I’M PREGNANT!!!!

I had a positive home test last week and saw the doctor on Thursday night to confirm it. LMP was 7/5 which makes EDD 11/2 but I am certain conception was 25/5 which would make my EDD 15/2. Since we’re not exactly sure of my due date, my GP has referred me for an u/s and told me to see him again once I’ve got the report. The next available appointment they could give me isn’t for two more weeks and while I guess there will be more to see by then, I feel like I’m on my own until then.

You might all laugh but I really expected to leave the doctor’s office with a handful of informative pamphlets on diet, exercise, what to have, what to avoid, etc but he didn’t even mention it. I was already taking vitamins and I’ve stopped drinking coffee and I already know that I should avoid the obvious things like alcohol and most medication. I’ve been reading as much as I can take in but to be honest, I’m a little overwhelmed.

My biggest problem/worry right now is food. I’m more hungry than normal though I think winter has a lot to do with it as well as my little angel (“mein kleiner engel” — daddy is German!), but I’m struggling to find good lunch choices. I usually buy my lunch at work – between the cafeteria and the local Westfields, there’s always something good to have but now that I’m pregnant everything looks like a listeria farm. Is anyone else having this problem? I know the simple solution would be to take a packed lunch from home but I’ve been so tired that I just haven’t been able to get to the supermarket to stock up on lunch box goodies. Once 3pm comes around, I’m desperate for a nap and by the time I get home from work, I’m ready to fall in a heap. Any ideas or tips for eating out that you could offer this first timer would be greatly appreciated!

Following almost an hour of Managing your Diabetic Cat 101 and plenty of Q&A, Kitty came home last night. The vet elected to skip the evening shot and suggested we start fresh with 2 units of insulin at 6.30am tomorrow morning. We went home with a heap of U40 syringes, insulin, glucose powder and strict instructions to buy more glucose powder asap – it’s for mixing with a little warm water and syringing into Kitty’s mouth if she has a hypo. Scary stuff!

Kitty has a shaved patch on her neck and we think this might’ve been the vet looking for a thyroid problem but I keep forgetting to ask her! She also has a shaved paw, and a very big dark red bruise from the blood tests. My poor little darling, seeing it just breaks my heart into a million pieces.

Our first shot this morning went really well. We were up at 5.30am and made our own breakfast first — vegemite on toast and coffee to ensure we had the prerequisite B12, complex carbohydrates and caffeine necessary to take on such a daunting task before the sun is even out. I gave both cats a little tin of fish each which they thought was absolutely wonderful because tins of fish are normally only appear on their dinner menu. They gobbled it down while we set out the insulin, inverting the vial carefully so as not to drop it or shake up the contents. I unwrapped a fresh syringe and carefully withdrew two units from the vial. It took a bit of work to remove the air bubble then the Boy coaxed Kitty over and she happily sat still while he injected the insulin into her scruff. Next came the treats — Cravers, which are her all time favourite and then lots of pats and cuddles. She didn’t show any signs of distress and seemed perfectly happy with the process.

I have to say that I am so relieved. I really felt that the hardest part would be the injections because I imagined she would be very distressed by it and that was distressing me. In reality she didn’t seem to mind. The vet had asked that we call her to let her know how we went and she was very glad to hear that we’d been able to give the injection, and that we’d all survived the ordeal. It’s almost 6pm now, and I’ll be giving Kitty her dinner shortly followed by another shot of insulin. We’ll do this every day, with no BSL testing until next Saturday when we return to the vet for a check up. I thought it a bit strange and it does feel as though we are flying blind, but the vet doesn’t want us to do any blood or urine testing for glucose and therefore we won’t be adjusting Kitty’s insulin on a daily basis. Basically, if we can’t get her to eat, or if she is sick, etc then we just don’t give her the shot. The vet is aiming for a conservative and slightly higher than usual BSL of 7 or 8. At her last BSL she was around 14 so we have some progress to make. The vet is intending to keep Kitty on 2 units of insulin for the next week and then at our check up appointment, she will likely increase that to 3 units. So, until then, we’re keeping a Kitty Journal so we can keep track of her food intake and shots. I also bought a pack of Ketostix for testing her urine for ketones though whether this is really necessary, I’m not sure. I just felt that I should be monitoring something.

Ok, it’s time.

I spoke to the vet again today and she said the results of the blood test confirmed the diagnosis of diabetes but that Kitty’s liver function and renal function were fine. I must say that ths is a massive relief form, as it will be hard enough to care for a diabetic cat without those other potential health problems. The vet gave Kitty her first insulin shot this morning, having started her on one unit of insulin. Her blood sugar was 16 last night, 13.8 this morning and then 13.5 this afternoon, though the vet seems to think that just being in hospital is enough to cause her distress which will keep her BSL higher than if she were at home. Tonight the vet will increase the insulin to two units and we’ll go there tomorrow evening for an intensive session of Managing a Diabetic Cat 101.

Incidentally, the poeple I work with seem to think I’m nuts taking this route but the truth is that I just can’t comprehend the alternative. I can’t deal with that right now and for as long as this little kitty is happy and without pain, then I’ll do what I can to sustain her.

I went back to work today only to find that someone had used the computer in my office while I was away and now the computer has mysteriously misplaced its operating system. I logged a call with the helpdesk and with any luck, I might get a response from them by the end of the week. With my manager away until Thursday, I’ve installed myself into his office (I even took my cyclamen with me) so that I can still do some work. As much as I am enjoying working in the public system, I cannot believe the blantent and gross incompetency that I face on a daily basis.

I spoke to the vet this morning and she said there was glucose in Kitty’s urine which is pushing us towards a diagnosis of diabetes. She said she is looking for other problems such as kidney etc and once we know what we are dealing with, then we can make an educated decision and plan our next move.

I can’t think about euthanasia at this time, it just breaks my heart. :(

Having over-estimated the peak hour traffic this morning, I arrived to the exam centre almost forty-five minutes earlier than I had intended. I used the time to do a quick flick through my notes being going in. The exam itself was much better than I anticipated – having done virtually no study over the weekend (read: week), I was expecting to well and truly flounder! Being an open book exam, I had carefully flagged the various sections of my text books and I was able to located the relevant legislation and case law without any problems. I answered all of the questions, checked my answers, expanded where possible, checked my answers again then left the exam hall with forty-five minutes to spare! I use to wait until the time was over but realisedthat there’s only so much I can write, so now I up and go when I feel I’ve finished the paper. The grades will be released on 11 July.

I stopped in on my sister-inlaw after the exam and we spent a few hours talking and playing with the baby. My niece is such a chunky monkey – I can’t believe how fast she is growing! I left them at 4.30pm to collect the Boy from the train station, then we were off to take my little grey kitty to the vet. She’d had a little accident at the weekend – she peed in her bed! This is something that is very out of character – not only for her but for a cat! I was concerned that she might have some terrible old-lady-cat incontinence or possibly a UTI but our vet suspects that she may have diabetes, or possibly but less likely, a thyroid problem. Kitty will stay in the hospital tonight so the vet can collect a urine sample and test for glucose. Poor little girl :(

Things I did today:

• Watched ‘Down to You’ on DVD
• Changed over the bed linen, flipped the mattress.
• Caught up on the laundry
• Did an hour of step aerobics and yoga on the Wii Fit
• Soaked in a hot bubble bath
• Painted my toe nails
• Played PackRat on Facebook long enough to finish the Vegas themed set
• Folded all of the clean clothes that I’ve had in baskets in the bedroom, and put them away in the new chest of drawers I got for my birthday last week
• Played with the cats
• Made a flower out of glow sticks and connectors
• Wrote this blog entry

  Things I didn’t do today:

• Study for the final exam I have on Monday morning
  

Last week we bought a Wii Fit and I’ve been ever so good with my daily workouts since.  Each evening I’ve started off with three or four minutes worth of the balance games (usually the ski jump!) then moved on to both Hula Hoops games, rhythm boxing on normal followed by advanced, then I go through the basic step and super step aerobics two or three times each.  I finish this up with twenty minutes of free step while watching a little tv. It takes just over an hour and while it’s pretty easy as far as workout regimes go, it does get the heart pumping and actually feels like it’s doing something.

In other news – Good lord, my leg is very sore today. The stitches look ok but the area around the wound is very bruised.

Btw, someone turns 33 tomorrow. EEEEEK!!

I found a suspect mole on my leg a couple of months ago and the dermatologist that looked at it declared that a biopsy was in order.  The procedure was done this morning and while it wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined it to be, for some reason I just didn’t anticipate having any stitches.  I’ve got four stitches holding the punch hole together and have to go back in two weeks for the biopsy results and to have the stitches removed.

I have no idea.  Earlier today I thought of something that would’ve made a good blog post but after a hellish couple of hours I’ve forgotten what it was.  My old website, the one I shut down in February 2007, was powered by Movable Type.  I really like Movable Type, and I still use an early version for another project, so it was my first choice in blogging platforms when I decided to make my not-so-grand come back.  I downloaded the latest version and set about configuring, uploading, chmodding and installing it.  After two hours of bullshit internal server errors and two do-overs, I gave up.  I only chose WordPress because I’d noticed an old bloggy friend had switched to it from Movable Type.  WordPress’ five minute install is brilliant, however it should be noted that it took closer to three minutes.  Maybe four minutes.  Either way, super fast, easy and without a repeat of the swearing and prolonged episode of teeth-gnashing that was witnessed by the cats earlier today.  I haven’t investigated the template system yet and I don’t expect it to be any worse than Movable Type’s templates.  I’ve designed the layout, something simple but effective and will attempt to have it finished in the few days.  I’m looking forward to working with php again.  It’s been too long!