Natalie & Ryan: A-Okay

If you're not into reading my usual, ridiculously long blog posts, you'll want to stick around to the end of this one. Today was intense in so many ways...

For about a week now, I've been having strange symptoms. Having been in nursing school, usually my guess is right, but this time, I just tried to ignore the symptoms. It wasn't until Saturday, when I noticed that I was getting dizzy more, the baby wasn't moving, and I was having intense cramping, that I started thinking that something could be wrong. I went into work, thinking I could stay the entire day, but called my doctor just in case. She told me to go into Labor & Delivery right away to get the baby checked out. I burst into tears. The fear started up and all of the "what if's" started scrambling around my mind. Ryan dropped everything and met me at the hospital. And, to my surprise, so did my mom. It meant the world to me that they both came. The nurses hooked me up to monitors, collected samples of everything they could, asked me every question in the book, and then we waited. While they waited for tests to come back, their first goal was to get the baby to move around more. They tried to get me on a sugar high by giving me orange juice and graham crackers. That didn't really do anything, which is odd considering she usually goes crazy the second I eat something. Next, they wanted to try a stimulator wand thingy. My mom and I referred to it as the "baby tazer". Basically it's a harmless, vibrating wand that they put on my belly and for some reason, it stimulates the baby into moving. She didn't like it much and started kicking the second they did it. But she stopped moving shortly after. All of her vitals were just fine, so they just assumed she's slowing down since I'm now in my 3rd trimester. Next step was trying to figure out why I was feeling so bad.

This next part may have some TMI in it...you've been warned. My symptoms have been getting progressively worse. It started with me noticing that I've been having lots of dizzy spells lately, followed by tummy troubles, migraines, and then intense menstrual-like cramps. When the results of my tests came back, the verdict was obvious! I had a UTI and was pretty severely dehydrated. That would explain A LOT! I was thinking both of those were possibilities, but I've been so depressed and busy lately, I just didn't take care of myself the way I should have. I'm just beyond relieved that the baby is okay. And I'm so thankful that my loved ones all supported me through this time of panic.

Around noon, we were headed out of the hospital, ready to get back to the norm, when Ryan got into the Lexus to find that it wouldn't start. HA! I KNEW it! That's exactly why the little voice was telling us to get a new car. Who knows how long the Lexus has left to live. We jumped into the new car and ran to Walmart to get jumper cables. Once we returned to the hospital, we pushed the car out of the spot so that it was in better jumping position. To my surprise, it started on the first try! That NEVER happens with that piece of junk. After that ordeal, it was time to rest. I got home and slept the rest of the afternoon away.

Then the fun, yet slightly stressful part of the day began. We had to return the Nissan and exchange it for a Camry Hybrid at a different dealer. The other dealer had it ready and waiting, just needed our signatures and the go-ahead. We loved the new car that we picked, but we didn't like the circumstances surrounding it, i.e, where we got it from, the dealer's tricks, the fees, etc, etc. We bought from Carmax for a reason. We liked their policies, their return options, their warranties, and we really loved the salesman that we worked with. Buying from another dealer made us feel terrible and worried that we wouldn't get the same deal. When we told the Carmax salesman that, he told us that he had something better. He had the Camry Hybrid we wanted, but it was MUCH nicer than the one at the other dealer. It just felt right to stick with Carmax. Sure, it's more than we wanted to pay, but it's 4 years newer, and has 20,000 less miles. Plus we get the 6 year warranty that we wanted. Deal! Now was the fun part of breaking the other salesman's heart. I gave Ryan that task. It was funny to listen in on the conversation. The other salesman was practically begging Ryan to buy his car, and started offering other cars and throwing out numbers in a desperate panic. Awkward! But it's done and we're the new owners of a 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid. No buyer's remorse here! We LOVE it! Oh, and did I mention... I FIT IN IT!!

Today was a long and confusing day, but it ended on a good note. I just realized that I need to take better care of myself, if not for me, for the baby. I also realized how much I love my family. Ryan and I are continually blessed, and it was so very apparent today.

I couldn't move my right arm, so I tried to open the graham crackers with my mouth. This picture is of my idiot self with the wrapper stuck to my lips, and my mother running to the rescue.