sniderkin

Yesterday I woke up with even more facial paralysis than I had on Thursday, it came on gradually and seems to have been getting worse.  I can’t imagine it getting much worse than it is now though - I have almost zero muscle control on the left side of my face, I can only blink that eye if I blink both and really squeeze them shut - and even then it doesn’t always close.  I can no longer talk normally because the left side of my lips will not move at all, and to top it off, and eating and drinking is quite a chore because the left side of my mouth won’t open all the way, and I can’t close my lips on a glass (or a bottle especially) so I end up dribbling all over myself.  I can’t see out of my left eye (the muscle is relaxed and so it will not focus) and my right eye keeps getting tired and blurring out too, so periodically I find myself unable to see at all.  I just hope this goes away soon, all of it is frustrating, but the absolute worst part is not being able to see correctly.

Also - we’re not sure if I have the virus that causes Bells Palsy, or what happened really.  All of my blood work came back normal, my cat scan was normal, and I’m not sick at all.  Apparently Bells Palsy is a term used to describe damage to the 7th cranial nerve, which can occur any number of ways.  I wish I knew why this is happening.

In other news, Cavan has been growing quite a bit - I know this because of the newly discovered stretch marks on my belly.  All in the name of a healthy baby!  He’s still kicking around and seems to be just fine despite what’s happening to me, so there’s nothing to worry about.  I’m hoping to get to see him at the next appointment - supposedly he’s putting on his baby fat and looking more like he will when we meet him.

Today Shannon and I spent the entire day in the ER.  Don’t worry, Cavan is fine!  Mommy, however, seems somehow to have contracted Bells Palsy (a virus that gives stroke-like symptoms).  Because I’m pregnant I can not take the normal medications for it (or any medications for it) and will have to wait it out.  It can last anywhere from 2 weeks to a few months.  Here’s what happened:

Monday at lunch I noticed I couldn’t taste anything and my mouth felt numb.  I figured it was just my toothpaste (for sensitive teeth).  Later that day, my left eyebrow felt a little weird and my eye was twitching.  I wrote that off as stress.

Tuesday goes by, I still can’t taste anything but again I figure it’s just my toothpaste, so I buy a different kind.  Later that night I get a bloody nose for no reason at all, the second within a week.  I figure it’s just the dry air.

Wednesday, I still can’t taste anything and my mouth is still numb.  I’m not concerned.  Late afternoon my left eye gets very blurry and I kind of see double out of it - I figure something’s on my contact lens but when I try to clean it, my vision is still blurry.

Today (Thursday) my one day off from work, I wake up and shower.  While trying to put on my eye makeup I realize I can’t close my left eye without closing my right one too and the left side of my face feels numb.  I try to smile, the left side of my mouth won’t budge, the right side smiles normally.  I put in my contacts and notice I can’t see out of my left eye, so I take that one out and clean it again - still can’t see out of it.  My head is also killing me.  At this point I get a little worried, but Shannon’s in taking an exam so I just hang out at home until he gets back, then we go have lunch, at which point I tell him I think I need to go see a doctor.  I explain what’s happening (and he can see it on my face) and we go to the ER.  6 hours, bloodwork, a catscan, and a million questions and reflex/nerve tests later, I am diagnosed with Bells Palsy.  The doctors decide the treatment medication is not worth the risk to the baby, Shannon and I definitely agree.  The doctor mentioned keeping me overnight, and I said I really didn’t want to stay - I feel fine, aside of half of my face being asleep.  They finally let us go.

So, here I sit.  I have to keep putting eye drops in my left eye because it won’t close all the way, and Shannon says it’s not blinking either.  At night I have instructions to tape it shut so it doesn’t come open as I sleep.  I still can’t taste anything and half of my lips are numb so eating is a little weird, but Cavan is fine and this will pass in a few weeks.  I took Friday and next week off from work, I can’t read very well with just one eye and this will go away faster if I rest.  On the up side, with all this extra time on my hands I can finally haul laundry to the laundromat and write up thank you cards for everyone at the baby shower.

Thank goodness this won’t impact Cavan at all, I can deal with it as long as I know he’s just fine.  Happy and healthy kicking at my belly button.

Cavan is now a professional at kicking! I feel him all the time, but he’s still not forceful enough for Shannon to feel him kick through my belly. I had a 3 hour gestational diabetes test, which came back normal (yay!) so I can stop worrying about that! The nurse did a terrible job taking my blood though, and I have bruises up and down both arms, people probably think I’m a drug addict or something.

On Sunday we had Cavan’s baby shower, thrown by his Great Grandma Snider (who will just be Grandma Snider to him since the title is not taken). It was a lot of fun, Shannon’s Uncle Keith made us a cake and some cute little booties out of frosted twinkies as table decoration. I think we were all surprised, we didn’t know he could make a cake, much less decorate it so nicely!

We got to see a lot of people who we hadn’t seen in a long time, and some people I hadn’t met yet. It was nice to socialize and be together as a family. I was especially surprised by how many people showed up, most of them hadn’t even seen Shannon in years!

Cavan managed to get some great gifts, and his closet is filling up fast! Grandma Snider got him an adorable bouncie seat with zoo animals on it, an “all you could ever need to keep the baby clean” bath tub kit, and various other much needed goodies in addition to throwing such a great shower. Cavan also got a bunch of clothing (thank goodess - he won’t have to live naked after all!), blankets, towels, toys, a playpen, a carseat, a swing, a CD of lullabys (Aunt Patti must know that Mommy needs to study up on those!), a mobile, and lots of other things he’ll need when he finally gets here. We’re very thankful to everyone who came, and grateful for the gifts. Now I just need to find some time to send thank you cards!

Unfortunately, we forgot the camera (doh!) so we won’t have pictures online unless someone happens to send us some copies.

We also managed to buy a gently used changing table for $20 online, which we were very happy about because now we can put the money we saved toward other things baby will need.

Cavan’s next doctor appointment is on November 7, I’m not sure if we’ll get to see him again then or not. I think the appointment is just a check up to make sure everything is going well. I know he’s growing quickly because the abdominal muscles in my belly are very tight, and I’ve got the start of some stretch marks coming on (lucky me), I swear he’s grown since last week, my work shirts are suddenly tight in the belly! Also, I can now feel him moving near my belly button, whereas up until a few days ago, his movements were much lower.

We had another doctor appointment last Tuesday, Shannon couldn’t come to this one because he had class, but I got to see Cavan again. He’s growing quite a bit, and even kicked the ultrasound device so I got to see his little footprint perfectly on the screen. The tech didn’t get a picture of it for me though, which is too bad because it was so neat.  His heart rate was nice and strong, 138 BPM!

I’ve been feeling Cavan move and kick for awhile now, but he’s not very forceful. Every now and then he’ll kick pretty hard, but not yet hard enough for Shannon to feel. I suspect that Shannon will be able to feel him pretty soon, since his kicking is getting more and more forceful.

Since starting to drink a lot of electrolyte enhanced stuff, my fluid levels are almost back to where they should be. I have to keep drinking the stuff, but it’s good for Cavan, it gives him more fluid to swim in.

The pain in my abdomen was still bothering me quite a bit, so I told my doctor about it. We saw in the ultrasound that his head is right up against my cervix, pressing there which is pressing on nerves. Then on top of it I have round ligament pain right there too. If I stand or walk for too long (5 minutes) my abdomen hurts terribly and it feels like someone has poured hot or cold liquid down my leg. The doctor gave me some baby-safe muscle relaxers, I’ve been taking one every other night and they help so much. They ease the pain away and then relax the muscles, and it takes about a day for the muscles to tighten up again and get painful. I’m supposed to take the relaxers 3 times a day, but they make me very sleepy so that’s not an option.

In other news, people have started to notice I’m pregnant (and not just fat). My belly has gotten pretty round, and I feel like because of the pain in my abdomen and lower back, I waddle.

Today I go in for a 3 hour glucose test for gestational diabetes, we’ll see how that goes. Sitting in the hospital for 3 hours and having my blood drawn numerous times is not exactly how I wanted to spend my only day off. I’ll post back when I get the results from the test in a couple days.

I haven’t updated in a little while, work has been keeping me busy (and tired!)  I went in to the doctor for a follow up appointment to my low fluid levels on September 25, my fluids seemed a little better but still not “up to par.”  The doctor I saw wasn’t my regular one, and he insisted I have a one hour glucose test done because he linked my being thirsty all the time with the possibility of gestational diabetes.  My test results came back “a little high” so I have to do the 3 hour tolerance test.  I’m not sure when I can fit that into my schedule - the three hour test is one thing, but there’s also a 12 hour fasting period before the test that will be troublesome for me.  I have really low blood sugar normally, so if I fast for 12 hours I’m going to feel miserable and likely pass out.  Either way, I’ve got to fit that in sometime soon.

We got to see Cavan again at the last appointment, he was happily swimming around, opening and closing his hands and stretching his arms and legs a little.  He seems very calm on the ultrasounds, so maybe we’ll have a calm and quiet baby - hey, a girl can hope!

Our next appointment is Tuesday the 9th, I’ll have another ultrasound and a follow up doctor’s appointment.  Hopefully things will be looking better with my fluid levels and maybe we can get some insight about the cramping in my abdomen and the numb leg.  It makes work very painful, I try to sit as much as I can, but it’s just not possible to sit all day.

According to the baby growth calculators online - baby should be about 10 and a half inches long now, and weigh about 3/4 of a pound.  Over the next few months, he’ll be putting on a lot of fat and putting the finishing touches on his development.  I think I’ll add another ticker, a friend showed me some that have the growth charted on them and those are pretty neat.

I think I can feel Cavan moving now.  I’ve had a weird sort of poking in my abdomen, but it’s so quick I can never tell what it is.  I can feel what I think is him kicking my bladder for sure, but so far I can’t feel him by puting my hands on my belly yet.  The other evening though, I was laying in bed trying to get back to sleep and I felt a lot of fluttering - I assume he was having a disco party or something, again though - I felt my belly and I couldn’t feel it with my hands.  Soon I hope, I know Shannon is just as anxious as me to feel him moving around regularly!

I have a baby shower coming up, I’m pretty excited.  Cavan needs pretty much everything still - I’ve bought about 8 outfits, but time and money are short so I’m starting to feel ill-prepared.  My aunt is also throwing a baby shower for me in December, so between the two showers, hopefully it’ll relieve some financial stress of buying all the little things.  As of right now, I’ve only been picking up an outfit or two when I catch them on sale, and I’m worried that he won’t even fit into the newborn items I’ve picked up - I have no idea how big most babies are or how fast he’ll grow, so variety is the key!

Shannon and I saw a book at the bookstore not too long ago, it was for mothers - a book of nursery rhymes.  That’s something I’ll definitely have to pick up - our mother never really told us the stories, and I can honestly say I don’t know a single one all the way through.  This mommy’s got some studying to do!