm still having this terrible pain, is the inflammation and injury to the nerves getting worse instead of better?  I honestly don't remember having this much pain with the Bell's Palsy the last times I had it.  Granted, I was younger and not pregnant and could take all the meds.  But y'all, this is really frustrating.  I am really concerned that, since this is my 3rd go with this stuff, and I can't take the all important steroids to quickly reduce the nerve inflammation - I could very well have lifelong permanent impairment!  Especially since this pain seems to be returning rather than going away.

All I can do is give it time.  I know that.  And I would much rather risk permanent impairment than take something that could possibly harm this baby.  But I have to say, I am OVER Bell's Palsy.  So over it.  Even as I type, I have this dull, intermittent ache behind my right ear.  Unfortunately, since Bell's Palsy is such a relatively rare condition, not even Dr Google has a whole lot of useful information for me right now, and that's frustrating.  I can usually Google anything and find a satisfactory answer.

Well, I guess I'll stop whining for now.  Y'all say a prayer for me, though, will ya?  I sure could use this crap to go away sooner rather than later.

Suckfest

So, can I just whine out here for a minute?  Look, I know that other people have and are suffering through terrible ordeals, persecutions, personal tragedies and great deals of pain.  Bell's Palsy doesn't exactly come under any of those headings, and I can't honestly say I'm "suffering" with it.  But can I just mention, one last time, what a huge suckfest this is? 

The first time I had this, I came home with it from summer camp at 14.  Mom thought I had just picked up one of those little teenage "quirks" and only realized it was something more serious and took me to the doctor after we'd been home for several days.  The doctor chewed her up one side and down the other, saying the condition can be permanent if left untreated.  Mom felt bad.

So, when I began exhibiting the same symptoms during my freshman year of college, down in Florida, I got myself to the closest urgent care center and scored some steroids and still dealt with this mess for another 2 or 3 months once the semester was over.

However, during both of those times, I was a kid.  Happy go lucky.  Not real worried about it, other than the cosmetic issues.  I didn't HAVE to function.  It was mildly embarrassing, and I'm sure I groused about it, but it was quickly gone with very few lasting effects.

Now, though, I have to live my life.  I have to go to work and deal with the public every 5 minutes.  I have to answer the phone and give directions.  My kid started kindergarten this week.  I had to take him and meet his teacher and his classmates.  Another one starts high school tomorrow.  I had to explain to 20 different coworkers yesterday what this is and no, I don't know exactly why I have it, and I hope it goes away soon.  And since I don't know who I'll be working with today, I'll likely have to re-explain it all again.

Anyway, I just wanted to vent for a minute about the less beautiful parts of pregnancy.  Here in my 2nd trimester, I'm supposed to glow and bounce and be the pretty little pregnant princess (HA!).  Instead, half of my mouth, my tongue, my FACE doesn't work!  Try sucking a straw or spitting out your toothpaste with only half your mouth!  Oh, and I can't taste anything on that side, either, so buying food is simply uneconomical. 

I know, I know, it's temporary (let's hope), and I should start getting back to normal in a few weeks.  And thankfully, that awful nerve pain is just about gone.  And my hubby is actually being really sweet and supportive and feels bad for me.  But still.

It sucks.