15 Weeks

Our sweet babies are the size of apples.  Speaking of apples, I'll be blogging about our adventures

in baking homemade apple pies from scratch a few weeks ago.  Short story is, they were delicious!

So this week was a pretty rough week. :(  I stayed home from work all week, but it wasn't as exciting as it sounds.  Last Sunday evening, I started to feel a little dizzy.  I assumed it was because I had stayed up a little later than I should have and was just feeling really tired.  I went to bed as usual thinking it would be gone in the morning... but no such luck.  All day Monday was one big case of extreme dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.(!!)  Seriously, I was one big mess.  And to be quite honest, I was kind of scared - I hadn't thrown up since I was probably about 12 years old.  I talked to my mom, to Henry, and to the nurse at my OB's office and we all came to the conclusion that my morning sickness had finally hit in my second trimester - joy!  Tuesday was more dizziness and nausea, followed by more of the same on Wednesday.  By this time, Henry and I had decided that 24-hour dizziness didn't seem normal, so I called my doctor's office again and they asked me to come in right away to get my blood pressure and blood sugar levels checked.

After three hours and two doctors' visits, it turns out I have viral labrynthitis - a viral infection in my inner ear.  Apparently this infection is as common as the common cold and some people don't even know they have it.  Others experience symptoms of changed hearing or temporary hearing loss, while still others (me) experience vertigo (extreme dizziness) and problems focusing their eyesight (me again).

I was somewhat relieved to find out that everything I was feeling was unrelated to my pregnancy (I wasn't quite sure how I was going to handle 3-6 more months of 24/7 dizziness, nausea, and vomiting).  I was a little bit concerned though that the diagnosing doctor (an Ear, Nose, and Throat doc) wanted to put me on two prescription meds to help clear up the infection and relieve the dizziness.  He assured me that what he had prescribed was safe for the babies, and he made it clear that he wouldn't put me on anything without first getting it cleared by Dr. P (by OB).  After both Henry and I talked with the ENT doctor for a bit about the meds and his role in helping me get better while keeping our babies safe, we both felt comfortable with his treatments and took the prescriptions.

I've been taking the meds he prescribed for five days now and I'm feeling much better!  The room has finally stopped spinning, my appetite has returned, and I've been able to hold my food down - whew!  I'm still not back to 100% just yet - the doctor made it clear that this infection could stick around for days or weeks.  But I am able to get around without holding onto the walls or Henry for support.  I just have to take it slow and not make any quick/sudden movements and I'm good.

And now, our weekly update (as told by the twins)…

Sleep: Mom has been sleeping a lot this week.  The infection in her ear made her realllly tired, probably because she was trying so hard to focus when she was awake - her brain would get tired and make her sleepy.  Now that she's feeling better though, she's back to a somewhat normal sleeping pattern.

Cravings: Mom didn't really have any cravings this week.  She had a hard time keeping food down the first half of the week, that nothing sounded good. :(  The one thing she has been is very thirsty, so she's been trying to drink lots of ice cold water.

Symptoms: I thought I'd be writing about how my morning sickness had finally kicked in this week, but it turns out all the symptoms I've had were just symptoms of the viral infection.  Any aches/pains I may have felt this week were completely overshadowed by how awful the infection made me feel, so I'm glad I've started to get over it quickly.

How we’re growing: This week, our legs are growing longer than our arms.  We can also now move all of our joints and limbs in our bodies - mom should be able to start feeling us kick and squirm soon!  Although our eyelids are still fused shut, we can now sense light.  If mom shines a flashlight at her belly, we'll move away from the beam - we like the dark!  From head to bottom, we’re about 4” long and weigh 2.5 ounces, each!  By the end of this week, mom and dad should be able to determine our genders... too bad Dr. P. said they have to wait until 20 weeks for our next sonogram!

Best moment of the week: Despite me feeling awful, there were a few highlights this week.  Henry finished his last master's class (ever!), so no more homework and lectures for him!  And I get my husband back!!  We also got to hear our sweet babies' heartbeats again when I went in to see my doctor to get checked out.  This time he was able to locate both heartbeats right away, and the sounds of our healthy babies were beautiful!  Going to Aunt Irene and Uncle Jimmy's house on Friday to celebrate the 4th of July was also a highlight of the week - I was finally feeling well enough to get out of the house, and my appetite returned so I ate... a lot!

What Mom & Dad are looking forward to this coming week: Getting back to our daily walks!  That was the plan for this past week, but my dizziness made it impossible to do much but sleep.  This might sound crazy, but I'm also looking forward to going back to work and getting back into our weekly routine.  I think we're both looking forward to my follow up appointment with the ENT doc on Friday too - hopefully he finds that everything is clearing up and will allow me to drive again (yep, I'm not allowed to drive because of the vertigo).

One other highlight of the week was going to mass at the Cathedral in downtown Dallas today.  It's an absolutely beautiful church, y'all!

Photo Credit: Jesse Granados (I took the picture from his Facebook without asking - Thanks Jesse!)

Part of what made today's mass so special was going with family.  Aunt Irene, Uncle Jimmy, and cousin Jaimito joined us, along with Amanda and Jesse, and Uncle Raul.  It was nice celebrating such a beautiful mass with everybody.  The other part that made mass amazing was the special blessing I received at the end.  Before the dismissal, the Father asked all expectant mothers to join him in front of the alter for a special blessing from him and the rest of the congregation.  It was a complete surprise, but oh so very welcome.  I truly felt the love of our Lord in that moment and it was amazing.

Aaand a couple more pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe Entrance

Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe Altar

We will be back to this church. <3