Three Christmases and Sinusitis

While the holidays were grand, they were miserable all at the same time. As every year, Justin and I made

the Texas trek - from Lubbock to Rockwall, down to Meridian and back up to Amarillo -

which always affords the long-awaited visits with family members we haven't seen since the previous Christmas and won't see again 'til next Christmas. Even though we have to make long hauls, it's my most treasured time of the year.

However, the misery set in Christmas Eve and didn't dissipate 'til New Year's Eve. I managed to contract a cold from my mother that she brought back from her recent dive trip. As with any cold I catch, my sinuses quickly became highly agitated and congestion made itself at home in my chest. For three days,

I suffered through my brain threatening to explode through the top of my cranium, throbbing teeth, eyes ready to pop out of their sockets like corks, an aching back, blowing my nose through two boxes of Kleenex, a sore throat and a clogged cough

because I forgot my phone charger at our first stop which meant I had no phone - where all my numbers are stored, including the OB-GYN's number - for two weeks. My mom was able to look up the OB-GYN's number for me once she got back home so by Sunday I had confirmation that, since I was 10 weeks along, I could take any over-the-counter allergy, sinus and cold medicine.

Sinus pressure and the symptoms of sinusitis were terribly painful without the normal decongestants and Ibuprofen I'm accustomed to. How am I going to survive labor?! Epidural. STAT.

Thankfully, the pressure had subsided to a manageable state by the time we had to drive to Amarillo and though I was still blowing my nose constantly, I began to feel better by New Year's Eve. I wasn't able to ring in the New Year - we were in bed by 11 p.m.