Thankful

I returned from the doctor not long ago, and the news was what I had hoped for! Thankfully, the infection was looking improved enough this morning that they were able to remove the drain and packing and that they decided that no further incisions or forced draining was necessary. We'll get the culture back tomorrow or Wednesday, but it's looking so much better that they don't think it's MRSA, which means they don't think it will be necessary to change treatment. I am still in pain, but it's more manageable and I have been able to avoid the Tylenol with codiene so far (which they prescribed in case the pain became unbearable again but recommended against taking if possible, for Robbie's sake). I still haven't had a fever or any other signs that the staph infection has become systemic, which is a huge blessing! As long as it stays localized, it won't affect Robbie. So please continue to pray that the infection will stay localized and continue to heal. Also, the wound itself will take several weeks to heal since it's about 1.5cm in diameter, so please pray that I won't have any additional infections as it heals, since we know that I'm susceptible to them.

Oh, and to answer a couple questions that have been asked ...
-No, this isn't related to my sprained ankle. It's the same leg, but the sprain and the infection aren't related. My ankle is still tender and still swollen from the sprain, I think (hard to tell since the entire leg is swollen from the infection right now), but it's stable and not painful most of the time. Please pray that I will not re-injure it, since the infection-related swelling makes it incredibly uncomfortable to wear the brace so it's not currently wrapped.
-Is this related to my rheumatoid arthritis? Maybe and no. No, it's not directly related to RA. However, prednisone - the only drug I can take for RA while preggers - can supress your immune system and make you more susceptible to infections, so it may have played a role in this. That said, pregnancy itself supresses your immune system (so that your body doesn't reject the baby as a foreign object), so it might not be prednisone-related.

Thanks, friends! I'll be posting snow and birthday pictures later this week, so my next few posts should be cheerier! :)

Calling the husband before surgery and other lessons from the past week...

I promise a post with photos of Jocelyn's birthday and celebrations will be coming soon, but trust me when I say that you DO NOT want any pictures along with this post!

I apologize for not posting in a while, but I have good excuses! A few weeks ago my skin began itching like crazy due to some pregnancy-related rash (one of my OBs said it was PUPPP, another wasn't sure - either way, something about this little boy made me want to tear off my own skin!). That's when the blog first went quiet. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of the story, and it was the easiest part of it ...

A little over a week ago, a small cut formed below my knee from my scratching at the rash. It started to look a little reddish but not too bad ... until Monday, when it became painfully, bright red, and swollen. It got increasingly worse over the next couple days and - long story short - turned into a nasty staph infection. To treat it, I'm on strong antibiotics and was given an antibiotic ointment, but by Friday it was bad enough to warrant a minor surgical procedure called an I&D (incision and drainage). I go back to the doc tomorrow morning for follow-up, and we'll find out the results from the culture they did of the bacteria by the middle of the week, at which time we may change antibiotics if this strain of staph is resistant to the ones I'm on now. (Please pray that will not be necessary, since the current antibiotics are safe for Robbie, while the ones I would have to switch to may not be.)

Things I've learned:
-That Lee expects me to call him before I have surgery. Seems like a logical request, but it didn't occur to me to call him until after they did the procedure on Friday. Oops!
-That local anesthesia isn't as effective when you're pregnant as it is when you aren't. Ouch!
-That being limited to Tylenol for pain in these circumstances is no fun. Yikes!
-That when sweet friends - like Norma and Heather - suggest that I should rest, I should listen. I overdid it in my refusal to postpone or cut back on Jocelyn's birthday celebrations (which were on Saturday, beginning about 16 hours after my minor surgery). Once again, ouch!

I am now resting and haven't left my bed since about an hour after we returned from church. I don't think we'll make it to the Sunday school Superbowl party, but I'm okay with that. Thanks for your prayers!

New favorite recipe

Lee and I usually would not rank pork at the top of our list of favorite foods, but after eating this a couple weeks ago, Lee said, "That might be my favorite dish ever." I'm making it again tonight, so I'll try to remember to take a couple pictures to add to this post!

Rosemary Pork Chops
1 lb pork chops
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp savory
1 tsp minced garlic (I think I'll use 2 tsp tonight, though)
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup white wine
4 oz goat cheese

-Make a mixture of all the seasonings and mash it onto both sides of the each pork chop.
-Fry the chops in the butter and oil over medium heat, browning both sides.
-Add the wine, cover, and bring to a boil.
-Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20-25 minutes.
-Uncover and add goat cheese (can put on top of meat and/or in the sauce - works either way).
-Cover again once you've added the goat cheese and simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until chops are very tender.
-Serve chops with the sauce spooned over them - yum!

I adapted this recipe from a low-carb cookbook that my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas, but I don't feel bad posting it here as my own since I changed it so much! :)

Pictureless update

Saw the orthopedist yesterday, and he said:
1) it's a grade three sprain (yep, it only goes up to grade three ... I did well, huh?), which means - according to the handout he gave me - "complete tearing of the ligament(s) and the joint is very loose or unstable."
2) he thinks there could be a minor fracture too, but given that I'm pregnant and given that the treatment would be the same either way (fracture with sprain or just sprain) he didn't bother with x-rays.
3) it should take about 6-8 weeks before I'm back to normal, and I'll need to wear my oh-so-beautiful aircast brace until then.
4) I should use crutches until I can walk without pain, which he expects to be about two weeks from now. Thankfully, a friend has offered to let me borrow a pair - such a sweet blessing!

Also, the prednisone I'm already taking for my arthritis also will help with the swelling in my ankle, which is another blessing!

26 week check-up

I had my 26-week check-up at the OB today, and everything pregnancy-related is going quite well! Before I get to that, though, let me fill you in on my ankle woes, since I'll be blogging an update on that after my appt with the orthopedist on Wednesday afternoon. Simply put, Sunday school is hazardous to my health. Okay, maybe not, but I stood up after class ended on Sunday, and while my right foot didn't feel asleep, it had no feeling whatsoever. I didn't realize this until I tried to plant it on the floor and put weight on it, only to have to side of my foot - rather than the bottom - connect with the floor. I was already in motion at this point, so my weight came down on it, and I felt and heard several loud pops. In an attempt to keep from falling over, I took another couple steps, and basically repeated the whole put-weight-on-side-of-foot, hear/feel-several-pops process again. By this time, Lee caught me, so I didn't fall, but my ankle is pretty badly messed up. My OB doesn't think it's broken (but didn't totally rule that out), but thinks it's messed up enough that I need to see an orthopedist this week. He thinks I probably tore at least a few tendons/ligaments, which is exactly what a pregnant lady with a toddler at home needs! He also thinks the cause for the whole incident was likely Robbie resting just right on a nerve so that I lost feeling in my foot without realizing it. That little boy is already causing trouble! ;) My goodness! Please pray for speedy healing, specifically for me to be able to put weight on it soon without extreme pain!

Now back to the OB appt ... after all that wordiness, here are some pics of Jocelyn playing in the waiting room.

From January 2009

Helping me play my Phase 10 game (I love the card game, Lee does not, so he bought me one I could play by myself to make us both happy!)

From January 2009

After she stole my game

From January 2009

The reason I brought my Phase 10 game is that this was the glucose screening test. You mommies know the drill: drink sickeningly sweet stuff, wait an hour, have your blood tested to determine if you need further testing for gestational diabetes. The VERY exciting news is that I passed the glucose test (which was not expected due to taking prednisone) and my iron levels are actually higher now than they were a month ago (which means that they don't think I'll be anemic this pregnancy - marvelous given how sickly anemic I was with Jocelyn!). Robbie's heartbeat was strong, and I'm measuring exactly the size I should be right now, so 'twas good news all around!

Also, given that I haven't been feeling sick after eating carbs lately, given that my weight hasn't gone up much in the past month or two (during which I haven't been good at avoiding carbs), and given that I passed the glucose test with room to spare, I still have to watch carbs but nothing like before! WOOHOO! So what did I do after getting this news, you ask?

From January 2009

Yep, that's a Dunkin' Donuts box! And Jocelyn was an angel at the appointment (though she did have Lee there too - he stayed home this morning because I can't walk much right now), so she got her own pink-frosted donut with sprinkles!

From January 2009

From January 2009

From January 2009

From January 2009

And one last one of Jocelyn running around the table with her donut! This is my first shot at fancy photo editing stuff on Photoshop Elements - I'm enjoying it so far!

From January 2009