"Trick or Treat"

Halloween is always....an interesting holiday. This year we actually got some trick-or-treaters and I think that our new neighbors' holiday display had something to do with it! Their porch was lit up with all kinds of fun decorations...silvery skeletons, candles and skulls, pumpkins and spooky noises. She was out on the porch to welcome the kids and hand out some cute little bags of goodies she had made up.

 

Kids of all ages were out to enjoy the night. The really little ones were adorable. There was one little tot dressed as a lion, complete with shaggy mane and bushy tail. He had to have been 3 at the most. Polite teenagers carried pillowcases full of candy. Nearly everyone was in costume and no one was rude. We only had one, elementary school-aged grabber who took three tootsie pops. Most kids took one and said, "Thank you!" All of the kids were fun to see! The trick-or-treaters are always my favorite part, but the entertainment didn't stop there.

 

There were some horribly, goofy horror movies on TV. We're talking the ones from the 80's: predictable zombie horror movies with the extraneous sidekick extras that have no contribution to the plot of the movie save for serving as comedic fodder when they get eaten by fantasticaly, slimey hordes of the undead.

For dinner, I burned grilled cheese sandwiches and over-baked some chocolate chip cookies. That's what happens when I get distracted while I'm cooking, even with a kitchen timer. Sigh. Oh well! There's always leftover Halloween candy. Bring on the Tootsie Pops!

It's Why Doctors "Practice" Medicine

They think my rash is PUPPP, but they're not sure. I guess that's why they call it medical "practice". Hey, the human body can do some amazing things! Weird pregnancy rashes is one of my many talents. I'm also proficient at round ligament pain on my left side.

PUPPP usually starts in stretch marks on your sides, but my rash started on my thighs and then spread everywhere else. It reeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaally likes the tops of my thighs though. The rash and my thighs are new BFF's. I wish I could break them up. Unfortunately, I think this marriage of rash and skin will last at least until after delivery, possibly until I am done breastfeeding.

I got my flu shot yesterday, in my dominant arm. Now it feels like somebody gave my right arm a knuckle sandwich. Today, after getting quite a bit of walking exercise and taking some generic benedryl I am ready for bed...after I finish watching Battlestar Gallactica on the retro TV station. I am so sleepy. Goodnight.

Movement!

16 weeks, 2 days. Felt the babies moving around after drinking a Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. So cool!!! Tonight I met a new doctor when I went for my monthly OBGYN visit. Dr. D. He found the babies' heartbeats and measured my belly. I gained two more pounds. I'm up to 204lbs. :) Yee---haw!  I'm hungry. I think I'll go eat something. Heehee.

Pemphigoid Gestationis

I am so in love with my babies and I look forward to kissing and holding them. I got to hear their heartbeats today when I went for my emergency OB appt. I was worried that my rash, or it's treatment with the copious amounts of hydrocortisone cream over a large surface area would harm them. Dr. Shah reassured me, that the OTC cream, even in gross amounts was not going to harm the twins. 

It was so good to see Dr. Shah. She is my regular OB and this is the first time she has gotten to see me since I became pregnant. Her eyes got pretty big when she saw my rash. She thinks the biopsy will confirm her suspicion that it's gestational herpes...AKA Pemphigoid Gestationis . Good news: it's not harmful to the babies. Bad news: you can only treat the symptoms, the virus has to run it's course, and it will get worse before it gets better. I may also have it for my whole pregnancy, and it can cause pre-term labor. I have to be careful to drink lots of fluids to keep up my amniotic fluid levels.

Dr. Shah used the doppler and found BOTH heartbeats, unlike my Joe Pesci look-alike Dr. that saw me before. She said the babies were moving around quite a bit. She is very thorough and reassuring. I love Dr. Shah! She even asked me if I had anymore questions and she got her nurse to set me up with an appt. to see the perinatologist at the hospital. I'll get an ultrasound, and a visit with the doctor. They will start monitoring me early because of the rash. I say, "Bring on the extra care!"

The "Energizer Rash"

Yup, you guessed it. It keeps going and going and going, not unlike the Energizer Bunny. Nothing short of a massive dose of steroids or possibly a miracle may calm this rash down. I CANNOT stop itching it!!!! This is the 3rd rash of my pregnancy. The first two were localized to stripes at the tops of my thighs. The third and current rash went rogue. It is nearly everywhere: front and back of thighs, behind my knees, on my chest, under my armpits, hips, and other unmentionable places. I can only take so much generic benadryl and put on so much OTC hydrocortisone cream. And it's not letting up, it continues to spread!!!! For my peace of mind, I anxiously await the results of the biopsies taken by the dermatologist this past Wednesday. I hope I don't have anything that will harm my babies.

Friday marks my 15th week and I have yet to feel the babies move. I hear you can start feeling movement in the 16th week. I will be glad when I can feel movement from both of them. I am so excited to eventually see another ultrasound picture, to hear BOTH of their heartbeats, and to find out their genders. I will be so happy no matter what their genders may be. I have warmed to the idea of 2 boys, 2 girls, or a boy and a girl.

I admit I became spoiled by weekly ultrasounds at the fertility clinic. It was so fun watching them get bigger and bigger. Babycenter.com says my little peeps are as big as apples this week. Last week they were lemons. Ha! Now they are a seasonal fruit and the apples of my eye!

Daddy Jeff stopped by Babies R Us to start researching strollers/car seats for twins. He's looking at a Chico's system that will allow mom or dad to unhook a carseat from its base and then securely latch it to the stroller in one simple maneuver.

OK, now I've done it. I just looked on the internet at what my rash might be and I'm scared. Bad Rigel.

Post #400 My Amazing SIL Becky

To celebrate my 400th post on Orion's Contemplation, I will sing the motherhood praises of my SIL Becky. Tonight we had dinner at a local pizza joint and Becky, her husband Clay and their two kiddos Seth and Brian were able to join us. I can tell you how wonderful it was to have dinner together before an anticipated year-plus separation from them, about how cute my nephews are, or about how neat it was to have a total stranger pay $10 of our bill, but what I want to focus on, is my SIL's ability to manage a tired, teething, under-two-year-old. She gave him a sippy, she let him play with things in her purse, she checked his diaper, she changed his diaper (in a bathroom without a changing table), she gave him crackers, she bounced him on her lap, and then on her hip, before she gave him some medicine when she had narrowed it down to the fact that he is teething. She's amazing.  I can only hope to be such a super momma when it's my turn. 

She's not only an amazing wife and mother, she possesses a generous spirit. She let me borrow a bunch of cool stuff! Out in the parking lot after pizza, she gave me three boxes of baby stuff plus a body pillow. I'm thankful for TWO SIL's (you too Ru Ru) and a sister (Cari) who are kind, loving and generous. I praise God for all of them, and for you!