Sunday, November 27, 2011

I'm going to kill my nurse.

Still hanging out at the hospital. It's been almost a month now. Needless to say, I'm sick of this place. It sucks spending so much time here. I can't sleep. I get more blood drawn than you could possibly imagine. I have tiny veins that are all becoming unusable, they normally have to attempt to draw blood from several spots in order to find any. I don't get to walk around much at all, so I feel like I'm slowly deteriorating both mentally and physically.
But I got these rad hospital socks... 

The doctors are trying to figure out the correct settings on my insulin pump. This has proven to be quite a challenge. They keep giving me too much insulin at night, which makes it necessary for my blood sugar to be checked every 30 minutes - two hours depending on the numbers. About a week ago I went back to sleep after having tested at 89 - a perfectly good number. I didn't wake up.
When I did wake up, I was hooked to multiple IVs pumping me full of glucose and I was super scared. I didn't know what was going on, I thought they may have been taking the baby because I couldn't feel my body. I started coming out of it slowly and as I started to speak, my words were slurred. I thought I had brain damage. It got better but nonetheless not the way you want to start any day...
 I have a nice view of the Southern downtown skyline...
 I'm learning how to knit. There is a volunteer who has been coming by weekly to teach those who are interested. I thought knitting was supposed to be relaxing but learning can sure be frustrating. I'm finally getting it down though. Attempting to make a scarf...
 Flowers from my mom...
 Tonight's sunset...
 A cute dress I got from Amber that I wore on Thanksgiving...
I've been able to focus more time on my Etsy shops... I'm waiting on a few supply orders but I have tons of new items that I'm posting soon. Hoping to make the most of my time here, the holidays are usually the busiest as far as sales go on Etsy.
Tomorrow I'm planning a brief escape from the hospital to go an look at an apartment in Ballard with Gerrad. I hope it's awesome, it'd be nice to find a place. Tomorrow I'm going to put up a fight for permission to leave, permanently. We'll see how that goes. It's stressful here, I'm not going to be able to pay any of my hospital bills, and stress is not good when you're pregnant.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

A flight and a crash

Things were really awesome for a day, and then really not awesome since.

Last week Gerrad picked me up from work and we went to go check out a place for rent. It was in Wallingford, just a few blocks from Gasworks Park. It turned out to be pretty awesome, built in 1904 with wood paneling on the walls, a gas stove, 2 bedroom, and affordable. We told the landlord we'd take it, and left.

When we got to the car, he noticed my shoe was untied and bent over to tie it for me. He was on one knee and he pulled out an engagement ring and asked me to marry him. It was really sweet. He said he wanted to wait until we found a place. I said yes.



Fast forward a day, and at my doctor's appt. they noticed my blood pressure was elevated. I've been at the hospital since, and that was a week ago.

They diagnosed me with preeclampsia, which can be dangerous for mom and baby. My blood pressure has been under control for the most part since I've been here, but if it were to continue to raise to a dangerous level, the only cure would be an early delivery.

They gave me steroid injections to help with the baby's lung development in case of an early delivery. Right now I'm 29 weeks along, they're expecting me to deliver between 34-36 weeks but it could happen sooner if things were to get worse.

It sounds like they want to keep me here until I deliver. If they let me leave, I can't go back to work as they want me on some form of bedrest. 

We ended up not signing our lease because it's pointless to be paying rent for a place that neither of us will be living at until this whole ordeal is over with. I'm bummed, but just hoping that we can find another place closer to when I'll be leaving the hospital.

Hanging out at the hospital is not fun. I've been lucky to have friends and family visit, but when everyone goes home I'm still here with my thoughts and fears. I've been trying to stay busy. I spent a lot of time on my Coffincrafts page on Facebook, and doing various shop updates and etsy listings. I've been drawing here and there. I have a few books I've been reading and TV shows I've been catching up on too.

I miss a normal sleep schedule. Some nights they wake me every half hour to test my blood sugar because the steroids really messed with it. The last two days I've wanted to do nothing but sleep, which is difficult when you are always being monitored by nurses/doctors and are interrupted with housekeeping and engineers that make your uncomfortable bed function. I've been joking with the nurses about how much sleep I'm going to be finally getting with a newborn.

Hospital food is getting really awful. The first day or so I was excited because I had so many choices. Now I've eaten everything on their menu and it's not food that I consider healthy or optimal.

I miss my cats. One day I was jiggling around my pills in a little medicine cup and I thought of the perfect pet that could live with me in here... I ordered jumping beans online because they'll make me smile and keep me entertained without technically being an animal that will be confiscated. I intend to draw little faces on them to keep me amused. The things boredom will do to your mind, haha.

Trying to stay sane and stay pregnant...

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Fall is awesome here.

This last month I've just been working a lot and doing what I can to stay healthy and rested. It's rare when I get a day off that I can spend with my boyfriend; we're going to be looking for a place these next few weeks and I'm really excited. We aren't set on a particular area, but my top 3 neighborhoods I'll be looking in are Ballard, The Central District, and U-district/Wallingford. They each have their pros and cons...
Ballard I'm not that familiar with but seems like a rad place that is located in between our jobs. The disadvantage about Ballard is that if traffic sucks, there's only really one way in/out and that will be awful say, if I go into labor and need to commute with a quickness in rush hour. However I like the idea of exploring a cool neighborhood that I'm not very familiar with and can afford a decent place in.
The Central District is super cheap, and it's really close to all kinds of things downtown/capitol hill and Gerrad's job. It's close to a few of my friends too and the hospital. It's a area where I've lived before, but it might be kind of a pain to take a bus to work (that's something I plan on doing).
U-district/Wallingford is affordable and would be almost exactly in between our jobs so it'd be convenient for both of us. I'm pretty familiar with the area but I don't know of a single place that I'd love to go to regularly besides the tattoo shop and maybe a few coffeeshops. It's a good option nonetheless.

I'm feeling the baby move more now which is an unusual feeling to say the least. It's kind of amazing to feel something move inside of you with the realization that it's another living being. Usually it's really cool but I feel the most movement when I lay down to sleep at night which can be distracting considering my bedtime is usually about 8PM on nights I have to work. Ugh waking up at 4 is not fun... 

A few photos to share what I've been up to this month, kind of a creepier vibe to go along with Halloween and the Fall weather.

This month the weather has gotten a bit more chilly; we found some awesome wilderness-print flannel sheets to keep us warm.

I went to Jimi Hendrix's grave site; it's located in my town. I took the photos of the rose and the statue while I was there.

The leaves are changing color and it's great to have a real Fall for the first time in a few years. Fall is my favorite season but in San Diego it's not like the palm trees changed color.

I've been making more jewelry as time allows, this is a new one that turned out pretty sweet but I'm in the process of designing a really rad owl necklace that will be huge and detailed. A skeletal version is on the way too. I'm pretty excited...

We went to Ivar's the other day and were feeding the seagulls outside. This particular one ate most of the bread.

My pumpkin I carved a week ago.

I made a treasury of little boy themed items on Etsy that I love... 

Happy Halloween too guys, I'm not going to dress up this year (boo) because I'll be working and I'm not fitting into the clothing/costumes that I could have otherwise. 

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Big changes


So apparently the thing about blogging is that most people attempt to update and post blogs on a regular basis. It has been a long time since I've posted anything, so here's a lengthy update for those interested:

... I moved finally. It's been something that I've been wanting for a long time but recently I've been presented with different opportunities and challenges that finally caused me to do so. In June I found out I was pregnant. And by was, I mean, still am.

Given my dissatisfaction in San Diego, I started seeking a job in Seattle and was lucky enough to find one that sounded likely if I were to leave in late July. So I packed up a suitcase and flew to a final interview and a month of work prior to my official move. In late August I went back to pack up my stuff and move North with my boyfriend and pets. So I've been back about 2 months, and my boyfriend has been here a month now. 

We both found good jobs with decent pay and benefits and are looking forward to having a healthy baby boy in late January.

Pregnancy can be very challenging for a diabetic. My A1C in my first trimester was a 6.0, a new low for me. Lower is generally better in terms of your A1C, however I'm running into hypoglycemic unawareness, something that is very scary and has caused a number of issues over the past few months. My A1C last month was a 5.1, and is currently at a 5.4. Again, awesome. Again, scary.

(I was driving to work one day on the freeway when my blood sugar went crazy low. When this happens, I lose all common sense and reasoning, and basically act like a drunk person. I hit the sides of my mom's car against the concrete barriers on either side of the freeway before veering off the closest exit, driving 3 miles off the freeway into some ritzy neighborhood where I tried to regulate my sugars while parked on an empty street. People who were driving on the freeway thought I was a drunk driver, and sure enough within a few minutes there were about 10 cop cars. After figuring out I was a diabetic, they were super awesome about helping me recover. Needless to say it was still quite awful, and since then my driving has been very limited due to my family being super concerned about my safety.)

I've been meeting with various doctors/specialists in order to improve things, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know that it's getting any easier either.

My eyesight is a whole other issue. My cataract has gotten worse and is causing me to be blind in one eye. I can only see light. My good eye has a hemorrhage and I'm really struggling to be positive and hopeful that it's not as bad as it sounds. Only time and more doctors appointments will tell. I'm extremely scared about going completely blind though, and sooner rather than later.

However, I'm happy to say that everything looks extremely normal in terms of my pregnancy. I had a heart echo taken the other day for the baby. Heart problems are the #1 birth defect passed on to infants from diabetic mothers, and my baby looks completely normal.

It's super hard to figure out what to name a child. If it were a girl, we'd name her Quinn. But it's not... So the search continues. We think we've found a name we can live with but we still have a few more months to get it figured out.

I've been doing events here and there, mainly at the Comet Tavern in Capitol Hill. They have a show just about every other Sunday where vendors take over the tables and sell stuff. Something I think I will continue when I get Sunday's off.

Well, I suppose that's it for my update. Many things are different and many things are better I'm happy to say. Wish me luck going forward... 

 
Here are a few photos to sum up my month... 

-This month, my diabetes has really become a challenge in many ways. 

-I went to Whidbey Island and collected some shells which I'm still deciding what to do with. 

-Moving back we spent a lot of time in the moving truck and very little out and about, but I was able to get a few photos along the way. 
I included one from inside the truck and one of a dragonfly found on the bumper. 

-The only food craving I've had so far has been peaches, fortunately because they are healthy. 

-My cats and I have been reunited finally, yay! 

-I scored some cool books at garage sales, the ones in the photograph are on the ocean, kids crafts, kids bedtime stories from around the world, and gypsies. 

-With my boyfriend back he's been making me breakfast every morning. Yum!

-And you can start to see that I'm pregnant now. 
 
My next update will be sooner. :)
 


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pink Parlour Aftermath

This weekend I was a vendor at the Pink Parlour Festival in LA. There was a ton of work involved to prepare, but all things considered I think it went well.


I used old beat up photo frames to display my necklaces on. I found fabric at a local used furniture store, hooks from a hardware store, and kind of made my own hinges out of duct tape. Super ghetto but it was cheap and worked! :)

The show was fun, I split a booth with my friend Jenny, who runs a fabulous shop on Etsy called Inferno Creations. She brought a bunch of super fun soaps (revolver and anatomical heart shapes, adorable!), lavendar eye pillows in great fabrics, and lovely handpainted and mixed media mirrors.
It was her first show, and my first show of this scale.
We found a great app for smartphones called Square, which allows you to run credit card purchases by swiping them through your phone. Amazing service, I'm stoked to keep using it for future events.

I ended up making a profit, and hope I can make it back for next year's Pink Parlour event.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make this weekend possible! Tons of rad customers, feedback, and opportunities.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Winter.

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JANELLE A DULL GIRL! ...Going to Julian tomorrow and checking out some locations along the way for photoshoots coming up. <3