The Lingering Effects of PA

That place wrecked me, man.  I must have been running on pure adrenaline those last days because after I finally got home last Wednesday, I had all of one good full day before the downward spiral.  By Friday my body started giving out, which led to four fever-filled nights and days with sinus congestion to boot.  It was awful.  Like, had to talk myself through getting up in the middle of the night when I had horrible chills just to go to the bathroom or to get up in the mornings for the dogs.  Thankfully, I was fever-less last night and today with tonight looking pretty good as well.

The trip home wasn't the greatest either.  Drive a damn hour to the airport.  Leave in gusting winds on a prop plane that was literally bouncing through the air.  I was too concerned with puking everywhere to even be afraid of crashing.  It was the first time I ever pulled out the barf bag and had it ready.  I thought it was over.  Mouth was watering and everything else that happens just before vomit time.  Somehow, though, I talked myself down and just kept my eyes closed the rest of the way to DC.  During my layover at Dulles I tried to recover before my next flight, which must have worked because I was asleep during take-off.  In ATL I got my bag then waited for my shuttle.  Long shuttle to Columbus.  Get in my car, pay rent, pick up dinner, and bam full day o' travel.  Gah.  Thank god when I go to Boston it's a straight shot.  I still have to get to ATL, but whatev.  No prop plane either. 

And now I'm home, and the news is out that I'm pregnant.  Eleven weeks.  Now re-read all the crazy ass shit in PA and know that I was knocked up that whole time.  Probably grounds to have just gone ahead and beat my cousin to death.  We actually found out the day before Joe deployed.  Waited until just before the PA trip to tell the family, and then after my first (finally) ultrasound this past Monday, let the news break publicly.  We were shooting until the end of the first trimester, but hell, I figure this is close enough.  And my goodness, the ultrasound!

Honestly, I cruised on in the doc's office more looking for help with the fever/congestion than anything else, as I just thought the first ultrasound would be a blob with a heartbeat (so long as the fever hadn't boiled him/her).  But oh.my.god.  It was a small, albeit big-headed, little baby already visible on the screen.  (I read about the weekly develops, but I didn't know I'd be able to SEE them so soon.)  The thing is literally like the size of a plum, but I could already see arms and legs flailing and during an aerial view the two brain halves were visible.  It was incredible.  Of course I got to hear the heartbeat too, which was awesome, and at one point the baby just turned and put its back to us.  Alrighty.  It was something.  They probably thought I was a jackass because through a few tears I just kept saying "This is so cool!  I didn't think it'd be this cool!!"  Wish Joe could have been there.

Hell, I wish Joe could have been here for the last week to help me out.  I don't usually feel (too) sorry for myself when he's gone anymore, but damn I felt awful with this sickness.  Thankfully I'm on the mend and now get to look forward to cleaning the house and everything else that's piled up since the end of February.  Oh boy!  PS.  My grandma JUST got home from the hospital yesterday - flu strain B.  In the end she apparently became verbally combative toward hospital staff.  Ha.  There's no good way to warn people that your seemingly sweet 80 year old grandma is actually a big ol' bitch, but I did tell her to be nice before I left.  :-)