A False Alarm for Freak-Out Girl

Last night, in the middle of innocent teeth-brushing, I was suddenly and unexpectedly just knocked over with pain in my middle. Anyone who’s had both knows that really bad stomach cramps and really bad labor cramps feel, well, much the same, and since it’s a mistake I’ve made before I really panicked, but I couldn’t do anything about it, except sit there and panic. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t yell for help–but what would have done, anyway?
It went on for about twenty minutes, waves of crampy pain, and then I was finally sick.

But I couldn’t remember–was I actually sick, too, with the listeria, or did I just think I would be? And I hadn’t been feeling the baby move…I really thought it was happening again. I realize that, statistically, the odds of getting listeria twice must be astronomical, but the odds of getting it once are likewise pretty slim, and we’ve already been down that road. I can’t do that again, I’m telling you right now. Can’t do it.

So when I was able to move I made Rob call the midwives, and got, unfortunately, one of the less helpful ones, who doesn’t realize that lie down and drink some ginger ale is really not a helpful response to this sort of panic attack. I’d have gone in anyway, honestly, if not that I’d have had to wake up a neighbor to stay with the kids and I was afraid–no, I was certain–that I’d be sick in the car. So I didn’t.

So far, today, I’m fine. A little nauseated, a little miserable, but pretty sure I can feel the poor baby again and determined to avoid McDonald’s and other related bad fast food (all I ate yesterday, because I was on the road and feeling lazy) for the duration.

But I’m still wondering–why me? Why would I get food poisoning again while pregnant? Is once not enough? Other pregnant women, I know, eat two bites of fish and chips, half an asian dumpling and a donut in the same day as a big mac (the dumplings and fish and chips, all from Faniul Hall in Boston, were really bad, which is why I didn’t eat more of them) and don’t wind up worshiping the porcelain god all night. I do not have a tender delicate stomach, I really don’t. I’ve been super careful this time, too. But no, it’s not enough, I still get the food handled by the idiot who didn’t remember to wash his hands.

I guess the answer would be to stop eating out until the baby comes, but I can’t really face that.

In closing, I would like to say that I’m very sorry, but I have no idea how to spell Faniul Hall. Next time, I’ll try to get sick in Philly, since I can spell independence.treatment accounting of loans shareholderloan small application administration businessloans agriculture michigan inloans 300,000 personalloan accounting shareholders28 balloon 2 loansloan 500 dollarloan accelerated payments Mapphone 1040 credit870 specs ringtone900 pay gambling1099 c creditringtone 8ball games quit hoe playing12 protor coupons gamble 30credit 2001 reduction rateringtones agarwal abhishek Mapgetit ringtones now verizonverizon k1m ringtones motorolaringtones vcast verizonwirelessm620 ringtones videovoices ringtonesringtones wonder petswoody woodpecker ringtoneyamaha ringtone Mapdictionary comprisespeakers target ipoddemand guide on comcastufcwgoogle for toolbar firefox betagamespy arcade.comwhite directory assistance pagesdownload.com toolbar googlelocator uk world pc storenumber pizza phone delivery hut Map


1,075 Responses to “A False Alarm for Freak-Out Girl”

  1. Manic Mom says:

    Hey KJ, saw that you stopped by Manic Mom and I just checked out your site… Do we know one another or did you find me on Blogging Mommies? I thought it was interesting you commented on the shelves up really high because I did just dust a ledge in my house and was thinking, “Who’s KJ, and how did she know I was up there, getting vertigo!”

    Anyway, really enjoy your posts and looking forward to visiting more often. We’ve got a lot in common–I have also written for parenting pubs, I also neglected baby number three in utero, but now that he’s four, he gets all the attention he could EVER hope for! Take care, Momma Blogger!

  2. Caryn says:

    I’m sorry to hear you were sick. Get better soon! That must have been scary.

  3. JK says:

    I’m sorry to hear about the scare. Sorry you got a lame midwife. I wish pregnancy didn’t have so much worry associated with it…. This whole mommy thing sucks with how much one has to worry.

  4. Kathy says:

    KJ, in response to the dearth of information about Listeria and pregnancy, Pritzker | Ruohonen, a leading food safety law firm, has recently published pages on the subject. One valuable resource is the list of food products recalled due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

    Because of the long incubation period for Listeria–10 to 70 days–the CDC is not able to confirm a source for most reported cases of listeriosis. Many cases of Listeria poisoning (listeriosis) go unreported each year. One of the reasons is that pregnant women who contract the illness are often not very sick. However, the result can be miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth. Babies born with listeriosis can be seriously ill. Most doctors would probably not consider the possibilty that listeriosis caused the miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth.

    Although most people think doctors are familiar with foodborne illness, many doctors aren’t. As a case in point, one woman who died of E. coli poisoning from fresh spinach (recent E. coli outbreak) was not diagnosed by her doctor with E. coli poisoning. In fact, the family had to pay a private lab to do some testing to uncover the truth about the woman’s death.