"We have your blood work results"

On Wednesday morning, my OBGYN's office called me. When they said their name followed by, "We got your blood results back in and the Doctor wanted me to call you." I went into complete panic mode. You see I had just had blood drawn and my annual pap test done. (fun stuff, right?) So of course I was thinking the worst.

But as it turns out my blood results are not the worst they could be and they are actually manageable with a little pill.

I have a thyroid problem. My thyroid level is low, which means that my thyroid is working to hard. I have hypothyroidism. My thyroid is giving me all kinds of grief.

For those who don't know, the thyroid is located in your neck and controls the way your body uses energy. Because I am pregnant and during the first trimester usually don't have much energy anyway, I would have never known that my thyroid was off because fatigue is a symptom of pregnancy for me.

Other symptoms of Thyroid problems are: (as found on webmd)

• Feeling tired, weak, or depressed.
• Dry skin and brittle nails.
• Not being able to stand the cold.
• Constipation
• Memory problems or having trouble thinking clearly.
• Heavy or irregular menstrual periods.

Alright, so it's probably going to be total TMI here, but I have pretty much had all of these symptoms for almost the last year. I just thought my body had changed with baby #3 and that this is how I would be. I thought I was tired because I had a newborn and two other very active kids who didn't take naps any longer.

Another symptom the doctor said was a sign of hypothyroidism is weight gain. I had been diligently trying to lose weight after having my little man and I was not having much success at all. Talk about frustrating! This last check-up I had, when my blood was tested, I had gained 10lbs!! I stood on that scale and about stroked out right there. I could not believe what I was seeing!

The other frustrating part of this whole process is the fact that I had my thyroid levels tested by another doctor and I was told that they were nothing to worry about. I guess I could have been feeling better all along!

So as it stands right now, I will probably be on a thyroid medicine for the rest of my life. It is possible that after I deliver #4, my levels will go back to normal and I will not need the medicine anymore.

I kind of thought that this pill would make me miraculously feel better, but as it turns out the few days I have been taking it have been the hardest days so far. Maybe because in my mind I am making it worse because I know my condition, but I feel like I just can't get enough sleep! There are days where I feel like the worst mom ever!

I was talking to Oswald and told him how terrible I feel because I have no energy and instead of him agreeing with me or ridiculing me for being lazy or tired, he said the sweetest thing. He said, "Jennie you can't fight what your body is doing to you."

How did I get such an amazing man. And no matter how hard I try, I can't fight what my body is doing to me. I have no control over it, but in a couple of weeks when that medicine is working, I am going to start feeling a whole lot better! And I can't wait for that day!

Random Thought...

I've seen this picture several times the last few days. Each time I scroll through my pictures to find the one I want, I see this one.

I love my hair in this picture. It's short. It's really short. And I remember when I took this picture, I thought to myself, "I would like my hair to be a little shorter." What? That's some pretty short hair.

When I was at girls camp, I sat in meetings and watched these teenage girls braid each other's long locks. I was a little envious of how long their hair is. But then I remember what I nick-named myself when I have long hair and no bangs: slick-back girl. Not a pretty picture.

My hair is getting there again. It's sad how fast my hair grows. Maybe it's just sad at the lack of desire I have to go get it cut again. I constantly contemplate growing my hair out. I have really straight, really thick hair. It would probably be pretty long by Christmas if I let it keep growing and just got trims every so often.

I don't know if I could handle it. I would probably have to get some swoopy bangs or something to go with it because I have a pretty high forehead. Long, straight hair just leads me to think back on the 70's and I am not down with that.

So I guess it's time to take the plunge...cut it or grow it out...that is the question.

How short is too short and when you're over 30, how long is to long?

--I would never shave my head bald...probably have to many divots or bumps to pull that one off. As for to long, I just don't want to look like I'm trying to be something I'm not.

What's your favorite feature?

--I like my feet. I am not a feet person, but my feet are nice. I have pretty toes and pretty toe nails that I keep nicely groomed. And if I ever have a problem with my feet, Oswald will just fix that for me! He's handy like that.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

--I wanted to be a doctor for the longest time. Then I realized how much math goes into the schooling, and I scratched that idea. Then I wanted to be the next Katie Couric, and Meridith Viera stole that from underneath me. Squashed my dreams, flat!

You may not know...

You may not know that I like having pictures taken of my backside...haha NOT!

10 things you may not know about me:

10. I grew up in a small town in Arizona. There were only 100 kids in my graduating class and my Senior year, I was Student Body Vice President. I was in charge of all the pep assemblies and I loved it!!

9. My pinky is double jointed. I used to tease my sister and tell her that if she touched it...she would turn our crippled like my finger! (I'm mean, I know!)

8. I graduated college in 3 years. The summer of my Freshman year, my dad sat me down and told me, "Bear, you better do as much college as fast as you can because you never know when a man will come sweep you off your feet." I went to summer school 3 weeks later and didn't stop until I was done. I'm thankful for that fast graduating because I would have never met Oswald if I had not finished early.

7. I love to color. It's therapeutic for me. It helps me release all kinds of stress and allows me a small amount of creativity.

6. I have aspirations of being the Next Food Network Star. Even though I have no formal training. Even though I have no original recipes. Even though the only cooking I do is for my family. Even though I know I would never make the first cut to even appear on the show...I still aspire. A girl can dream, right?

5. I have lived in Spain. I studied there for 5 weeks the summer of my junior/senior year. One of the best things I have ever done. Not only did I learn a lot of Spanish, but I learned a lot of life lessons and I learned a lot about another culture that I would one day like to re-visit.

4. I am a belly sleeper. This makes being 9 months (or even 5 months) pregnant extremely difficult because you can't sleep on your belly at that point.

3. I hate to sweep/mop/vacuum my floors. That's Oswald's job. He likes it. I don't. Makes us go together well!

2. I am a Diet Dr. Pepper (the caffeine free kind) junkie! I would drink that stuff instead of eat any day! It runs through my veins. And the only reason I don't drink the caffeine kind, it gives me a KILLER headache!

1. I am a Big Brother Fan-a-tic!! Enough said.