What's Been Going On | Baby & Other Life Stuff | Weeks 22-26

Yep. That's my life summed up in a single picture. LOL Well, I should clarify: it's how I *feel* most of the time but not actually what I'm doing. Wouldn't THAT be nice if I could lounge around in bed all day long, eh?

CAVEAT 10/6/18: This is a bit outdated. As of today, I am 30w4d. I just realized that I never finished this post or published it! Sorry!

For those of you who have somehow found yourself displaced and confused, not knowing quite how you found your way to my hidden and jumbled blog, let me give you a bit of background info:

I'm Monica. Mama to 5. Pregnant with number 6. I homeschool my kiddos. My husband and I own and operate a construction & specialty-trade business that we started with absolutely NO money (nor have we ever taken out a loan for it!) a few years ago. Business has grown and we now have employees...but I am the one that does allllll of the office work. All. Of. It. (side note: to anyone who's thinking "oh, hey, it might be fun to start my own business. It's probably super easy peasy and much more laidback than working for someone else"....no. It's not. It is A LOT of work and responsibility to an extent that we never even imagined. But we think it's worth it.) I also have a web design hobby/side business that I keep thinking that I may take full time... I'm lucky to have 2 teenage-aged kids that help me with the littles and the housework A LOT. Seriously. They are a literal God send. And that, my new friends (we are friends, right? Please? Can we be friends? Whatever. I'm telling people that you're my bestie anyway)....like I was saying, that is me and my life. Welcome!

And because my weeks are all jumbled in my head, I *might* try to organize the timeline on here a bit but don't rely too heavily on that. mkay?

Week 22

On Saturday August 11, 2018 I woke up with a bad pain wrapped around my stomach. My arms also felt a little wonky but I honestly chalked that up to arthritis. Yeah. Just typing that makes me realize how much I am announcing that I am pretty much old. 

So, yep, I thought that my stomach pain was odd (and painful!) and that arthritis was attacking my arms...but that a little adjustment from my chiro would help. So off we went! He told me that he felt strongly that it was pinched nerves in my neck and back and sciatic nerve pain. I got adjusted and said that I felt better (always wanting to please the other person, ya know) and went on my merry way. But I could see the look of concern on my chiro's face as I waddled out of his office.

I was wrong. Very. Very. Wrong.

The pain got worse. The "arthritis" really began hurting. Down my arms. Into my fingers. Pain was radiating down my legs into my feet. Everywhere. I hurt so badly. I texted my midwife but I only told her that my stomach hurt...because I was still trying to convince myself that the rest was arthritis. She asked me if I thought it was round ligament pain and I said that maybe it was. She told me to take a bath with epsom salts...I told her that there was no way that I could fit in my little tiny bathtub. She LOLed and I LOLed and I ended the conversation with: Let's see how I feel in the morning.

I could barely sleep that night due to the pain that was wracking my entire body. I texted her the next morning and said that I didn't think it was round ligament pain but that I didn't want to go to a doctor just yet. She started asking questions...questions that involved things like "are you experiencing any weird rashes or skin changes?" and she may have mentioned the words "I don't think it's fibromyalgia but this is sounding weird" I freaked out a bit. Went back the chiropractor. 

He bumped me to the front of a very long waiting list of patients to see me immediately. He stood by his belief that it was pinched and irritated nerves. That the pain was being caused mainly by inflammation. Honestly, I wanted to believe him but this pain was BAD.

Guys, when I tell you it was bad, let me elaborate: I couldn't get out of bed by myself because I couldn't support my weight on my arms. I couldn't hold a fork or a pen. I had trouble holding toilet paper after going to the bathroom. I laid in bed for 2 days. The picture at the top of this post? That's from when I was stuck in bed. I could barely walk...and even then someone had to help support me as I hobbled along. I was terrified that this was going to be permanent.

But then...after a few days and one more adjustment....the pain and numbness slowly began easing away. But my midwife was still concerned. She came over to draw blood in order to begin testing for autoimmune diseases. As she said, at least we can start ruling things out, in case there IS a problem.

About a week later, I was almost all the way better! To tell you the truth, I was relieved because I had to fill out and sign everyone's paychecks and paperwork for work and by Friday, I was able to hold a pen well enough to do just that! And a few days after that, my midwife let me know that all of my tests came back perfectly fine, apart from a smidge of anemia.

My chiropractor was right the whole time! It was just some stupid pinched nerves!!

Now let's start with the lumping together of the weeks and goings-on, shall we?

Baby Isabel is currently 16 months still nursing although she's only nursing about once or twice a day, usually around nap/bedtime.

Heartburn has been a nightly occurrence and it sucks. And I'm being a big ol' baby about it. I know that taking some Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar will help nip the heartburn in the bud...but I can't bring myself to drink it right now. lol

On August 23, 2018 I got a phone call from Ohio. My grandpa Jim had suffered a heart attack. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but he ended up passing away on August 24th. We packed up a few bags and the kids and the dogs and tried to make it in time to say goodbye...but we didn't make it in time. We stayed in Ohio for about a week so that we could attend his services.

And that about sums up weeks 22-26 of my pregnancy with Baby Mistletoe!