Good riddance, February!

February used to be one of my favorite months of the year. There is the Super Bowl, Valentine's Day and it is the steppingstone to spring. This year, February has chosen not to be my friend. After 28 days of torture, I am more than ready for March to begin, and for a fresh start to a not-so-great year.

The second week of February brought with is some nice weather -- 60s, I believe -- but for me, it brought gallbladder surgery. After ignoring the pain I'd had in my abdomen since September (I assumed it was an ulcer and would go away), I finally broke down and went to the emergency room one early Sunday morning in January, where the very helpful doctor assured me it was not an ulcer but a golf ball-size gallstone, and it should come out immediately.

After freaking out a bit that I put it off for so long, I called the surgeon, made the appointment and was well on my way to feeling better. Surgery was on a Monday and went fine; I was bored and ready to go back to work by Thursday. I was back at work the following Monday and everyone couldn't believe how well I was doing. That right there is where I pinpoint the fall of a good February.

Monday afternoon brought a weird sound to the Saturn, so Tuesday I took it to get looked at. Some $236 later, the car was fixed, but I was dreading what would come next. I have been told for as long as I can remember that bad things happen in threes, but what happened next I could not even fathom.

Wednesday night brought dinner at my in-laws' house, like usual, where we had a normal meal and dessert. Dessert involved fruit, a favorite treat for Cooper and me. What I was not prepared for was the tingling on my legs 20 minutes after I ate the kiwi fruit. I felt itchy, but growing up with a multitude of skin allergies, I just figured it was a new lotion or soap that had me itching and that Benadryl would make it go away.

By Thursday morning, I realized I must be wrong when I woke up with my left leg covered in hives and my right leg on its way there. I took some more Benadryl and ignored it like a good doctor-phob, thinking it would go away. Thursday was not fun, but tolerable. I am sure the worry about our ice storm that day helped me ignore the "growths" on my legs, but by Friday morning there was no more ignoring it.

On Friday, I got up and the hives were all over the front and back of both my thighs and calves, as well as up my left side and lower back. I was also so swollen that I could barely get my jeans on for the day. I got dressed and went to work, completely set on ignoring it and taking more Benadryl, until about midday, when I couldn't take it any longer.

By noon I was diagnosed with a severe kiwi allergy and had steroids and oral anti-itch meds to take. Saturday was better; the steroids kicked in and the swelling was gone. I just had to keep cool so I didn't itch. The day was good until 5 p.m., when my 2-year-old came home from a few days at Grandma's with what I assumed was a cold.

Fast-forward to Monday, and the cold was not a cold but pharyngitis, bronchitis and the flu all tied up in one tiny little 2-year-old time bomb. After four sleepless nights, I am more than ready for March. Today is Thursday, the last day of February, and I have never been more relieved to see a month end. Cooper is doing a bit better, actually eating and holding it down. He hates the breathing treatments, but hey, so do I, and I don't have to hold that thing in my mouth. I am itching a lot less and the hives have almost faded. The first Saturday of March is looking to be a Clorox/Lysol kind of day while I make sure we never have another month like February again!

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Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Mo., came to Southeast Missouri State University with big dreams of being the next Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer. She never thought that by age 25, she'd be married with a baby and living in Cape Girardeau. Keep up with Kristen's adventures as a first-time mom -- one who's still a girl trying to figure out how her own life fits together. Turns out, she's living a dream she never knew she had, and loving every minute of it. Kristen invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.