Drugs I pop down my cat's throat 1-2 times per day

Pepcid - for acid reflux
Mirtazapine - an appetite stimulant
Metaclopramide - a nausea suppressant
Prednisolone - a steroid for immunosuppression
Cyclosporine - another immunosuppressant
Beytril - an antibiotic
Doxycycline - another antibiotic
Sucralfate - an antiulcer medication


Luckily, Fela is a special cat and if I catch him in the right mood he will even purr while I force his jaws apart and drop the pill on the back of his tongue. If I comb him real slow down his back in between pills, he's mine.

According to the counter on this blog, I'm due to push a small person out in 44 days. 44. Cat. Get better.

Fela!

sick dude post-blood transfusion (that didn't work)

I'm copying this text from an email I sent to my aunt this morning, verbatim, because I don't want to type it all out again.

-

Well, at 5am a hungry cat woke me up and cried all the way to the kitchen. I fed him a little, and we went back to bed. Then, at 8am, I was awakened by an energetic dude with a rattling toy on the bed. He chased it around for a while. We were shocked.

The internist called to check up on him, and at her suggestion, we took him for a red cell recheck today and the level had gone up! It's still low, and he's still dehydrated - but less so - and the internist feels pretty confident that it's autoimmune in nature and that the steroid is helping. She and Matt were calling it IMHA (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia?) and she said it's very rare in cats, more common in dogs. She checked a stool and there was no sign of a bleed.

We're taking him in on Monday or Tuesday for another recheck. If he needs another transfusion we'll think about it then, after the steroid has a little longer to do its magic.

Unreal. I know we're not out of the woods yet, but he is eating and playing today...drinking water as I type this. I didn't think he would survive the week.

So, so relieved and hopeful!

What a week.

Fela is sick. We noticed that he had stopped eating, for the most part, and that he was looking really skinny and was lethargic. We took him to the vet yesterday and they were able to give him a full exam - totally unheard of for Fela - he usually fights them off with a vengeance. We learned that he has lost two pounds in less than two months. I feel horrible, horrible, horrible for not noticing sooner...but I see him every day, and his coat is still shiny and pretty, and he's still sweet...I just didn't see it.

The vet called this morning and said that his blood tests show that he is severely anemic and needs a transfusion, which he will get this afternoon, along with an ultrasound and some xrays - and possibly more bloodwork. I am really dreading this. Something is causing him to be anemic - and also to not want to eat.

We have had Fela for nearly nine years - almost our entire relationship. Fela was my first Christmas present from Matt...he was a tiny little kitten. He cried the whole first night that we had him. The second night, he slept in my hair. We've been his ever since. With the exception of a few extended trips that Matt and I have taken, he's been with us for most of our adult lives.

He loves to be spanked and to stand and walk in front of Matt with his rear feet on top of Matt's feet. He is incredibly goofy and fun and sweet.

Please send sweet Fela your good vibes.

Life's a breech

My baby is breech at 32 weeks. Sono at 35 weeks to see if he's turned...it's still, apparently, common for them to turn between 32 and 35 weeks. Rare after that. Cross your fingers that all of the pelvic tilts I'm about to do on a daily basis will help.

A homophone for "breech" is "breach," as in "a security breach." An archaic meaning of the word "breach" is "the breaking of waves; the dashing of surf." OK, it's a stretch...I'm just sayin'...this is Matt's baby.

Anyone have any tips or tricks for turning a breech baby? Pelvic tilts, feet up on the wall, shine a bright light on the bottom of your belly...these are all I know. Share share.

AH SWEET MYSTERY OF LIFE AT LAST I'VE FOUND THEEEEE

To experience what I'm feeling right now, go here.

Lefa 2.0

My uncle sent me the following email and I had to had to HAD TO share it:

Saw your post on your blog about Aunt Lefa - loved it! I can add a few more details too...

The young boy's father approached Lefa at her house in the afternoon and said he had some business to take care of and that he would be back for his son that evening.

She "borrowed" the pistol from her neighbor and when the man came back, he was drunk. He tossed her to the floor and started heading for the bedrooms. Lefa got in his way again and he threw her up against the wall, this time tearing her dress. As he continued toward the bedrooms, she grabbed the pistol which she was hiding under her apron and shot him in the back several times. Lefa was put on trial for murder, but the court found her not guilty and awarded her $5 for a new dress. True story!

I remember your Granddad and I visited Lefa during the summer of 1980. She was not expecting any visitors so when she answered the door she had a large butcher knife in her lap (she was in a wheelchair at the time). I remember how she tried to hide the knife under her apron as soon as she recognized "Harve". She was quite embarrassed, but I'll never forget that knife - it was huge!

Hello Mister Zebra

I'm making a mobile for the baby's room. Today I found these little animal figurines and I spent the afternoon wiring them with jeweler's wire so that they will hang straight.


My favorite is the mama with the baby on her back (ape? gorilla? chimp? I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know my primates). The fox doesn't really fit in the safari theme...I purchased him on accident...but he is welcome to stay. Make it work.

Here are a couple of photos I found online and am using for inspiration:






I love how they used the branch in the bird mobile. I might do that. I'm struggling with how to make it actually...um...hang. I bought some wooden dowels, but they seem boring. I'm a little stuck. But really proud of myself for having the idea to use the wire. I wired 'em REAL GOOD so they don't fall on my baby.

Does anyone have any questions for me about how unemployment is going? No?

Aunt Lefa

My paternal grandfather was from rural West Virginia. He had an aunt named Lefa. Lefa was a BAD ASS.

When Lefa was a teenager, the neighbor (possibly a widower?) dropped his young son off for her to babysit while he went out. He returned four years later, drunk, and demanded his son (who by that time, of course, had been unofficially adopted by the family). Lefa refused. I don't know exactly what transpired - I assume that he became belligerent and violent - in the end, Lefa shot and killed the man. My grandfather grew up knowing the boy as a cousin.

Years later, my newly wedded, still-hippie parents visited the relatives in West Virginia. After the customary congratulations, Aunt Lefa pulled my mom aside and told her, quietly, "Honey, if that man ever gives you any trouble, you just get yourself a big ol' hatpin. Poke him with it a couple of times and he won't bother you any more."

Do you have any, ANY idea how much I wish I could have met this woman?

31.

at Rincon Point, Ventura CA

Matt has a cool job

He got to be a helicopter doctor today.







Meanwhile, on the home front, I made two different kinds of soup at the same time. (in an effort to use up the contents of my fridge before they spoil).

180

We are not changing doctors. Nope nope nope. Not doing it. Not.

I'm keeping the doctor I want (and the doctor my baby daddy wants). We'll figure out a payment plan.

Apparently it WAS heartburn.

30. And insurance update.

Both of us are 30 in this picture...me, years; baby, weeks. Yay! Fela, however, will be 9 in a couple of weeks.

We are also visiting you from a new room. Matt and I did some rearranging and got a nice new desk that has replaced our cute breakfast nook. We didn't really need a nook. I won't get into all of the boring details, but here's a summary: We moved the painting to make way for the bookshelf we bought to replace the bookshelf over the giant desk we are getting rid of and replacing with the new desk that we put where the table was which we moved to the window where the old small bookshelf was which we folded up and put in the baby's room where the old desk was which we got rid of to make space for the crib to make space for the baby because my abdomen, quite frankly, is running out of space.

We met with the new OB and liked him a lot. He had had deliveries the night before but he still took his time with us, answered all our questions very honestly, and even listened to the baby's heartbeat at the end of the consultation. I was worried that an HMO practice would be too quick-paced for me, and that I'd be just a number. I didn't feel that way at all. He was supportive of me choosing a natural childbirth with a doula and we discussed laboring at home - which was my plan, anyway. He won't push for induction until 41 w 5 d. That's good, too.

We also like the smaller hospital at which he primarily delivers - we stopped by there (and literally wandered onto the maternity wing) and happened to catch the head OB nurse, who stopped what she was doing and kindly gave us a tour and talked to us for about 20 minutes. Many of the nurses at this hospital trained as midwives. It's smaller and calmer and the vibe was very friendly and laid-back. They were very excited because they had had 8 deliveries the night before and they do not usually have that many in a single night. I thought it was a great sign that the head nurse was so relaxed and knowledgeable and willing to spend time with us to tell us all about her hospital. She seemed proud of it.

So I'm thinking we're going to make the switch. If we use the HMO we pay zero. Zero. Nothing. (Or so our health insurance company says. I've been on the phone with them about ten times double-checking.) We're already going to be paying a shit ton for the OB care we received this summer before Matt's county insurance kicked in (because I didn't have maternity/pregnancy coverage).

Matt brought up feeling guilty for not wanting to pay more for the doctor we had grown comfortable with. We know what to expect with her, and we are comfortable with the way she does things. It's normal to have to pay hefty fees for your child's birth. Are we cheating ourselves? We don't know. And if we felt the slightest bit uncomfortable with the new OB or his practice or the hospital, we wouldn't consider making the switch.

That said, I'm not ready to tell my existing OB that I'm switching yet. I feel a little grief. I had all my proverbial ducks in a row, as the cliche goes. I knew what kind of prenatal and childbirth care I was going to get and I'd spent six months being comfortable and happy with it. And now everything is up in the air. I feel like I'm making as informed a decision as I can. My gut tells me to make the switch. But, emotionally, I don't want to leave my doctor.

I should follow my gut. But it's hard to trust these days. What I think is instinct is usually just heartburn.