Surgery Update

One more surgery down. As a quick recap...we usually visit our specialists every summer to check in and this summer I expected nothing to come of it. When we saw her orthopaedic surgeon he surprised us by saying that she needed a surgery right away to prevent her tendons from causing her surgery to be more difficult next year. The tendons on top of the her foot are pulling up on the under side of the foot.

We scheduled it for Oct 1st thinking we'd then have several weeks before the baby was born.

My doctor found at 33 weeks that I was in pre-term labor and put me on bed rest and medication. I was on bed rest until the day of her surgery which was 37 weeks. I still needed to continue with meds and rest though so that I could get her settled in school afterward and have a little time to figure out how to take care of her. I'm now 38 1/2 weeks and I've stopped progressing. Go figure! :)

The best thing is that her surgery went well. He cut the tendons on the top of the foot and pinned her big toe in place. She'll be off her foot for six weeks and we'll go back three weeks post-op to check the pin, and change the cast. The third day after surgery we saw that the pin is coming up but our doc said to just cover it up and leave it. We are managing fine with the cast although it's tiring for me, especially after being in bed for six weeks. I'm curious how it'll work once the baby arrives.

This surgery was harder than in the past because she's older and more aware. It was easier when she was younger and I knew that the understanding wasn't there. Also, as the years go on we grow to know her as her own person with feelings and a mind of her own. Another thing that is challenging is ironically the fact that we aren't in the midst of constant surgeries and therapy. We've had 18 months to just enjoy her as a typical kid. It was nice to have these things behind us but then to realize they aren't completely behind us or her is difficult. Thankfully she handled it well and wasn't in any pain after the first night. She thinks it was a little fun even. She crawls all over the house and is so content regardless of how long she has to sit.

On the way to UCLA at 5:30 Oct 1st (the day after her 4th birthday). We took Noah out of school to go with us (yes, he's in Kindergarten already!).

Waiting....

You can see how her toes pull up. If you look back through the archives to when she was born it's crazy to see her foot from then to now. It was completely flush with her leg and her toes were attached to her leg.

This is our brilliant surgeon, Dr. William Oppenheim. It's been a long road getting insurance to allow us to see him. We're so thankful for him.

Heading in for surgery...gotta love that anti-anxiety med they give.

I had to capture a picture of this one. After every surgery as she's waking up she is mesmerized by the oxygen monitor. It's really funny.

I love this one. This is after she's awake and I finally feel relieved that she is comfortable and her happy self again. This is usually when I breathe that sigh of relief after every surgery.

She's trying to give a thumbs up but only manages to get it halfway up.

Usually they let Noah in when she's recovering but this time they didn't so he was super excited to see her when she was finished. Shannon and Noah were waiting for the car and when he saw her come out he ran to her so excited and kept hugging her. It was SO sweet!

36 Weeks

Tomorrow I am 36 weeks along in my pregnancy.
I went to the doctor this past week again and she said that I'm now nearly fully effaced, the baby's head is at a zero station (fully in place) and I'm still dilated 1 cm. I'm taking Terbutaline twice a day and I'm still on modified bed rest. I've been driving the kids to school once or twice a week and I've, for the most part, rested otherwise. My labor/delivery bag is packed. My hospital bag is packed. The baby's bag is packed. Anytime I leave the house to drive the kids to school I make sure I've showered and I'm dressed because I find myself nervous that I'll go into labor while away from home and won't be able to make it back to get "ready" for labor. A girl needs her hair washed and her nails painted - can't we all agree on that?? Funny.

I've spent a month trying not to have this baby and I am still not wanting her to come just yet but at the same time I want to get excited, to nest, to anticipate her arrival with busy-ness and preparations. She continues to be nameless at this point too. We've decided against our first choice, Charlotte (Charly) so we've gone back to the drawing board and I'm just contentedly praying for God's will to be revealed. I think of Psalm 139...I'll copy the entire Psalm another time but wanted to highlight this section:
"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
I know that God has a name chosen especially for her with a labor story all her own in His perfect timing, His perfect will.
That Psalm was a stronghold for me four years ago, nearly to the day, as I was preparing for Jordan's delivery. I was SO full of uncertainty, wondering what she would be like, what life would hold for her and for us as a family. It was a time of sadness mixed with growing joy as I grew in my understanding of God's character...His sovereignty, His love, His grace, His rule over us as people who exist to glorify HIM and not ourselves.

It's such a strange mix of feelings approaching Jordan's birthday while at the same time anticipating the arrival of her sister and yet preparing for another surgery for her at the same time.

Her surgery has been approved and is set for October 1st. She had her pre-op appt today combined with her four year old check up and everything appears to be set for next week. Of course God only knows what the next week will hold but I know that I'm praying to keep this little sister inside until after Jordan's sugery because I couldn't bear to miss it and although she adores her daddy there is nothing like having Mommy there for her surgeries. They've become so routine for me that I just have a system and a way that we do it. I know the scripture that comforts her, I look forward to the chance to point her to the love of Christ during times of need and to see prayer in action as she suffers. I am praying daily that God would allow me to be there. As Noah has grown I've loved the chance for him to be there with us, to be used to encourage and comfort her, to grow in compassion and care but I think he'll go to school that day. Today her doctor asked her who her best friend is and she answered without hesitating, "Noah." I almost asked, "Noah who?" Ha! They aren't always the best of friends but I love that she thought of him first.

Details to pray for:
- That this baby could come after Jordan's surgery - even a week or so after so we have time to get settled.
- That the surgery would go well...no problems or surprises.
- That she wouldn't be in much pain.
- That the practical needs would be met/resolved (eg. do we need a wheelchair or will a stroller work?)
- That we would be content regardless.
- Of course, that the perfect name for this little sister would come to us and that we'd both be equaly excited about it.

I'll update next week with a birthday post full of pictures and a recap of Jordan's little life. Her birthday is September 30th.

Disclaimer...I must put in here that I need you to overlook typos and parts that don't make sense in this post. This medication makes me crazy and I find it so hard to be succinct and coherant. If you can all overlook it so can I. :)

Seven Weeks and Counting...from the couch

I MUST begin this post by saying that I feel so badly about leaving the blogging world behind for a while. It had to be done as things were so beyond busy for me but lately as exciting things are happening I've thought a lot about starting up again. I miss my "blog friends" whose pages I read on a regular basis and I miss thinking through my day in blog posts. I can, in large part, blame Facebook for my haitus too. FB is a quick fix on social networking that held me over for a while until I could return here.

Incase anyone is wondering (or even reading this - ha ha) I have suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I am 33 weeks along in my third pregnancy and officially on bed rest as of yesterday afternoon. I'm 70% effaced and 1 cm dilated with continuous contractions. I guess they are still called early contractions but it's considered pre-term labor because they are causing changes to my cervix. I got a shot of that lovely terbutaline yesterday which stopped things for a while and now I'm relegated to the couch, chair, bed or any other "resting" position. I've been ordered to forego lifting, cleaning, walking much, laundry, etc. I can drive when I need to, I can shower, go up the stairs a few times a day, and basically be up for short periods of time. Sitting is fine and laying is probably better.

Another post and I'll share how I got here spiritually and I will fill you in on the massive amounts of answered prayer I've had this summer. For now, all this sitting around has me tired and ready for bed. Funny how that works. :)

Here are a few pictures of my first day on bed rest...how could I be sad about spending weeks on end with these characters and no distractions???? I love it and I'm realistic about the frustrations that are to come but I'm so thankful to be home with them and not in a hospital alone.

Oh and yes that IS a "scrunchy" in my hair (does anyone even own these anymore??), no I do not have a stitch of make-up on and yes, I'm putting it on the blog. :)

T-Ball

Last week was Noah’s first t-ball game. We’ve been rained out for a few games and nearly rained out yesterday too. Thankfully the weather held out and they got to play. Noah did great and we were surprised at how good these little boys are. When they were in the outfield it looked a lot more like tackle football or rugby as they all ran from their positions, no matter how far away, and they dogpiled, grabbing at the ball. They were filthy by the end and had a great time. Here are a few pictures.

(Here he's the one on the left with the black glove)

(Noah's the one on the right with the black and white glove)

Isn't he such a cutie??? He is really truly a sweet little boy. We're so proud of him and so thankful daily for him as our boy.

Yes it's true...

Yep - a couple of you guessed it. We're having another baby.....Lord willing.
Thankfully this is Shannon's face when I told him the news. We both knew we wanted another one but Shannon was taking a bit more of a leap of faith than me so I was hoping this would be his response.
It I've learned anything it's the fact that we may make plans but God is the one who decides.
We're 8 1/2 weeks along and having our first appt and ultrasound on Monday. I complained the first couple of weeks that I wasn't sick or tired. I wanted to feel those early pregnancy symptoms so my mind could be put at ease that it was progressing. Well I got what I asked for. I've been beyond unbearably tired and feeling sick almost all day with the worst part at night. Our house is such a mess. You may think I'm exaggerating but last night Shannon took down five water cups from my nightstand by our bed. Every time I feel especially sick or tired I remind myself that it's a good sign. So anyway I'll keep you all posted and do my best to post more often. I know that a lot of family checks this - sorry to go so long.



I found out we were pregnant the Tuesday before Valentine's Day but I knew I couldn't hold off five days to tell him. We had no night available except that Wednesday so I called a friend to come watch the kids so we could just go out for a quick dinner. I said it was an early Valentine's Day dinner. I called ahead (Sonny's in San Clemente) and asked them to make a surprise heart shaped pizza and asked if they would bring out a bottle of sparkling cider and a gift bag for Shan. Thankfully he agreed to do pizza (to make me happy even though he didn't want it) and he was so confused when the pizza, cider and bag came out. He was happily surprised. It was a really fun night!!!

Quick Update….forgive me for not writing sooner.

Since before Christmas I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to blog. I think about the blog throughout the day, I write posts and stories and put together all kinds of funny and interesting things to write – in my head. :) I never find the time to sit and actually type it.

I’ll give you the top five things that have happened in the past few months then every couple of days or so I’ll write a post about them and more in order to give all the sordid details.

Here you go and stay tuned for more:

5. We went to Colorado for Christmas for 10 days and had a wonderful time with family. We saw my step-dad’s family, my mom’s family and Shannon’s family.

4. New Years/New Resolutions

3. Noah started T-Ball!! He’s our big boy!

2. Jordan’s eye doctor found some vision problems in her left eye so we’re patching and she has some really cute new glasses.

1. For Valentine’s Day I gave Shannon a pretty exciting announcement…you’ll have to guess what that announcement was. I’ll blog about this one first…:)

See you all in Blogland soon!