Eddie

In PA school, medical school, even nursing school they teach you when you see hoof prints to look for horses not zebras. So when we found that my blood pressure was high they looked for all of the simple things. When all of the normal tests came back normal they caulked it off as gestational hypertension and put me on medication. Still I continued to have unusual symptoms and suggested to the doctors that I thought there was something more. They continued to brush it off as pregnancy symptoms. I continued to say I was feeling different then my two previous pregnancies so they sent me to a Rheumatologist. When I explained my symptoms to him he finally believed me and ordered some tests. The tests confirmed that I have cushing's disease. Something very rare in the general population, but almost unheard of in pregnancy. Most people cannot get pregnant with cushings because of the hormonal imbalances. Take the hormones out of the situation like we did and it is possible. So after more tests of my urine, saliva and blood we have confirmed that I have this strange disease that is making me feel horrible. Luckily the baby seems to be fairing okay. He is growing great and as of my ultrasound yesterday he is 1 lb 9 oz. I am 24 weeks pregnant now so if he is born now he has a chance. Our goal though is obviously to keep him inside for much longer. Most of the research shows that the best way to do that is to remove the source of the cushings. The two most common places are a pituitary tumor or an adrenal tumor. Mine is coming from a tumor on my left adrenal gland. We found it yesterday with ultrasound and tomorrow I have an MRI to confirm it. Because of the pregnancy we are not messing around and Eddie, which is what we have named this nuisance, is going to come out on Thursday. I am not keen on having surgery, especially during pregnancy, but it needs to go. So Thursday it is. Eddie will be gone. The doctor says my symptoms will not go away right away it may actually take 6-12 months. Taking it out now though prevents me from having more symptoms and hopefully from having to deliver this little guy early.

Warmer Weather

A few weeks ago we got a little tease with some warm weather. We spent the afternoon at the park. The girls had a great time playing in the pirate ship, swings, and the slide.