Happenings

Okay people. So I haven't blogged in, like, a month and a half. Sorry about that to those few who follow the blog to see how we are doing. It's been crazy! A snapshot of where we are now: I have 3 and a half more weeks of school (16 days to be exact) and around 5 and a half more weeks of being pregnant (this is week 34). I am moving, sometimes merely dragging, along. Doug is busy building Live Oak Chiropractic and has picked up some extra work for one of Lowe's vendors. Together we have been talking, budgeting, planning, going to Bradley method classes, encouraging, and showing love to each other. He has been the most wonderful support throughout this entire pregnancy.

The last couple weeks have been especially rough. On Friday, May 1 my school closed for a week due to a possible swine flu occurance. That would have been REALLY nice, except that Friday night we went to the hospital because I was having kidney stone pain. (For those who don't know, I've passed three before; I know what it is when I feel it.) However, the tests came back negative, so I was sent home thinking maybe I had passed it already.

Nope. Saturday and Sunday gave me a lot of pain. I had difficulty keeping fluids down. Sunday night I was back with more pain. This time the tests showed that I was having kidney trouble and that my right kidney was completely blocked. The doctors didn't know if it was the baby or stones because we couldn't do a CAT scan, and we waited most of Monday until we could talk to a urologist who believed (like me) that it was a stone. He suggested surgery to remove it and put a stent in place for a week to help everything heal. That was a much better option than the nephrostomy tube (catheter from kidney, out through my back, to a bag I have to wear to collect my pee for two months), and I had the surgery done. Two stones were completely blocking my kidney.

After that was done, my mom and brother got into town to help out. I was so happy to see them. A huge thanks also to my friend Jen Parker who, let's see, cleaned the guest bedroom out, cleaned the kitchen, washed towels and sheets, and did who knows what else! I spent Monday night in the hospital and came home late Tuesday morning. Because I had my mom and brother, Doug could see his patients and that was a good thing. Tuesday was very laid back, and then Wednesday morning my mom helped me clean the house so it's more prepared for the baby. Yay! I am so grateful for all her help! They went home Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, I learned that we would be going back to school on Thursday. I was not up to that, but I did go on Friday. Yesterday I had the stent removed, and I feel like a new woman! Random week-long school closures and hospital trips are two things that are definitely NOT convenient, but I am truly grateful that they happened for me at the same time.

The other thing on my mind is how grateful I am that the Lord blessed the baby to be healthy through this. Being in severe abdominal/back pain at eight months had me more than a little scared that labor and an early birth could be involved in all this - with absolutely nothing ready at home for such a thing to happen. I was also so sorry that after months of trying to do everything right so we are prepared for a natural birth, here I was putting her through strong pain medicine/morphine, x-rays, general anesthesia, hours of fetal monitoring, etc. However, then I realized that if my goal is healthy mom/healthy baby, I did the things I needed to do to help that happen. If I was weak from pain and vomiting or allowed my kidney to be damaged from NOT doing those things, the two of us would be in much worse circumstances.

So that's THAT. I will soon put up pictures from my lovely baby shower here in Leander, the dogs, etc.