My Autoimmune Life

Yesterday the kdis and i had a vehicle to go to the park in, so we did. I also had errands to run. I ended up getting too much sun (though not at the park, it was the errands that did me in) and cauging more of a lupus flare. I also walked too much and am paying for that in my lower back anddown my left leg… today is also the day I’m doi8ng my 24 hour urine collecyion, so Im sticking close to the bed and bathroom.
Pls excuse typos – laying on my side and typing one handed.

I had a few days lupus free… I guess almost a week. I think it was last Saturday or Sunday the flare finally mostly let up, and I was brace and splint free by Wednesday. I started using them less last Monday, but still used them when I started moving around much both Monday and Tuesday, especially with my driving on Tuesday for my OB appt. I have had my mouth blisters/sores most of the last couple of weeks, but they don’t really bother me or interfere, so I don’t even think of them when I think of a flare. That’s been the only sign of my lupus until I started having preflare signs again yesterday and today. Yesterday I started having more aches in my elbows like the lumps there are trying to come back, and today I had trouble getting out of bed, and my joints are aching more. I may have to wrap up my right knee (well, Johnny may have to, he’s better at the ace wraps than I am, I don’t have a knee brace right now), but I should make it through today before it gets too bad again.
My kidney pain let up when we stopped the heparin a week and a half or so ago, but last night it came back strongly. I started having sharp stabbing pains in my left kidney late last night and the ache and whole kidney pain is back in force today. The nurse at my OB’s office is mailing down the paperwork today for me to get the labs done to check kidney function. I’ll be doing a 24 hour urine collection and they’ll be checking some things in my blood when I turn in my urine. They’ll also do some other blood work as well, but that’s not related to my lupus or kidney at all.
The pregnancy seems to be going well, the only issue is my weight, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting Littlest at all, when I had the ultrasound s/he looked right on track for gestational age, and the heartbeat is right on track as of last week.
My doctor mentioned last week that there was no way we could be feeling movement or kicking yet, and that it must be gas, but my in home nurse agrees that with my weight it seems likely we may be feeling it, and Johnny has gone through two to term pregnancies in the past and felt movement and kicking through his ex’s belly before when Gamer and Duckling were in utero, he has felt some obvious kicks. Also, as he said when I told him what OB said “You can’t wake up gas” and we can definitely get responses from Littlest when we put pressure on my belly in the right spot, or start tapping that area.
It’s monsoon season where we are at, and we’ve been having storms the last few days (at least, I can’t remember how long now)… yesterday I got some great pictures, so I thought I’d include one of the pictures that caught the double rainbow in it.