THE INTERNAL REPORT

This morning was my 34 week appointment. Generally at 34 weeks you get your first internal exam and testing for group B strep. Oh so fun. Internal report is basically nil right now (no dilation), which is just great, since we want this baby girl to stay put for at LEAST another 2.5 weeks (which would make her full term, at 37 weeks), though I'm willing and prepared to go the full 40 weeks (I think)! My blood pressure was good (124/78) and my weigh-in was interesting - I actually LOST a pound in the past 2 weeks. I guarantee you I never lost even an ounce when I was pregnant with James, so this surprised me. The doc said it's most likely because I've been sick. Speaking of which, I think I'm finally on the mend... It all started about 1.5 weeks ago with a cough and runny nose. I had thought allergies. When Claritin didn't make any difference and the cough had escalated to the point that it hurt my belly muscles to do so, I realized it must be a cold (or some sort of infection), so my concerned husband made me an appointment with our general practitioner to ensure I'd go get checked out. The doc couldn't find anything wrong, but he prescribed a z-pack "to prevent infection", just in case. I finished those meds on Sunday night, by which point the cough was so bad that I felt like my right eyeball was popping out of its socket every time I coughed. My right ear hurt so much that I figured it HAD to be infected. My face felt tender to touch (like I'd been punched - at least I assume that's what the feeling is similar to, since I've never actually been punched in the face). And then my jaw/teeth started to hurt. Oh wow was last night ever a bad night! I have never felt so much pressure in my head before... To quote my friend Christina, "being sick and pregnant is the pits". Amen! I seriously sailed through my pregnancy with James, but having a baby sharing his daycare germs with me AND adding in the fact that my body hadn't fully recovered from my first pregnancy has definitely made things more "interesting" this time around. I think I've been sick with SOMETHING at least once per month since October...

Anyway, the new antibiotics, pain meds, and cough suppressant are doing their job, and I'm finally feeling some relief. Now if only we can all get some sleep tonight (James was literally awake from 10:30pm-4:00am last night, and he only napped for about 3 hours total today)! Here I am today at 34 weeks 4 days (not much change, if any, from 32 weeks), still smiling: