Two appointment updates for y'all

I could not wait until today's appointment to get my facial pain attended to. I went in on Wednesday. I have been diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia, (look it up, it is interseting and it sucks, too) which in my case is caused and exascerbated by stress. So those three stressful event basically made my face explode or erupt or something. I am under doctor's orders to have NO stress for the remainder of my pregnancy, and to minimize it thereafter because it can certainly recur.

Steve is under orders to be my stress-interceptor for the pregnancy. He has seen me in some serious pain, and I know he will do all he can to keep it from coming back and putting me through that again. I know he wanted to help me, but there was nothing he could do to alleviate my pain. There still isn't anything anyone can do. I cannot take narcotics because of the baby. I am on prednisone for a few days to try to lay the smack down on my inflamed nerves. Hopefully it will work ok and I will start meditating or something because I can't do that pain any more. It is debilitating. I can give birth unmedicated but with this all I could do was lay in a ball and sob, and live in fear of the next attack. Yesterday I had a few episodes but I felt so much better that I made a cherry pie, 3 loaves of homemade bread, and my first homemade chicken pot pie.

So today I went to the OB, and everything is ok for now. We listened to the baby's heartbeat, I am measuring right on schedule, and I go back next week for my glucose test and Rhogam shot. Because I am a little swollen and my blood pressure is a little up, they will also screen me for toxemia. The doctor is not too alarmed yet, because my pain might be what is raising my BP, and also swelling is normal at this stage in the game. He says he is just being careful.

That's about it. I think next week's lab tests will determine if I am still at monthly appointments or if I go to 2 week appointments, and I will keep you posted. For now I am going to take my sore face and lay down. Oh yeah--Baby is doing well, and getting big. She should be about 2 pounds and 14 inches long. The other day she kicked me in my boob! Woohoo! Also, I promised a belly pic--I will have Steve take one tonight and post it later.