Joy and Austin 14: Pregnant with Their First

[singsingsing]

47 minutes ago, Ms. Squishels said:

He works at night and the itching starts in the evening before he goes to work.

Could it be anxiety? I'm not saying that's what's going on - I have no idea - but I want to throw it out there as a suggestion. Is he having any issues at work? Is anything there bothering him? Anxiety can manifest in all kinds of really bizarre physical symptoms, and itching with no known trigger, with no hives or rash, that starts every night before he has to do something/go somewhere, definitely makes me think that anxiety would be a strong possibility. Skin sensations are a really common manifestation of anxiety. 

Whatever it is, I hope he gets to the bottom of it! 

[calimojo]

I hope they show Joy and Austin's home.  I hate to think of her giving birth in that place.  It was really gross.  I think Austin underestimated how much work that place needed.  It almost seems like they would have been better off to bulldoze it and stick build a new one. 

[merg429]

On 9/17/2017 at 8:26 PM, mpheels said:

Snipped

Now I'm mentally preparing for my first New England niter, no really not looking forward to it. 

New England  winters are not so bad!    The last two were actually pretty balmy, so maybe you will luck out. Welcome to New England. 

[Hashtag Blessed]

Just read an article about HGTV and house flipping, and how it contributed to the housing market bust. Made me think of Joy and Austin. What are the odds that someone in the family has already pitched a spinoff house flipping show to TLC and/or HGTV starring Joy and Austin? 

 

[TeamDefraudinSquad]

@nvmbr02 @NotQuiteMotY

I have oral allergy sydrome. The allergist who diagnosed me said its triggered most often by fruit, especially melons, apples, and grapes. In my case, honeydew and cantelope make my mouth itchy, and my lips swell to 5x's their normal size with bad attacks. 

Thank rufus I'm not allergic to watermelon (yet) though!!  It was triple digits all summer where I live (another central valley Californian here...), and watermelon salad with fresh mint and feta cheese was my go-to meal this summer when it was too hot to cook or go out anyplace.

[feministxtian]

Southern Nevada desert dweller here. I HATE cold weather...I HATE snow. Now, summers being hotter than the surface of the sun doesn't do much for me but...I like the cool weather we get in the "winter" but the summers are hell. 

Allergies...if I wanted to be completely allergy free, I'd have to live like the boy in the bubble. I'm allergic to almost everything. Grass? Yeah, stop breathing. Laundry detergent with dyes and perfumes? I'll try to scratch my skin off. I went to an allergist and got tested and woke up 2 days later in ICU. The last thing I remember was saying "the insides of my ears itch"...fortunately the clinic was on the same campus as the hospital. I cannot go through allergy testing again (something about it being possibly fatal). Since moving here I'm not nearly as bad. 

On topic: Geez...they are SO young...

[Greendoor]

I have a small oddity with wheat.  The first wheat I eat in a day, I have a sneezing fit.  I generally have a piece of bread at home as soon as I get out of bed so that I am not an achooing mess in public.

 

[nvmbr02]

@TeamDefraudinSquad Thanks for the info! It does sound like she may have oral allergy syndrome, She has issues with honeydew, cantaloupe, kiwi, watermelon and bananas. She can eat papaya, dragonfruit, mangos, grapes, apples, all citrus, all the berries, etc.. without issues. So her list is a bit different than yours but she describes it as her tongue feels tingly when she has tried them. It is easy enough to avoid the stuff that bothers her, but annoying for her (and you) I am sure. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

12 hours ago, calimojo said:

I hope they show Joy and Austin's home.  I hate to think of her giving birth in that place.  It was really gross.  I think Austin underestimated how much work that place needed.  It almost seems like they would have been better off to bulldoze it and stick build a new one. 

It wasn't THAT bad, it was ugly, and dirty yes but not condemnable.  I'm not directing this at you directly, but people need to come down to the reality that not everyone gets to live in a sparkly clean brand new home. He only paid $70K for it, even in bumfuck NWA that is a good deal, not sure how much land came with it but I'm guessing at least an acre. The kitchen and bathroom were a gut, but the rest of the house only needed some paint and a good scrub down. Houses shouldn't be disposable live everything else we own.

[OyToTheVey]

13 hours ago, Ms. Squishels said:

Thanks for all the comments about SquishBoy's itching.  As far as we can recall, we haven't changed anything.  We also tend to eat the same things a lot and not make changes, definite creatures of habit.  I don't think it ties in to a specific activity.  I do feel like it's something systemic or an allergy.  I don't think it's something he's coming in contact with because I think he would show some kind of signs on his skin.  He has no redness, rash, bumps, nothing that shows on his skin.  It just started in the last couple of months.  I do know he's allergic to a couple of oak pollens, dust mites and ragweed.  And he is severely allergic to fire ants (which is why he was also tested for the other allergies).  He had the allergy tests when he was about four or five years old.  Oh, he is also allergic to cats, which seems to have just started in the last few years.  We are really baffled about it.  He is going to see an allergist next week.  Benadryl does help it stop, but it's hard to function when you have to take it.  He works at night and the itching starts in the evening before he goes to work.  He doesn't even have any nasal or sinus symptoms right now, which I would think he would if it was the ragweed.  I welcome any comments or suggestions or ideas that anyone might have.  But I don't mean to tie up the thread with it.  I just had to mention it because @OyToTheVey had mentioned something that sounded very similar.  She sent me a message which I appreciated.

You said he works night? Is it a new job? Or did they change something at work? Like my tiny flies there might be something new at work that makes him itchy.

[Casserole]

@Ms. Squishels I really don't want to freak you out and jump to worst case scenario, as allergies, anxiety, environmental changes and all the things already mentioned are the most likely cause and should definitely be explored thoroughly and the allergist is the right first step. But, if I didn't mention this I'd lose sleep worrying that you may be missing something big... so, I once had a patient present similarly. "Nocturnal pruritus" or night time itching in his hands and feet, didn't respond to antihistamines, couldn't find any allergies etc. etc. and long story short it was Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Itching hands and feet, especially at night time is actually a somewhat common thing. But it took a long time to figure out and catching it early makes all the difference in the world so I wanted to add that to your list in case it seems no one can find a cause, keep fighting and advocating for your kid. 

 

Now I feel guilty for burdening you with that worry  but it was important to say.  

[Pretzel]

27 minutes ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

The kitchen and bathroom were a gut, but the rest of the house only needed some paint and a good scrub down. Houses shouldn't be disposable live everything else we own.

I strongly disagree. The house seemed like it was infested with all kinds of mold. You can't just give mold a good scrub and call it a day. It's hazardous and I would hate the idea that Joy has to be pregnant in a home that is not completely cleared of all the mold and that a newborn baby has to live there, too. I could be wrong though, but I was majorly turned off by that dump. I doubt you can get entirely  rid of mold in 3 weeks time. Buy used and save the difference, YES. But don't buy possible health hazards that could haunt you for years, especially when you (supposedly) feed off the TLC gravy train and you could possibly get something nicer for your wife and new baby. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

Unless it is the toxic black mold you can cut the dry wall out if it is on unpainted drywall, other wise, you can get rid of it with hot soapy water and a vigorous clean. Get some Killz primer paint if it is on painted drywall, wash the wall put the killz on it and boom you're good to do. We did this 10 years ago and our house is still mold free.  

They had 3 weeks until the wedding then they honeymooned for a month, she won't give birth until late Feb (If rumors of her due date are true) and with all those unemployed Duggar males laying around they will have plenty of time to get the house ready by the time baby Forsyth shows up.  I think someone said they are living in an RV right now, or they were a few weeks ago.  I do think people sorely over estimate the amount of TLC money these people are getting, with no advertisers and 1 running an episode there isn't much in the way of revenue for them.  While Boob is loaded, the kids are at his mercy, and I'm sure any money Joy had went to pay for that house as I'm guessing there is no mortgage.  

[Justmurrayed]

Somehow I hit 25 and got real seasonal allergies that only affected me in the fall. THEN about 6 months later even though I'd been eating shellfish my entire life I became allergic to all shellfish. THEN 1 year later got an allergy to poppy seeds(and all the drugs that come from it!) and THEN the next year somehow developed oral allergy syndrome to mangoes, grapes and apples. THEN not 6 months later I found out I have Celiac Disease after 10 years of running for washrooms and weird thyroid results. I moved to Vancouver about 18 months ago and my allergies are insane here. I'm on a daily antihistamine because I get allergy-induced asthma. 

Ya, I'm a mess. I am mostly Paleo because it makes me feel better but I do include oatmeal in the winter and the occasional quinoa dish. 

[MargaretElliott]

Wait, one of the kidults is actually doing something? Like, productive? Someone get my smelling salts!

But actually, I'm happy for Joy. She actually has her own place, and while she's still dependent on a man (which sucks), she's not as dependent on King Boob. Even though she still relies on the TLC gravy train, it must feel good to own a house and make it your own. Especially because most (all?) of her siblings just had houses handed to them. I watch a lot of HGTV, so I think this house flipping plotline is infinitely more believable and entertaining than the other contrived, insipid things that TLC has come up with.

[Ms. Squishels]

1 hour ago, Casserole said:

if I didn't mention this I'd lose sleep worrying that you may be missing something big... so, I once had a patient present similarly. "Nocturnal pruritus" or night time itching in his hands and feet, didn't respond to antihistamines, couldn't find any allergies etc. etc. and long story short it was Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Itching hands and feet, especially at night time is actually a somewhat common thing. But it took a long time to figure out and catching it early makes all the difference in the world so I wanted to add that to your list in case it seems no one can find a cause, keep fighting and advocating for your kid. 

I had already read about it being Hodgkin's on the internet.  His itching actually does stop if he takes Benadryl.  So I was hoping it it allergy related.  What kind of test should he ask for to convince someone to test him for Hodgkin's?  Do you think an allergist would do blood work for something like that?  The family doctor, of course, just told him to try Zyrtec.  That's partly why I'm frustrated.  I would rather find out what's wrong than just treat the symptoms.  I wouldn't mind any advice on how to make sure we could at least rule out cancer.

[AtlanticTug]

That house looked like a total gut job, down to the studs. From what I remember it was paneling on most of the walls which you have to rip down and then redo the drywall. With that much manpower around it's not complicated, they didn't seem like they were really moving walls or making many structural changes aside from that beam. But it's a really gross house as it stands and I'd definitely invest the time it took to get it up to standard.

[Casserole]

8 minutes ago, Ms. Squishels said:

I had already read about it being Hodgkin's on the internet.  His itching actually does stop if he takes Benadryl.  So I was hoping it it allergy related.  What kind of test should he ask for to convince someone to test him for Hodgkin's?  Do you think an allergist would do blood work for something like that?  The family doctor, of course, just told him to try Zyrtec.  That's partly why I'm frustrated.  I would rather find out what's wrong than just treat the symptoms.  I wouldn't mind any advice on how to make sure we could at least rule out cancer.

Phew. I didn't want to panic you but I thought it was important to note, especially since it most commonly occurs in males in the 15-25 year old range. I would get to his primary doctor for a physical - they'll check the lymph nodes and see if any are misbehaving and have them order at least CBC blood test. It's not specific for anything, but if any of the levels are wonky, it's a good place to start to have them investigate further. The gold standard for diagnosis is a biopsy, of course, but they'll do the least invasive tests first and decide if there's reason to worry. 

In the meantime, hopefully the allergist finds a good explanation for you and your son.

[VelociRapture]

13 hours ago, merg429 said:

New England  winters are not so bad!    The last two were actually pretty balmy, so maybe you will luck out. Welcome to New England. 

Last two weren't bad. Reports indicate we could have a more typical New England winter this year though - which is a good thing. The frost kills off ticks. We didn't have enough frost the last year and that's why there was an explosion in the tick population. So, for the sake of everyone not wanting tick borne diseases I hope we have a normal winter.

@mpheels You honestly adjust and get used to winters here after a while. Just be sure to stock up on essentials before storms (stuff you don't need power to prepare and eat), keep your gas tank filled, and be sure you have shovels. If you own a home, then look at the trees on your property and be sure no big limbs are close to the house or power lines. If they are, consider having them trimmed now because it could prevent power losses or damage later.

Be sure you have adequate winter weather clothing so you stay safe while shoveling - and be sure to take it slow if the snow is wet and heavy. Even seasoned New Englanders have been known to overestimate their shoveling abilities and end up hurt or worse from taking on too much heavy and wet snow at once. Better to break the shoveling up into several sessions then try to do it all at once if it's heavy snow. Stock up on flashlights, batteries, and some candles (and ways to light them) - just don't leave a candle burning unattended. I knew a family who lost their house twice because of that. You'd think they'd have learned the first time, but nope.

One thing my mom had us do that you may want to consider - weigh your car trunk down with some bags of sand or cat litter. It'll help keep you from fish tailing on any ice you come across. Plus, if you get stuck, I believe you can use that to try and get enough traction to keep moving. Get an ice scrapper for the car too. You can use that to brush snow off and the scrapper can be used on any ice on the windows.

And if you're sexually alive, have a partner of the opposite sex, and no desire for kids anytime soon... then be sure to have some sort of contraception in the house. Getting snowed in can lead to some very Nike activities.   

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

2 hours ago, MargaretElliott said:

Wait, one of the kidults is actually doing something? Like, productive? Someone get my smelling salts!

Honestly as of right now Joy seems to have hit the husband jack pot, he can support her himself and she has her OWN HOME that isn't anyone else's but hers and Austin's. So far Austin seems smitten with her, and he doesn't appear to be a total dick like DeWreck or a wolf in preppy clothes, like Jeremy. I get the feeling with him he is what he is, a simple country boy and his simple country wife and while to most of us that would SUCK balls I think it suits them both, at least right now.  I do wish they were more into bettering themselves with some education like Ben but right now he's busy making money to support his family which is way more than Smugger, DeWreck, Ben and Jeremy are doing.

57 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

And if you're sexually alive, have a partner of the opposite sex, and no desire for kids anytime soon... then be sure to have some sort of contraception in the house. Getting snowed in can lead to some very Nike activities.   

Yeah the memes with the latest Hurricanes where don't forget the water, bread, TP, batteries and condoms.    But yes I'm sure the local hospitals are preparing for a very busy June/July on the maternity floors.

[singsingsing]

1 hour ago, Ms. Squishels said:

His itching actually does stop if he takes Benadryl.

So I'm going to be annoying and jump on the 'anxiety' train again, but if it is anxiety related, it wouldn't be surprising that the Benadryl stopped the itching. It would probably be a combination of the placebo effect and that (for most people, anyway) Benadryl is a pretty strong sedative. A lot of people use it to help them sleep or to treat anxiety.

[Kittikatz]

21 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

Benadryl is a pretty strong sedative. A lot of people use it to help them sleep or to treat anxiety.

Really? It always turns me - and any of the women in my family into a jittering wrecks. Could never understand how anyone could take it for sleep. Just checked with a co-worker. Benadryl knocks her out cold. Genetics are so strange.

[OyToTheVey]

1 minute ago, Kittikatz said:

Really? It always turns me - and any of the women in my family into a jittering wrecks. Could never understand how anyone could take it for sleep. Just checked with a co-worker. Benadryl knocks her out cold. Genetics are so strange.

I take Benadryl for sleep sometimes. If I take 2 I'm out hardcore passed out for a good 6 hours without remembering my name.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

14 minutes ago, Kittikatz said:

Really? It always turns me - and any of the women in my family into a jittering wrecks. Could never understand how anyone could take it for sleep. Just checked with a co-worker. Benadryl knocks her out cold. Genetics are so strange.

I knocks my husband out but wires my daughter, it used to knock me out but now wires me.  My daughter and I often find things that should be used to sedate make us hyper and things that should make us hyper sedate us.  Energy drinks for one knock my ass out. It really is fascinating, if I drink too much caffeine it makes me tired, if I drink to little I'm tired, it is a fine line I teeter on.

[theotherelise]

3 hours ago, Kittikatz said:

Really? It always turns me - and any of the women in my family into a jittering wrecks. Could never understand how anyone could take it for sleep. Just checked with a co-worker. Benadryl knocks her out cold. Genetics are so strange.

Benadryl always used to make me wired, so when I took it to battle some allergies before my 2nd date with my now-husband, I expected the same wired feeling. BUT INSTEAD, I hit a wall. He went to the bathroom during after dinner drinks and all of a sudden I could barely keep my eyes open and I felt like I would fall asleep at the table. He came back from the bathroom and I told him I was really tired and needed to go home, so of course he thought he'd said something wrong or scared me off. The next morning I realized what had happened and texted him asap to clear things up. Glad we can laugh about it now, but he was really bummed when it happened.