The tale of a uterus with two horns

Drawing simulating Bicornuate Uterus 

NOTE: This was originally written for Yahoo Contributor Network (Formally Associated Content) which has since been shut down. I wrote this in March, 2009.



The day I found out I was pregnant was one of the happiest days of my life. It was my very first pregnancy, and it had taken us only four months to get there. When that urine test showed positive I immediately informed my husband and then it wasn't long after that we told our families. It was the natural thing to do, after all, you get pregnant, and you tell everyone you know that you’re having a baby because you’re excited about it, as it should be.

I was about five weeks pregnant when I showed the first signs of trouble, which I informed my doctor of right away. I was spotting. It was very scary and my doctor had me come in right away to check things out. When I told them the spotting had only been brown blood they weren’t really very concerned, but decided it was best to do an ultrasound. The pregnancy was still very early so they needed to do a vaginal ultrasound, and in a few seconds, there on the monitor they could see my uterus, and my little grain of rice -my baby. The pregnancy was confirmed and they actually were able to see the baby’s heartbeat, and the machine told them that I was six weeks along.

After I left the doctor’s office I felt much better about things. The next week, I started spotting again. This time the spotting was pink and they still weren't too concerned and just said to call if it became bright red. I will never forget that morning, about 4 A.M. when I saw the bright red blood. I put a frantic call into my doctors answering service and then he called back soon after. He said it could be a miscarriage but wanted me to come in to the office first thing. I did and by that time the bleeding had lessened. Unfortunately that baby was not meant to be and an ultrasound confirmed my worst nightmare.

Oh those dysfunctional glands

Have you ever had a stye? You know, a small pimple like thing on your lash line of your eye. I'm sure many people have. I went my entire childhood and young adult life never suffering one. I have more than made up for it after I turned 30. For reasons unknown to me, or my eye doctor's, I continue to get these cysts in my eyelids. I wish they were only stye's as they are self limiting. Stye's generally hurt, swell, and form head before bursting and vanishing in about a week or two. No, stye's are not what I am plagued with. The first time I got one of these bumps my son was an infant. It started as what I thought was a stye. It seemed after a long while to go away but then it left a painless ugly lump that I could see pushing out from under my eyelid on the outside. This is what is called a chalazion cyst and they can be formed after stye. It's kinda like scar tissue. Its not an infection but it does contain a thick substance. You see, my lumps aren't infections like stye's generally are. My lumps begin and form from the meibomian glands inside your eyelids. Everybody has them. Those glands are what secrete the fluid to keep your eyes from drying out. For some unknown reason, my eyelids have rebelled and chosen not to function properly and cause this most annoying and painful recurring problem. 

'A chalazion also known as a meibomian gland lipogranuloma, is a cyst in the eyelid that is caused by inflammation of a blocked meibomian gland'

I have had 3 surgeries to remove 3 cysts in the past 8 years. I have had a couple other cysts that I managed to rid myself of, but it takes months, I mean 6 months to a year to get rid of them. After a year, if the thing is still there, if I'd made it that long, that's when I bite the bullet and get the thing cut out. It's a HIGHLY unpleasant experience. I have had 2 removed in upper eyelids, one in each eye. And 2 years ago I had one removed from my lower right lid; that one was even more painful to have cut out. I seem to get them every 2 years...I have no idea why. Stress may play a role. The surgery involves having iodine washed over my eye, which dries and is very uncomfortable. A needle of local anesthetic in stuck INTO my eyelid - that is EXTREMELY painful. My eye poors out tears during this process from the pain and burning. Then my eye, cheek and nose on that side are numb. Doctor flips my eyelid inside out and cuts open the cyst..blood poors down my face..and he scrapes out the junk inside before sticking some kind of medication, a steroid, inside the sac to prevent its return. No stitches are done and the eye is left to heal itself, which yes, after the numbing wears off you can feel the cut when you blink. It doesn't take too long to close up and antibiotic drops are given to use for at week or two. 

Happy Birth Day America!

Today is the 238th day of Independence for America. What does that mean to you? Do you know what it means? I have but a few moments for today's blog post but I want to paste some excerpts from other articles/websites about today, the day Americans should be celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

So what is today about? Put aside that the writing, the drafting of, the actual event did not take place on the 4th of July. The document was dated July 4, 1776...the day it was signed. Today is about America breaking free and becoming it's own.

From History.com

"Variously known as the Fourth of July and Independence Day, July 4th has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83). In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues."

Interesting fact, 
" John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826--the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence."

Faking it

Today's post is going to be very un-popular with some, but it's a topic that I recently became interested in and continue to research. I want to learn everything I can on the topic, not to get anyone in trouble, but to inform others, which is my goal with my research anyway.

Have you ever been invited to a purse party? Lately I've been getting several invites. From purse's, jewelry, makeup, food to just about anything. There are so many do-it-yourself hosts for various companies and I know a lot of women who've become these consultants. So I know that Avon parties, and MaryKay parites, Silpada, Tastefully Simple, and many others are legal, but what about purse parties? Well, that depends on what they are selling. You need to be very careful about what you are buying. Educate yourself before you buy or get sucked into hosting one of these parties. You don't want to be supporting illegal activities.

AUTUMNS BEAUTY

Something I wrote for an assignment for my writing class.(keep in mind geared toward kids)

You step outside and see them flutter by. As you walk down the yard you hear the rustling beneath your feet. There’s a crisp chill in the air that makes your nose run. A swift breeze nearly blows your hat right off your head. As you pick up the wooden rake you look up and see the glorious colors surrounding you. There’s a red one there, a yellow one over there, and look, there’s an orange one! 

More on Bullying

So today's blog post is going to seem like I am repeating myself, but I'm playing off of something I touched on in my last post. Because of recent events in my life I've been able to see many things more clearly and because I like to do research on countless topics, many times just for the heck of it, I wanted to share something with anyone who happens upon my blog (which is likely few) in the hopes it may help at least one person.

Before I begin, let me say, as a target throughout most of my life, I know first-hand the effects of being bullied. This is something that I really hope I can help my children with so they can avoid the pain that I felt growing up and make them stronger and see when they are being bullied, and know when to ask for help.

What is fan fiction? Is it legal?

I was playing around on Facebook today and checking out my Associated Content page, as I have just got 3 articles published this week, when out of the blue it hit me to look into the legalness of fan fiction. If you don't know what fan fiction is, here's the deal - I'll use myself as an example, because I have written fan fictions. A fan fiction can be one of several things, it usually is where someone takes characters from an established story by another writer and uses them to create a totally new idea, or a whole other story or even just an extension of the established story. Okay, so here's what I mean; I have started 3 fan fictions (none of which are completed, and probably 2 of which I will never complete); because I love the X-Men and Wolverine comics so much, and just comics in general, I had this idea for a character. I had started writing my own sort of comic, but again, never finished it. It started out that I was just drawing these characters and then I decided they needed a story. I did character sketches, the same as I would for any story I'd write. I had it all planned out, the problem was I was throwing X-Men characters into the mix, so it would become a fan fiction - which I was okay with.

CPSIA

I've decided to try and maybe sell some of the designs I make for dolls, but I've run into a snag, and that snag is called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).

So if you're wondering what the CPSIA is, click the link above. Basically what it comes down to is that the government, or states, whatever are trying to stop the sale of all homemade items for children 12 years old and younger.This is only the beginning. There are many websites out there explaining all the details. The CPSIA has it's own, but it is very confusing. The gist is this...lead laws. Who knew that just about EVERYTHING contains led. Buttons, snaps, ribbon, and fabric too. What they want to do is a good thing...I am not against the lead laws...HOWEVER, how they are going about it is detrimental to small business. Right now things seem to be in limbo, more or less. In Feb 2011 there is expected to be another ruling finalizing the law. At that point they make put more restrictions on toys, clothes, anything for kids 12 and under as well as require all things be tested and given a tracking label. Right now, best I can tell, fabrics are exempt from the lead laws, but all notions are not. Right now they are not requiring testing or documentation, well I should say they aren't yet enforcing it for all, but they will. Seems simple, right? Just test things. Well, not so simple. Everything, all your items need to be tested individually and it's very very expensive. If you're a small business with just you or you and one person running it, than you can't afford these tests.

Spay and Neuter your pets!

Kittens....aren't they cute? I am sitting here, my eye is sore and puffy with some drainage from minor eye surgery I had today, but it didn't stop me from having dinner with a very dear friend and then driving to her house to see her litter of kittens that one of her 2 stray cats had. These cats just adopted her and her family and before she had a chance to spay them, one had these adorable babies. These are the 2 from the litter that are available to take. I am such a sucker for cats. I plan to take the little girl on the right...isn't she just so stinkin' cute!? Her fiesty brother will need a home and I am wrestling with myself on what to do. I already have an adult male Siamese who was rescued from a campground and made his way to my home via friends. 2 cats I am used too...3 cats..not sure I want too...but I would hate to see this little guy end up in a shelter...so here I am contemplating. My husband doesn't want any...but he's a dog person.