I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated!

Are you all wondering if I fell off the face of the world? LOL I'm still alive and kicking, just barely! LOL The surgery went well but it took me MUCH longer to recover than I thought it would. A week after the surgery I still couldn't sit up or walk for very long. Two weeks after I wasn't in pain but felt exhausted most of the time. It was three weeks after when I finally felt relatively normal. It was very worth it, though. I feel sooooo much better. I can eat just about anything without having problems. It took awhile for my digestion to normalize but it was still much better than before.

On Thursday I will be 20 weeks. Goes fast, doesn't it. The first 20 weeks are typically my easiest and they haven't been for the last two pregnancies, this one and the last one but I'm hoping the next 20 won't be a repeat of the last one. I've already had several days when I've had to stay down due to contractions so I'm not very hopeful.

Kids are doing great. JZ is a normal almost 2yo. I've never had a climber until now. I know, after 6 kids I should have had more than one but he is my first. I'm finding him on top of everything, even in our jetted tub that is nearly 4 feet high! Thank goodness there was no water in it! I caught him another time with a chair pushed up to the counter getting into the cookie jar.

Easter was fun. I was hoping for a nice family pic but JZ was sleeping. Maybe I will try again next Sunday. Everytime I turned around JZ had found another piece of candy from somebody's else's basket.

I think I've been trying to pass a kidney stone. When they did the scan for my gallbladder they said there was also a stone in my kidney and said if it wasn't bothering me than to not worry about it. I asked my sil what it was like for her and my symptoms sound similar to hers so maybe that quiet stone is now causing trouble for me. Yeah, I know, just what I need! LOL

I'm still going to births. I keep wondering if I will be able to do it much longer but the last few I've been to haven't needed much support from me so I mostly sit on the couch and read or chat with relatives with intermittent heart rate checks. I have now caught 6 babies and am up to 24 births total! Yay! Just need 16 more. If things go well I could be done by the middle of May. Thanks for checking in, Brandi, I loved being at your birth!

Surgery

Originally my surgery was scheduled for Feb 12th but the Dr called today and wants to do it tomorrow! No reason I can't except it's hard for me to change gears so suddenly but I am really excited that I don't have to deal with the pain for another week. I don't look forward to all the icky things that go along with surgery like the smell of the mask and the anesthesia, the horrible sore throat after the surgery, the tummy upset after the surgery and the weak feeling before from going too long without eating. Plus this week is better than next only because the kids won't have to miss a few activities that we thought they would.

I will let you all know as soon as I can how the surgery goes.

Update on Gallbladder

I saw the general surgeon on Monday. He was very hesitant to take out what could be a healthy gallbladder since we can't do the test that would definitively say whether or not it is my gall bladder that is causing me so much trouble. He was worried about putting me under anesthesia because of the risks to the pregnancy and wasn't sure it was worth the risk. He suggested that we try and wait it out and "nurse" me through the pregnancy, meaning when the pain becomes more than I can handle with the meds I have at home that I could go to the ER for more pain relief. He said it might occasionally even require a two or three day stay.

I told him that I have to have anesthesia anyway for the stitch and that I was not really thrilled about the wait and see approach. He decided to pencil me in a surgery date and then give me the opportunity to "think it over". One the way home I realized "Are you kidding me? Add more ER visits to the ones I could already potentially have because of this pregnancy? Right!" Normally I am against violating the body and and I like the idea of keeping all my organs unless absolutely necessary but occasionally I'm for the easy road out and in my opinion taking the small risks in order to avoid the extra hospital time is worth it.

Am I wrong? If you have some kind of cleanse or something that I can take that you are fairly certain won't harm the baby more than having the surgery, step up now! I have two weeks to change my mind.

Gallbladder problems

Not fun! It's been going on for 3 weeks now. Saturday night I had an episode that was more than I could handle and ended up in the ER. They gave me fentanol, checked to make sure my white count wasn't going up, checked the baby and sent me home. I talked to my Dr on Tuesday and told him I'm having 2-3 attacks a week and he said "We've got to get that thing out of you." Unfortunately he said we can't do it until 16 to 20 weeks, so 5 more weeks. We just have to pray it doesn't go septic before then. I have an appt with a GI Dr on Monday and I'm hoping he will tell me it can come out earlier.

It frustrates me because if I weren't pregnant I would do lots of cleanses and herbs to try and heal it myself but my hands are more tied being pregnant.

I met with an OB yesterday to decide if he will put a stitch into my cervix. I haven't liked the last two Dr's that did it so I decided this time it was going to be on my terms. I really liked him. He listened to my concerns and questions and didn't make me feel like I was a dumb pregnant woman that didn't know what I was talking about. He wants to coordinate the stitch surgery with the gallbladder surgery but likes to have the stitch put in before 14 weeks so hopefully the GI Doc will be willing to do it then too.

I will try and keep you updated.

JZ has something to show you

He doesn't look happy about it, does he. Unfortunately it was the best pic out of the bunch of pics taken. Yes, we were done and, yes, this was a surprise. Due Date is Aug 16, JK's 16th birthday.

Lots to catch up on

First, there is JA's broken arm. He was ice skating with some friends and ran into someone and fell. When I found out that he had continued skating for another hour and a half I knew it had to be sprained. A person can't possibly skate for that long with a broken arm. LOL I took him to the ER just to be safe and, yep, it's broken! So he had nice green cast for Christmas. He was a bit disappointed because he has been practising his clarinet so he could play it for our Christmas eve program and then couldn't because of the cast. Oh well!

Next there is my accident. I haven't talked about it very much so I don't think most of you know. I'm not even sure my inlaws know. Anyway I was on my way to a meeting during a snowstorm. I was going about 45 on the freeway and hit a pile of accumulated slush. It made me spin around and slide into the median. I smashed up the tail of my van pretty good. I'm irritated because the only reason I had to call the police was because I was backwards on the freeway and couldn't figure out how to get turned around safely with all the traffic. I, of course, got a ticket, which I am so not happy about. I was just really greatful that I didn't hit any other cars, I didn't get hurt and I was still able to drive my van afterwards. The car is now in the shop and I'm driving a little podunk Taurus!

Third, Christmas. We had a very nice Christmas. We had a fun party at my inlaws house Sunday night. My inlaws gave me some serving bowls, which I desperately needed. We had yummy chicken cordon bleu for dinner. My kids had lots of fun with cousin's and loved the gifts they got from Grandma and Grandpa. My bil and sil gave us gift cards to Applebee's and Blockbuster, which we used on New Years Day. Thank you Steve and Michelle!

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents. We ate dinner, then had a Christmas Eve program where everyone did their own planned presentation. Some played the piano, some sang and some read stories or poems. Then the kids all opened pj's and we had dessert then went home and to bed. Dh and I had finished all the wrapping previously so we didn't have to stay up.

Christmas morning, the kids got up at 7:30. My oldest set his alarm just so they would get up earlier. Everyone was mad at him! They would have all slept until probably 8:30 or 9 if he hadn't done that. Oh well! We had strawberry and banana crepes for breakfast, then opened gifts. JZ wanted all the gifts except his own! Later, after we finished opening gifts, we went to my Moms house and opened more presents. All the kids pitched in a gave her a stove. She hasn't had one for a year and was exstatic!

Dh and I got new callings for the new year. Dh got called to teach the 9yo's and I got called to the nursery. I'm really, really not happy about this. I've been literally counting down the weeks until JZ could go to the nursery and then they go and put me in it with him. Why do they do that?