NO Fifths Disease :)

I finally connected with the doctor today, and I do NOT have Fifths Disease! Praise God! I really wasn't showing many symptoms, but they recommend that all pregnant people with known exposure get tested. Since my strep test on Friday was negative, and I still haven't been feeling 100%, I was getting anxious to hear the results. Thankfully though, I tested negative on my current reading. However, they could tell that I've had the Parvovirus (Fifths Disease) at some point in my past, which is actually GREAT news because it means I should most likely have immunity. This is awesome because the disease is still spreading around our school, and now I don't have to worry about catching it later on in my pregnancy :)

What a day!

Today was quite the day! Brecken (who has been healthy since Halloween) recently started running a temp and last night it went up to 101.4. DJ took him to the doctor today since he also didn't seem to have any appetite, and Mr. Brecken has an ear infection in each ear PLUS strep throat! I woke up at 3:45 this morning with a terrible sore throat, so after hearing about Brecken, I thought I better get checked too so I planned to go the minute clinic right after work. However, around lunch time today, I got an e-mail from our school health-clerk stating that multiple cases of Fifths Disease have been reported at our school and that anyone who is pregnant should contact their medical provider. So then I sent a message to my doctor and they said I should come in for a blood draw to be tested TODAY. So after school, I flew over to the doctor for the blood draw, but unfortunately I probably will have to wait until next week for the results :( My throat and headache continued to get worse, so I went to the Target Clinic this evening for a throat culture, but it was negative which is good but I REALLY hope and pray it's not Fifths Disease (since sore throat and headache are symptoms of that too)! DJ is gone on a men's retreat with church, so we have sickie 1 and sickie 2 here. Luckily my mom was already planning to hang out for the weekend since the other guys are hunting, so I'm very thankful she is here to help! Hopefully a good night's sleep will bring some good healing for both Brecken and I :)

Side note: This was actually the 2nd Friday in a row that I've had to have a blood draw. Last Friday after my cerclage, I called the doctor because my lower back was aching/hurting a little. She wanted to be sure that I didn't have an infection from the procedure, so she ordered up a blood draw, urine sample, and an ultrasound of my kidneys! All was fine though :)

We also bought a "new" (new to us) car this week. DJ accepted a job offer on Monday and put in his 2-week notice, so he will lose his company car at the end of next week. It's no wonder these last couple of weeks have felt absolutely insane!

1 week post-op. appt.

Well everything looked pretty good at my check-up Tuesday morning :) The doctor's last words were, "everything looks good, and we'll see you again in 2 weeks." I keep focusing on those words because on the day of the surgery they had told me that they'd have to see me every 1-2 weeks depending on how things looked, so the fact he doesn't want to see me for 2 weeks must mean that there is nothing too concerning. However, he did say a couple of other things during the appointment that worried me a bit...he said that it was definitely a good thing that we decided to do the cerclage because he could tell that the cervix was still trying to open despite the stitch. They said I'm actually dilated about 5-6 millimeters. I realize that 5-6 MILLImeters is like nothing, but still, after having my cervix stitched, how in the world is it dilating at 15 weeks? Also, because of this fact, he asked what I do for work...I informed him that I'm a teacher and am on my feet all day. His response was, "Well, take it easy and put your feet up as much as possible on the evenings/weekends." Wow, that is going to be quite a challenge with a 2.5 year old running around! I guess there will be no cleaning for me...I better get comfortable with the fact that my house is going to be a disaster for a very long time! Oh, and I also recently learned that I can no longer lift anything (including Brecken!) which is real interesting when it comes to trying to get him in his car seat to go to daycare in the morning so we just ordered a fold-up step stool. Last night I gave Brecken a bath, and then usually after his baths I swaddle him up in his towel and carry him like a baby to his room to get his PJ's. Well last night, I pulled him out of the tub, wrapped him in his towel, and right away he looked at me and asked, "Mommy carry me in my towel?" Ughhhh....it broke my heart! I'm trying really hard to just be thankful that I'm not on bedrest and that this will all be worth it in the end, but it's still really hard especially knowing that it will be this way for the next 5+ months! The important thing is though that everything looked good and I don't need to be seen for 2 weeks :) And this doctor was one of the high-risk OB docs that we saw a few times during my long stay at Abbott with my first pregnancy, so we definitely trust him!

Everything went well :)

The surgery went well on Wednesday (worst part I think was the almost 2 hour drive we had to get down to Minneapolis after the big snow storm!) I rested at home for a couple of days, and I head back to work tomorrow. I was going to write more details, but I never got around to it so I thought I'd get the most important message out there... The doctor said the surgery went well, and I have the big check-up Tuesday morning. I'll try to update again after that.
Thanks for all of the prayers! I am feeling better emotionally too :)