A Rough Several Weeks

Hello Friends!

I know that many of you have been wondering how I've been doing. As you have probably figured (due to my lack of blogging lately), I haven't been doing very well. We've had a rough 6 weeks or so here.

At first I was having constant headaches and migraines. These lasted for about three weeks. I always had a headache, and it sometimes developed into a migraine. Because I'm pregnant, the only pain medicine I could take was Tylenol, which does very little for headaches and migraines. Eventually, with the help of my POTS doctor, I discovered that a large dose of a magnesium supplement helps me. It hasn't completely gotten rid of the headaches, but it has helped to prevent the headaches from turning into migraines. I'm very glad to have relief from the migraines and constant headaches.

As soon as the migraines were under control we made a trip to Georgia for a weekend. It was wonderful to see friends and family while we were there. The ladies from my church also gave me a baby shower while we were down there! It was so fun, and I appreciated all of the help in getting things ready for Adelaide's arrival. If I have energy later, I'll share some pictures from the shower. The trip to Georgia was great, but it was also exhausting. I never quite recovered from it before more debilitating symptoms flared up.

Brain fog flared up badly a couple of weeks ago. The bad kind. The kind where my body is so absolutely worn out that my brain just starts to shut down on me. The fatigue became extreme and I had great difficulty simply answering yes or no questions. If I was alone, I would forget to eat and drink. It just never crossed my mind that I needed to do that. Thankfully, Will's professors were understanding when he needed to skip class and stay home to take care of me.

We made it through the bad days of brain fog. By spending a LOT of time sleeping and resting, and by taking Cerefolin (a specially formulated prescription vitamin made for Alzheimers patients), I was able to pull out of the bad brain fog. A few days later I stopped the Cerefolin, but the severe brain fog came right back. Usually I can just take Cerefolin for a few days and then stop it and be "normal" again. That didn't happen this time, so I went back on the Cerefolin. I'm currently taking Cerefolin daily, and will probably continue to do so for at least the next five months. It's completely safe to take long term for me and for the baby; it's just expensive, which is why in the past I have only taken it for a few days at a time.

Even with the Cerefolin I'm still having more difficulty than normal with brain fog on some days. It is hard to carry on a conversation. It is usually too hard to write emails, blog posts, and thank you notes. It is sometimes hard to follow tv shows and movies. I need to take more breaks from mental tasks, and I have to rest even more than normal, but I'm making it. The Cerefolin definitely helps, and I'm so thankful to have this med that is helpful and safe during pregnancy.

That is the basic update. Life is hard, and it only seems to get harder, but God is gracious and always sees us through these tough times. Will has been a huge help to me, as always. He is such a wonderful husband and friend. William remains my little buddy. Even when I'm sick in bed, he loves to be with me.

Now that I finally have you all caught up on the boring stuff, hopefully I'll have some good days where I can share about some fun stuff! Like my baby shower, Adelaide, pregnancy, Cubbies, and William's octopus costume if I ever get it made.

Thank you so much to everyone who reads my blog and keeps checking in on me even when I'm so quiet for so long. I'm still here. Just been a little foggy lately. :)