January is thyroid awareness month and I feel like I push having a thyroid disease to the back burner. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed by it, I just don't feel like advertising it to the world. After connecting with people who also have Graves', I feel like I am very lucky. I see some people struggling more than me, some taking higher dosages of medication than me, some who struggle getting out of bed in the morning because they just feel so blah, some who have had thyroid cancer scares, some who have goiters, and some with thyroid eye disease that is just unmanageable :( I am and always have been on a very low dose of medicine to regulate my thyroid, I exercise as much as possible (I'd like to say my diet is on point but let's face it, I am not a clean eater. I enjoy caffeine, sweets and tons of carbs!) but for the most part I eat decent. While I was pregnant I was completely off any medication for my thyroid. My levels were normal and I really felt great. My Dr. said pregnancy can be a great thing for your thyroid or it can wreak havoc. Thankfully, mine was a great thing. Even two months after delivering E, my levels were normal. Then, BAM. I started feeling the anxiety, the heart palpitations, and started getting really hot for no reason. When it came time to check in with my endo, sure enough my levels we high again so it was back on meds for me. Right before finding out we were pregnant, I had scheduled surgery to completely remove my thyroid. There is also another route, a radioactive iodine that basically kills the thyroid. 1. Radioactive, NO THANKS! I wouldn't be able to be around my babies for like 3 days. 2. The iodine is more than likely going to make my thyroid eye disease worse, again NO THANKS! So surgery it was. Of course, once we found out we were expecting, that surgery got canceled and we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. I've been struggling with scheduling the surgery again. I've been feeling great, still on a low dosage of medicine....but the medicine is not recommended to take long term. I was diagnosed in September 2012. So, do I stay on the medicine a while longer and hope and pray and pray some more that I go into remission.. (I've actually read several stories of people going into remission from Graves' Disease) but more than likely that will NOT happen for me. Or, do I schedule surgery and remove a vital organ only to be put on a permanent medicine to replace what my thyroid did for my body...??? Oh decisions. I'm almost positive I'm going to have surgery but I do keep putting it off. Since being diagnosed, I've realized that thyroid issues are way more common than I thought. A group of friends and I got together last Saturday night to celebrate a friends birthday. There were 5 of us and out of those 5, two friends were on medication for a hypo thyroid (doesn't produce enough THC, T3 and T4, and the other had Graves' and did the iodine treatment..and myself with Graves. Crazy right? Check your neck! Some symptoms of Hyper Thyroid are heat intolerance, anxiety, hand shakiness, heart palpitations, and sweating. Talk to your doctor if you have any of these!
In other news, we have adjusted to being a family of 4!!! it's amazing to see little E grow and learn every day. She truly has completed our family and Hudson is just over the moon for her. She will be 4 months on the 24th.
She started rolling over at 2 1/2 months
She is grabbing toys and has found her hands
She started sucking her thumb and self soothes (she started that around 2 1/2 months) BTW it's the freaking cutest thing EVER
She's eating 4 oz during the day and about 5 or 6 at night
She's finally on a decent schedule and will wake at midnight to eat and wake around 6:30 or 7!
She started sleeping in her crib at 3 months and the transition was super easy (thank you Lord)
She coos and gurgles and talks all the time
I got her to really laugh and giggle a few weeks ago. She is very ticklish :)
She's our little princess!
We love her daycare and her wonderful teachers!
Hudson is doing wonderful in school. He is reading and learning new words everyday! He went hunting with Cody and his grandpa the other weekend and Cody shot a deer! Hudson was so excited. We start T-ball again soon and he's so ready! He's a little crazy when he isn't involved in anything.
