Her side:
During the first trimester of this pregnancy I got very sick. I was throwing up all the time. I couldn't eat. I couldn't keep liquids down. I could barely stay out of bed. Some days I never got out of bed or off the couch due to lack of strength, energy, and the fear of making myself sick. Motion sickness was very much present, even the scrolling on my phone screen or the computer screen. It got so bad that I had to go to the ER right before Christmas and receive 2 bags of fluids and be put on a mild prescription for the nausea. Things had started to eventually look up minus the massive amounts of exhaustion that hung around.
Friday, April 20th, started out as a good day. It was sunny and we were all in a good mood. I had plans to take my boys and the boy I babysit to Creation Day at the local Christian Family Vision Library. They had baby animals, a creation movie, snacks, and activities for the kids. The boys had a blast. They got to pet a miniature horse, a lamb, a bunny, and see baby chicks that had recently hatched. We saw some friends and had animal crackers. It was windy and chilly but the sun did not disappoint. We are hoping they do this event again next year.
After lunch and when 2 of the boys were down for a nap I started to feel icky to my stomach. Not necessarily an uncommon thing for this pregnant mamma to feel but it was a stronger wave of nausea compared to what I had been feeling lately. I took my prescription medicine, something I have only been taking worse case scenario at this point, took acid reflux meds, drank some water, and tried eating, as that usually helps. But it wasn't helping. I laid on the couch and tried to be as still as possible. Then the headache started and the usual round ligament mixed with minor braxton hicks joined the club. Over all...I was miserable.
Right before Peter woke up from nap and the girls got home from school I got physically sick. Hoping that my stomach would eventually feel better, I changed in to some pajamas and laid on the couch some more. The temporary relief faded a lot quicker than I was hoping and about 2 hours later I was very sick again. The acid from my reflux was already starting to burn my throat, tongue, and mouth so bad and eventually blood entered the picture every time I got sick. This went on every 1-2 hours from Friday afternoon until Saturday morning. It made me sad because this meant I had to miss the Global Impact Conference dinner and speaker for the night and miss helping out at the Focus on Missions table, which is the group I went to Mexico with last summer. Andy wasn't feeling 100%, either, and in the end he decided to stay home, as well. And that meant he and the children missed their activities, too. We were all bummed but I needed to be in bed, which is where I was as soon as Andy got home from work.
Saturday morning, Andy found me on the couch, where I tried to sleep unsuccessfully, and we decided to call the on-call doctor at my OB's office. After telling him my symptoms and everything that was happening he decided it was in mine and the baby's best interest to go to the ER to check my blood count, fluids, and to monitor the baby just in case. Our amazing friend, Andy's co-worker, came over last minute to stay with the children so he could get me to the ER, where the doctor had called ahead to make sure they were ready for us. You guys, this made for a quick ER visit compared to our previous experiences. I got fluids and medicine right away. Fortunately, all my vitals were good, all my fluids were good, minus what I needed for slight dehydration, and the baby was moving non stop almost the whole time it felt like.
I was diagnosed with GERD which flared my HG (hyperemesis gravidarum). I was given stronger anti-nausea meds and told to take stronger over-the-counter acid reflux medicine. I was also told to eat a bland diet to help keep everything tamed and to, hopefully, avoid a flare up again. So, now I munch on jell-o, yogurt, toast/sandwiches, and hydrate with water and Gatorade. Exciting, right?
I am still overly exhausted, I still feel the uncomfortable cramping, the back aches, the headaches, and the round ligament aches. I still feel the waves of nausea and I still don't sleep very much. But baby Simon is healthy and active. I just have to continue to add limitations to what I can and cannot do the last leg of this pregnancy. 3 more months to go.
Once again, I am thankful for my husband. His empathy, support and concern during this difficult pregnancy is what is helping me get through it. He makes sure I don't over extend myself, makes sure the children are gentle around me, and understands when I don't eat dinner with them and sometimes have to be in bed at 8:30, sometimes earlier.
This Friday I am suppose to accompany my precious 7 year old on her school field trip to the local zoo. Praying that I can make it an enjoyable time for her and the small group of children I will be helping with. Praying it doesn't over-extend my body and put me out for the rest of the day. Praying my medicines will be fully in my system and working over time on this day. And, most importantly, praying I don't have to call and cancel on her. It would devastate her and me. I am trying to soak in all the moments I can with each of my children because when baby Simon gets here I know I will be focusing a lot on him as we adjust to a routine of having a newborn around again and teaching the children to be calm and how to help out. I will have all 5 kids home with me for about 2 weeks or so, depending on when he decides to actually arrive, before 3 of the children head off to school and Andy heads back to work. (Thankful for 2 weeks of paternity leave his work offers.) Then it will be just me, the baby, and Peter.
I know I/we (because Andy does help a lot at night) have late nights ahead of us. I know we have a lot of adjusting to do. But sometimes its hard to look past what is happening right now. And, for me, its hard to think that I can feel any different than what I feel now, feel any sense of relief. It really caught us off guard how quickly this all flared up this time and how hard it hit. We talked about all the different things that could happen once we got to the ER Friday. Some "worse case scenario" things because the on-call doctor did mention the possibility of admitting me and monitoring me and baby over night, if needed. But, since nothing bad came out of the visit, minus my inconvenient diagnoses, we are praying that our next hospital visit will be in about 3 months when I am giving birth to a happy, hopefully (but probably not) small baby boy.
James 1:2
"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,"
Monday, April 23, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018
My Mate
Her side:
My afternoon yesterday went downhill pretty fast. Most of the day had been great even though I faced such extreme exhaustion I could barely keep my eyes open. But we pushed through and had fun. We are in the process of potty training Peter. This little boy HAS to be trained by the time his baby brother appears in July. We've done 3 in diapers at one time during 2 different times. This time we'd like to be down to one who obviously will need them. Peter is smart. He knows but he absolutely refuses. He can go most of the day in underwear and not have any accidents but once that first accident happens he just can't stop.
He had wet himself and after getting his wet clothes off himself I left him naked because he had no more clean underwear in his drawer and I really just didn't feel like fishing some out of the clean clothes piled up downstairs. He tooted and I asked him if he needed to go sit on the toilet. He said no so I let him go on his way. This has been a huge road block for us. He refuses to sit on the toilet and try to go poop. I should have forced him to go but that was a fight I just didn't feel up to having with him. Shortly after I asked Peter if he needed to go, Gordie comes running to me saying Peter pooped in their room and Petey had poop on his leg. Sure enough, there was evidence going down Peter's leg. I send him off to the bathroom, clean him off and discipline him. I then had to quickly meet the girls outside as they got off the bus.
I go to air out the boy's room and search for the surprise Petey left for me. I couldn't find it right away and told Peter to come show me where he did his deed. He showed where he hid behind his bed and then tried to cover it up. He must have learned that from our cat. I open his window (thank goodness for the temporary warm weather we had) and take to my baby wipes to clean up the mess. This puts me in a grumpy mood only elevated by my exhaustion. And if this wasn't enough to send any one over the top my oldest decides to mouth off to me and be disrespectful.
Apparently it was my fault she couldn't find a certain homemade book from one of her cousins because I had put it away but it wasn't in the spot I thought it was. So I got a mouth full of, "You're always wrong" and "Its all your fault" from her. This brings me to tears almost and only makes my mood worse. I get harsh with her when trying to explain I put it away so it wouldn't get lost or ruined by her brothers and I was only trying to help. I tell her to go look somewhere else and she finds it but I get no apology even after I tell her how rude and disrespectful she was and how her words and accusations really hurt my feelings. And all this happens while I'm trying to finish cleaning up Peter's nasty display of bodily discharge. I take the baby wipes outside to the dumpster and just stand there trying to control my attitude, thoughts, and words.
I text Andy telling him what is happening and what has happened. I couldn't take much more after all this. When he gets home he takes full control of both situations. Peter is still in time out and I'm sitting down with Penelope helping her with her reading. Andy takes care of the situation with Amie, making her clean her room by herself and do dishes after dinner as her discipline. (The dishes idea was all her's after Andy explained everything I do for them with no help and very little grumbling from me.)
He takes care of Peter for me and sends him back to time out. The result of Peter is that he has gone potty on his own ever since then with very little reminders from me. (You guys, that poop was HUGE. And smelly. And GROSS)
My mate is my life saver. My mate is someone I know I can count on to take control when I feel I've lost it. My mate is someone who knows me well enough that I get very over emotional when my anxiety goes through the roof and knows the signs when I'm about to over flow from all the stress. And the result of the discipline he gave our oldest was me being able to relax and watch TV...by myself! She did the dishes with no complaints and little to no help from me (I obviously helped her when she really needed it and taught her where she struggled) and Petey left me alone and did his own thing.
I cannot imagine what my life would be like without Andy in it or with anyone else because they way he understands me and reads me is truly a gift from God and proof all the more that we are meant to be together.
Ephesians 5:28
"In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."
My afternoon yesterday went downhill pretty fast. Most of the day had been great even though I faced such extreme exhaustion I could barely keep my eyes open. But we pushed through and had fun. We are in the process of potty training Peter. This little boy HAS to be trained by the time his baby brother appears in July. We've done 3 in diapers at one time during 2 different times. This time we'd like to be down to one who obviously will need them. Peter is smart. He knows but he absolutely refuses. He can go most of the day in underwear and not have any accidents but once that first accident happens he just can't stop.
He had wet himself and after getting his wet clothes off himself I left him naked because he had no more clean underwear in his drawer and I really just didn't feel like fishing some out of the clean clothes piled up downstairs. He tooted and I asked him if he needed to go sit on the toilet. He said no so I let him go on his way. This has been a huge road block for us. He refuses to sit on the toilet and try to go poop. I should have forced him to go but that was a fight I just didn't feel up to having with him. Shortly after I asked Peter if he needed to go, Gordie comes running to me saying Peter pooped in their room and Petey had poop on his leg. Sure enough, there was evidence going down Peter's leg. I send him off to the bathroom, clean him off and discipline him. I then had to quickly meet the girls outside as they got off the bus.
I go to air out the boy's room and search for the surprise Petey left for me. I couldn't find it right away and told Peter to come show me where he did his deed. He showed where he hid behind his bed and then tried to cover it up. He must have learned that from our cat. I open his window (thank goodness for the temporary warm weather we had) and take to my baby wipes to clean up the mess. This puts me in a grumpy mood only elevated by my exhaustion. And if this wasn't enough to send any one over the top my oldest decides to mouth off to me and be disrespectful.
Apparently it was my fault she couldn't find a certain homemade book from one of her cousins because I had put it away but it wasn't in the spot I thought it was. So I got a mouth full of, "You're always wrong" and "Its all your fault" from her. This brings me to tears almost and only makes my mood worse. I get harsh with her when trying to explain I put it away so it wouldn't get lost or ruined by her brothers and I was only trying to help. I tell her to go look somewhere else and she finds it but I get no apology even after I tell her how rude and disrespectful she was and how her words and accusations really hurt my feelings. And all this happens while I'm trying to finish cleaning up Peter's nasty display of bodily discharge. I take the baby wipes outside to the dumpster and just stand there trying to control my attitude, thoughts, and words.
I text Andy telling him what is happening and what has happened. I couldn't take much more after all this. When he gets home he takes full control of both situations. Peter is still in time out and I'm sitting down with Penelope helping her with her reading. Andy takes care of the situation with Amie, making her clean her room by herself and do dishes after dinner as her discipline. (The dishes idea was all her's after Andy explained everything I do for them with no help and very little grumbling from me.)
He takes care of Peter for me and sends him back to time out. The result of Peter is that he has gone potty on his own ever since then with very little reminders from me. (You guys, that poop was HUGE. And smelly. And GROSS)
My mate is my life saver. My mate is someone I know I can count on to take control when I feel I've lost it. My mate is someone who knows me well enough that I get very over emotional when my anxiety goes through the roof and knows the signs when I'm about to over flow from all the stress. And the result of the discipline he gave our oldest was me being able to relax and watch TV...by myself! She did the dishes with no complaints and little to no help from me (I obviously helped her when she really needed it and taught her where she struggled) and Petey left me alone and did his own thing.
I cannot imagine what my life would be like without Andy in it or with anyone else because they way he understands me and reads me is truly a gift from God and proof all the more that we are meant to be together.
Ephesians 5:28
"In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)