Last year I was stung in the foot by a wasp, I saw it, I know it was a wasp and I felt it. There was no mark and no swelling, which is not a good sign. That means you are having an internal reaction. I started getting faintish, my tongue and throat swelling/tickling and prickly all over. Luckily both SAHM/neighbor friends were around. One stayed to watch after the littles napping and one brought me to Urgent Care while Reid rushed home from work. I ended up being just fine, but was prescribed an EpiPen.
Wah wah...if you know me, I'm not a very good patient. I don't like to have things "wrong" or be an inconvenience. Also, my care at the Urgent care wasn't that great, nor was it rushed, so I don't think that helped me understand the severity of it. I wasn't totally convinced I was "in need of an EpiPen allergic to Bees/Wasps."
Throw in the fact that I was stung in September and the cost of an EpiPen at that time was $450. I wasn't about to spend that money with only a few short weeks left of Bee season. We'll check it out next Spring.
Well, next Spring came and so did the rise of the EpiPen cost...$750 to be exact. Reid was more than willing to spend this money as he doesn't like to mess around with his wife's life or death. But Miss Jackie, just wasn't convinced. So, we settled on waiting again, until after the new year of insurance starts because we'll likely meet our deductible next year with baby arriving in February.
Which brings me to last Thursday. We were excited to be welcoming the Deer Hunting guests. Thomas, Erin and Savannah scored a great deal on a Flight. Reid would be picking them up after work and Kaylee and Colby would be arriving around 6pm. I was busy during the day, cleaning, cooking, organizing, rearranging rooms and beds to help everyone have their own space and sleep comfortably. At around 2:30 I had almost everything checked off my to-do list except for prepping an Egg Bake, but my back was killing me, so I decided to take 10 minutes to just be and soak up the MN November Sunshine because we all know how uncommon this weather is.
While sitting outside head titled to the sun, soaking up every last ray before the MN bones start to freeze I had such a peaceful moment. 4.0 was moving and a groovin' and I smiled as I rubbed my belly, Thanking the Lord for His many blessings and thought and texted Reid, "Oh my gosh, we're really going to have another baby. There's a baby growing in my belly. So excited to see if it's a boy or a girl and how it will relate to a Sally a Libby or an Emma. What kind of crazy will it bring to our Crew?"
Now, this might seem strange, being that I'm 27 weeks pregnant. HELLO Jackie???? You're just realizing now there's a baby growing in your belly? Are you nuts? Well, each baby you add, you have less time to sit and just think and dream about the baby. There's so much going on and time flies right on by. Yes, I know, there is a baby growing in my belly. But to really stop and think and dream about 4.0 are moments few and far between.
My timer went off, warning me to get back inside to finish up the egg bake before the littles wake up and the Biggest sister gets off the bus and Daddy and 5 guests arrive at the house. But sunshine, in November in MN, so I opted to add 2 more minutes to the timer. When I closed my eyes a leaf smacked me right in the face. I had a feeling it was God warning me, Jackie, get up, get in the house. I should have listened.
30 seconds after the leaf warning I felt a sting on my arm and heard a buzz fly away. CRAP, did I just get stung?! I couldn't be sure. I didn't see it, my eyes were closed. It didn't feel the same as when I was stung by a wasp. I'm pretty sure the stinger was laying right on my arm, but was it? Or did another leaf fall and poke me? No, it was a stinger, I was pretty sure. Ok, stinger left, that means it was a bee, not a wasp, right? There's a mark on my arm. That's good right? There wasn't last time. That is indeed a mark, right? Go inside. Drink some water. Stay calm. Pay attention, but don't overreact.
Crap crap crap, I just got stung. Did it? Should I text Reid? Should I call the neighbors? No, I'm fine, I don't want to scare anyone. K. Go upstairs do your hair, do something normal. Keep drinking water. Pay attention. Get the Benadryl out, just in case. K, it's been 10 minutes, I'm still feeling totally normal. The horror stories you hear of bee sting deaths mention not even having enough time to get to their EpiPen before they died. I'm good, it's been 10 minutes. I decide to text year and tell him not to freak out. He calls immediately. I calm him, tell him I'm paying attention, taking it seriously and agree to not let him leave work if I text Alisha and Caroline what happened and that I'll text every 15 minutes and if they don't hear from me to come over and find me.
So I text them, and keep them in the loop and still feel fine. About 30 minutes after the sting I get a sudden rush that flows through me. It feels similar to the reaction the first time, so I get scared. I pop the 2 benadryl, grab my phone and fly out the front door (with no shoes) to head to Caroline's house. She has an EpiPen for her son (he's allergic to peanuts), I know it's not the right dose for me, but it's something. I text Reid and he packs everything up and flies out of the office to rush home. I get to the front steps of Caroline's house and the rush is gone. What the heck? Do we rush in to Urgent care or keep waiting it out. We decide to walk back to my house to get stuff ready to head to Urgent care should another rush come and maybe be worse. Alisha's getting her car ready to take me in.
I'm not convinced it's a full on allergic reaction that I need to rush in to the ER for. I think it could be feel the effects of the Benadryl or my adrenaline kicking in and catching up with me. We decide to settle on me calling my Midwives to see what they recommend. I was thankful they were on my side in not rushing in to the hospital, but to lay down and keep drinking water. Reid arrived and took the girls and finished up the Egg Bake. I was feeling better and it had been a while since my last "rush." I had maybe 4 in total. We agreed for him to take Emma to go pick up his cousin and fam from the airport. I could handle Sally and Libby and still lay low. If anything changed, Caroline and Alisha were there to help and bring me in.
When everything settled and all the plans were set I finally allowed myself to let go. Lots of hormonal crying. The what could have been. It scared me enough to realize that no, I'm probably not allergic to bees, but I just might be to wasp. We will be getting an EpiPen for the next season and probably all the ones after that. Bee venom (is that the right terminology?) and Wasp venom is indeed different, so may spark different reactions. I'm not willing to risk it again to see what my possible reaction might be, and I'm quite positive my husband is even more certain he doesn't want to play the odds. He'd like his wife to stick around for a while.
Soooooooooooooooo all of that to say, I have 9 lives and we're even more Thankful & Grateful around these parts than normal.
The rest of Deer Hunting weekend was a little less drama free, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures. Lots going on. We had a fun Thursday evening, once the Bee hype settled down. Late night chit chatting and then Friday morning hustle and bustle to get the boys on the road as well as the Bigs to spend the weekend with Nana and Melissa and Hannah.
Kaylee, Erin, Savannah, Emma and I made it over to Excelsior to enjoy the sunshine and a little shopping.
The Littles in Awe of the gorgeous November weather
Emma can't get enough of her Godmother!
Enjoy some quality time with her Godmother before dropping them off at the airport way to early, because of schedules and naps, but they were good to go with the flow
Happy Veteran's Day. Thankful for all of those who have served and are currently serving. We appreciate you and your family's sacrifices.
I had the Albuquerque Burger and it was a good choice. Whitetail Deer Hunting
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