Crohn's Disease SUCKS!

So, apparently, summertime for me means another Crohn's flare up. How exciting! UGH! I finally talked to the right person at the Gasteroenterology office so I could see the doctor. The 'wonderful' nurse there ordered blood work then apparently forgot about it. I called for the results after waiting for a week and she said, "oh, who ordered that for you?" WHAT!? She ordered it herself. My OB had already told me that my SED rate was more than twice the normal rate which usually means I am all inflamed somewhere. I also have some other exciting symptoms including lots of intense pain though it is usually just for a minute or two but it still HURTS! The other interesting thing is that being pregnant and having abdominal pain is really interesting. A couple of times my stomach will hurt and then I will get a little kick. Not great! :)
So, now I have to take steroids, specifically prednisone. I know what you are thinking, "Is that safe for the baby?" Believe me, my GI doc and I went over this before we even tried to have a baby. We talked about the pros and cons etc. And honestly, does ANYONE think that I made this decision lightly? It isn't like my doc was like, "Well, you aren't THAT sick and it might give your kid an extra head but its up to you." This is essentially keeping me out of the hospital again. Because honestly, if this doesn't work my doc said that will probably be the next step. I had to wait until I was healthy enough to get pregnant and it just turned out that I am having a flare up while I am pregnant. That is just how it is when you have a chronic disease. It isn't all that great at 26 to have to deal with all of this but oh well.
So, now that I am on steroids I hope that I don't have too many negative side effects. I am doing a "short burst" of four weeks of steroids. After this week I already start tapering off. It is a pretty small dose but I am really looking forward to the relief. Still, its not like I am not moody and emotional enough just from the pregnancy hormones, now with 'roid rages too, WATCH OUT! Poor Chad. Also, I was already super stressed out about weight gain from pregnancy and now add steroid weight gain. I don't want to be one of those humpty dumpty fat pregnant people. I am still looking kinda cute, I don't have cankles (calf-ankles) yet and I was hoping it would stay that way. I guess I have to worry more about getting better, life goes on.
So, any prayers would be appreciated but don't worry too much. Let's just hope the steroids work quickly, that they are a temporary solution, and that this is my last bout of Crohn's while I am pregnant with Mouser!

"You're lucky your house didn't blow up!"

That is a DIRECT QUOTE from the poison control guy I called today. Thanks for the reassurance buddy, really comforting. I hope I get to talk to you when my kid swallows windex in a few years!

Okay, so apparently one of us turned a burner last night on our oven without knowing it. That means that gas flooded into our house all night last night. We didn't know until morning because we were in our room with the door shut and the sliding door open all night. When I went into the kitchen this morning the smell hit me like a ton of bricks. We had the whole house open in a matter of minutes and it cleared out pretty quickly. We opened the windows all day while we left and now the house seems fine. When I got home I wanted a snack but then I was worried about if the food was contaminated so I called poison control (I didn't know who else to call!) As you can see the operator was nice but less than comforting.

I am sure you are all wondering, what about the baby! Well, at the urging of my mom I called the OB today about the gas leak and I figured they would say, okay, let us know if you have any change in symptoms. NOPE! I was in East Lansing at a conference when they FINALLY found my chart, took me off hold and asked how soon I could come in. SHOOT! I didn't have my car and I was in the middle of this conference. So, my friend Casey threw me the keys to her van and off I went. It was an easy route to the doctor's office, I wasn't far away. Of course I had to wait awhile when I got there but good ole' Mouser was doing very well. The first think the ultrasound tech said was, "wow, he sure is moving!" Seems like a pattern when people see our baby! He is quite active! I am glad he is doing well and I didn't poison him with the gas!

So, that was my exciting day. A bit of an adventure but we all got through it. Praise be to God!

SCHOOL'S OUT!

School's out for SUMMER! School's out for EVER! Well, maybe not but it is out for two and a half months! I know I will be busy this summer but Mouser (our baby) and I will get to sleep in soon and I couldn't be more excited! It was sad to say goodbye to my kids. I love them all so much and it is amazing to see the change they go through each year. I also love the end of the year because parents take the time to send such kind notes to show their appreciation. I always save the notes because there are plenty of days that I need a reminder that all of this hard work is for something important. It is so nice to hear that parents are happy and it makes me want to work even harder.

Ahhh, but for now we are going up to our parents' houses for Father's Day. I am going to do a bit of homework in the car but mostly it will be a nice relaxing weekend! Hooray!

Here he is

I am sure that pic looks terrible but the formats are all messed up. I hope you can see it!

It's a BOY!

Okay, so I stopped home to plug my phone in (too many calls to make) and I had 30 seconds to stop by and say, it is a BOY! I am having a son! I can't believe it. Also, apparently he is huge. 95th percentile! WHOO HOO! Giant baby! Hahahaha! I might not be so excited later! :) Everything looked good and healthy and we are excited to welcome our little one in about 19 weeks!

Too Excited to Sleep!

Our big ultrasound starts in an hour and a half! I am SO excited! In fact I can't sleep any more. I can't wait to see our little mouser again. I will update later with how everything turned out, although it may not be until Sunday as we will be going to Detroit for the weekend.

Another Belly Shot!

So, I am just a day or so away from being 21 weeks pregnant. We have our big ultrasound on Friday morning. I can't wait to see our little Mouser again. I had a horrible dream last night that our baby was really weird looking, scary, and evil. It had sharp little claws and it kept scratching me, oh yeah, and it had 4 arms and 4 legs! FREAKY! The dream was just so creepy all around.
On the cooking front we had one of my favorites, Kraft Mac and Cheese! Oh man is it good! Chad has a secret that makes it better. Just add one slice of Kraft cheese ripped up in tiny pieces. It makes it even creamier!
I also made some french bread in a new way. On Memorial Day Chad and I went to my Aunt Pat's house and she had a loaf of french bread sliced lengthwise. She spread both sides with butter and sprinkled lots of parm on both sides. Then she put both sides together and put it in the oven. YUMMY! So, I made that too! Lots of carbs tonight. Oh well, my snack today was cucumbers and I DIDN'T eat the cookie that the kids had today for snack, that took some will power!
Chad and I also went on a walk tonight. I am trying really hard not to weigh 300 pounds when I give birth. I am hoping that I can gain an acceptable amount of weight. So far I am 2 pounds over the "ideal" weight gain schedule. All I can do is my best. I am sure there are plenty of people who have gained more than 30 pounds and have gone on to lead very successful lives! I just have to get over it and keep working!
I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

Homework and baby furniture

I would like to post something fun and exciting but mostly what I did today consisted of homework! At least I am getting a class done now so I only have to take two this summer! My class is pretty interesting and it isn't hard, its just time consuming and with working full time, keeping up with the house and gardens, preparing for the baby (i.e. sleeping), and getting the end of the school year wrapped up, time is the one thing that I am short on. Oh well, maybe it will make me a better teacher!
We started looking at nursery furniture today. Any suggestions on where we should go? We found a couple of sets that we like at Babies R' Us. I posted one of them below. We are just starting to look but luckily Chad and I have similiar tastes. We will have to see what we decide on eventually. We have plenty of time. We just were trying to figure out how much to budget for. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week! The big ultrasound is on Friday!