Another strange symptom of pregnancy, I've learned, is something called "pregnancy brain", meaning that while pregnant, you are more than likely to experience a general absentmindedness. This is said to be due to the fact that not as much blood gets to your brain as usual because of all the work your body is doing for your developing fetus.
When I first read about this possible symptom I laughed it off, not believing I would experience such a thing. I've always had what I considered a strong memory and awareness and found it strange that other people didn't remember things as detailed as I did. But I have since proved myself wrong....really wrong.
On our refrigerator is a print out from my clinic of all my doctor appointments from the beginning of my pregnancy to the end. As they occur, I cross them off and wait for the next. One of the appointments wasn't to my OB, it was for my Endocrinologist whom I went to see way back before our IVF cycle when one of my many mandatory blood tests came back abnormal. My Thyroid was off, which is a big deal when you are trying to get pregnant, so my doctor referred me to the Endocrinologist. I experienced hot flashes and various strange symptoms because of it and she felt it might've been because of the Iodine supplements I had taken a while back from my acupuncturist who thought I needed it. Apparently Iodine stays in your system several months after you last take them and my doctor told me they do more harm than good because it is much too concentrated. Therefore, it was probably what threw my thyroid off. She diagnosed me with "thyroiditis", a temporary condition where the thyroid is thrown off for one reason or another, and she wanted to monitor it to make sure it corrected it's self--which it did--and then keep checking periodically to make sure it didn't return. Plus, she warned me that if I became pregnant that I needed to call her right away because pregnancy also has a tendancy to mess with the thyroid, so I did.
Here's where my pregnancy brain comes into play. The day of my Endocrinologist appointment, I dropped my husband off at work after his lunch at 1pm, then drove straight to my clinic. Upon arrival, I looked at the clock in my car and balked at the fact that I was over an hour early! They like you to be there early to fill out paperwork, etc, but that's only about ten minutes early, so what on earth was I going to do for an hour? I was mildly perplexed about this because I thought for sure I had thought this out perfectly. Deciding not to leave, since I didn't have anywhere else to go, I just sat there and listened to music in the car until about ten to the hour. After that, I figured I'll just go in early and fill out the paperwork, pay my co-pay and wait just in case there's a chance I could see the doctor earlier. When I checked in, the girl behind the desk hesitated, then got up from her chair to walk in the back. "Okay, I'll have to see if she can still see you because your appointment was at 1:20." I nodded, confused by her reaction and was about to tell her I was early when I happened to look up at a clock on the wall and saw that it read ten minutes to TWO!?! WHAT! Then it dawned on me what had just happened. Two days prior was the daylight saving time change and we had yet to change the clock in the car. Admiting this fault, I laughed rather embarrassed and the girl said she'd see if they could squeeze me in. A few minutes later, a nurse came out and asked me a strange question. She wanted to know if I had taken the blood test I was supposed to take a few days before this appointment. I looked at her and shook my head no. If I hadn't felt it before, I certainly felt now that I was a total basket case. Six months ago, I was given a lab sheet and specific instructions that about 3 days before my next appointment I was to get a blood test to check my thyroid again and my doctor would go over the results at my appointment. Obviously, if I couldn't even remember the time change two days ago, how was I going to remember a blood test I was last reminded about six months prior?!
Eventually, they worked it out that I should go over to the lab that day and get the blood draw, then come back a couple days later on Thursday to see the doctor. They rescheduled me and I got the blood draw. Feeling like a total imbicile, I drove home.
Two days later was Thursday, which so happened to be St. Patrick's Day--also known in my family as my brother's birthday. It was a fairly important day and I had a doctor appointment at 1pm which I vowed I would not mess up this time. Everything went smoothly this time when I showed up at the clinic early in plenty of time to fill out my paperwork, be evaluated by the nurse and then finally saw my doctor. My thyroid is fine, which I suspected to begin with. When you have thyroid issues, most of the symptoms make it fairly clear that something is wrong with you and you'll know. Having felt it before, I knew all was well, but better safe than sorry, I went along with what my doctor wanted. After all, this isn't just for my health and safety, it's for my daughter's.
After my appointment, I had planned to drive straight out to my parent's house about 20 minutes away to help my mom with my brother's birthday dinner, but knew that I had to get gas somewhere because the car was nearly empty. So, I backtracked a ways back into town to the 76 station I usually go to and began pumping the fuel into my car. For some reason, the pump wouldn't stay on and kept popping off like it was done when I knew it couldn't be, so I ended up having to hold the stupid thing until it actually finished. That was irritating because it cost me some valuable time, but I eventually got back on the road and headed out of town on the way to my mom's again. Seeing a Starbucks up the road, I debated whether or not to stop. Thirsty after my clinic and gas station ordeal, I thought I might as well grab a drink since I still had a bit of a drive to go and I got myself an iced (decaff) coffee for the road and went on my way.
On the 4-lane highway heading out of town, a cop passed me. I didn't flinch, of course, because they are everywhere in our little town and I had nothing to fear. I wasn't doing anything wrong. We came to a stoplight. Two cars were in front of me in the right lane and the cop was at the front of the line in the left lane. After the light turned green, the cop pulled back into the right lane in front of me and then slowed to pull off the road. I thought that was weird, but then thought it was even weirder when he pulled right out behind me again and began to follow me. Still, though, I didn't think much of it until his lights went on. Then I just got irritated with him because I thought now he wanted to get passed me and I was in his way. Still never thought I had done anything wrong, so I dutifully pulled over to let him pass and he pulled up behind me. What the heck? I started wondering what I could have possibly done and knew I hadn't done anything illegal. I was certainly not speeding. In fact, I'd been following a very slow van down a normally 55mph highway at speeds no more than 40-45. As always, I was wearing my seatbelt, I was not on my cell phone, and even though my dog was with me, he was secured in the back of the Jeep behind a gate. I started wondering if maybe one of my blinker or brake lights were out and he was stopping me to let me know. That's all that I could possibly imagine he was doing.
So, when the cop told me he stopped me because my tabs were expired, my jaw dropped. What was he talking about? Since when did my husband ever forget to renew the car registration? Obviously, the cop didn't know my meticulous husband! If he knew the car tabs OR insurance were even close to expiring, he wouldn't drive or let me drive the cars until they were renewed. He never let them lapse--ever! The officer then proceeded to tell me that not only was it expired, but it had expired back in November of 2010! Now I knew something was wrong. How could that be? I thought back on when Mike had renewed the tabs for our other car and thought that perhaps he had actually gotten them mixed up with this car and put them on the wrong car!! I started to panic and wanted to call him, but just grabbed for the registration and insurance paperwork in the glovebox. Total confusion fell over me when I noticed that not just the registration had expired, the insurance wasn't current either! Are you kidding me?!?! Now I knew our insurance was current because I'm the one that pays the bills in the marriage and I know I sent the email to Mike with our new insurance cards attached. Had he actually forgotten to print them out?!? I began to think that maybe he put the new papers somewhere else, but I could not figure out where in the car they could be.
So, sadly, I ended up with an infraction for driving without proof of current liability insurance and a warning for the expired tabs. I now have to go to court. If I could not prove we had insurance coverage before the date of my ticket, I would end up having to pay a $550 fine! Flustered, I drove away thinking he had given me a ticket for the tabs and warned me about the insurance (which actually was the other way around), therefore I was sure we'd end up having to pay unless for some odd reason Mike had actually purchased the renewed registration and mistakenly put the tabs on the wrong car. I didn't think this was very likely, but then again I didn't think any of this was likely! After talking it over with my husband at work, I learned he in fact did forget to renew the tabs as well as to print out the new insurance cards and was profoundly apologetic. He blamed himself entirely (which made me feel slightly better) then walked me through reading the ticket and discovered it was the insurance we would have to prove current, not the tabs. Luck was actually on my side that day, even though it didn't seem like it, because we DO have current car insurance! We just forgot to print out the current insurance cards last month.
Forgive our pregnant brains, because it seems that not only do the pregnant moms get "pregnancy brain", but I've discovered the fathers do, too! I have a court date next Thursday at 4:20pm to contest my infraction and prove we did and do have current car insurance. Let's hope I do NOT miss that appointment, lest I end up having to pay an amount of money that we most certainly don't have.
No comments:
Post a Comment