Stone #4

Just when I thought that the kidney stone nightmare was over, I awoke this morning with yet another unpleasant surprise.

The good news is that the stone passed in roughly 9 hours and my mother in law is here to help take care of Anna. Having help taking care of my toddler has made a huge difference.

I still have the kidney infection and I'm still very much pregnant. Other than that, I'm happy to be alive and no longer suffering from the blasted kidney stone pain.

I hope and pray that this is the end of the stones!

False Alarm

Last night we rushed off to the hospital excited that I was in labor. I really was in labor and it lasted for around 5-6 hours. I was making good progress (dilating and effacing) when suddenly everything stopped. If I was just a few days further along, I would have been given drugs to kick start everything up again. I guess my doctor wants me to hold this baby in just a wee bit longer if possible.

We didn't know if the labor would kick up again after leaving the hospital so we stayed at my parent's house (which is much closer to the hospital). Although I did have regular contractions every 5-7 minutes throughout the day, the intensity and frequency didn't increase.

We hope the baby comes soon, and will let you all know once we have some exciting news to share.

I guess the baby likes to play tricks, as he sure fooled us today.

Not Again!

I woke up early Thursday morning once again in pain. I finished my antibiotics on Tuesday and was worried that the infection was back. The pain didn't seem strong enough to be another kidney stone, but then I'm not an expert on any of this. The pain continued to grow throughout the morning and my OB doctor instructed me to come in for more tests. The results? Yes, the infection was back, and yes there was another kidney stone. I'll be on antibiotics through the rest of my pregnancy. I believe the stone passed this morning, as my pain level has decreased significantly.

I have had a lot of super kind people recommend home remedies to help pass the kidney stones. I've played around with a few, but nothing really worked. I talked to my Doctor about them and was instructed that the soda in coke and the citrus in drinking lemon water would only irritate my kidney infection. I well believe this, as my discomfort levels did rise when I tried these home remedies.

I suppose if you only have a stone and not an infection, it's worth giving those home remedies a try.

Thanks anyway.

Digital Scrapbooking

I love to scrapbook, but I find it difficult to archive all the photos and make pages that look attractive. It takes me about an hour to create each page. I love to play with the different papers, standouts, stickers and other toys, but at the rate I'm going, I'll never catch up on my archiving.
I've decided to give digital scrapbooking a try and hope that it will allow me to catch up on years and years of photos that are sitting around in a box. With my online searching I've found many programs available, but it's hard to tell exactly how user friendly and attractive they really are.

So I turn to you and ask if you know of any digital scrapbooking programs that are just fabulous.

Halloween Costume 2000

I have found some old Halloween pictures. Here is a Cruella De'Vil costume that won several costume contests. My thrill each year was to win as many costume contests as possible. If I look scary in this picture, it's because I was playing the Cruella part.

I like to make my own costumes. I'm not great at sewing, but when it comes to costumes, no one really looks too closely at how even the seams are. I couldn't find a wig that I liked, so I made this one using some black hair paint. The dalmatian puppy made the costume fun, as it was animated and would bark and move as people would walk by. I would sit it at the edge of my work cube and scare people as they walked by. Ah, good times.

One thing you can't see is that I had clear braces on my teeth, and that is my old chin. My old chin isn't near as cute as my new and improved chin. :) About 20 days after this picture was taken, I went through a jaw breaking surgery where the Dr also had to adjust my chin so it's proportioned with the rest of my face.

A Stay at the Hospital

Last night I was released from the hospital, and I am so happy to be home again. My kidney stone still hasn't passed, but it's almost out. I started to develop fevers on Sunday, and by 3am on Monday morning, my fevers shot sky high. The highest one we know of was 104. Levi took me to the nearest hospital for evaluation, where they informed us that I had a kidney infection and that I would be hospitalized for several days. They also informed us that it was possible that the infection would cause me to go into labor. I was having regular contractions at this point that were 5 minutes apart. They also said I was dilated to a 3. I was given some drugs to stop the contractions and an IV with 2 rounds of antibiotics. Once the fever broke and my contractions stopped, we made arrangements to get me transfered to a different hospital so I could be under the care of my OB.

I was in the hospital for two days, and released late last night. Today we were worried that I might be in labor, so once again rushed off to the hospital for evaluation. I really don't want to deliver a baby while recovering from a kidney infection, and the baby would be over a month early.

Everything is okay and I'm happy once again to be home in my own bed and with my loving hubby, Anna and Atticus.

I will never look at pain the same again. I feel that I have been through the most painful experience of my life. I hope the infection clears up quickly, as I'm anxious to get back to normal life.

A Missed Halloween

This is the first year that I have not dressed up for Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays and the idea of dressing up and having fun one day of the year is thrilling to me. Some of the costumes I remember wearing when I was a kid and teen were: Princess, Germ, Gypsy lady, and Ghost. As an adult I have been Cruella D'vil, Snow White's queen mother, Pirate, Jockey riding a penguin, Fairy, Olive Oyle, Mortisha Addams, and many more.

So with my clear appreciation and love of this dressing up and fun filled holiday, you might ask why I did not dress up this year. I'll tell you, but beware, it's a long story.

The date: October 31st.
Time: 4am

I awoke at 4am with some minor discomfort. This is not unusual, as pregnant women all over the world wake to find that their bodies are in pain and sleep is difficult. After doing the usual routine of fixing the problem (walk around, get a drink, stretch, use the facilities), the discomfort did not go away. In fact, the discomfort was turning into a painful annoyance (as just about everything is at 4am). I tried to sleep, but the pain was getting steadily worse. By 10am, I was beginning to realize that something terrible must be happening, and I quickly called my dad to get his advice. His advice was to contact my Doctor. Why didn't I call my doctor first? Simply because I didn't know if the pain would be something stupid and ridiculous, like gas or dehydration. Lets face it, no one wants to go to the doctor in pain and later be told that you're just fine and that the gas will clear out on it's own. How humiliating!! But rest assured, my problem was not that simple and embarrassing.

I made the call to my OB Doctor, and she wanted me to come in immediately for some tests. I get there and end up waiting 15 minutes in the waiting room for my name to be called. Anyone who's been in pain knows that 15 minutes is a lifetime wait. In that time, my daughter was making a point to entertain every person the waiting room. She also did a fabulous job of scattering toys everywhere. I was trying to sit still and not faint or vomit, as the pain had gone from a 5 to 10 in the short time it took to get to the doctor's office.

After my exam, it was declared that my pain was being caused by a kidney stone. My first thought was, "Are you kidding? Only old people get those!" Guess what, it looks like I'm getting old. I was given a prescription for the pain and nausea, and told to go to the hospital for additional tests. At this point I was laying on the floor and was having a hard time concentrating on all the instructions I was given. I asked the Doctor to have my hubby called to come get me, as I couldn't move.

20 minutes later, my Knight in Shinning Armor showed up and quickly assessed the situation. Anna had cleverly emptied the contents of my purse over the room, and I was lying on the floor weeping from the pain. My Knight quickly fixed the purse problem, and somehow managed to get me on my feet. He rushed to get my prescriptions filled, and even ran into and out of the store. He then drove me to the nearest resting place (my dad's house) where I could lay down until the pain killers kicked in. He made the arrangements with the hospital to get me seen asap and handled everything. The ultrasound confirmed the doctor's diagnosis. By 4pm, my pain had doubled. If I thought it was a 10 before when I was at the Doctor's office, I was mistaken on how much pain a person could endure, as this doubled. I became aware of true agony!

My Knight truly saved the day. He took care of me and Anna, and did it expertly. He missed 1/2 a day of work, but didn't complain (he's a work-a-holic in case you didn't know). He also missed one of his classes.

There is no way I could have done everything alone and I'm so thankful that Levi was my lifesaver.

The kidney stone is still there, but it's no longer causing the painful blockage. The short break from the pain has been great, but I know that at any moment I could be on the floor whimpering once again. I hope the stone passes quickly.

I'm still trying to get access to some of my old Halloween pictures, but until then, here are a few from last year. Our family went as Popeye, Olive Oyle and Sweet Pea.