It sure was a rough year in terms of health. We had whooping cough (it's a really bad cough that lasts for 2+ months) in the spring with the boy being diagnosed with walking pneumonia as a secondary infection from the whooping cough, and again we picked up whooping cough in the winter (end of November) and ended off with me coming down with pneumonia. I went to a walk-in clinic on boxing day because I was feeling miserable and got sent to the hospital for a chest x-ray. I was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent home to rest. I've basically been bedridden for the past week. I'm still trying to get back on my feet.
What I don't get is why we're getting the whooping cough, and not just once, but twice this year. Our immunization are all up to date. Shouldn't that offer some protection? Is there some new strain or were we one of the few who weren't fully protected? According to the CDC, the vaccine is effective in 8 or 9 out of 10 children to get the shot, but the protection fades over time. About 7 out of 10 children are protected after 5 years from their last vaccination dose. So, the question is, for those whose immunization are not effective, do we need to go get vaccinated again? My doctor doesn't seem to have an answer for me.
Another disappointment for this year-end was that I had another miscarriage in mid-November and I had to deal with it by myself because DH was out of town. It was what I would call a chemical pregnancy. I had days of faint positive home pregnancy tests, so went to my doctor to get a requisition for a blood test. My beta hCG came back at 20 - which was considered inconclusive (< 5 is not pregnant - so yes, I was pregnant, but it was unclear if the pregnancy was viable or not). I got a set of blood requisitions from the doctor to continue testing - he was worried my pregnancy could be ectopic. I booked a blood test for every other day - dragging one or both kids with me. It was stressful waiting to get my results and disappointing when I saw the numbers. My hCG progression was (IU/L): 20, 24, 10, 3. My doctor wanted me to do one more test after, but I was feeling done with being poked. While it was disappointing, I surprisingly did not feel overwhelmed with sadness or grief. It just wasn't meant to be. We still want to try for a third, but my health is not the greatest at the moment and there are other factors as well. The only thing that makes me want to go for it anyways is that I feel like I'm running out of time. As I know my FSH is high, and my cycles are shortening - I feel like I'm hitting peri-menopause... My chances of miscarriages are high and will only get higher as I get older. I'm not worried about another miscarriage. I'm more concerned about whether my body can sustain another pregnancy. I guess I'll deal with it if I get pregnant, but in the meantime, I have to try to get well.
Finally, we ended off 2015 with an earthquake on Tuesday, December 29th at 11:39pm. Reports vary about the intensity, but the range was between 4.7-4.8 magnitude. I was in bed (still recovering from pneumonia) with the girl sleeping beside me. Suddenly I hear a loud sound (like something slamming into the side of our home) and the shaking started. We have a mirror behind the bed that was not secured and was rattling, I pushed it against the wall and felt the entire wall shaking. It lasted for 10 long seconds. I didn't follow the "stop, drop and take cover" guideline at all. While it wasn't a big quake, it was the first one I've felt and my hands wouldn't stop shaking afterwards for quite awhile. While there was no damage or power outage or tsunami, it certainly was a wake up call to show me just how unprepared we are. I've since ordered more emergency kits and supplies, but I still worry about future earthquakes if we decide to stay on the West Coast.
I'm not sad to see the end of 2015 and I hope for better things to come this year.
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