The Sickies

I think I've mentioned on here already that I've had a cough for about the past 6 weeks (or more). I tried taking a few things -- mucinex, benadryl (to sleep), lots of honey, albuterol -- with little change. It's actually gotten a bit better over the past week; doesn't wake me from sleep anymore, I don't have crazy fits of coughing, and no more bruised ribs. Yay.

But then over the past few days, I've felt slightly worse sinus-wise. I took Zyrtec for a few days, hoping that would help. Then ran out of it and didn't get a chance to buy more. Oops.

Today I woke up feeling like crap. Sinus pain, headache, sore throat, eye pain, etc. A full blown cold. It happens -- to most adults, 4-6x/year. To a pediatrician with a built-up strong immune system, typically only 1-2x/year. But it happens.

Here's the problem: You can't take a lot of stuff while pregnant. No Sudafed. No Advil. No "hot toddy," my mom's miraculous cure for all that ails you.

Tylenol and Zyrtec can only do so much for a girl. The fact that I have to work all weekend is not helping -- I think a couple days in bed would probably be beneficial, but nope. Our census in the Well-Baby Nursery has been astronomical post-Sandy -- we took in all the NYU OB patients -- so instead of having 10-15 babies to see tomorrow morning, there will be upwards of 30. Shoot. Me. Now. And calling in sick in my job is next to impossible -- someone would have to cover for me, whether it be today or tomorrow, and it just doesn't happen. I had to lie through my teeth when in the midst of the miscarriage and needing to miss work. It's probably the worst part of my job (and the reason that I have 70 sick days saved up).

I do not mean to complain about how much it sucks to be pregnant and sick at the same time. I know a lot of people would kill to be pregnant, even with the sickies. But the persistent cough has put me in a bad place, and then this is just killer. On top of which I have been hating on my job. So I just needed a moment to complain.

And now I will go blow my nose (again), go to work, and pray for a miracle -- either I feel a lot better, or all the new mommies decide to go home early and no new babies are born all weekend. Ha.

I'm the worst type of blogger....

You know, the type who lets LIFE get in the way of BLOGGING. It's horrible!! It's been nearly two weeks since I posted anything, and those two weeks have been crazy busy. Not a good excuse, but the only one I have. I'll try to bring you up to speed.

1) Curly is doing great. My NT scan last week was great, other than this babe not cooperating at all and doing headstands rather than posing on his side for a good measurement. (The tech kept telling me to cough to get the babe to move -- um, lady, that won't work in someone who's been coughing non-stop for over a month. Sure 'nuff, when I'd cough, Curly wouldn't even flinch.) Measured a day ahead. Combined with my bloodwork, my risk for Down's is 1:8500 and for Trisomy 13/18 is < 1:10,000. I have the risks of a 20 year old! Too bad I don't have the body of a 20 year old to go along with that. Although we had great images during the scan, when the tech went to get one to print for us she got a HORRIBLE shot. Here is that awful pic, labeled so you don't think Curly has a hooked beak as a nose (and no, the head is not really bigger than the entire body. Again, horrible image!):

The following day we had my regularly scheduled OB appointment, where they did little other than test my pee, get a weight/blood pressure, and check for the heartbeat. Since I do that last one at home all the time, Mr. W wasn't terribly impressed and thought the whole thing was "boring." I told him he didn't have to come to all the appointments anymore unless he wanted to, so we'll see.

2) After the good NT scan, I started telling people at work and my family and friends. Very exciting! Still haven't spoken to some of my long-distance friends. I figure the news will spread slowly. I'm not planning on making any kind of FB announcement -- I HATE that crap from other people --  but I'm sure at some point I'll announce as an "aside," like "why didn't anyone tell me that maternity jeans are so comfortable?" (They are. the. most. comfortable. jeans. ever. Except for the falling down all the time part.)

3) Today I'm 14.1 weeks. Bump picture below. I'm only wearing maternity clothes (during the day) now -- I could probably still squeeze into a couple pairs of pants, but why be so uncomfortable? I'm loving leggings/tunics/uggs and might end up in that for quite a bit this winter. I definitely look more pregnant in maternity clothes, b/c I have the type where the band sits under the bump, emphasizing it. I had 35% off to Old Navy and 40% off at Gap recently, so I've totally stocked up! Should be good for a few months. :-) I wore maternity Spanx under a dress for a wedding last weekend, and I think they made me look even more pregnant -- held me in everywhere but the tummy. Good timing on the "coming out" part.

4) I'm not even less tired. In fact, I just wrote this post halfway through, then fell asleep on the couch. Seriously!! Isn't it supposed to get better in the 2nd trimester?!

5) We had a tour of a daycare today. I cannot believe those words. The waiting lists here are crazy, so I was told to sign up for a tour early (and my co-worker who is due in March couldn't get a tour til January, so somehow I lucked out). After the tour, she said I'm not really on a list until after the baby is born and to call back then, but to pay my $25 fee now. Really? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I feel like I'll be calling to check in February/March anyway. Also: crazy expensive!! We can't afford to stay in the city.

6) I have a lot more I've been planning to say. Maybe I will have time tomorrow. I'll try to not be the worst blogger ever in the world. Swear.

Liebster = Dearest

I have a whopping FOUR followers. Y'all, that shit is exciting! One of them, over at fromheretomotherhood, nominated me for my first award! So exciting. The "Liebster" (which means dearest in German) is for bloggers with <200 followers. I think I might win the award for fewers followers! But it's fun to be a part of this.

Since most of the bloggers I follow have also recently been nominated for this, I"m not going to specifically nominate anyone at the bottom. Instead, I'm going to post my 11 questions for you and hope you'll respond in the comments section. Would love to know a little bit more about my readers, whether you also blog or not!

Here goes:

1. What was the last good book you read?

I read TONS, and have many recommendations if anyone ever needs any. I've been on a YA kick lately -- after the Hunger Games trilogy, I devoured Matched/Crossed (the 3rd book comes out next week), the Uglies series, and most recently Divergent/Insurgent (no idea on when the 3rd comes out). What I love about all these books is that the brave protagonists are all teenage girls! Amazing. Other recent books I've loved: State of Wonder (my pick for this month's book club), Shadow of Night (sequel to Discover of Witches), and the newest Baldacci novel, Panther, was pretty fun. Also, for everyone still TTC, you should read Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant, which I have a review on previously. 

2. What is the favorite city/country you have ever traveled to?

Tough one, I've been to so many amazing places. LOVE Costa Rica, where we went on our honeymoon this past January (and I had been 10 years previously with my mom & sister). Would go back Israel in a heartbeat -- our trip last summer, when we got engaged, was my 11th trip there, I think. Maybe more? I've had a lot of one-day trips to cities in Europe, on a cruise 5 years ago and again this May, and I'd go back to (in no particular order): Bruge, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Greek Isles, Istanbul. 

3. If there was one word you could choose out of the dictionary,  which one would you choose to best describe yourself?

HARD question! Stubborn, probably. I am stubborn when I want something -- like a scholarship to college, or a good med school or residency spot, or a good job. I'm stubborn when it comes to relationships -- insisting that others give if they are going to take. I was stubborn with TTC! I don't think it's always a bad thing. I'm definitely a Capricorn, but I think I can also be incredible flexible when need be, which is a really positive thing. 

4. What’s your biggest pet peeve?

I hate redundancies -- like saying "ATM (automated teller machine) Machine" or "MRN (medical record number) Number" -- totally drives me crazy. I also hate when Mr. W leaves dirty socks by the couch. 

5. What was the biggest lesson you learned so far while TTC?

Distraction can be a great thing. If I didn't have TV shows that I love, and a good book always available, and many trips planned, I would have gone crazy. Going to Disneyworld the day after my miscarriage was the best thing we could have done. You have to have other things to focus on or else you won't get through the day. 

6. Tell me something quirky about you?

I definitely have OCPD -- "obsessive compulsive personality disorder," which is different than OCD in that your compulsions don't take over your life. For instance, I used to HATE when the shampoo and conditioner bottles weren't even (I finally got over that one when I learned to only wash my thick, curly hair a couple times a week but to condition daily -- so now I buy a bigger conditioner bottle). My day planner in med school was organized with assignments that were color coded for each class. I've definitely gotten better about these quirks over the years, though. :-)

7. Who or what’s been your biggest influence throughout your life?

There are a couple, both dating back to my elementary school days. I had a principal and a teacher who were very influential in my life -- pushing me to my best academically and helping me as I struggled with religious issues. The principal passed away a few years ago, and I think about her quite frequently. The teacher is someone with whom I still have a very close relationship, as well as all her kids. They are like my little siblings. 

8. Do you have a bucket list? If so, what’s the most ridiculous thing  on it?

My dream in life is to be part of a Flash Mob. 

9. What do you do for a living?

I'm a pediatrician. It's gotten hard to give people parenting advice everyday without one of my own. 

10. How many kids would you like in total?

Actually a hard question for me right now. If you had asked me this when I was in college, I would have said 6! (Mr. W will still say 6, b/c he has 5 siblings and he thinks it's perfect). But I'll be 33 when Curly arrives, and I have no idea who it'll be TTC again after that. Plus the finances are going to be tough as long as both of us have lots of debt. I imagine at least 3, and I've always said it's better to have an even number so no one has to ride alone on roller coasters, but turns out Mr. W can't handle roller coasters very well (he gets motion sick) so that might be a moot point. 

11. If you won 50 million (which is the current jackpot amount of the lottery here) what are the first things you’d do with it? 

Pay off our debt. Buy a house. Put the rest in savings. And probably not work for a year after Curly arrives. 

OKAY -- here are my questions for all my readers. Please feel free to respond to all, some, or none. I'm tempted to answer all of these myself as well, b/c they are super fun. Maybe another post: 

1. Do you have a nickname? What is it and where did it come from?

2. What is your secret TV obsession? (we all have one, so out with it)

3. Do you have a favorite color? If so, how do you express it? 

4. Where would you go on your dream vacation? 

5. If you had a sudden day off, what would you do with it? 

6. If you could have ANY animal as a pet (exotic or domestic, even extinct): which one, and why? 

7. What's your LEAST favorite holiday, and why? 

8. What is the best present you've ever received?

9. What is the worst present you've ever received? 

10. What is your earliest memory?

11. Okay, having trouble coming up with an 11th question....how about "what's one thing that your friends IRL don't know about you?" 

Apologies and Followers and Sandy

I am a terrible blogger. I couldn't even keep up with ICLW last week -- I just get home from work SO FRIGGIN TIRED every day. Opening up the laptop to even look at other blogs and leaving comments just seems like too much work. Ugh! I keep waiting for the fatigue to get better, as I've read it's supposed to do, but it was definitely worse the last two weeks. Too exhausted to even want dinner most nights. It's sad.

Meanwhile, I figured out that although I follow a lot of blogs, no one *knows* that I'm following them b/c I do so under my regular gmail account, not this one. It's actually a pain in my butt, b/c I follow some people who I know IRL -- and don't want them to know about this account/blog -- but I want other bloggers in this world to know I exist and read them consistently. So I'm going to set myself up with two windows and start following a bunch of blogs under this account. Then I'll switch over my iPhone RSS app to this account, so I can keep updated on the go. For the people I follow IRL, I'll just check online with the other account. Painful and complicated, right?

And finally, a Sandy update. We are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that wasn't terribly affected in NYC -- never lost power, water, or even cable! But the City has been crazy the past few days. I didn't have to work Monday or Tuesday (and happily spent the majority of that time on my couch), but I came in yesterday and it took me FOREVER to get here on a city bus. It was hot and crowded and I felt miserable -- I just kept wishing I actually looked pregnant so someone would offer me a seat (not that people always do that, but sometimes). It took me an hour both ways, standing in really awkward positions and boiling hot both times. At least today it was easier, got a seat on the bus in the AM and took me *less* time than usual to get to work b/c there wasn't even any school traffic!

The worst part -- being completely selfish here -- is that my NT scan that was supposed to be on Tuesday got cancelled. And they couldn't rebook me until next Monday. I have been waiting for that before I start announcing and it's totally killing me to wait another week! Good thing I didn't plan on a big Halloween reveal, like some other people due in May on the FF pages. It also means that I have that on Monday and my OB appt on Tuesday -- and originally the plan was to space them out so I could have more "reassurance." But Tuesday's appointment is with the OB that I love, and she'll be gone the week after, so I'd rather just keep the appointment. I am using my Doppler basically every day, so I know Curly's heart is still ticking, at least. Right at 160 beats/minute. :-)

I'm just ready to be done with the first trimester! I've read varying opinions on if the 2nd trimster starts at the beginning of 12 weeks, 13 weeks, or even 14 weeks -- so I'm going with lucky 13, which will be on Tuesday. I am beyond thrilled to have made it to 12 weeks with no issues and a strong heartbeat, but I will be much more thrilled when everyone else knows. It is SO hard to be at work sometimes -- yesterday I had to "smile and nod" my way through discussions on why maternity pants are the best (as I stood there with my pants buttoned through a rubber band), why certain OB's are great (including mine), and then had to try to explain away the fact that I haven't taken anything stronger for my persistent cough (going on 4 weeks). So difficult! Argh.

Okay, going to go deal with the whole mayhem of following/followers. Some of you are going to notice a new follower today but realize I've been following you for a long time!

ETA: Yikes, so turns out that when I "subscribe" on my RSS, it doesn't show up that I'm a follower (I tested this by subscribing to myself). I think I might have to go through all my blogs one-by-one and "follow" from the sites, instead of adding through my reader. What a pain in the ass! Will have to do it another time when I have a free hour....which might be a month from now. Oops.