Monday, May 24, 2010

My First Surgery

Well, it's official. I made it 27 years without having to be hospitalized (with the exception of childbirth!!) or have surgery on anything. I've now added a little info to my medical history :o)
My gallbladder was removed on Thursday, and I had an upper GI scope done. It was a pretty simple procedure, considering how serious some surgeries can be. My gallbladder came out as planned, and the scope revealed I also had an ulcer. They ran some tests on it and I'm waiting to hear back on what the plan is with that.

We arrived at UMC (outpatient surgery to be exact) at 5:30am. They took me to a room, got me all situated in a lovely gown on a luxurious hospital bed (hehe), and talked to Jason and I about all the details. Before too long, I was being wheeled down the hall headed to surgery. We stopped outside the operating room while they were finishing up getting everything ready and the nurses and anesthesiologist were cutting up with me being silly, trying to keep me relaxed. One of them said something funny as they wheeled me through the doors, then the next thing I know I was waking up in a recovery room a few hours later! I was very impressed with how well and fast the drugs worked, considering my only experience with anesthesia was my epidural that failed miserably :o) After a little nausea, upset stomach, and a nap, they finally let me go home at about 1:00pm when I was able to keep some crackers down and pee successfully :o)

So I now have four tiny holes in my abdomen and a little extra room where a gallbladder used to be. The first two days were quite rough. I don't care how small they say the incisions are; holes in your belly just hurt!! I couldn't laugh, cough, sneeze, or really even move without flinching in pain. After lots of resting, though, I'm seeing much improvement and am getting around much better today. I'm still having to be very careful, and P90X is obviously on hold for a bit, but I'm getting better. The hardest part is that I'm not really able to lift Mollie! They told me not to lift more that 10 lbs for about 2 weeks...well I made it through the weekend but all my extra help had to go back to work :o( So we're just being careful.

I am super-duper thankful for all the help over the weekend. Jason was able to take off work to be with me at the hospital and take care of me on Thursday and Friday. Mary Ann brought dinner to us and lunch to Jason at the hospital. Mom also was able to come down and be on Mollie duty! She was AWESOME with her and successfully kept her from climbing all over me and freaking out when I wasn't able to pick her up. Mollie had so so so much fun with her Momma Shelly and was a bit disappointed when she woke up this morning and her friend wasn't here :o( I didn't have to cook a meal, change a diaper, give a bath, or anything all weekend. It sure was nice!! THANK YOU FOR HELPING!!!

I'll leave with you with some pics of Mollie. The nice folks from Bodyworks sent me some flowers and some balloons especially for Mollie! Needless to say, she was thrilled and thoroughly entertained. We also received some pretty flowers from the City Bank crew! Thanks everybody!!





Friday, May 14, 2010

15 months!

The start of toddlerhood has proven to be challenging, hilarious, and an ever-changing adventure.

First of all, I took Mollie in for her well-check and those dreaded vaccinations. I was quite surprised by her stats! She weighs 22 lbs 12 oz and is 30 in. tall, which surprised me. If I were to guess by the amount of time Mollie spends eating these days, the growth would have been much much more! But it turns out she's remained at about the 20-25th percentile for height and weight! Her head is another story, though...it's circumference is now 49 cm, which is almost in the 90th percentile! She's taken a little jump in that area...but that just means her little brain is growing and she must have more room to store all those words she's been learning!

One of the things our doctor checked for was to see if she was using 2-6 words on a regular basis...this girl says more like 25 words on a regular basis and repeats many more!! Her vocabulary really is taking off and it's obvious that she understands much more than she can communicate. We're working hard with her right now to start utilizing some more key words (either through signing or speaking) to help ease some frustration..."help" and "i'm tired" would be helpful for starters...it will hopefully help with some of her whininess.

The doctor was quite surprised at how much Mollie still sleeps! She sleeps 12-13 hours each night, and takes either 1 three hour nap or 2 two-hour naps each day (or at least needs that much...you can DEFINITELY tell when she hasn't had a good nap). Evidently most kids don't sleep that much?? Who knows. I'm not complaining; nap time is our favorite part of the day :o)

At her appointment we were discussing teething...he said that teething shouldn't disrupt her day too much, so don't worry about it very much; and I read somewhere else that teething pains should only last about a week or two. WHAT!? This kid has been cutting her molars for at least two months (with MAJOR disruption might I add), got maybe a week or two to rest, and has now started on her eye teeth. This results in major grumpiness, screaming, exhaustion from the screaming, and soaking herself in drool. "Teething Mollie" is nowhere near our sweet little, well behaved, easy going "Normal Mollie". I don't like this part of toddlerhood.

Another interesting aspect of toddlerhood are Mollie's changing preferences and heightened sensitivity. She's obviously always been a great eater, with a few exceptions. I'm now finding that one day she'll want something, and the next day refuse. I've seen her refuse something because it was in a different container than the day before. Or yesterday, she didn't want to be fed, she wanted to feed herself and refused to eat unless she could hold the spoon. Geeze! Also, lately she's been easily startled by a few things that she's seen or heard a hundred times and it suddenly she doesn't care for it. For example...there is a lady (who happens to be in a motorized wheelchair) that we see almost every day at the gym. She's been coming the entire time we've been going. Nothing new. However, just this week Mollie's decided that the wheelchair TERRIFIES her and bursts out in tears every time we see her. Not a fun situation. Also, she's suddenly decided she does NOT like me holding other kids, even though she's seen me do it everyday working at the gym. Also, she does NOT like to sleep anywhere except for her own bed, even though she's had numerous successful experiences sleeping in other places throughout her little life. Her little world is just-a-changin' and mine is just-a-goin-crazy!!

On top of all that, we're fighting a very painful diaper rash today. You can imagine the fun that brings. Yikes.

On the flip side, the heightened sensitivity has led to her being VERY excited about some things! Like hearing the "Yo Gabba Gabba" theme song come on (that show wierds me out by the way), seeing her Daddy drive up, or getting to play with her friend Natalie! Hopefully we'll be seeing more of the fun aspects of being a toddler and less of the craziness.

We would appreciate prayers for patience and guidance in the meantime :o)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!


Happy Mother's Day!
I've been so blessed to be a Mom! I really never knew how much I could actually LOVE something or someone until I became a Mom. I have been able to experience God's love more fully and can see things so differently now. God sent me this little bundle of love because he knew exactly what I needed. I'm so thankful to be a Mommy!
I'm also very thankful for the other Mom's in my life, especially my own Momma. What a great example she has been for showing me how to be a mom and how to have a great relationship with your daughter. I am excited about raising kids because I remember how much fun it was with you! I've also been blessed with a wonderful Mother-in-law, who has always made me feel like her own kid, grandmas that loved me so much, and so many friends who are moms that I've learned so much from. I'm so thankful to have you all in my life!