Syringes are Back in the House

But, not for me. And, thankfully, without needles. I decided to take Tubbers to the vet for additional investigation of her fur loss, in part because I just saw her licking and scratching herself enough that she seemed uncomfortable. I was also interested in the possibility of ringworm. Since I didn't have a referral for a dermatologist in this area, I decided to start with a veterinarian that my petsitter had recommended and work from there. Upon meeting the vet, it was fun to learn that she was also from my neck of the woods in North Carolina and even knew my previous vet! Well, Tabitha somewhat unwillingly submitted herself to an examination, and the vet ruled out ringworm based on her examination. The vet thinks it is most likely allergies too, and not behavioral, because of the scratching, which indicates some irritation.

So we are going to move onto the next step: food trials. The clinic was kind enough to give me some samples to see what might suit Tubbers' palate. And in the meantime, I'm giving poor Tubbers some prednisone to reduce the allergic reaction, and antibiotics, to rule out any infection, if she created one by scratching and licking. The medications are in liquid form, although it's still not much fun trying to shove them down the throat of a cat twice a day. Fortunately, Tubbers is greedy enough that if I promise to feed her after each dose, she tolerates it well enough. I thought she might start getting cagey about coming around each time I called her, but she cheerfully comes begging for food, only to be surprised (yet again) to find me seizing her and sticking syringes in her mouth. Let's hear it for the lack of short-term memory! Or maybe being force-fed medication twice a day is an acceptable exchange for also now getting wet food twice a day. It's a good thing this isn't my other cat, she'd be so traumatized I'd probably never see her! And I think Tubbers is willing to eat just about anything to get rid of the medication taste in her mouth, so the lamb cat food is a success so far. We'll she what she thinks about the venison or duck. How many cats get to eat lamb, duck, or venison? I think she should count herself lucky. I'm sure once I start paying for the stuff, I won't be feeling that way!

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In other news, aka my pregnancy news, everything has been very quiet. I have to wait for two more weeks before my second trimester ultrasound, because my doctor is out of town, which is a bummer because I'm getting very curious about the sex. I had also been hoping the second trimester would be that glowing time in pregnancy, but I'm still waiting for that. Things I've been told that haven't happened:

• You'll get your energy back (no, not quite)
• You'll pee less in the night (um, still up usually three times during the night)
• You're skin will start to glow (mine is only glowing with the red of pimples)
  
• You'll get your libido back (still waiting on that one too!)

Plus there are things that I thought wouldn't happen until the third trimester: I keep waking up with sore hips and now my hands are starting to feel tingly. I've had a lot of problems with overuse pain and symptoms in the past, extending to nerves in the carpal tunnel, medial tunnel, elbow, and even shoulder. This past week, I think I was compressing them all while sleeping, even with wearing splints at night. So I went out and bought some new pillows, including a body pillow, to try to ease my aching hips and support my arms and neck better. D is not too happy about my new pillow set-up, but so far, there's still been room for him and the pillows in bed. It's seems to have helped some. I also know I need to work more on the ergonomic set-up at work, which isn't ideal. They "found" me an ergonomic keyboard in the dumpster (not joking, but it works, so I'm also not complaining), they are actually ordering me a new keyboard tray, but I think I may need to get a new chair myself. The "finding" process for the chair hasn't been going so well, as the chair they found had no arms, and I don't think that there's money to order one, so I may get one myself. I'm barely halfway there through this pregnancy, so I'm going to try to keep these symptoms at bay.

Despite my complaining (what are blogs for?), things really have been going well. I still worry a lot about things going wrong, but I've been able to feel MC move almost every day, and that's very reassuring. It seems like in the last two weeks or so I've really starting feeling pregnant in a much more physical way than before. My belly is really starting to swell (although I'm still probably in the "looks a little fat stage" more than the "pregnant" stage), and my boobs have been growing. D and I have been browsing around at baby stuff, not that we yet know what we want or what we are doing, and I've been gathering information about child care. I feel like I'm moving on to the next phase of the adventure and I'm looking forward it!