I was hesitant to even write about this but "its just part of it". Well 2 Saturdays ago I was putting my hair up half way and noticed a small bald spot about the size of a quarter. I knew my hair had been falling out (more than usual) lately; i'm talking having to clean out the drain every time I take a shower falling out. I guess I didn't think much about it because I knew that was part of pregnancy. But the more I thought about it I realized that my hair didn't fall out until about 4-5 months after I had Gage and I certainly didn't have bald spots. I texted my sister a picture and she said it could be hormones but she told me to just call the doctor on Monday. So I said ok and forgot about it...........until an hour later. Erik was sitting in the lazy boy and I went over to him and sat with him. I said, "just check my hair to make sure I don't have any more spots". So he started looking and I hear a big gasp. I thought he was joking....um, no. There was a HUGE bald spot by my left ear that is a little bigger than a baseball. I had him take a picture of it and as soon as I saw it I couldn't breath. I was freaking out. I texted Lindsay back and told her that this could not be normal and I wanted to go to the hospital. The crazy thing was.....I didn't know notice the bald spots. Lucky for me, I have LOTS of hair and its thick. Lindsay told me to call the after hours hot line but not to be surprised if the nurse acted like it wasn't a big deal.
So I called. 2 hours later a nurse called me back. She kept apologizing that this was happening and understood how hard it must be but I would need to wait until Monday to call my OB. Monday was Veteran's day but thankfully the office was open (I didn't have school). I got an appointment with a doctor at the OB office. After waiting for an HOUR the doctor basically said that the big spot was not normal and that we would need to go see a dermatologist. Ugh. Lindsay went with me so we went to lunch so that was a nice little break!
I got an appointment at the dermatologist on Tuesday morning at 8:30. My mom wanted to go because she said she needed to know what was going on too :) The dermatologist was AWESOME. He explained everything. I have alopecia areata. Basically it is areas in the scalp where you loose hair. My spots were imflammed underneath the skin which was causing my hair not to grow. First question was, "Is this caused by pregnancy"? He said there is no real known cause but it just so happened that I got it when I was pregnant. Next question, "Can I loose more hair; will it spread?" He said yes, I could loose more hair and it could spread to other places in my scalp. Not really what I wanted to hear but then I started thinking: There are millions of people that are going through things that are A LOT worse than loosing hair in a few spots. I know I have nothing to worry about it. If I continue to loose my hair, I will be getting a wig. I'm ok with that. I hope I don't have to but I am also thankful I am not losing my hair because of what so many people go through.....cancer.
In a nutshell, I have nothing to worry about. I was prescribed a $64 spray (yes....$64, that would have been $650 without insurance) that my sweet husband has to spray on my spots (I now I have 3) every morning and night. There has been no progress but I haven't lost hope. I go back in 6 weeks and if nothing has improved, I have to get injections in each spot :( Doesn't sound pleasant so I am hopeful the spray will begin to work.
I would appreciate prayers. It was hard at first but now I'm ok with it because "everything's gonna be alright" :)
I would post pictures but I'm not quite ready for that. I am hoping to have some before/after pictures with lots of improvements! Thankfully, you cannot see any of the spots wether I wear my hair up or down.
Thank you for your prayers.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
9 weeks.12 weeks.
With Gage I took a picture every other week beginning at 9 weeks. With #2, I haven't felt like taking pictures frankly. We took one at 9 weeks and then 12 weeks, oops....we missed a few in between. I am trying to get Gage in them and so far he has cooperated. My husband (the photographer), bless his heart....he tries. Here are the bi/tri weekly updates :)
9 weeks.
12 weeks.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Yep, Gage is going to be a Big Brother.
Well, its facebook official.....#2 is on the way! According to 'Baby Bump', I am 11 weeks and 3 days. I am due May 23rd so I have a LONNGGG way to go, ahh!
Here is how it all went down. Everyone always ask the question, "What it planned?" Well, we were ready for #2 and were happy if that's what happened but not upset if it didn't right away...all in God's court. One night Erik and I took Gage up to the park in our neighborhood. We started walking back and I just felt like, "Hm...I think I might be pregnant". Don't ask how I knew that, it was just weird. So we got home and Erik put Gage in the bath and I went to take a test (I didn't tell Erik). I left the test on the counter and came in the kitchen and started cleaning. I kinda forgot about it, oops. Well about 10 minutes later I went back in the bathroom and yep....I was pregnant. For some reason that ONE test isn't enough so I took 2 more, haha.
After Erik got Gage ready for bed they were sitting in the chair together. I asked Gage if he was ready to be a big brother and Erik said, "Huh? Are you pregnant?" I will admit, I felt a little guilty. I kept thinking about bringing another child into our family and "leaving Gage out". I know people have multiple kids all the time but I just had trouble thinking about "spreading the love". I'm good now though and we are so very excited! Gage loves babies so we are most excited to see how he interacts with "IT". And yes, to answer your next question, we will definitely find out what it is...I don't know how people can stand to go that long without finding out. We are hoping to find out before Christmas. I will be 18 weeks on December 23rd "ish" (Erik has already planned it all out) so that would be fun to reveal at Christmas!
This pregnancy has not been so "peaches and cream" like I was with Gage. With Gage, I didn't even know I was pregnant until the end with the preclamsia. Around 5 weeks I started feeling nauseous 24/7. I never got sick but I almost think that would have made me feel better. I still cannot cook red meat (whom am I kidding, I haven't cooked anything). Cooking has made me want to vomit. I can eat whatever but I just can't cook it (I don't even know). I was SO tired, like way more than I was with Gage and had horrible headaches. I am NOT a napper but I was taking naps daily there for a while. Until about 8 weeks I felt like that but now I feel fine! I still get a little tired at times but thats normal I think. When I wasn't feeling good I told Erik, "This baby better be cute". Debbie bought me preggie drops and Jen bought me a bunch of goodies that made her feel better when she was pregnant....love them both! Eventually I did get some medicine, Fenagreen (not sure if thats spelled right) and it worked but LORD I could have fallen asleep standing up. I told the doctor I couldn't take that so she prescribed me zofran....it helped a little. Thankfully I didn't have to take that many before I started feeling better!
We told the family one night at Outback. It was so unplanned but it all worked out :) Lindsay and Lauren wanted to go eat there because it was a night where kids ate for free. Well they called us and mom and dad and ya know.....when you don't have to cook, why not?! Then mom was with my aunt Gale and asked them. So I thought what a perfect time to tell everyone. I called Meemaw and Mimi and they wanted to come too. So I ran into HT and got a cupcake with the #8 printed on it (the 8th grandchild for my mom and dad). After we ate dinner I had the waitress bring it out to my mom. Everyone was excited of course.
We did have an ultrasound October 23rd and there was only one heartbeat, whew!
To "tell to the world", I told Lindsay that I thought it would be cute to have all the grand babies wear a shirt with the numbers 1-8 based on when they were born. Lauren was so sweet and went and bought all the shirts, ironed on the numbers, and Lindsay made it all happen with the pictures.
Seeing the picture makes me realize how lucky I am to have such a big family :)
Thank you Lindsay for taking the pictures, thank you Lauren for making the shirts, and thank you to our friends and family who are already incredibly supportive. We love you all and are completely ecstatic about this next step in our lives....a family of 4....ahh!!!
Here is how it all went down. Everyone always ask the question, "What it planned?" Well, we were ready for #2 and were happy if that's what happened but not upset if it didn't right away...all in God's court. One night Erik and I took Gage up to the park in our neighborhood. We started walking back and I just felt like, "Hm...I think I might be pregnant". Don't ask how I knew that, it was just weird. So we got home and Erik put Gage in the bath and I went to take a test (I didn't tell Erik). I left the test on the counter and came in the kitchen and started cleaning. I kinda forgot about it, oops. Well about 10 minutes later I went back in the bathroom and yep....I was pregnant. For some reason that ONE test isn't enough so I took 2 more, haha.
After Erik got Gage ready for bed they were sitting in the chair together. I asked Gage if he was ready to be a big brother and Erik said, "Huh? Are you pregnant?" I will admit, I felt a little guilty. I kept thinking about bringing another child into our family and "leaving Gage out". I know people have multiple kids all the time but I just had trouble thinking about "spreading the love". I'm good now though and we are so very excited! Gage loves babies so we are most excited to see how he interacts with "IT". And yes, to answer your next question, we will definitely find out what it is...I don't know how people can stand to go that long without finding out. We are hoping to find out before Christmas. I will be 18 weeks on December 23rd "ish" (Erik has already planned it all out) so that would be fun to reveal at Christmas!
This pregnancy has not been so "peaches and cream" like I was with Gage. With Gage, I didn't even know I was pregnant until the end with the preclamsia. Around 5 weeks I started feeling nauseous 24/7. I never got sick but I almost think that would have made me feel better. I still cannot cook red meat (whom am I kidding, I haven't cooked anything). Cooking has made me want to vomit. I can eat whatever but I just can't cook it (I don't even know). I was SO tired, like way more than I was with Gage and had horrible headaches. I am NOT a napper but I was taking naps daily there for a while. Until about 8 weeks I felt like that but now I feel fine! I still get a little tired at times but thats normal I think. When I wasn't feeling good I told Erik, "This baby better be cute". Debbie bought me preggie drops and Jen bought me a bunch of goodies that made her feel better when she was pregnant....love them both! Eventually I did get some medicine, Fenagreen (not sure if thats spelled right) and it worked but LORD I could have fallen asleep standing up. I told the doctor I couldn't take that so she prescribed me zofran....it helped a little. Thankfully I didn't have to take that many before I started feeling better!
We told the family one night at Outback. It was so unplanned but it all worked out :) Lindsay and Lauren wanted to go eat there because it was a night where kids ate for free. Well they called us and mom and dad and ya know.....when you don't have to cook, why not?! Then mom was with my aunt Gale and asked them. So I thought what a perfect time to tell everyone. I called Meemaw and Mimi and they wanted to come too. So I ran into HT and got a cupcake with the #8 printed on it (the 8th grandchild for my mom and dad). After we ate dinner I had the waitress bring it out to my mom. Everyone was excited of course.
We did have an ultrasound October 23rd and there was only one heartbeat, whew!
To "tell to the world", I told Lindsay that I thought it would be cute to have all the grand babies wear a shirt with the numbers 1-8 based on when they were born. Lauren was so sweet and went and bought all the shirts, ironed on the numbers, and Lindsay made it all happen with the pictures.
Seeing the picture makes me realize how lucky I am to have such a big family :)
Thank you Lindsay for taking the pictures, thank you Lauren for making the shirts, and thank you to our friends and family who are already incredibly supportive. We love you all and are completely ecstatic about this next step in our lives....a family of 4....ahh!!!
And then there were 8...........
The Big Brother!
Cousin Love :)
Monday, November 4, 2013
Halloween.
We love Halloween. Well I do because I like looking for costumes :) Gage was Elvis last year so we we went for a different approach this year.....a golfer. Everything fit except the shoe covers, Gage's feet were way to big for them. I was surprised because he actually liked carrying around the little golf bag that came with the outfit.
As usual, we had lots to do! A few weeks before Halloween we took Gage to the pumpkin patch with Evelyn (our neighbor). They had a ball touching the pumpkins and pulling them around in wagons. It wasn't the prettiest day so we didn't stay long. Then Sunday night mom, dad, the Gibson's, Bergman's, and Mimi came over for dinner. We carved pumpkins with all the girls....so fun. Definitely going to have to make that a tradition. Although all children under 8 were using knives, no one was harmed.
On Wednesday night we went to my mom's church. They have a "Trunk or Treat" every year. Gage was more interested in running around than getting candy. He did get several sweethearts from a trunk and ate probably 3 packs. Erik (meanie) took him to the "troll" and she scared him. He started crying. So Erik waited a couple minutes and sent Gage BACK OVER THERE (so cruel) with PawPaw and Gage was still not a fan.
Then the next night (Halloween) we went up to our neighborhood pool and they had a costume contest for different age groups. Although Gage strutted his stuff, he didn't win. This cute little baby (probably a couple months old) had on a mermaid costume, it was precious....she totally deserved it :) After that we went trick-or-treating in our cul-de-sac. Evelyn our neighbor (5 weeks older than Gage) was going up to all the houses but Gage wanted to push the stroller instead. He probably got candy from 2 houses. O well, I didn't need it anyways :) Then we went and hung out at Megan and Luke's (our neighbor) for the night.
As usual, we had lots to do! A few weeks before Halloween we took Gage to the pumpkin patch with Evelyn (our neighbor). They had a ball touching the pumpkins and pulling them around in wagons. It wasn't the prettiest day so we didn't stay long. Then Sunday night mom, dad, the Gibson's, Bergman's, and Mimi came over for dinner. We carved pumpkins with all the girls....so fun. Definitely going to have to make that a tradition. Although all children under 8 were using knives, no one was harmed.
On Wednesday night we went to my mom's church. They have a "Trunk or Treat" every year. Gage was more interested in running around than getting candy. He did get several sweethearts from a trunk and ate probably 3 packs. Erik (meanie) took him to the "troll" and she scared him. He started crying. So Erik waited a couple minutes and sent Gage BACK OVER THERE (so cruel) with PawPaw and Gage was still not a fan.
Then the next night (Halloween) we went up to our neighborhood pool and they had a costume contest for different age groups. Although Gage strutted his stuff, he didn't win. This cute little baby (probably a couple months old) had on a mermaid costume, it was precious....she totally deserved it :) After that we went trick-or-treating in our cul-de-sac. Evelyn our neighbor (5 weeks older than Gage) was going up to all the houses but Gage wanted to push the stroller instead. He probably got candy from 2 houses. O well, I didn't need it anyways :) Then we went and hung out at Megan and Luke's (our neighbor) for the night.
Halloween 2013. The Golfer.
Pullin' Pumpkins
Pumpkin Patch with Evelyn!
Hangin' out with my buddy Noah.
All the kids. Oh Reese.
He loves his Mia (Minnie Mouse).
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