Pre-existing Health Conditions rear their ugly heads

Nov. 1^st- Had my appointment with the Nurse Practitioner today, she was so nice and informative, it was a good appointment. One thing I learned just in time is that I should not be doing airborne immunity drinks since they contain Echinacea. I definitely had not come across that in my own research and I was planning on doing one tonight since I saw my niece and nephew yesterday for Halloween and since I was at a doctor’s office- either of those would make me do one but definitely both.  I really should be fine with all the vitamin C I am pumping into my system. The NP confirmed that one caffeine drink a day is fine, so I will let myself cave maybe once a week and have my baby diet coke (I still want to cut back anyway so I am using the pregnancy as my opportunity to do that) and that continuing my regular exercise is not only fine but recommended. She also brought me down to reality and let me know Chris and I have some decisions to make about what fetal testing we want to have done and if we want to store the baby’s cord blood. Later in the day she called and let me know my thyroid levels were out of whack, which is a bit stressful. I was able to get a hold of my thyroid doctor and she upped my dose but it does seem like there are too many cooks in the kitchen, since I told my thyroid doctor about the pregnancy when I first found out and she increased my dose and ordered blood work for four weeks from then. Before I was pregnancy if she changed my dose she’d have me go for the blood work at 6 weeks because prior to that the new dose wouldn’t be accurately represented in the bloodstream. I’m not sure if they do it a little early with pregnancy just in case/to err on the side of caution. So my levels were pretty high for my TSH but the new dose isn’t reflected in my blood yet so now it’s a bit muddled and my endocrinologist sounded a little annoyed the OBGYN ordered thyroid tests. But it’s one of those things- I’m not a doctor, I’m informing all my doctors of these different things, if she didn’t want my OBGYN to test my thyroid then she should have told me when I called to tell her I was pregnant because clearly I planned on seeing one ASAP. So I’m trying not to beat myself up about it because ultimately I’m not in a position to tell a doctor to not run a test unless specifically directed by another doc. She increased my dose again and now I’ll have the blood work for her done in about a month. I just hope everything works out, I specifically opted to have my thyroid and the goiters removed in light of the fact that I wanted to get pregnant and I thought having all of it removed and taking thyroid hormone orally the rest of my life was the best treatment route in terms of trying to get pregnant-since too much or too little thyroid hormone can negatively impact a pregnancy. Since I had three goiters making an unknown amount of hormone a day and I was on set dose of anti-thyroid medicine I thought it was best to have the black box removed and have a known level ingested every day. I feel like after all of that and the normal scrutiny my thyroid levels are under with my regular blood work I should have a leg up on another women who are unsure of their thyroid situation (and if you are reading this and trying to get pregnant and are unsure of your levels I would definitely recommend you have them checked). So hopefully my thyroid issues won’t complicate my pregnancy since the treatment decisions I made several years ago were in the attempt to have an uncomplicated pregnancy a few years down the road.

 

Nov. 4^th- Thank goodness for homeopathic remedies! I spent the entire night last night tossing and turning due to my completely stuffed up nose (despite the fact that I had my trusty vaporizer on, as always) so this morning I did a sinus rinse, plugged my other vaporizer in in my office and had the ice pack on my head. I know there are certain medicines that I can take but I always try natural stuff first then resort to OTC only if necessary in general for myself regardless of whether I am pregnant or not.

Nov. 5^th- Pretty much the same as yesterday when I woke up today, completely stuffed up & a headache; I decided it was time for some OTC relief and was pleasantly surprised that didn’t require a trip to CVS for pregnancy-approved meds since the ones I usually take are safe for pregnancy. My OBGYN gave me a packet of information that included what to take in the four common minor illness areas- aches and pains, cough, cold, and upset stomach. It is safe to take acetaminophen (name brand Tylenol) but none of the other pain relievers, it’s safe to take Robitussin DM (active ingredients are dextromethorphan and guaifenesin), Sudafed PE (active ingredient is phenylephrine, which in combination with acetaminophen is the active ingredient in generic sinus pain and congestion medicine- my go-to due to my sinus issues and I’m almost exclusively a generic buyer so I need to know active ingredients) and Tums and Mylanta but not Pepto-Bismol. My instructions go on to say after 12 weeks it is safe to take cold and cough stuff that has pseudoephedrine in it (the most common name brand of this would be regular Sudafed, the one that contains phenylephrine which is safe to take at any time during pregnancy is Sudafed PE or in my generic-loving case ‘nasal decongestant PE’ courtesy of CVS). Anyway I continued to ice, do my sinus rinses, and rest today but I am planning on taking my nasal decongestive tonight in the hopes that it helps me get through the night without stuffing up too much and thus waking up not too far behind the eight ball for the day.

Nov. 6^th- Woohoo I am finally feeling better, woke up not too stuffy (but judging by my husband’s snoring I can’t say the same about him) still did my sinus rinse but am definitely better today. I plan on resuming my cardio during my lunch break and I might even cook tonight. The last two evenings meals have been takeout pizza and blue box macaroni n’ cheese-thanks Chris! I feel like I am slacking a bit on my health kick and just eating what I want to eat the past few days. It’s not like I’m eating candy bars for lunch but I think I need to get back into my strong fruits and veggies regimen. Figure there is no harm in going easy on myself while I don’t feel good but now that I’m better back to health foods (immediately after I finish this bowl of rice pilaf I just made).