I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

This is from one of my favorite bloggers.

So true...

Swamped

Between the bronchitis, on-and-off migraines, and being swamped at work, I haven't posted much. I really haven't had too much to say until now:

• I coughed a lot last week and felt pretty crappy, but the bronchitis turned out to be a relatively mild case for me.
• Work is absolutely insane - grants, United Way reports, coordinating our golf event, media/PR, etc.
• I am so completely sick of winter. I hate it. I hate the snow. I hate the blizzard warnings. I hate the below zero temperatures. I hate dragging the garbage and recycling bins through the snow. I hate the ice. I just hate everything about it.
• The one good thing that has happened recently is that I got to have lunch with Jason (who desperately needs to start a blog because the world is missing out on his interesting observations on life). We met in DeKalb and ate at Potbelly's. I'm not sure it's really called Potbelly's...I think the official name is Potbelly Sandwich Works, but that's just too much to say. Needless to say we had a most excellent time - eating lunch and chatting about, well, about everything. We've made a commitment to meet for lunch every other month. We met in November, but had to miss January due to the weather (see my "I hate winter" rant and because of busy schedules).
• Things are progressing smoothly with the pregnancy. I go to the doctor on March 3rd for my regular checkup and some bloodwork to test for possible birth defects. This is what I am most worried about. I want the baby to be healthy. I think about medications I had to take and the food I've been eating. Did I eat healthy enough? Did I take too much medicine? In a couple of more weeks, we will schedule the ultrasound...so excited about that. I think I've been relatively relaxed the last couple of months, which is difficult for me as I am one of the most anxious people alive.

I'm looking forward to things calming down a bit - better weather, the start of baseball season, good news from the doctor, etc. I also made the commitment to start writing again. I miss that creative process and I think it could do me some good...

Crap

I have bronchitis. I've been coughing a lot (mostly in the mornings, though) over the past week or so, but it never progressed into anything. I figured I was fighting off the germs everyone else was fighting, so I didn't think much of it. Then late this morning my chest and back started hurting, and when I walked and moved around, they hurt even more. I called the OB/GYN who told me to call my regular doctor right away. Long story short, they couldn't get me in until Thursday afternoon. That wasn't going to cut it, so I ran over to the clinic and was seen right away.

The only meds I can take are Tylenol for the chest/back pain and prescription Robitussin. No anti-inflammatory. No Prednisone.

I will say that I went an entire year without having bronchitis - that's a record for me!

(Heart)Burning Up...

Holy mother of God, do I have heartburn! I've somehow managed to escape it for the first 34 years of my life, but this morning, I awoke at 4 AM and felt awful. I did everything the pregnancy books told me to do - take some antacids and propped myself up in bed. I felt a bit of relief and fell asleep only to wake up a couple of hours later with the same pain.

I took a swing over to Walgreens a few minutes ago and bought some extra strength Mylanta. I didn't even get out of the parking lot before I tore open the box and pop two pills into my mouth. I definitely feel better than I did while waiting in line to pay.

I have no idea what triggered this, but I am going to blame it on the four bites of turtle cheesecake I had just before I went to bed. Usually, I don't eat much after dinner, but I went into the refrigerator to put away my bottle of water and I saw the cheesecake just sitting there...waiting for me. Four bites really isn't that much, and considering I really haven't had any sweets since finding out I was pregnant (except that bite-size Snickers I ate a couple of weeks ago), I figured it wouldn't do me much harm.

But maybe it wasn't the cheesecake. Maybe it was the Crystal Light lemonade I chugged after dinner (and before I went to bed). I couldn't help it...I'm so darn thirsty all the time. I follow the "drink after meals, not during meals" rule, but that makes me so thirsty afterward. How can you not chug something to drink? Believe me, it's nearly impossible.

It looks like I brought the pain on myself (whether it was the cheesecake or the lemonade). I've learned my lesson, although I'm positive this isn't my last encounter with heartburn.

A Little Too Close to Home...

Last night's news of the shooting at Northern Illinois University hit a little too close to home for me. I graduated from there in 2004 with an MA in sociology. That campus was my life for a number of years. I lived there. I studied there. I worked there. It was my home.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I watched everything unfold on television. There was the library and the student union. There was the building where my office was located. There was the sidewalk between my office and Cole Hall where I walked countless times back and forth to the library, to class, to my car.

And I wonder if I ever crossed paths with the gunman - we both studied in the same department with the same professors and we used the same research lab.

It's all so sad...

15 Weeks and Counting...

So I haven't taken any pictures of myself since becoming pregnant. Oh sure, I've had some taken at the holidays and my birthday, but no sideways shots because...well, there hasn't been much of a change in my profile. I finally took a picture this morning. If I didn't flatten out my shirt, I don't think it would be as noticable...kinda' looks like I had a big lunch or one too many donuts. Sorry that the pic is kind of dark.

So, here's my profile at a full 15 weeks (I start week 16 tomorrow)...

Snowed In

This seems like a particularly snowy winter...or maybe I should say a particularly annoying winter. For the past few weeks, we've had nothing but snow and then a deep freeze, followed by more snow and another deep freeze. On my birthday, the air temperature was 2 degrees and the wind chill was a balmy -30. Last week we had blizzard-like conditions. On Super Bowl Sunday, we got an additional 6 inches of snow (it took us 4 hours to get from Chicago to home), and last night/today we got bombarded again. The prediction has been between 10 and 14 inches. I haven't seen the totals yet, but let's just say it's a lot of freakin' snow. Oh yeah, and it's blowing everywhere.

Of course, I shouldn't complain because this is nothing compared to the horrific tornadoes in the south. My heart breaks when I watch those videos. I can handle the snow.

I worked from home today because I work from home every Wednesday (good timing on my part!). Patrick worked from home, too, which caused some issues since we both needed to conncect to the internet at some point. Plus, Duncan's school was cancelled, so I figured this day would be a total waste for me since I assumed the TV would be blaring all day. Well, the TV or Guitar Hero. I was wrong. I got TONS done and at 12 PM they actually left the house to go to lunch. Patrick said the roads were "passable," which isn't saying a whole lot aside from the fact that they're crazy for even trying to drive in this weather. Ever since my car spun out on the interstate a couple of weeks ago, I've been very cautious driving in the snow, which is insane since I grew up in the Chicagoland area and learned to drive in the winter, but I digress.

So we have a snow day on our hands. Not much of one for me since I've been working since 7:30 AM, but it still feels kind of cozy and safe in the house. If only I didn't have a migraine today...

Signs Of Life

We heard the baby's heartbeat this morning. It was surreal. I have been nervous over the past month thinking about the headaches and all the medication I had to take, and worrying over the fact that I'm 14 weeks pregnant and haven't gained an ounce. Is something wrong? Is the baby not thriving? But as soon as the nurse placed that device on my belly...there it was. A rhythmic woosh, woosh, woosh that I will never forget. I thought I would get teary-eyed, but instead I laughed. The more I listened, the more I laughed. And then Patrick laughed at me for laughing.

It feels real now.