Of the Puppy ICU and Needles.

Yesterday wasn't a good day at all. It was up there with the no good, terrible, very bad days. Chachi hadn't gotten any better and the vet had no clue what was wrong. I called them frequently to keep them up to date and ask what else I could do. I was frantic because he'd gone from puking yellow bile to puking nasty green something. The vet techs first told me a couple days ago to stop feeding him, which I wasn't and so they just deduced it was coming from his intestines. Then yesterday I called again freaking out because he still wasn't eating and he had gotten so weak he couldn't jump up onto his chair or the couch. When I called them they suggested that I force feed him. We did. He puked it up 45 minutes later. So we made another trip into the vet. And we waited, then we had to leave because I had a doctor's appointment, so we made an appointment for Chachi for later in the evening.
When we returned to the vet Chachi was the same, (him and Adam sat in the car while I was at the appointment, more on that later) we were scurried in, and when they weighed him it showed that he'd lost half a pound since Saturday, which is a lot when you're only 6 pounds to start with. The vet decided to do an ultrasound, so he had to shave Chachi's belly, and now he's naked- again. The ultrasound showed that he had an obstruction is his intestines and it would require surgery. So Chachi was admitted to the ICU because he wasn't stable enough for surgery. He was really dehydrated and too weak. They started him on IV fluids and he was set to rest for a couple hours. The vet did the surgery at midnight and called us at one to tell us that it was a lot more complicated than expected. Apparently whatever he ate shredded a short section of his intestines and they had to remove a portion. The vet has no clue what is that he ate, but they did save it for Adam and I to look at, it might make sense to us.
Today Chachi is stable, but they won't start him on food until tomorrow. He has to stay in the ICU until tomorrow at the earliest. We do get to go and visit him though, which is nice.
Poor guy, it's only been four months since he had his abdomen cut open, and here we go again. And he's naked again! It's like he's destined to have a bald belly.

(The next part is about me and my getting pregnant shenanigans, there is a little TMI. You've been warned.)

My doctor's appointment yesterday was a giant pain in the... lower bits. I am starting the injectable hormones this month, but before they'll prescribe them I have to have my ovaries checked to make sure that they aren't covered in cysts. (they weren't, which makes sense since I don't have PCOS) The doctors want me to have the surgery that I need before I do this, but I don't want to waste another month. Hopefully I won't need it at all, because, frankly I don't want it. We're hoping that my stubborn ovary will work and I won't need the surgery at all. So everything was clear and I was able to get the prescription. When we finally got home I prepared a needle and realized that I lost about a quarter of the volume, so I did it again and I was extra careful that there were no drops and I still lost the same amount. Adam explained that because I was mixing a powder into a liquid the volume could change. I think it's odd that the volume would be less, but I'm not the science-y one in this marriage.
Anyhow I get the needle all ready, and then panic. I don't like needles, there is no way on this green earth that I could plunge a needle into my delicate, very white flesh*. Adam assures me that I can. Then he refused to do it for me. (seriously if a husband won't stab you with a needle....) So I sat down and cleaned the spot, pinched a section and I hovered the needle over my target. And panicked. I can't even watch when I get blood drawn, how in the world can I stick a needle into myself? Adam, always supportive, told me to hurry up. Sigh. I made a lame attempt and pulled back at the last moment, then I plunged again, but too slowly. As I watched the needle disappear into me, I got all queasy and had to take a deep breath, but I still felt the needle going through the various layers. I was clearly going too slow. When the needle was all of the way in me I injected the hormones. The plunger was hard to depress and I was too scared to use too much pressure. Eventually I was able to inject it all and pulled the needle out. Then I watched as a little droplet of the fluid came up out of the hole I poked into my skin. It dried and I survived.
I still have to do it four more times.
I better get a baby or two out of all of this!
*I have to give myself the injections into my stomach which has never seen the sun, so the skin is really fair.

Okay I'm off to visit Chachi.