Hmmm...wrote this last week and thought I published it!
Last week seemed really long and really busy! The highlight of the week took place on Wednesday morning when John and I had an appointment with the base chaplain. There we were, sitting in his office talking about playing golf in Bagram when suddenly I felt my stomach flip-flop. I was trying to convince myself that I was not going to vomit when the next thing I know, I'm in a scene from The Exorcist. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I projectile vomited all over the poor man's office. John insists that I did not actually hit the priest, but I have my doubts. The priest managed to provide a trash can, but not before the carpet had taken a lot of damage. I have never been so embarrassed in all of my life (or so I thought)! John and the priest managed to help me along to the bathroom. The priest (I can't remember his name) asked me if I thought I had eaten something bad. I replied that I was pregnant and he said he was wondering, but didn't want to say anything. That gave me a laugh! He was very kind about the whole thing, did not try to exorcise me or anything, and actually hugged me! And then arranged for his carpet to be cleaned.
When we got home, my face was covered in petechiae, which has never happened to me before. The vessels in my eyes were also bleeding. I was concerned enough that my bp was elevated to call Dr. O. She assured me that I was probably fine and to stay home and rest. Which I did and I felt better. The whole thing was very traumatic, to say the least! Thank goodness the petechiae faded enough to be covered by foundation, but my eyes still look like I have danced with Mary Jane in the recent past.
We had another OB appt on Friday, and Denali was finally vertex again! Hooray for her! She's decided she wants to be born after all! At least for now. As far as I can tell she hasn't flipped and her ginormous feet are doing their work on my ribs and diaphragm. Her fluid looked good and I'm assuming she's still swallowing, which is fantastic! I'm so proud of her because swallowing is a difficult thing to do. Other than that, she's just been hanging out. I've been talking to her about Thanksgiving and her family and Christmas and describing the snow to her.
I've actually been a lot more uncomfortable this past week. I've been having a lot of contractions and pelvic pain, but no signs of labor being imminent. Dr. O asked me if I wanted her to check for dilation, but I politely declined. If I'm dilated, I don't want to know. Also, those darn checks hurt! Why didn't any of my patients tell me?
In addition to being uncomfortable, I've also been irritable. Possibly there is a correlation. I try hard not to use curse words and I think I have failed in my endeavors every single day. I've also yelled at John for having large feet and getting in my way. I realized what a preg-zilla I was being yesterday when I told him I was going to make him a surprise. He had a seriously terrified look on his face and asked if he should be scared. ("Surprise! I made you nerve gas!") That man has infinite patience. I would have murdered me and hid my body in the crawl space by now!
I recently had the craziest pregnant lady idea ever. I decided that I wanted to do maternity portraits, so I arranged for a session with the photographer from NILMDTS. When Janna called to arrange the session, she asked me what I wanted and I said I pictured us outside in the snow. There was a pause, but then she reluctantly agreed, if the weather was good. We arranged to meet on Saturday. The day was clear, there was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and the temperature was above freezing! Perfect! Or so I thought. Let's just say that I have never been so cold since I moved from North Dakota. It was freezing! Even John, the self-proclaimed snowflake, was shivering! And still I soldiered on, determined to get the perfect picture! Even Denali was getting cold, I think. She was wiggling around like crazy! We weren't wearing coats in most of the shots! Finally, Janna announced that she had Raynaud's and she had to warm up. Poor lady could barely move her fingers. I felt like a jerk after that and apologized for my hormone-induced lunacy. She was very gracious about the whole thing. I'm so excited to see the pictures! Our blue lips and frostbitten extremities should add a really nice touch!
On Saturday night, we met with a doula, Cristen. I was very hesitant about the whole doula thing, but my therapist thought it would be a great idea. And then Cristen popped up. I'm so nervous about anyone seeing Denali and making fun of her and I was especially nervous because Cristen has never been involved with a perinatal death. However, once we started talking, I relaxed. We share a lot of the same views on childbirth. And she will be able to handle some of the details that I was stressing about, which is a HUGE relief! Also, I'm fairly stoic when it comes to my own needs and I know I will be focused 100% on Denali so it's nice that someone will keep me in mind. For instance, she asked me what I wanted to eat for my first meal post-op. It had not even crossed my mind, but thinking about it, hospital food will probably be a no-go with my diet. So little things like that will just make the experience a lot easier, I'm hoping.
John wanted his signature caramel mocha today, so we stopped by Starbucks. I was not really wanting coffee and I was looking at the various ceramic mugs while he ordered. A friend noticed us and said hi and when I waved, the shelf holding the mugs flew off of the stand and all of the mugs shattered on the floor. I just stood there, staring at them. I was completely stunned. A bunch of ladies who were enjoying their coffee came to my rescue and started picking up the shards and asked me if I was okay. They cleaned up the mess and a Starbucks employee came with a broom to clean up the tiny shards. I wanted to disappear into the floor. Usually I am the one who takes charge in such situations and I was horribly embarrassed. Maybe even more so than the puke-on-priest episode!
