A doc appt, a carnival, and a trip around town...

Friday the 13th:

Ok, so really Thursday the 12th....it ended HORRIBLY!  I got up from the recliner and my hips were hurting (more than normal!).  I shuffled to bed, where I couldn't sleep...because trying to move any part of my lower body was literally the worst pain I had ever felt.  Of course, trying to get comfortable shift the baby, which is laying on top of my bladder- making me have to pee.  Now, our bedroom is literally 10 feet from the bathroom- should take all of 10 seconds to walk to.  Not for me...3-4 minutes of shuffling/crying/trying not to wake up Mark.  I made this trip about 6 times...which meant that I also had to get back INTO bed afterwards...which involved lifting my legs.  This night ranked up there with the top 5 most horrible nights I have ever had...no really.  I (in my wisdom) assumed that this was probably early labor, which wasn't a big deal since we had an appointment the next day...
ok- fast forward....
So, we had an appointment at noon (which mean that it really didn't start until a little later than that...), but we went in knowing that we had to make a decision on inducing or a planned c section.  I was supposed to meet with the dietitian 15 minutes before my noon appointment, but no one ever showed up, so we just went downstairs (she was only going to look at my "journal" and say "oh, well your numbers looked ok- you were high this one day...but there isn't time to do anything" and then send us on our merry way.  We made it downstairs (dealing with back spasms and mini contractions) and into the waiting room.  I did my normal pee in a cup, step on the scale, etc...which this time involved giving blood to check iron (they take a whole vial here) and another test to check for toxoplasmosis....ummmm....I think a wasted test on me, but whatever.  The nurse (a new one that I hadn't met...) did a good job not killing me taking blood.  No problem.  Then I answered some questions (which really they could have taken the information from one of the million other places I have answered the same questions) to fill our a file for when we actually have the baby.  Then off to a NST....and since I am cool, and had my camera in my purse, I took pictures of the magic egg yolk room!  Enjoy!

 So, the room has 3 beds, exactly the same....Look at those walls and matching sheets! 

This was taken with my cell phone camera...the colors aren't as good...

This is the NST machine- the orange number is his heartbeat- it was all over the place (he was sleeping I think, and then would wake up and wiggle...at the end he had hiccups or something...)  The green number (0) measures contractions.  Now, this was the first time it has ever stayed at 0-5 for the most part...usually it is between 7 and 15.  As you can see, it picked up no contractions...

This is Mark being patient...while we waited 30 minutes for the completion of the test. 

And this is Mark being bored waiting for 30 minutes to be over...lol.  Poor guy!











After it was over, we went back to the waiting room...to wait.  After a bit, as always, we went back to see the doctor, got an ultrasound, got a pelvic check (where I was SO bummed to find out everything was still shut tight...the pain is from Roy pushing down...), and was told that the best choice was to have a planned c section (I had already decided that I really wasn't willing to take the chance on not having one...there are just too many risk factors involved).  She told me that we needed to do it next week.  I decided that, since she was going on vacation on Wednesday, I wanted it done before then.  Mark and I scheduled it for Monday, April 16.  She will call us Monday morning and tell us when to come in, and he will be born some time that afternoon/evening.  Now comes the FUN part of my appointment...(not).  I met with a surgeon (who spoke very limited English) who explained the process and risk factors (which I kept trying to tell her I didn't understand when she spoke in German...and took more blood.  She literally butchered my arm.  There was no "squeeze and make a fist" and then feeling around for a vein.  She ripped off the band-aid that was on my arm (causing the lovely bruise you see on the left) and jabbed the needle in...deep...and took 4 vials of blood (she was very rough!)  By the evening, it felt like my elbow had been hyper extended...I am guessing she hit a little nerve in there...not the first time...

After this, I went to see the anesthesiologist...which was unlike any of the others I have met...ever.  Usually (in my experience, and in the States) they are funny/fun and friendly people.  Apparently that is not a requirement here....this lady was in a hurry and grumpy.  She did get "not as grumpy" a little later, but not much.  After she explained the process of the spinal, and then told me that if that didn't work they would do a general, she came and pushed on my back....which since my back already hurt, and my hips, and I was in the worlds most uncomfortable chair, was terrible...to the point I was fighting back tears.  Glad it is over...lol. 

After our appointment, we came back home for a while...but only until it was getting dark...because had to go to the carnival!  Now, for those of you in Brevard, it was kind of like a carnival we used to have in town- like where the new library is- we were thinking something similar.  And to a point, it was similar. lol.  It had a pony ride, something like a tilt-a-whirl, and then another spinning ride.  It also had a few kiddie rides.  Then there were the typical carnival games (knock over cans with bean bags, fish duckies out of a pool, the usual!) and then a few food places- one that does chocolate covered fruits, a gelato place, a candy place, 2 different nut places (we got some mixed nuts...YUM), a place that had whole roasted fish, and then a place that did German food.  Mark ate some sort of steak sandwich (it was very good) and I had a bockwurst- which was like a footlong hotdog, broke in half on a roll.  I have to say (and Mark agrees) that it was probably some of the best food we had eaten since we got here (how sad are we lol!)  Mark also enjoyed a beer...and we listened to some nice German men sing and play music!

Mark threw darts at some balloons and won me some stuff...In fact, we left the carnival with about 20 euros worth of carnival crap lol.

Mark's new beer mug...

These guys weren't too bad- i will post videos (ummm...that are sideways) on facebook!

Saturday-

We got up this morning and went to the bazaar!  They are having a bazaar with people from all over Europe- there was a lady with beautiful jewelry from Ireland (if Mark and I had $1500 just laying around, I would have a new wedding set....lol), lots of wine people, people with cheese and meats, furniture, beer, rugs, and LOADS of other stuff.  Mark bought 2 bottles of wine, and I got a bottle of grape juice...lol.  It was just neat to see everything. 

After we finished there, we drove around and I took pictures of Germany...and the squirrels...and I saw a hedgehog...but was "sleeping" on the side of the road.  That was fairly depressing, but at the same time 2 new experiences (I had never seen a hedgehog in the wild...and hadn't seen a "sleeping" animal since I got here.  I will post all the pictures from our drive on facebook (it is much faster there!)