Another Summer Complete

Summer is over and I am relieved. There were a lot of great memories this summer, but it was also one of the most difficult.

I haven't slept through the night for over a month. For weeks, it was unbearable itching from poison ivy, but it is also the need to pee every two hours. It's feeling fat and miserable and being unable to get comfortable in any position. Yes, I know when I have the baby, I will have to wake up a lot, but in no way does that make me feel less miserable or tired right now.

Sleepless nights and physical discomfort are making me miserable. But it's really been the emotional side of things that has been harder. I have felt obsolete all summer. 'A' and 'M' are both confident and skilled at the jobs, and I know they don't NEED me, but they have been so incredibly dismissive all summer, it's made me feel invisible. I know that they are trying to be nice and encourage me to rest and relax, but I find myself asking, "why am I even here at camp?"

On camp clean up day, it was approximately 500 degrees outside. I couldn't help pull docks in, carry canoes or picnic tables. I couldn't really do anything. So I sat in my air conditioned trailer while everyone else worked. It's funny, because if I could have helped, I would have been thinking, "ugh, I hate carrying heavy canoes! I wish I could sit with my feet up while someone else does this!" But not being ABLE to help and not being part of the group was hard.

I'm also starting to get a little nervous, because, well, I'm having a BABY. And he's coming soon! November will be here soon! I have so much work to do between now and then. And then next summer, I'm going to have a BABY! How am I going to bring a baby to camp?!

Anyway, I'm happy this summer is over and I can go home. Next summer will be a whole new adventure, but I'll deal with that later!

Poison Ivy

About 2.5 weeks ago, I was playing with Olivia and the ball rolled into the woods. I ran after it, looked down and thought, "oh, there's a lot of poison ivy here. We should really spray because some people are really allergic."

I'm not, so it wasn't a big deal that I ran through it. I've grown up playing in the woods and spend the last 16 summers at camp, poison ivy just isn't a think I have to worry about.

 Did you know that your immune system can change when you are pregnant?

After walking through poison ivy, I had a little bit of itching on my feet. I didn't think anything of it.

Pretty soon, my hands were itchy too. I noticed that but figured it would go away quickly.

I got a little spot of itchiness on my jawline. Annoying. I put some calamine lotion on it.

And then I woke up and looked like this. And that was when I started paying attention. I called the doctor, who said because I am pregnant, there isn't much they can do, so just keep putting the poison ivy cream on it.

It got a little worse and so I called the doctor back. I went in and they said, "well actually, we can put you on a round of steroids." I did a lot of googling and found that women can take steroids during pregnancy.

Day 8 of poison ivy, I woke up and couldn't open my eyes. I knew I was in trouble and called 'A' from my bed. I called my mom and asked her to come to camp.

In 8 years, that was the first Friday I've ever missed. I lead the end of the week chapel and I lead the parent program. I love both of those. I have never missed them.

Instead, my mom came and drove me to the emergency room. The doctor there told me he could give me a steroid shot. I wish we would have done that 8 days ago, but there's risk with everything when you are pregnant, so it's better to be cautious.

I've never been more miserable than I had been these past 8 days. I had poison ivy EVERYWHERE- my feet, legs, hips, stomach, back, arms, hands, chest, and face. Every part of me felt like I was on fire with itchiness and absolutely nothing offered relief.

My mom spent several days taking care of me. She cooked, cleaned, played with the dogs, gave me ice packs for my face, and was nice to me while I lay on the couch in misery.

It took almost 3 weeks, two rounds of steroids and a steroid shot for my face to go back to normal and the itching to go away. I'm concerned my baby is going to come out with giant muscles from all of the steroids, but none of the doctors, including my obgyn have been concerned and if the itching had gone on any longer, I think I would have torn off all of my skin.

This was the most miserable experience of my entire life and I am so thankful it is over.