An attempt to capture the essence of Hannah-May 2012...
Bald-headed, slim and a drink in hand - I look quite different already in 2013
Bald-headed, slim and a drink in hand - I look quite different already in 2013
We're almost two weeks in to 2013 already - wow that's gone fast! So thought it might be interesting to look back on what happened in my life in 2012. This is partly inspired by reading a blog post on Essential Mums and partly by it being a naturally cathartic thing to do.
January
Apart from waking up on January 1st 2012 with an EPIC hangover (thank you Board Gaming New Years Gone Wild), January is most noteable for being when I got knocked up. This was planned, but happened SO immediately it was a bit of a shock (quite possibly got knocked up at Board Gaming New Years Gone Wild). And while initially thinking we'd aced the 'Getting Pregnant' exam, learnt toward the end of January that we hadn't aced the 'Staying Pregnant' part of things. So it was a tumultuous start to the year, and a precursor for what to expect for the rest.
February
As a result of the failure to get things quite perfect with this pregnancy, I spent the beginning of February in and out of hospital, waiting for those in the know to work out whether this pregnancy was ectopic or not. Turned out it was, so had surgery to remove the fallopian tube and the pregnancy. This was sad, but not unexpected. February was spent mostly on drugs, and in recovery. I had a lot of support from whanau and friends, and actually had a pretty awesome time in hospital (besides the Lactulase incident and the crazy ranting Labour supporter).
March
March was the month where I had my test which determined whether or not I could likely conceive again and I ACED that test! Unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction to the dye used in the test, so was very ill for several days. We found out that in just a couple of months we could start trying to conceive again. I also put myself on a diet to shake some kilos I'd gained from the pregnancy/surgery debacle. This was a good thing to focus on after a time of uncertainty. Despite my test, I was still unsure that we'd be able to get pregnant, and had put a time frame around trying before looking into IVF (which the government would help out with because of my medical history).
April
Easter at work proved to be a pretty horrid time of year - everyone went mad about hot cross buns, and they became the bane of my existence. The entire shop was sticky with sugar. I hoped I'd never see another crossed bun in my entire life (not going to happen).
Mum had been really unwell after a uterine prolapse which meant she had to stop working shortly before Christmas in 2011. This was really devastating, as mum has always been a hard working, independent person. April was the month of her first surgery to correct this problem that had been ongoing for some years. We were so glad to finally arrive at this point.
My diet also proved to be working out pretty awesome (I lost weight, and learned a lot) and I did Shave for a Cure with Jade and went 'kina'. April was also the time of the first anniversary of our Civil Union, which came about so fast! I guess that means Civilised life ain't too bad at all.
May
May was the month of The Bite Curse - which turned out to be bed bugs, contracted from a romantic night away for our anniversary... This was sorted, eventually.
It was the ten year anniversary of my Granddad passing away. Having lived with my grandparents at various points in my life, Granddad was at times more like a very staunch Dad to me, and like everyone else in the whanau, I still miss him a lot. We had a big celebration with everyone up at the bach where he is buried, which was very special.
May is also Coeliac Awareness month which meant crazy times at work and the Gluten Free Food Show. We were more organised than in previous years, which meant I could get to some seminars and learn a little more about things like FODMAPS, IBS and Coeliac diagnosis in children. I also got to catch up with a bunch of suppliers and which was really lovely. I don't write about work that much in my blog, but I do really love what I do!
June
Mum's first surgery failed, and her follow up appointment with the specialist made her feel as though they were just going to ignore her, so she was back to square one, and gutted. I discovered the health advocacy service online, and got us sorted with an advocate to launch an enquiry as to what was going on.
We had been very slack on the looking-to-buy-a-house thing. If you've ever had to do it, you'll know that looking at houses is boring and time consuming, so easy to want to ignore. We had had a couple of potential houses fall through over the last year (both of which I am now very grateful for), and were probably a little more prepped than at this time in the previous year. So we started the hunt again.
We also started to try and get pregnant again, (despite my plan of not being super pregnant in Summer) just because we could.
July
In July we finally found the right house! We managed to purchase within our budget, but we learned the process of buying a house is fraught with other non financial stresses. Builders reports/LIMS/Kiwisaver/Lawyers fees/Realtor douchebags were all things we got up to speed with pretty quick smart in July. And the settlement was quick. Quicker than we'd hoped for. So we were in our new house by the end of July. And planting herb gardens, and also living together, ALONE for the first time ever. It was bliss.
August
More time settling into our new home and remembering the 'joys' of commuting to work. Very excited to have lots of visits from family and friends, and realising how awesome it was to live closer to some of our friends. I turned 31, but my memory is bad and I can't even remember if I did anything to celebrate, but I probably did. We weren't pregnant yet, but continued to half-heartedly give it a go (pre-occupied at this point my the interest on our mortgage)
I THINK it was around the end of August (possibly early September) Mum was given a second appointment to see her specialist. I went with her so she wouldn't wig out at him. We did get some things resolved - there would be another surgery, which was the best possible outcome. We asked our advocate to stop mediation proceedings. The squeaky wheel does get the grease it seems...
September
The company that pays my wages (different to the company that I work for - complicated) went into receivership. I found out I would likely never see the $1400 in holiday pay owing to me. I had my hours cut down at work, and this was quite possibly going to mean I needed to get a new job. Also, it looked like the company I worked for, was going to sell. And my boss launched her first ever cookbook. Crazy bad timing. A lot of crying.
I was quite unwell for about a week, and had the symptoms of a rumbling appendix so saw my GP. The following week I had surgery to see what was going on, and they removed my appendix (to prevent future stress) and found the actual culprit to my pain - a burst ovarian cyst.
While recovering from surgery I noticed my boobs getting swollen and sore, thought 'wow, that basal thermometer stuff sure works' (we had just started doing Basal Thermometer reading this month), took a test, and sure enough I was knocked up. An eventful September!
October
Which was followed by an even more eventful October. Because of my ectopic earlier in the year, the one before that, and the fact I'd had surgery very shortly after conception, I was understandably worried about this pregnancy. My doctor was also worried, so booked us in for an early scan. October was also when Mum's surgery was scheduled, and also when we were due to go on a holiday to Melbourne (we needed a real break from the crazy) to celebrate Murray's birthday.
So of course our 6 week scan/Mum's surgery and our holiday not only converged the same week, but within three days of each other. Our scan was two days before we left for Melbourne. If things were bad, we wouldn't go. Mum's surgery (and it was a major surgery this time) was the day before we left for Melbourne. Our scan was fine (yay), and Mum's surgery went well, but I felt massively guilty for not being there for the first week of her recovery.
Melbourne on a budget (because there was no holiday pay), was still fantastic! I will try and blog about it at some point, as that is something that fell by the wayside with all the drama of early pregnancy, work crazy and Mum's surgery.
November
By this time I had started to realise that I really didn't like being pregnant. I was extremely grateful to BE pregnant, but with all the horrible side effects, hormones and the stress of the last two months, I finally started to lose the plot. Our work place did sell at the end of September, and our new owner took over at the beginning of November.
I was quite depressed. I felt as though every aspect of my life was falling apart: work, health, finance, brain, home (neighbours pitbull cross continually breaking into our section and terrifying me and our critters). I was having panic attacks every morning on the way to work. Eventually things got to a breaking point and I went to the doctors.
This didn't fix things - I am still waiting on a phone call from Maternity Mental Health, and was advised against antidepressants. But it did give us a window to get things started. I started taking natural adrenal supplements and rescue remedy to help with the anxiety. Feeling like something was happening to remedy the situation helped more than you'd think. And I allowed myself the space to be upset. Given the year I'd had combined with my mental health history, this type of response was actually quite normal. Being pregnant on top of that was probably just the tipping point. I had been ok when this had happened before, and I would be ok again now.
December
December tends to be one of the most stressful months of the year. Despite already being pretty stressed, mine wasn't that bad. We were organised with our Christmas shopping and I was reasonably organised with work Christmas time craziness. We weren't hosting anything over Christmas besides our usual New Years Gaming party. It was manageable.
Christmas was a pretty relaxed day, and I had a week off between the Christmas and New Year stats, which was great. New Years Gaming was massive, with over 25 people turning up, and I survived my first completely sober New Years (in a long while).
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I know that 2013 will provide new challenges for us, but am hoping that it will also mean slowing the pace down a little, and having time to enjoy these challenges. 2012 was an eventful year, with many ups (buying a house and getting successfully pregnant) and downs (surgery, work stress and more surgery). So lets clink a glass to 2013. Happy New Year everyone!
