Funny Things to say to a pregnant lady, particularly one with an underlying chronic illness:

1)   “You better sleep now, because you won’t sleep after the baby comes!”

Thanks for this tidbit of helpfulness. I struggled with all kinds of sleep issues including terrible insomnia prior to ever being pregnant. And now that I’m pregnant, of course that got so much easier.

In fact, it’s a looming fear that I won’t be able to function due to lack of sleep after the baby, so make sure to remind me of this fear. It’s absolutely hilarious and you’re giving me real world prepping advice!

2)   Me: “Wow, the baby kicks a lot. It’s kinda cool but weird.”

You: “Just wait until after she’s born and kicking you with shoes on!”

Oh, so you wanted to see my cringe face! No really, you shouldn’t have. You could have just offered me a dirty tissue, bad coffee, or a colon cleanse coupon if you wanted to see my cringe face, but this is a funny substitute.

Actually, I have weak muscle tone from my health issues. If I can physically carry that baby after three months, I’ll be lucky or it’ll be a miracle. And lifting the baby off the floor will be a whole other heart rate sky-rocketing can of worms considering the tachycardia I have.

3)   “Your life is going to be over now.”

Lolololol! I’ve already been through periods of time of being bedridden, hospitalization, needing wheelchair help, unable to maintain a career or romantic relationship, considering suicide when the physical pain got so bad. My life is going to be over NOW? Now you say? *falls off the couch laughing*         

4)   “The second trimester will be much better.”

LMAO.  Ummmm we’re in the second trimester now. Where’s my unicorn?

5)   “You have a doctor for your health issue, right? What does he say?”

*shaking my head*

No, I do not have a specific doctor for my health issue. Actually Dysautonomia specialists are extremely, extremely rare. And even a specialist is playing catch up with the research. Dysautonomia diagnoses “POTS” are syndromes that have not been determined to have a definitive cause. Anything could be the cause. Multiple things could be the cause. There is no fix.

I spend a lot of my medical consults informing the doctors about my health issue.

This quote is similar to "But you have a high risk OBGYN, right?"

I love my OBGYN but he does not understand my health issue specifically.

6)   Me: “I’m upset about how crappy my job maternity leave is.”

You: “Actually, that company is better than most in the states.”

OR

You: “It’s amazing women even get paid for having a baby these days.”

These are funny because they completely undermine my fear of being able to function after the baby because of my chronic illness and being able to support us. I get to feel more inadequate than the average healthy woman having a baby, while feeling guilty that I’m not more grateful.

7)   “Oh yeah I had a lot of fast heart rate when I was pregnant too.”

Unless you’re a POTS or NCS patient, or dealing with a chronic illness that has extremes in heart rate, I find your statement hilariously naïve.

The SICK CHEF Cooking Show! and I Love You My Little Thyroid

The SICK CHEF Cooking Show!

I had a 15 minute burst of energy enough to make the fiancé and I some chicken soup. (See cooking special below for absurdity).

Overall it’s been a gloriously ill ride the last couple of days. I had a brief burst of energy the Thursday after the ER, but I spent most of that energy doing the most basic of things like cleaning, eating, and grading creative writing papers. That said, I may have overdid it, because Friday (today) I’m wiped out again.

But that’s the way with POTS and a lot of chronic illnesses. We might have brief bursts of energy—and often we aren’t sure whether we should even use them. We don’t want to use ALL of our energy. And maybe that burst is all we’ll have for days. But then sometimes, I just embrace it and use it. I never know if I’ll have more again anytime soon, so it’s best to just get what I can get, particularly now that I’ve got the secondary virus and bronchitis with sinusitis I’m fighting.

Some of what makes the wax and wane of energy so crappy, doesn't even have anything to do with my body. It's when people see people like me have a brief burst of energy and they think we’re okay. They think, “Oh she’s fine again.” No. More often than not it is short lived.

I Love you my little Thyroid

Last night a bunch of my hair fell out in the shower in two lumps in my hand. Mind you I have the finest, thinnest hair already. Losing it makes me cringe.

It sucks, but it’s not uncommon. I have hypothyroidism and when I get really ill, sometimes that puts a strain on my thyroid to the point where I end up with clumps of hair in my hand, standing in the shower, sighing or cursing.

But I’m pregnant too, so that puts its own strain on the thyroid as well. Tests in the past month showed that my thyroid was doing well, but as with everything, I’ll have to get a follow-up test. It may be once I’m better from being sick with the virus and Bronchitis my thyroid will be fine. Or it could be now that the baby is much bigger at 5 months that I’ll need a higher dose.

That said, today I was out of my Armour thyroid.  And since Matt seemed so ill this morning, I didn’t have the heart to wake him to get it for me. Looking back, I probably should have just woken him. I felt shitty just from getting the meds. And then, after all that, I realized Dad had left me some of his spare pills in the house just for a situation like this. I'd forgotten all about them!