The thing that made it soooo difficult was the fact that it rained a lot, and had been raining for a few days leading up. Also, a huge chunk of our campsite had been dug up recently to repair something, and while new gras was sprouting, all the rain turned it into one big mud pit. There was absolutely nowhere for Elijah to walk, unless we let him play in the mud. So we did (and pictures of it are to follow) but it was still tough. Because I didn't want him playing in the mud 24/7 - I only brought so many outfits, and I was worried about how cold he would get - so there was a fair amount of time spent herding him, holding him while he was bucking round, and just generally dealing with a grouchy baby.
Another factor that made it difficult was this darn UTI I've had for a little while. I was taking a probiotic for it (although I'd admittedly missed it sometimes) and I was stuck "holding it" for longer than I should have. The problem, though, was that I was at the point where I felt like I had to go pee All. The. Time. So I ignored it a lot, and didn't get up at 1am to go pee again, as I already had just one hour before.
Anyway, that made it hard to go camping. I'd say it was equal parts worth it and equal parts not worth it to go. On the one hand, there were those rather big struggles. I'll never ever camp in the rain again! And yes, we knew the forecast before we left, but we hoped it'd clear or pass us over, because the real reason we went camping was to see President Monson. He was going to be there at the camp for some time on Saturday, and I've never seen him in person. Apart from being my favourite general authority, he's also the prophet of God called to lead the church, and that's kind of special (huge understatement.)
Also, the company was great. We love Dave, Farrah, Duncan, Lindsay, Neal, Pam and Mom and Dad. Everyone was a big help with Elijah, but even more so with cooking. I don't think we cooked one bit of a meal, and we all ate together, which we hadn't been planning but was very nice.
I wish it hadn't have been raining, and that we could have gone swimming at some point. The campgrounds are so pretty and I wanted to test out the new beach! Oh well. Some other time. In the distant future. ;)
And now, for some photos:
[caption id="attachment_866" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I love this face!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_867" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Oh, so smug about finally being allowed to play in the mud!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_868" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Ahh, the silly, squinty face!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_869" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Dana and Elijah squating in the mud."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_870" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="The whole reason we went: President Monson!"]
[/caption]The next part of my post requires a little bit of explaining.
Friday night, just before 12am, I got reeeeally uncomfortable. I needed to go pee, and that's when Baby Girl started kicking my bladder. Fine, no big deal, right? Except she chose that moment to push upward, wedging her head up against my diaphragm, which then pushed on my stomach, and then....ohhhh boy, then I felt so sick to my stomach, and I was left wishing I hadn't had hot chocolate right before bed.
Yesterday when I woke up I felt a little off, having not slept well, despite Elijah being a pro sleeper. Also, whenever I burped (which was very often, for some reason) it tasted just awful. It took a while to even come close to describing it, but in the end I could only compare it to tasting like rotten eggs. AWFUL. And every time I burped I wanted to throw up, it tasted so gross.
Fast-forward to the drive home, where I feel like I need to pee all the way, we get home, and only a trickle comes out. So frustrating.
I was going to shower last night, but I was just sooo tired, so I figured I'd do it this morning. Except, then I woke up at 4:30am with the need to go to the bathroom, and this intense pain down the right side of my back and belly. I tried to cope, but nothing made it better. Not changing positions, not going to the bathroom, not diarrhea (TMI, I know, but still. If it was intestinal, it'd have been a relief to go, but it wasn't at all.) I was in so much pain that I just sat in bed wimpering, or tossing around, wishing it'd go away.
I paged my midwife at 5:50am, worried that it might be something like food poisoning that could hurt the baby. She called me back, but it was very clear from the background noise that she was at a labour and the woman was pushing. She asked what was up and I briefly told her about the pain, and she said to come in to the hospital (not the one in town, but the one 40 minutes away, where they were.) I said okay, quickly got off the phone, and reassessed. I figured I was feeling a little better, perhaps well enough to sleep, so I'd just go back to bed until Matt got up at 6:45 (it was 6am by now.)
I slept for maybe 1/2 an hour, and woke up to the alarm. The pain had subsided, though was still present, but I figured I didn't need to come in to the hospital, so I'd call my midwife back (hoping she was done with the labour stuff...I felt like such an intruder or impostor calling, when that woman's need was obviously so much greater than mine) and tell my MW that I didn't need to come in, and don't wait around for me.
My MW had some more time then than she had before, so she asked me again what I was feeling, and I told her the whole thing about the UTI and the pains. She said she wants me to come in as soon as possible still, because she was worried that it had worsened to a kidney infection, and that it could possibly send me into preterm labour. Scary, right? I was to come in, give a urine sample, have blood drawn, be monitored, and have an ultrasound tomorrow.
Soooo Matt called in saying he couldn't go to his meetings, dad came over to look after Elijah when he woke up (the blessed man gave him a bath, fed him breakfast, took him to church and everything!) and we were off.
Oh, but wait. My MW said that, thought the pain had dulled, it could still come back, and after I got off the phone with her, it did, with a vengeance. It was worse than before, probably a 6 or 7 on the pain scale (or two enthusiastic thumbs up!) and I was hurting.
Then, 5-10 minutes into our I drive to the hospital, I turn to Matt and say, "And now, it doesn't even hurt." And it didn't! It mysteriously disappeared, and it hasn't come back since.
So then I felt like even MORE of an impostor, sitting in L & D with a woman in the next room over in labour, a new baby crying down the hall, and me and Matt, sitting there joking about the Brian Regan video, and saying I need to moan louder if I want to be seen ("I'm an 8! I'm an 8!!")
My blood pressure was fine, Baby Girl's heart rate was fine (145-150) and she was kicking a ton, I managed to actually PEE and not just trickle out a sample, and they didn't do the blood draw. My MW came in to see me, poked on my back and was very surprised to find that my kidney didn't hurt. I can't explain it. I know I had symptoms, and if not a kidney infection, then what the HECK was that?! But I seem to be fine now, so she gave me an antibiotic presciption for the bacteria I tested positive for 2 weeks ago, and she's going to see what this last sample indicated, if it's the same UTI, just stronger.
And that was it! She apologized for bringing me in, I apologized for calling about something trifling (although I'm very glad to have the antibiotics now) and we all agreed that it sure didn't seem trifling at the time, and it was good to have called.
We came back home after getting my prescription filled, I took my long-awaited, post-camp shower, and we slept for 2 hours. Matt meant to go to church to pick up Elijah so dad didn't have to look after him when we were home, but we just were so wiped.
I'm feeling better now, and I have no idea what was wrong. Every now and then today I've felt a dull pain in my abdomen, and I'm feeling a bit of a dull ache down the right side of my back, but maybe it's because I need to go pee. I don't know. I have an in-clinic appointment on Tuesday, so I'll see the same midwife then. Then, I'm to go back in a week for a follow-up urine sample to see if the infection is gone.
Sooooo yeah. Interesting day! On our way to the hospital, Matt said, "I knew this pregnancy was going too well!" We then had a conversation about which pregnancy has been easier. With Elijah I was so emotional and I struggled a lot with depression, but was perfectly fine physically, whereas this pregnancy has been more physically taxing and painful. I really can't tell you if I prefer one over the other. I'm just happy to be pregnant, and that everything is fine with the baby.
Anyway, I should finish this up. I think I had more to say, but I can't remember what now. Elijah keeps bringing Matt a book, and Matt sings the words to him. It's so cute, and I want to spend time with them on this lovely day!
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