An interesting weekend

Well, we've had a very interesting weekend in our household. On Thursday and Friday, I had started feeling pain in my lower left hip/groin area under my belly. Friday night, it got pretty bad and I started having regular contractions that were very painful. I was up almost all night on Friday and decided in the morning that I couldn't take the pain anymore and decided to head to the hospital.

I arrived around 7:15am and was in triage in L&D by 7:45. The fetal monitoring starting, which showed a very active and healthy baby. In addition, the nurse started monitoring the contractions, which were pretty regular, about every 8 minutes lasting about 30-40 secs. I wasn't too terribly concerned because they didn't feel like the "real" labor contractions, so I was frustrated more than scared. The DR came in and started to probe my belly and found a hard spot on my left side, one that I had felt the day before. He took and ultrasound and found that I had a 2-inch (golf-ball sized) fibroid within my uterine wall (intramural). The fibroid looked like it was starting to degenerate (die), which was irritating my uterus, causing it to contract. The contractions were very painful and I was having pretty consistent pain no matter what I did, including lying down, standing up, walking, resting, sitting, etc. I wasn't able to find any relief!

So, the doctor recommended I stay for the afternoon so I could rest and also try to stop the contractions. By 3pm, I had rested, but my contractions were still there and consistent. My OB visited me in the hospital and recommended I stay overnight so they can get the contractions to stop and so I can rest. By 9pm, my contractions finally abated after trying 2 different meds and I was able to get rest with the help of some IV narcotics.

I got home yesterday about 9am and then slept from 11:30 until 3pm. I'm on some meds until tomorrow that give me headaches and are causing some nausea and dizziness, which stinks. BUT, my sister is here this week to help me out with the kids! I'm so thankful for her help, especially now that due to lack of rest on Patrick's part, a small cold he started on Fri has developed into a full-blown sickness. He sounds pretty lousy and has an appt with a DR tomorrow. Amanda's trip has been VERY timely.

SO, as for what the next several weeks hold for my pregnancy, it's going to be a wait-and-see game. The fibroid could die or remain, causing me pain throughout my pregnancy or no more pain at all. The main thing is to avoid pre-term labor! So, rest, rest, rest and not overdoing it are key!

Gram's funeral was today and I was very sad that all the shinanigans this weekend caused Patrick to miss it. I've been very thankful for his support over these last few days, as well as all the phone calls and help from our friends and church family. I will keep you all posted on what's going on...

Gram Cherinka

Part of our vacation last week was a trip up to PA to visit Patrick's maternal grandmother. She had been in a nursing home for a few months and had been doing very well and in good health. We had debated on whether or not to trek up there, but in the end we felt it would be best to go ahead and visit while 1. We had only 2 kids to care for and 2. Gram was in good health. Last Monday we were able to spend the majority of the day with her. Patrick's and his Uncle Mac went to pick her up from the nursing home and brought her to Mac and Rita's house, where we were staying. The kids were able to play, nap, and continue on what was there routine so they could have a pleasant visit with her.

While the kids (and I) were napping, Patrick spent a good hour and a half talking with her, sharing about the kids, catching up, and hearing stories of Gram's past. We ate dinner, took a few pictures, and then Gram needed to head home. We had such a nice visit and I'm so glad that we took the time to travel up north.

My mother-in-law told me several times in the last week and a half how much our visit meant to Gram. Gram apparently talked about the kids a lot and enjoyed seeing their antics (some of them crazy...) while we were there, even only for a few hours.

My mother-in-law called me today to let us know that Gram passed away this morning. Her downturn was fairly quick and, in my opinion, seemed to die suddenly. My in-laws are travelling up to PA at this time and Patrick has not yet determined what he wants to do. I'm so very thankful that we got to spend at least a part of a day with her last week. What a blessing it was to be able to see her before she passed away. Our visit was timely and was very special for Gram, Patrick, the kids, and me. Please keep the family in your prayers.

From the mouth of babes...

Mallory's prayers have been common and the same for several weeks now as she prays before bed and meals. While Patrick has been on vacation, the children have been sitting with us as we pray together. This morning, Mallory decided she wanted to pray. Here is what she prayed for...

Mallory: "Lord Jesus, we love you. Thank you for go to hospital. Thank you for grocery store and Lowes. Thank you for bath tubs and showers and orange letters crackers. Thank you for pink juice and coffees. Thank you for car transporters and silver car. Thank you for rubber duckies. Amen."

The prayer was followed by a hearty rendition of Jesus Loves Me.

*Note:
Hospital - her favorite toy is a letter toy where "H" stands for hospital. She asks to go to the hospital all the time
Orange Letters Crackers - Cheez-it's with letters on them (her favorite snack)
Pink Juice - her juice cup, which is pink
Silver Car - our mini van
Rubber Duckies - why she prays for them, I don't know...she's afraid of them.

The Boomerang Express!

Mallory and Ethan both experienced a delightful time in VBS this week at our church. I was a helper in Mallory's class (the 3's), which was a designated age group for staff children only. Ethan was in the nursery, also for staff kids. I wanted them to be a part, so necessarily I was on staff :-). I'm glad they were both a part of the event; both had fun, both stayed up REALLY late this week, and both made new relationships. Mallory's favorite part about the whole thing was singing and seeing KoKo the Koala...oh, and the choo choo she passed every time we went inter her classroom.

I've realized through this whole event that even though my kids...our preschoolers...are so young, they CAN learn about Jesus, they CAN learn scripture, and they CAN learn concepts that we don't think they can learn. Yes, their attention span is short, yes they need more activity to keep their minds on task, but they can learn. Don't underestimate the 3 year old's (or even 1.5 year old's!!!) capacity to learn.

I do have some video that Patrick took of Mallory's on-stage debut. She happened to be front and center and did great. I was very proud of her and am happy that she was able to enjoy this week at church. I'll post that video when I get it uploaded...

Here are a few pics of the kids...

From the mouths of babes

Setting:

We're at the Blue Plum festival in Johnson City. Mallory needs to potty and has just recently started going on a full-sized toilet. The only restroom options were porta-potties at the festival and I knew I wasn't going to get her to pee pee in one of those. Thankfully, I spotted one of these, which sported real-looking toilets:
















I praised her profusely for going potty on the big-girl potty, our term for a toilet. We tell Daddy and Ethan and are very excited over her accomplishment. On the way home from the festival, we had this conversation:



Mallory: Go home, tell Doggie.

Mommy: What are you going to tell Doggie, Mallory?

Mallory: Go see Ella dance
(we went to her friend Ella's dance recital that night before the festival)

Mommy: What else are you going to tell Doggie?

Mallory: Go see lots of people at festival

Mommy: Are you going to tell Doggie where you went pee pee tonight?

Mallory: (brief pause) Tell Doggie Mallory went pee pee in the tractor potty.

Hiding God's Word in our Hearts - Ephesians 4:32