Phew!

Ok, so my life is FINALLY beginning to calm down, and as the dust settles, a couple things have become clear:

1. Doctors Suck.
2. People are pretty cool.
3. Pregnancy sucks.

Ok, so on the first note. I am ALWAYS sick these days. I would just write it off to "rhinitis of pregnancy" as I previously planned to (by the way... doesn't the word rhinitis give you the image a large rhino horn in the place where my nose should be? Ok, sorry, off topic), the coughing has been really severe and kept me from sleeping. After losing enough sleep as it is to Ava's hiccups, I finally sought medical attention (for the third time) to cure what ails me.

I don't have a family doctor down here yet (though I'll have to get one soon for when Ava arrives), so I've been relying on Urgentcare. Now, back in Wheaton, where I grew up, Urgentcare was a very professional operation where you could expect just as thorough an examination and treatment as you could with your regular doctor. In Bowling Green, unfortunately... well, let's just say it was less than I had hoped for.

First, the doctor tries to prescribe me a Z-pack. I say, "Well, like I told the nurse to put in the chart, I finished a Z-pack about a week or two ago, and the symptoms never went away."

He flips open my chart, makes a face, and says, "Right you are! Ok, let's try Amoxclav."

I purse my lips and furrow my brow. "Well, as my chart should indicate, I'm allergic to penicillin."

Again, he opens up the chart, flips through the pages and raises his eyebrows. "Oh, yes, I see it here. So... no penicillin. Let's try (insert some gobbledy-gook I can't remember)."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "You know, sir, that I am 6 1/2 months pregnant, right?"

He opens the chart back up, looks at my stomach, and then back to the chart. "Huh. So you are. Well, can't give you that then- it might kill you or the baby!"

He chuckles, and my stomach lurches. He mutters through his final prescription, I think hoping he won't have to correct himself again, and at this point I am so horrified I just want the interaction to end.

So I go to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions filled. I can't read the doctor's handwriting (have you ever wondered how the pharmacists do it? I mean, do they have to take a class or something?), so I ask the pharmacists if everything is ok, given my allergies and pregnant state. Despite the fact that they've entered that information into my file at the pharmacy three times now, she informs me that it's not there, and she'll have to enter it again. After typing in the info one painful key at a time using her forefingers (really? She was like my age. No excuse for not being able to type if you've been through enough school to be filling my prescriptions), I ask her again. She looks up at the ceiling, as though she expects the answer to be written in the cracked white tile.

"Umm... I don't really know... HEY!! TINA!! CAN YOU TAKE LODRANE IF YOU'RE KNOCKED UP?"

Someone, I'm assuming Tina, hollers from a back corner, "UHHH... I DON'T KNOW. DID HER DOCTOR SAY IT WAS OK?"

The twittering idiot in front of me responds, "WELL, I MEAN, HE DID WRITE THE PRESCRIPTION!" She rolls her eyes and turns back to me. "You should be fine."

I sure felt reassured.

Well, I called my mom, who said she didn't know for sure on anything, and to call my OB/GYN. Makes sense, except I'm avoiding them altogether until I figure out what the hell is happening with my insurance (another post, another day). So, I cave and call, but no one is around. In the meantime, I still feel like CRAP.

Then, thank God, my #2 Observation from above comes to fruition- a girl in one my classes is actually an OB/GYN nurse who's come back to school to get another degree. I awkwardly asked her opinion of the medicines, and her face turned dark.

"Well," she said. "The first thing they gave you is Hydrocodone. This is a fairly strong narcotic. Now if you were taking it to just calm down some severe pain once in awhile, it would be fine, but it says here he wants you taking it on a regular basis. Do that, and the baby will be born addicted and go through withdrawl."

Great.

"This second one," she continued. "This one is a Class C pregnancy drug, as classified by the FDA. What that means is that there 'have not been adequate studies done on the effects the drug may have on a pregnant woman or her fetus.' That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. Problem is, with this one in particular, studies conducted on mammals who almost always react in the same vein as humans found that the drug produces birth defects."

Fabulous.

"The last one," she went on. "Is also a Class C drug. Studies haven't proved anything yet on this one, though."

Wow, exciting.

It thanked her profusely and decided I wasn't touching anything, except maybe the hydrocodone if things got bad.

Moral of the story? ALWAYS double check your doctor. They are not perfect, and some of them are damn stupid. This doesn't mean you should read so much about your health that you become a hypochondriac, but especially if you're at risk due to certain conditions (pregnancy, high blood pressure, etc.), a follow up or second opinion can't hurt.

Second lesson is that people can be pretty cool. That nurse potentially helped me keep my baby out of harm's way. Renewed my faith in mankind, if only momentarily.

Finally, pregnancy sucks. I mean, yeah, it's kind of cool feeling Ava kick around when she doesn't like the position I'm sitting in, or feeling her settle down when the boy reads to her at night, and I'm beyond excited for her to be here, BUT

I just want her out already!

Ok, so maybe she should wait a few more weeks, but I wish the time would go by faster :)

Ramblings of the Delinquent Blogger

So, things I've learned about babies in my last month...

1. Milk doesn't come out of a single hole in the breast. It's more like a showerhead effect. Makes sense, but I think it's weird.

2. ER doctors are fucking stupid. After waiting 7 hours for what my OB thought was my gall bladder freaking out, the doctor basically was like, "So... I'd run this test, but you're pregnant... I'd say it's this, but you're pregnant AND young... I'd prescribe you this, but you're pregnant... so, um... try urgent care?" WTF?

3. Jessica Furgerson is on crack. Run the drug test. You'll see.

4. I technically COULD drink, if I wanted to. I won't, though, so don't worry. Not worth the risk. Chances of the child being crazy are already high enough.

5. My child is a genius. Sitting in IE rounds at nationals, she would begin to kick furiously in rage at unwarranted arguments, even if they are mine. I think we can all agree that those are bad. Good job, Ava!

6. Oh, I guess I should mention that we decided on the name Ava.

7. I guess I should also mention we found out that the fetus is a girl!

8. The boy believes our baby is fat. I tried to tell him that Nelson girls are just show offs, and we all pushed out our bellies in the womb only to be born string beans. He said, no, she's just obese. He also said he would buy her plastic surgery if she's ugly. I endorse neither stance.

9. Being sick sucks. I am sick all the time and have no opportunity to recover.

10. Update: my appetite is insane. Taco Bell is as delectable as a five star bistro and I ate an entire box of frosted flakes in two days by myself (on top of the other meals I've had). Also- you should be careful around me when I'm hungry, because if you look tasty, I might just bite you.

11. BABY'S REQUIRE A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF CRAP. I finally registered on Target.com, and it took forever. It's all so cute though! The boy, however, has vetoed exorbitant amounts of pink, so there's lots of neutral selections.

12. Flying sucks. Enough said.

13. Breast milk reportedly increases IQ. Also, breastfeeding is going to hurt more than anything. Woo hoo!

14. Baby girls produce millions and millions of eggs in utero, but only a portion of them survive when they are born.

15. Not only does the mother feel the baby kick- you can SEE it. It was quite possibly the scariest thing I've ever seen. Made me think of Alien when the monster tore out of the person. Maybe I'm confusing movies. It was also very cool though- the first visible sign of life. (Aside from the burgeoning stomach.)

16. Yellow, a very common choice if you're looking for something neutral, actually makes colicky babies more anxious and nauseous. Who knew?

17. By three months old, a baby can understand the normal tones associated with female and male voices. They will become confused or even frightened if the tone does not match the perceived gender.

18.... Ok, pregnancy stupids means that I'm out of things to say, but I promise I won't wait this long to post again. Much love, and pictures soon to come :)