First off, super thanks for the patience in waiting
for more blogs.
LOTS of things have happened to us in a VERY SHORT
span of time, so there was next to zero time for me to sit and blog.
I’ll get to explaining that at the end of this
intro, so let’s start with the whole perspective thing. I think it’s important
to mention at this point.
I stopped and thought about it and at first, I
didn’t want to mention all this other stuff I’ve been going through since we
found out we’re having a baby, but upon further pondering, it looks like it
really has affected how things are right now, as far as my mental and physical
state goes.
Basically, once I explain, it might make me look
less of an asshole. I say this because I have been a bit of a Debbie Downer on
Facebook as of late. If you knew exactly what has transpired since June, then
maybe you would understand why I was at the end of my sanity rope…with doctors
and life in general.
Too much change all at once is not good, for anyone.
For those who could care less or already know, you
can skip to the end and go awwwww at the 16 week ultrasound. And no, that is
not a penis, we won’t find out the gender until the end of September.
I’ll try to make this part as short as possible.
So here goes:
It actually starts back in May.
I felt like crap at the beginning of it. Took two
pregnancy tests (since I stopped taking BC in January), one said very faintly
that I was, the next said, HAHA JUST KIDDING. I believed the just kidding one.
Possibly denial, but it turns out it was just SUPER EARLY.
We had people over for Cinco De Mayo and I drank three
margaritas. They were super yummy and I didn’t end up hung over the next day,
which is strange for me, but whatever. Bonus!
I asked my internship to let me know if they were
going to keep me on as full time. They waited until the very last minute to tell
me, on a Friday; basically the week before the Career Fair at my school and the
same week that we would need to tell the leasing office whether we were staying
in our apartment or not.
Jerry
from Tom and Jerry. This pretty much sums up how I felt about that.
I helped my parents move out of their house that was
being torn down and built into another mansion (like Elmhurst needs anymore of
those, whatever) and into my sister’s house until they found another house
because their Realtor was an INCOMPETENT ASSHOLE. They hate the place they are
living in right now and it’s way too small for them. Partially their fault,
mostly the Realtor’s. It’s like 20/80 in my eyes.
Stewie
from Family Guy, being himself.
One day while I was helping them pack up the house,
I was in so much pain and had so much nausea, I fell asleep on my mom’s bed,
woke up, took some pills my sister gave me and fell back asleep again.
Um…oooooookaaaaaaay, that’s weird. Must be exhausted
from everything going on. Yeah, that’s it. At the time I said it was possibly
my period, buuuuuut…
It was supposed to be at the beginning of the month.
I was stressed out by everything that I lost track of when it was supposed to
be, or just figured it was super late because of the stress. Cramping like mad,
but no bleeding.
That should have been a red flag (no pun
intended…and ewwww), but again, it didn’t even cross my mind.
Too many other
things going on.
We decide to move to Saint Louis, thinking it was
the best overall decision for us at this point. I wasn’t finding a job and was
starting to freak out about it. Steve still had another year of school left, we
had a ton of bills and I went down to part-time at my full time job and
desperately needed out due to harassing coworker and other factors. It just
wasn’t working out.
If you’ve read the first blog, you already know that
I found out I was pregnant at the beginning of June, right after I biked 8
miles in 90 degree weather and sat in a hot tub for 2 minutes before going holy
hell that is hot.
Then I turned 33 and graduated college all in the
same weekend. It took me 15 years to graduate college. But I finally did it.
Bender
from Futurama…just kidding, you don’t have to clap LOL, just being funny.
And then we had or first ultrasound and then moved
to Saint Louis.
That was just May and June.
July and August was spent in Saint Louis and it was
hotter than the seventh level of hell, which might as well been like this:
The
Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. Dude needs some Clear Eyes reeeeally bad,
yo.
And then people kept telling me, “Oh, you’re so
lucky it’s so early in our pregnancy, at least you’re not 8 months pregnant
right now.”
The
Fry Meme from Futurama. I’ll be using this picture a lot, so get used to it
LOL.
You’ll see that phrase again in an upcoming blog
titled: Things People Say to Pregnant Women That Really Honk Me Off.
Anyways, I would have been okay with hearing that except
I was puking my guts out at LEAST twice a week if not more. No necessarily from
the heat, but the heat wasn’t helping matters in general.
Thanks for the thought, though.
I did have some pretty awesome people call or text
while I was down there to see how we were doing, for which I was very thankful
for beyond measure. It turns out I got really depressed, about how things were
working out, about being pregnant (yes, that’s right) and a multitude of other
things. And then I discovered why the depression was so bad later on (it’s,
again, in a later blog titled Finding Proper OB Care: Also Known As %%^$$#@@$!).
The short version is that my thyroid meds were off, and it contributed to it,
making it worse than it would have been ordinarily. You should still read that
blog, though, because there’s more to it than just that, of course.
We decided to move back to Chicago at the end of
August because Steve couldn’t find a school down here to finish his engineering
degree in a decent amount of time (ie before the baby comes, or shortly after)
so we decided to come back up to Chicago so he could finish his degree at the
same school that he started it at, DeVry University. I would also like to note
that DeVry does have a school down here in Saint Louis, but they don’t carry
his degree program down here. Finishing it online was not an option either
because he was told that his degree would not be accredited because 28 credits
out of 139 would not be accredited. WHAT THE FUCK.
So, we returned so he can go back to our idiotic school that makes no sense (I say our because I still go to visit and play
games with the Old School Games Club and I graduated from there this past
June). The only good news I got recently was that our moronic financial aid
advisor finally got fired. She’s the reason why I have $10, 000 of extra loan
debt, so it warms my heart to hear she got canned.
Nelson from the Simpsons. Google Image search.
We also returned so I could finally get proper OB
care, but I rant and rave all about that in a separate blog, which will be the
next one most likely. You should read it because you will go, “You’ve got to
kidding me.”
Or maybe you might go, “Yup, that sounds about
right.”
We moved in with my parents for less than two weeks
(because I love them, but they’re fucking crazy) and then proceeded to stay
with some friends for a week while we figured out where we were going to go
next and not be homeless (because Jen and Richard are amazeballs awesome) and
for some kitty therapy (Rich’s cats) since we left my cat down in Saint Louis
with Steve’s parents so she wouldn’t have to be a gypsy cat, so now we’re with
another set of friends (who also provide kitty therapy as well) in the meantime
until we figure out where to land for at least the next six months to a year
while Steve finished school and with the baby.
That whole previous paragraph happened in one week.
No shit.
Ichigo from Bleach. Pretty much sums up my face about that whole thing. Google Image search.
And that’s pretty much when we hit bottom. It was
like we just couldn’t take anymore bad shit happening to us.
It’s been a slow climb up since, with slips here and
there.
So, in short…It’s been a rough five months or so is an
understatement, with new problems arising everyday it seems, like having a temp
job for three days and then being asked not to come back, but we’ll get through
it. On the plus side, Steve has a temp job and his classes are hard but he’s
doing well in them, so at least that’s something.
And the baby is doing awesome and is super healthy,
despite all the stress of the ongoing situation.
I try to not be so down and depressed, so when I
think of the baby, I try to think of happier things. For his/her sake. And
sometimes for mine, too.
I don’t want Baby to think that he/she is coming
into a bad world or situation, because he or she/won’t be.
We will do what it
takes to make sure everything will be okay for him/her. We’ll find a way.
Yes it is. Google Image search.
And that makes me feel a little better, even if it’s
only for a little while before I go back to worry mode.
And if anyone has any suggestions as to how to find
a place to live with next to no income and a baby on the way, it would be
appreciated. Just throwing that out there.
And now, for the ultrasound pics:
Baby
Chapple at 16 weeks (pic1)
Baby
Chapple at 16 weeks (pic2) and no, that is not a penis before you ask…LOL.
I know, he/she is just beautiful, right?
*Pause*
