Back home again

So I'm back at the house after yet another 5 days in the hospital. I now have a permanant IV port in my arm and a home health company is coming this afternoon to get me hooked up to my very own IV machine. Luckily I know what to do since I took care of my mom's IV port. Sadly however, they put the port in my right arm (something about stronger muscles holding the port in place) so I can't hook myself up...and since I have to be hooked up twice a day for 4 hrs each time, I going to have to commission friends to come plug me in when Bryan is at work.
In other news, I had some pretty serious pain in my abdomen right under my appendix scar while at the hospital. We had an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay, and it turned out that the scar tissue from my appendectomy was being torn away from my abdomen....let me tell you friends, this is a fun sensation. The ultrasound was amazing. The baby is now 5 inches long and 6oz. The baby kicked and punched and did back flips, and enjoyed showing us it's rump. I can feel it wiggling around sometimes, especially at night, when it really gets moving. It especially gets excited when Bryan talks close to my belly, which is really fun.
We tried to see if the baby is a boy or a girl...the tech spent a great deal of time between the legs, where we saw nothing...because I'm only 16.5 weeks, it's still a bit early to be sure. All bets are currently on a girl however.
Yesterday we got a little bit of troubling news however. My blood panel showed that the baby might have downs syndrome. The doctor asked if we wanted to do an amniocentesis. After a few hours of prayer and discussion, we decided it wasn't worth the risk. We were concerned that if it does have downs and has a heart problem (which is pretty common,) it might need extra care that we would need to prepare for. However the risk of an amnio is that it could cause me to go into labor, and the baby is still too little to be able to survive--which is what lead us to decline the test.
So now there's a little bit of concern that the baby may have a problem, but I know right now that it's active and growing and healthy, so I will try not to dwell too much, knowing no matter what we get, we will love and care for it the same.
And that's the news...I'm home-bound indefinately so if you in the area, give me a call.

Steph's Favorite Vacation Destination

Steph is back at her favorite vacation destination....Tacoma General Hospital. Steph has been put back into the hospital for dehydration again. This time, they are going to rehydrate her, then they are going to put in a pick line so she can have her own filling station at home. She will be in the next few days so please keep her in your prayers.

Bryan

Home For Now

I was finally discharged from the hospital today after a five-day stay. I'm still feeling pretty crappy, but I haven't thrown up in 48 hours, so that's encouraging. They put me on another medicine, protonix, a drug that turns off the "pumps" in my stomach. It seems to have made a difference. Since I've hardly eaten anything of substance in the past two weeks, and have lost over 10 pounds, I'll be spending the next few days resting. Hopefully I won't need a "fill up" again any time soon. Meanwhile, the baby continues to grow strong and wiggly. My belly now protrudes quite obviously...I'll try to get a picture posted soon.

Steph's Hospital Stay

Greetings! Steph was put into the hospital on Wednesday Jan 03, 2007 for severe dehydration. She has been on an IV since 2:00 pm on Wed and is still not hydrated. Now she is having a severe headache and is always feeling like she is going to throw up. The problem with that feeling is she has not had anything in her stomach since Sunday morning. They are watching her closely and keeping her in Tacoma General until she is able to eat solid foods and keep them down. She has not even been able to keep water down so I feel it may be awhile.

On the up side, they say the baby is doing well. The baby is very active! We just ask that you keep Steph and the baby in your prayers.

Bryan

Hospital Fun

Since Friday I have been quite ill. After 5 days of holding nothing down, including water, my doctor sent me to the hopsital yesterday for a little "fill up." They gave me 3 full bags of IV solution, and two syringes full of anti-nausea meds. After a few hours, they brought me some food and watched me eat it, to see if I would hold it down...which I did. Yay!
I learned that there is one advantage to being pregnant when one is dehydrated or feeling sick...you get a free ticket straight into the labor and delivery department, instead of having to sit in the waiting room with any number of diseased persons. The nurses are Johnny on-the-spot, and you get your own little room, as oppossed to having to wait in the ER hall.
We got there at 1:45ish, and I was back at home in my own bed at 8:30, which I found most impressive.
While there, they checked the baby to make sure it was okay. When they got out the little dopplar machine to check the baby's heartbeat, it took a while to find it. The baby was squirming around and wouldn't hold still, so she was basically chasing it across my ever-growing belly. The hearbeat was strong, and as the baby was so squirmy they assured me that all is well. Apparently even if momma is severely dehydrated and sick all the live-long-day, the baby is not affected.

Pregnancy woes

Horray! I am now officially 12 weeks, and we heard the heartbeat yesterday, so we are finally starting to feel excited. The baby seems to be doing fine, growing right along schedule. According to my maternity book, the baby is the size of an apple; according to Bryan's book, the baby now stands the height of "a fine cigar."
As I was so sick the first few months, I lost 10 lbs from all the nausea. I have finally started to feel a little better and my weight has levelled back out. I haven't gained anything, except to gain back the 10lbs I lost. So I now weigh the same I weighed before pregnancy. Apparently any nutrition I take in, the baby gets. Subsequently, I still feel really exhausted most days, and still have a lot of food aversions, but at least the puking has subsided to only a few times a week, as oppossed to several times a day.
My hormones are in full bloom and I've developed a lovely case of acne. I have to keep the tweezers close by for daily facial maintenance.
I've developed a little bubble on my front. Most maternity clothes are still a little too baggy, but regular clothes are way too tight. I spend most days at home in one of Bryan's T-shirts and a pair of sweats, (which is such a nice look.) I bought some maternity jeans at Target yesterday, but am finding the button over the zipper to be annoying and causing discomfort...not sure what I'm going to do about that yet. I was also saddened to discover that even size XL stretchy t-shirts are too clingy to be worn in public. All the maternity shirts fit me like tents, but it seems a tent is what I'll have to contend with soon. I have two button-down shirts that I can still wear without being innapropriate, so I save them for the days I sub, or go the store. I'm told that many women just wear their husband's shirts during this time. The problem is my husband is 6'2", whereas I'm 5'2". So to wear his shirts, I look like a little kid playing dress-up.
I'm not quite sure why it is some folks say that there is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman; I just feel nasty.

Storm Watch- 2006

You may have seen on the news that we experienced hurricane-like winds this week. In Gig Harbor the winds "only" made it to 65 mph, but it was strong enough to do some serious damage. Everyone on our street lost a few trees. Luckily the ones we lost were in the creek bed to the side of our house, and subsequently left us unscathed. Our neighbor was not so lucky, and currently has trees inside his house. Aside from losing a wall, he also lost his truck and boat.
Everything on our back patio was moved to a new location in our back yard; our patio table and chairs were in the grass, our car-top carrier was shoved against the fence, and chairs, hoses and other miscellaneous items were strewn all over the place. Luckily I had shoved the BBQ against the wall and it remained in-tact.
We lost power Thursday night and only regained it this am. For fear of being crushed by a giant tree, I "slept" downstairs with the dogs. They spent Thursday night barking at the wind. Every time something would crash into our house, into our neighbors house, or just fly by, they would both freak out. Puck ended up trying to hide behind the piano and Portia squeezed on the couch next to me. The temp in our house got down to 52 degrees yesterday, (it was 30 outside) which is pretty chilly I must admit. Bryan was in LA flew home last night (Friday). His 5:55pm flight did not depart until after 8pm, and he didn't make it home until well after 1am. Our phone lines were also out, so I had no way of getting a hold of him to learn what happened. Needless to say we've had a few sleepless nights.
Thankfully, our neighbors had a wood-burning fireplace so I was able to spend some time with them in their living room before coming back to my own ice box.
Today we're going to Target to stock up on supplies in case this happens again, which could be sooner than later. It turns out we were out of batteries, matches, water and 2 out of our three flashlights were broken. Thankfully our neighbors were better prepared than we, and allowed me to share. I must admit I was shocked to see our emergency supply in such dis-repair, especially since I'm married to an eagle scout. :-)
We're very thankful to have power now, although apprehensive we will keep it. Most places in the area are still w/out power, and many lines are still down around us.
What is winter in the Pacific Northwest without a little weather adventure?

The many faces of Skylend

Christmas in Spokane

Last weekend Bryan and I went to Spokane to celebrate Skylend's 1st birthday as well as Christmas with our Spokane family members.
I can't believe how busy Skylend is! He was of course the main source of entertainment for the duration of the weekend.

Thanksgiving in the living room

It has been a while since I last "blogged." On thanksgiving, our friends Chris and Melissa Scheer and Khris and Marti Downey joined us for dinner. We don't have a dining room, so we had to make do w/ our small table and a card table set up in the living room.