The past week or so has not been one of the greatest on record for me, so I apologize in advance for this post because it is a rant with lots of whining.  It started with me coming down with shingles (or not...I'll get to that), then me coming down with a horrendous head cold that I can't seem to get rid of, to my last MFM appointment yesterday.

Last Thursday, I had an appointment with my PCP to diagnose the weird rash on my neck that I had since NYE.  She was fairly certain that is was shingles so she put me on A.cyclovir (5 times a day for 10 days) and also on an antibacterial ointment, M.upirocin (3 times a day), in case I had impetigo or another related infection.  She also did a viral and bacterial culture on it to be sure of the diagnosis.

Yesterday morning I got a call from her office telling me that both of my cultures came back negative. The nurse said that the doctor was still fairly confident that it was shingles and I just didn't have a raging case and to continue taking the meds until they run out.  She also said I should continue the ointment, as well.  Lovely.

Now on to the head cold.  This started on Friday.  In the matter of a few minutes I went from feeling fine to feeling like I had to sneeze to being all stuffy.  I went out and bought B.reathe R.ight strips, a humidifier, and V.icks V.apo R.ub.  I know that they say you can take T.ylenol C.old during pregnancy, but I am already on so many other meds that I don't want to take anything else.  I have not slept more than an hour at a time since Thursday night.  I missed work Monday and today.  I feel like total crap.

Next I'll discuss the MFM appointment.  The ultrasound went great.  In fact, they used me and my little boy in a teaching demonstration.  His heart, brain, arms, legs, spine, kidneys all looked great.  He measured in the 63 percentile (~2.5 lbs) with a HB of 155.  Here is a pic of him (scroll to the very bottom).

After the ultrasound I went to the MFM office.  They checked my blood pressure and of course it was high as it usually is in their office, 133/66.  My weight was 139, which was better than I thought.  So I am up 19 lbs.  Then they gave me the orange drink for the 1 hour GTT and I chugged it in under 2 minutes.  Totally gross and more sugar that I have had in quite some time.

I saw the doctor and he was happy with the ultrasound and everything else.  He checked my rash and concurred that it was most likely shingles.  He explained that if it is a low level infection that your body is already fighting successfully that the culture could very easily come back negative.  He told me to continue the meds.  He said he didn't need to see me for another month and that was that.  I then peed in a cup (as per usual) and once the hour was up I got my blood drawn.

This morning I had a message telling me that I (quite miserably) failed my 1 hour GTT and to call and schedule a 3 hour test.  

GTT Screen (GLT): 163 (Normal Range = 54 to 139): OUT OF RANGE

After another night of no sleep and another day of calling in sick to work this was just too much for me to handle.  I called my mom and sobbed to her.  Half the time she couldn't tell what I was saying.  I was embarrassed and upset.  I eat so healthy 99% of the time.  I don't drink soda, ever.  I NEVER eat fast food.  I eat so little processed food and what I do eat that is some what processed is usually organic.  I eat a very high fiber cereal at breakfast.  I eat lots of fruits and veggies and I was of a healthy weight when I got pregnant.  Up until I got sick I have been exercising 4-5 times a week with 2-3 mile walks and some light weight-lifting.

I seriously feel like a failure.  What did I do wrong?  I called the nurse to set up my 3 hour test and they forced me to schedule an appointment with the nutritionist as well.  She told me to stay away from food products where the first ingredient ends is "ose" and simple carbs and to "start eating healthier".  I started crying on the phone with her because I already do that.  My friends make fun of me because I eat so healthy.

I told her that I already eat healthy and exercise and that I haven't gained an obscene amount of weight.  I think she felt bad for me because she could hear how congested and nasally I was.  She told me that she sees 300 lb women pass the test with flying colors and 90 lb vegetarians fail miserably.  She said it doesn't have to do with weight, but how your body handles sugar during pregnancy.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  That didn't really make me feel better.

So now I have to further restrict what I eat.  No more cereal or wheat crackers for me.  Back to the lovely world of constipation.

I have spent my day feeling down and miserable.  This cold is kicking my ass and now I have to worry about diabetes, too.  How is it that some women get pregnant by sneezing, share their wet pee-stick with their 5,000 FB friends, buy nursery furniture before 12 weeks, eat McD.onalds every day, don't exercise, and have completely healthy babies (over and over and over again).  Then others have a hard time getting pregnant and have problem after problem during their pregnancy?  It isn't fair.

Sorry for the vent and kudos to you if you read this whole thing.  I am not feeling great today.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

For the past few days I have finally started working on the nursery.  I put it off for many weeks because I didn't want to start it too early and jinx things and also because I have not really had time.  I have had this week off work so I have had time, finally.

So far I have moved out most of the furniture (with the help of my husband of course), cleaned the room thoroughly, patched the holes in the wall, painted the trim, and painted the ceiling.  The trim is all white.  The walls will be gray.  Before you say...boring... know that the curtains will be yellow, along with a white and yellow patterned rug, and a yellow lamp.  I will have some color in there, I promise!

Tomorrow, I am hoping to start priming and maybe get on one coat of paint, unless daylight shows me that I need another coat of paint on the doors/trim.  I hope I don't need to paint that again!

On to the malady...  On NYE I noticed a small itchy rash on my neck.  When I itched it, it hurt.  I asked my husband to take a look and he said it looked like chaffing.  It was in the spot where my too tight sports bra was hitting so I assumed it chaffed on one of my walks.  I started putting N.eosporin on it and covering it up with a bandaid so that I wouldn't forget and scratch it.

Two days later it wasn't getting any better.  The rash started to form some fluid filled blister looking things in a line/cluster.  It looked totally gross.  Even my husband, who always discourages me from going to the doctor, saying that I am a hypochondriac, encouraged me to call the doctor in the morning.

When I woke up this morning, the rash didn't look any worse, but it had itched all night and now it hurt.  I decided to call the doctor (PCP) and go in for a visit, just in case.

When I got there I found that I was up to 140 lbs. (gulp), but I had heavy sneakers on and I usually measure without.  My vitals were all normal (BP was 110/70!!).  The nurse looked at the rash and made an "eeek" noise.  That didn't sound good.

Then the doctor came in and she asked me some questions about when the "rash" started and what it felt like.  She did some typing on her computer and she came back with a probable diagnosis and a not so likely one.  The probable diagnosis- shingles.  The not so probable one- some variant of a staph infection (impetigo??).  I asked her lots of questions about harm to the baby and she said that at almost 26 weeks, the baby would not be affected, but that I would be in pain.  She was hopeful that it would not spread around to the back of my neck.

She put me on a day day antiviral drug (class B) that I have to take 5 times a day.  She also gave me an antibacterial ointment (also class B) to treat an infection, if it is staph.  She cultured one of the bumps to send to the lab to test for both viral/bacterial infections.  That culture hurt like hell.  She stuck a sterile needle into one of the bumps, multiple times, to get a sample.  OUCH!

I called my OB after the appointment to let them know what is going on.  I discussed the drugs with them and they were ok with them.  I have an appointment on Tuesday.  They told me that if I start to have any cramping/contractions, bleeding, or if the baby isn't moving like normal to call them ASAP.

So yeah that is where I am tonight.  I am 2 pills in and one treatment of the ointment.  The bumps still hurt like hell.  The doctor thinks that the bumps should start to get better in about a week (if it is shingles).  They are in a bad spot, right where my sports bra hits and right where collars on shirts hit so it is hard to move around freely.  The baby seems to be moving like normal, so I am taking that as a good sign.  Keep moving, baby!!  

I am not going to complain too much because it could be always be worse.  I'll suck it up and take the pain and the meds.  This little guy is worth it all.