In work news, I have shortened a few of my days lately, and am feeling a tiny bit better. The extra rest and reduced pressure to perform has helped. At least a bit.
I was nervous to talk to my boss, but the conversation went very well. She pretty much said that she knows I get the job done and then some. She pretty much came right out and said that taking care of me (and baby) is number one priority and I can be as flexible as I need to be with my work schedule (and she doesn't care whether I report it as sick leave). She recognized how much I have put into my work, and said that she wouldn't bat an eyelash if I lightened up a bit right now. So I plan to work from home a bit more and shorten by days as needed. And it won't have much of an impact on the amount of paid time off I have after baby. Really the conversation couldn't have gone any more perfectly. I was shocked by her grace and support.
My midwife's theory of part of why I feel like crud is that the digestive system slows down and so everything is just sitting heavy in my digestive track. That seemed to make sense with part of what I am feeling (while not the entire answer to why I feel so yucky). But I am experimenting with eating insanely tiny portions= bite size really (even smaller than the usual small snacks throughout the day anyways). I also started taking Beta.ine HCL which she suggested as a digestive enzyme. We'll see if this all helps....
I passed my glucose test. I am a bit shocked actually. I had really resigned myself to not passing (I don't know why, I just did). It was on the high end of normal, but still normal. I also learned that my iron levels have maintained- I was was low to start with and they say they usually expect a drop even lower. But I have maintained which they said is incredible.
So, a pat on my back for my body. I was growing quite discouraged, feeling like it was failing me. The sickness and exhaustion are taking a toll on me, but having this news allowed me to have a bit of grace for my body that despite it all, it still is doing something right.
Ugh, feel better soon! I'm doing the glucose test tomorrow (yeah I know I'm like 8-months but I switched care and previous provider didn't care about doing the test).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that the convo went well and that you have a bit of a plan for feeling better. I am a wee bit concerned about you, but it sounds as if your midwife is on track.
ReplyDeleteOne thing. . . I felt AWFUL during the last part of my pregnancy with Emma. Kind of like how you are describing. Other weird symptoms that I had were itchy palms and soles, tingling (numb) palms (especially when typing or holding a book up to read), and pica (I craved SAND of all things). I never mentioned the pica to my OB because I thought it was normal and he thought the tingling palms were likely pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel. All of those things were actually less common symptoms of HELLP. I did NOT have some of the more common symptoms (although I did start spilling protein in my urine at around 32 weeks and had pretty decent swelling. My BP was always okay, up until the very end.
What actually diagnosed me was my pre-surgical bloodwork, which showed the high liver enzymes and low platelet count. Apparently, I was really sick, and didn't even really know it.
I am not telling you this to scare you, I just wish I would have known earlier what was wrong. If you aren't feeling better soon, please consider asking for a CBC.
And feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. ALSO!! Can we sign you up for Take A Meal? I would be happy to set up the account if you send me a list of friends that you think would like to bring you and your husband a meal? I'd be the FIRST person to sign up and I make a mean chicken brocoli casserole! :) E-mail me and I will get that started.