Yes. And when I get more income, I will. I have a 7 year old and sitters run $10+/hr. I do have an auntie that watches the little guy over the weekends when I want her to, but she’s 1.5 hours away, so it’s quite a drive/commitment.
You’re right. I should…make friends.
>pained look<
The nice thing is that I am getting $4,200 back on my tax return so I can go to the dentist and maybe buy a new couch. Our place is pretty sparse and I never invite folks over. I think my income status really does make me want to stay a loner.
But…hopefully it will soon change! I had a meeting at the place I applied for a job at and since the lady didn’t see me ralphing in her bathroom, I have a good shot at the job!
Just a minor point - if your son had a stomach bug a few days ago, it’s likely that you had it too, hence the sudden significant puking, and feeling so drained. I had a (very minor) stomach bug a few weeks ago, and I was surprised it took a solid week for me to get energy back.
Be gentle with yourself. Drink/eat what you can, when you can. Meet your son’s needs, meet your needs. Don’t beat yourself up about not being able to do more. Those can wait. Distract yourself as needed, and him, too.
I feel like a moron, but I didn’t even think of that. I just assumed it was pregnancy related…and I thought my son’s bug was related to something he ate (he has a soy allergy). That does calm my fears a little. Thank you.
I’m going to try to leave the house tomorrow. We’re desperate for groceries and I’m feeling a little flush with the impending $4,200 deposit. (Seriously, file your taxes early - my estimated deposit day is 2/8!)
Hey Cit, I hope you have a nice day out. Treat yourself to something at the grocery store (I still say booze wouldn’t be the crime of the century, if you’re that way inclined!) and maybe take a sick bag just in case
Can you do us a favour and check in every so often, so we know you’re not collapsed somewhere? This anonymous-Scottish-stranger here does actually care about how you’re getting on!
I plan on it! I was hoping to maybe get my hair re-highlighted, but my rent increases this month…still…I’ve been very scrupulous with funds…so even SETTING a hair appointment would probably make me feel better. I got a new hairdryer the other day. I mean, it’s only proper to get new highlights to compliment it, yes?
I appreciate the nice words. I’m actually on The Dope right now because I woke up at 3:30AM (an hour ago) with menstrual-like cramps. It’s kind of like period cramps or maybe the kind of cramps you get if you took a laxative and your body doesn’t like the idea. I took a Vicodin, but it hurts. Sorry if it’s TMI. For the 10,000th time, I Google signs of ectopic pregnancy, but if I’ve been having cramping on/off for 3 weeks, it has to be something else.
Right?
I was so positive I was hemmoraghing when I went to the bathroom, but nope.
Thought about turning on Audible and taking a hot bath, but it sounds like a lot of work.
Right now, booze sounds like an amazing idea! I wish you ladies all lived in Denver!
Hi from a very awake aussie - you sounded a bit better in your last post and I’m hoping things have continued better. I get paid Wednesdasy so hopefully operataion skittles will be go. scuz me whilen I go looking around the house for where my sleep is hiding
I hope you managed to get some sleep last night. Depression + middle of the night pain + inability to get back to sleep always makes me feel completely alone in the world.
You probably remember this from when you were pregnant with Judah, but menstrual-like cramping is common and normal in the early weeks. What did they tell you, either at the ER or at PP, that you should be looking for and/or considering signs that you need immediate care? I guess I’m confused by the wait-and-see approach because I have never heard that as a viable approach to an ectopic pregnancy. Usually that’s something that has to be dealt with very quickly. Did the Vicodin come from the ER visit? (Bad idea to mix that with booze, by the way—I know you didn’t, but in the future).
I’m not trying to bombard you with questions but the *whole maybe ectopic/want the alien removed/maybe don’t want the alien removed/ what is this pain *situation seems like it’s doing your head in a little.
I was sort of wondering about that too. I understood an ectopic pregnancy to be a condition which required urgent, immediate attention. My mother had an ectopic pregnancy explode her fallopian tube and came very close to dying of it.
Quite often, an ectopic pregnancy isn’t discovered until it’s far enough along and big enough to cause severe pain. The fallopian tube may even rupture (it’s not stretchy like the uterus) and if it’s gotten to that point, it is an emergency.
This pregnancy happened to be caught by blood tests before that point. So either there’s an embryo in the uterus that they couldn’t find on ultrasound yet (not uncommon at 5 weeks - this is just one week of a late period, remember), or there’s an embryo in the fallopian tube that they couldn’t find on ultrasound yet…Or there’s no embryo, but a complicated “oops” that happens to many women called a molar pregnancy. Sometimes sperm will meet egg, or even two sperms will penetrate the egg simultaneously, and the chromosomes of the sperm(s) will double before they meet with the chromosomes of the egg. This, of course, gives you far too many chromosomes to make a human being, and the result is a nonviable “hydatidiform mole” which releases the hormones of pregnancy, making you test positive and not get your period, but it will never grow into a fetus or baby.
So any one of the three is possible, but the treatment for each is very different, and it’s dangerous to treat one if it’s the other. If it’s an ectopic pregnancy, surgery is required on the fallopian tube. If it’s a normal pregnancy, the OP has many options to consider. If it’s a molar pregnancy, she needs surgery to get that mole out of her uterus, because it’s a type of cancer (that is, it’s a group of cells which may not stop growing on their own, and may suck nutrients away from the rest of the body to support its unchecked growth.)
Indeed - probably for anyone! It’s stuff like that that makes me think, “If D. and I were together…” because he’d be right next to me and I could nudge him for a good spooning session.
Judah was a breeze. I was nauseated and tired, but only puked up a Nutty Bar after a run. The worst part was water retention right off the bat. He was an easy baby, too. I seriously think Mother Nature tricks us so we’ll have more.
Oh, no that is just plain fact at this point. :smack:
The OB wondered if it wasn’t in the ovary, or between the fallopian tube and uterus, or just like what you said - not viable. I’ve been having pain since ovulation (but there was the std issue), which is normal. But is it Go To The ER and Cry And Need Morphine Normal? Not really. Doesn’t mean I’m dying - at this point, I figure I’m not if I’m not dead yet - but something feels off. Could be my oh, fuck! reaction to the whole double line on a stick.
Or maybe it’s my ‘the little bugger maybe has a heartbeat…/what if I feel sad later?/this fuckhead alien is ruining my life!’ train of thoughts. </whimpers>
I do much appreciate the chiming in, Why Not.
I’ve had one OB tell me that she suspected it wasn’t viable, and another say she’s not leaning either way, but by Monday we’ll know.
Cramping died down to a mild menstruation-like feel. I was a little worried that it woke me up at 3:30, though. Now I just want it to be Monday at 1:00PM already. I think D. is hoping that it isn’t so it makes the Alien Removal Services easier, but that’s not his reproductive system on the line. :dubious:
If this turns out to be a regular, normal pregnancy, I swear it will be a hellion if it is allowed to proceed into Human Baby status.
edit: I peed on a stick and had a positive test on Saturday the 14th, I believe. The Weds before that it was negative at PP. So I guess by the 14th, there was a corpus luteum cyst and enough hormones to detect it. They said my hcg levels were 47, then 127, then 248 (every 48 hours). No idea what they’ll be on Monday.
I’m sure they already told you this, and I’m not speaking as your nurse ('cause I’m not), but as your Internet Friend reminding you. You’ve had a lot on your mind the last few days.
Things that mean you need to go to the ER: A marked increase in pain, either sudden or gradually, but especially suddenly. Right now, say out loud to yourself: “On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is no pain at all and 10 the worst pain ever, my pain is a ___”. Or, write it down. If this number gets to be 2 greater than it is right now, go in.
If you see any bleeding, go in. Might be a period starting, might be a miscarriage starting. Either way, they’re probably going to want to see you.
If you get a fever, go in. That could be a sign are about to rupture, or that you already ruptured and are getting inflamed and/or infected. Fever’s a big red flag in a situation like this.
If you feel pain or palpitations in your heart, go in. If your pulse is super fast (above 100 beats a minute), go in.
If you feel dizzy, lightheaded or faint, go in.
I’ll be honest with you…if you had health insurance, you’d probably still be in the hospital while they watched you through this. Be careful, and don’t try to tough it out if you get uncomfortable. Your life is in very real danger right now if it is ectopic and you don’t pay attention to what’s going on with your body.
Thank you. With the Vicodin, the pain decreased. And for the last three days, I’ve really only had a pukey feeling. It’s all so confusing - trying to figure out which organ in my abdominal area is being spastic. On Sunday they sent me home from the ER crying. No more Diluaded :P. Monday afternoon I was feeling better, but not totally great.
Tuesday after the pelvic at the OBGYN office - same thing. (The pelvic made me extremely uncomfortable - I had shooting pains in the upper part of my uterus (I think) and back area. wtf? I left crying.) I kept telling her I can’t live like this, and she said just wait ‘one more week’.
They did hint that if I had insurance, a lap would’ve been done already.
That’s unconscionable. We see a lot of uninsured patients at the hospital where I work, and they do not receive lesser care than the insured ones.
Just be careful that the Vicodin is not masking any life-threatening pain. That’s the problem with prescribing narcotics for something that requires watchful waiting.
I would’ve punched her in the face if she had not Rxed more narcotics! If they really cared, they would have Rxed some of the nice stuff instead of ‘have some Vicodin and try not to get too constipated’.
That’s actually why I didn’t want to take the pain meds before - what if it was masking something? But it hurt. So I did. I stopped around Tuesday, though, with the exception of 3:30AM. I had bloated up 6 pounds.
I feel like the only thing I can do til Monday is post in this thread, paint my nails, and…function.
If you have a rupture, Vicodin will not mask the pain, so don’t worry about that. Treat the pain you have now, monitor for more pain as it comes.
Lots of people on Vicodin like psyllium fiber (sold as Metamucil or other cheaper brands) and/or an OTC medicine called Colace, aka Dulcolax, aka Genase, aka Ex-Lax Stool Softener (aka lots of other things) to help keep your stools moving. It’s pretty cheap, usually under $5 a box. And drink lots of water. Stoopid narcotics, slowing down your gut…
Hospitals have to provide stabilizing, lifesaving care, whether you have insurance or not. They don’t have to monitor a patient who is stable right now but who may (or may not) become unstable. Welcome to America. We’d rather pay for your lifesaving emergency surgery than pay to make sure your life isn’t in danger in the first place.
Mmmmm, they usually reserve hydromorphone for things like late-stage cancer. A lot of places would be stingy with the Vicodin as well, so I’d say you got lucky there. Sad to say, but pain itself is not considered an emergency.
I’m so sorry you are going through this. You don’t deserve this.
The good news is that these problems do have finite ends. If you can just get through the next few weeks, you will be good to go. The crisis is at it’s worst now. But soon, this will be something you look back on, nothing more than a bad memory. Close your eyes for a minute and pretend to be there. It’s doable, right? You just have to make it through this time, and next thing you know, you’ll be gazing at this from the other side.
This heartbreak will take some time. I usually find it takes around six months to really recover from a heartbreak, and it’s a rough road. You will have plenty of moments of “Sheesh, I’m done with him!” and you will also have moments where you backslide. I found the book, “It’s called a Breakup because it’s Broken” to be a surprisingly good companion.
One thing that helped me was a full-on mental ban on thinking of that person. Whenever a thought about him came up- missing him, wanting to yell at him, analyzing what went wrong- I’d tell myself “NO!” Sometimes even out loud. I told myself I was not able to handle these thoughts. It worked- the intrusive thoughts petered out.
Another help was thinking about it in clinical terms. Reading about limerence did it for me. A lot of what you are feeling is just a chemical reaction that happens automatically when two people share certain things. It’s a leftover of the mating needs of apes- and it’s something you can slowly learn to see in this context. Eventually hese chemicals will peter out and go away with time.
What you are feeling is absolutely normal and appropriate. You can get through this. It won’t always be easy, but you are strong.
Thank you, even, for reaching out despite our differences. I do have that book and it needs another read -through.
He’s been acting a little too nice lately and I told him we could never progress beyond this point. I’m at the clinic alone. I told him I needed space after this ultrasound.
I had a meeting at the place I applied for a job at and since the lady didn’t see me ralphing in her bathroom, I have a good shot at the job!
- but something feels off. Could be my oh, fuck! reaction to the whole double line on a stick.
On Sunday they sent me home from the ER crying. No more Diluaded :P. Monday afternoon I was feeling better, but not totally great.
