Yes it's true....

I (Abby) am pregnant again (due 12-9-2011 but hopefully delivered healthy in November at some point). Hard to believe if you know what I went through with Everly. And now since I am over 13 weeks pregnant, Dave gets mad at me if I mention this pregnancy not continuing because basically the writing is on the wall that this one looks like its sticking around for the long haul.

Now to answer some of the questions I know you inevitably have or that I have already been asked:

I found out I was pregnant with this kid by a fluke chance because I was feeling extra crappy after taking one of my pain pills for arthritis one Sunday back at the end of March. I happened to have an extra pregnancy test around the house so I took it, tested it, and didn't even check the response really because a) it didn't look positive immediately and b) it was a test on a whim, not really that I was actually thinking I was pregnant - I was more just trying to diagnose why I felt extra crappy. The next morning however there was super dry faint pregnancy line and  even though you aren't supposed to go by what dry old tests look like, anyone who has ever taken those tests knows that if its really negative, 99.9% of the time the second line does not magically show up the next day. Needless to say, several days and several more tests later - yep, pregnant.

Because we had moved back to Washington last November, I still had not found hardly any new doctors so now that I was pregnant I was put in a rush to find all my specialists asap (kidney, arthritis, OBGYN, Pediatrician, family doctor, etc). It was/is/has been the largest pain in the rear getting reestablished with new doctors who know nothing about me and who are over an hour away.

Anyways I guess I found out very early I was pregnant so I felt "off" but not super bad for weeks 4-6ish and then I started to get sicker and sicker and sicker. It started out as slightly nauseated and over the course of the next several weeks I went to the ER three times (once via ambulance) for severe stomach pain and overall dehydration. I developed and still have **severe** food aversions which they think possibly is related to the kidney disease I have overproducing a pregnancy hormone that triggers nausea and smell issues. I can smell everything too strongly. It got to the point where I couldn't eat, lost almost 20 pounds in less than a month (I am way overweight so not initially a huge deal) but then I started leaking ketones which means my body was going into starvation but I guess that happens when you can only eat things like 1/3 of a VERY green banana and two Sour Patch Kids candies in a day. It was really bad. They called it symptomatic anorexia. Basically I wanted to eat but couldn't. Even the smell of food packaging smelled bad and grossed me out. I couldn't watch or hear people eat. Couldn't watch food commercials without nearly barfing.

Around this time I started meeting with my kidney doctor and the Maternal Fetal Medicine (high risk OBGYN) doctor. They put me on steroids, sleeping pills, a home IV for a weekend and a machine called a Zofran pump which disburses nausea medicine steadily like an insulin pump. During this time I also reached around the 12 week pregnant marker and in this last week I have been able to eat REAL food. Its been a miracle and it makes me want to cry just to type it. When I first started to eat again (this is within the last 2 weeks) it was all I could do to sit up. My chest would pound and my blood sugar would go so crazy and feel like tar was coursing through my veins. I thought I was going to pass out from even a couple of bites of food and a couple of sips of water and would sit hunched over my food or laid back in a chair breathing quickly. But I find the more I can eat, regularly, daily, the better I feel and the less those HORRIBLE side effects last or happen at all.

We went to Mexican food last night for my moms birthday and I had two small tortillas with a pinch of chicken, cheese and lettuce in them and then probably two large handfuls of tortilla chips and it was SO SO SO good and I got SO SO SO sick afterwards because even though my brain thinks it can handle all that food my body is not there yet so basically I felt sick the rest of the night because I ate too much. At one time eating a plain (meat and bun only) kids hamburger from Burger King filled me up (no fries no drink) so much I was sick and bloated too. IT JUST SUCKS :-( Dave keeps saying to take it slow and to pace myself but when you feel like you have been starving and *finally* you can eat ANYTHING, its so hard to be slow. It's like having the last meal before you are going to be executed or crawling out of being in the desert a month to find a Vegas buffet full of fruit and choice meats at your feet. Needless to say its going to take time and I will have good days followed by bad days but then hopefully more good days before this is all over with.

As far as my other health maladies through this... since I am starting my pregnancy out with a kidney disease this time, my kidneys have gotten worse and I am leaking like 2+ grams of protein daily which is a lot (you aren't supposed to leak any) and they only expect that to get worse at least through the second trimester when the maternal and fetal blood levels start to level off. I have never had reduced kidney/renal function - ever - but they said there is a possibility at the end of the pregnancy I may risk kidney failure but it would be temporary and not likely to cause permanent damage. They say also because of my kidney disease I am extremely extremely high risk for preeclampsia. That's their main concern with me right now but most likely wont show up till 2nd or 3rd trimester anyways. There was some other "doom and gloom" stuff in my report but nothing that I haven't heard before and more having to do with me than the baby. Nobody knows for sure what happens so basically I take every day, week and month as it comes and they treat me as needed.

As for my arthritis, it was bothering me but since I am/was pretty much homebound due to illness, I couldn't really do much anyways but when they put me on the steroids it took 99.9% of my arthritis symptoms away so that's been a nice added benefit.

And as for some happy or light news... there is only one baby for SURE.... Everly keeps telling everyone that comes over that my "tummy owies" because that's what I tell her because usually I have stomach pain. She has been told once maybe twice about a baby in tummy but mainly I am waiting till I am further along and it starts moving before going too crazy in that area. She knows that I go to the "docor" (doctor) often to get better and that I get "winks" (drinks/IVs) in my arm to feel better. She tries to take care of me by bringing me candy or ANYONE'S prescription pill bottle she can find (no matter what the medicine inside is) to help me feel better. She even brought me a small bowl to barf in once and demonstrated what its purpose was for which made me smile and laugh and yet warm my heart she cares and tries so much. She "fixes" other owies of mine by pulling out old band-aids from weird places like her shoes and then so carefully putting them on my appropriate owie spot (usually on an old zit spot or IV location). You should see the look of concentration when she is placing them. Anyways I love her but she is also going through some rough patches too with a strong will and a strong temper. Lord help us all but I guess this is all part of life!

More stories about Everly later but I wanted to get this much out since I felt good enough for 5 minutes to put it out here. Sorry if you don't hear from me much or I don' t respond to emails, facebook or even phonecalls half the time. I still have to take everything day by day and am still tired a LOT. I always still read them though even if a day or two late! Off to go try to eat.... again.... wish me luck!