Doctors appointments

Ava and I both had doctors appointments today. She had her 6 month checkup with Dr VanWienen, and I had to see Dr Ritsema to have my Blue Care Network form filled out. It's called "Healthy Blue Living", and you have to make healthy choices and improve in lacking areas in order to keep enhanced benefits (20 dollar office visit copay instead of 40 for example. Prescriptions are the same way). There are 6 or 7 areas on the form. I was fine in the drinking/smoking areas, since I do neither. I had my cholesterol drawn today. That's another area which I will probably be lacking in. And then...the dreaded weight category. You have to have a BMI of 30 or less to score full points in the weight category. Um, let's just say I didn't get full points! Being that I didn't qualify for the full points, I had to commit to a diet plan, or at least, the intent to diet and exercise, to score slightly fewer points but still keep enhanced benefits. He said, "Weight Watchers is a good plan". So I said, sure, I will look into it. haha. I have all the info for Weight Watchers at home, so I guess I could do it without the meetings, but I'm not a very good self-motivator. I need to do something, I know that, but sheesh it's hard. I think about food far too often. Then he brought up his favorite topic. Sleep apnea and my CPAP machine, which I haven't used in a LONG time. I think it has even been recalled, but I haven't bothered checking the serial numbers since I don't use it. "So Sara, why don't you use it." er um...I dunno...because I hate feeling like darth vadar while I sleep? Because I don't want my husband to be scared of me? Because I just want to sleep without some stupid thing blowing air up my nose. I can't even remember what I told him. Then the guilt trip started. "You know untreated sleep apnea can take ten years off your life. And it's not just you now, it's HER too" as he points at Ava. "It's like deciding not to treat cancer." Ok ok...so then I said, "Well if I just lost weight, I wouldn't HAVE sleep apnea." His response was, "If you don't treat your sleep apnea, it's nearly impossible to lose weight. You know that there have been studies that show that sleep apnea releases an endorphin in your body that slows metabolism". Ok I give up. I told him I would look into whether my machine was recalled or not. I think Brian was right...he must get kickbacks from the CPAP machine people or something.

When I finished with Dr Ritsema I had a few minutes before Ava's appointment (same office, just a different doctor) so I got my blood drawn for cholesterol and my TSH. Then little miss Ava kept flirting with everyone in the waiting room while we waited for her to get called back. Someone would walk by and she would grin ear to ear at them. Every single person. It was too cute. One older gentleman asked her if she needed an extra grandpa. She did the same thing to everyone at the grocery store later on in the day. SOmeone would walk by the cart, she would grin at them, and they would melt. Flirty baby. Her little smile just lights up her face.

Ava's appointment went fine with Dr. VanWienen. He seems to be holding up relatively well after the sudden death of his son. So sad. I told him I had been praying for him, and will continue to, and he really seemed to appreciate that. His family has a strong faith, and a great family support system, so I hope they will continue to heal. As for Ava, I asked him about solids, and a few other things. SHe has some patchy dry skin on her back that I thought might be eczema. He agreed, but thought I could just try moisturing it constantly first before using any of the other stuff. Otherwise she's doing great! 18lbs 3oz, and supposedly 28 inches long, though I think they student nurse that did her measurement was a little generous with her tape measure. Ava was flexing her feet, and she made her mark at the toe instead of the heel, so I don't think she's QUITE that tall. She was supposed to get one less shot today, but I opted to have her get the flu shot, so she got the same amount of shots as her last two visits. Three shots, and an oral vaccine for rotavirus. Poor baby. She turned red and did the silent scream for a minute before any sound came out. But she recovered quickly, and was happy the rest of the day. We're so lucky to have such a happy, healthy baby.

busy weekend

It was a busy weekend! Thursday and Friday we were in Detroit for Thanksgiving with Brian's family. We got home Friday night, then Saturday I was busy all day making ornaments for the Ludington party, and cooking, and wrapping the presents. We left Sunday morning for Ludington. Luckily, mom and dad drove so Brian didn't have to. Ava did really well on both trips, and was SO cute during the Christmas party. She had a blast unwrapping her presents, and did amazingly well at it for a 6 month old. It was nice to see everyone, and for some reason, everyone seemed to like the silly angel ornaments I made. Also, Brian's jalapeno things (called atomic turds...haha) were a big hit with the people who loved spicy food. There was so much food! Austin was being a good big brother too, and actually acting like he liked Ava. Anyway, it was a good time. I just could use ONE more day in the weekend.....but no such luck. I guess I better get ready for work.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Thursday and Friday it's Detroit, then Sunday Ludington. Busy weekend! I'm so tired...

Cranky baby

Ava has had one of those days today...nothing is making her happy, and she barely napped, so being sleepy makes her MORE cranky. I think she's probably teething or something, who knows. Brian has been good with her today, and I even got to take a little nap this morning while he watched her. It's not even 6:30 yet, but I'm hoping she'll crash out soon, even if that means she's up at 4:00 to eat. She's doing some marathon thumb sucking at the moment, but I know she's not hungry so hopefully she'll be sleepy soon. *crosses fingers*

We had a nice night out last night. We got the sampler plate from Red Lobster. Kind of expensive, but hey, our anniversary only comes around once a year. It came with crab legs (so much work!) a lobster tail, two different kinds of shrimp, a salad, and a side of potatoe or veggies. Tons of food, but my fat butt ate it all. After this weekend, I need to go on a diet. I need to find something I can stick with though. I can lose weight quickly on low carb, but not sure if it's really realistic for long-term. I lost 8 pounds in a week on it, then I had the kidney stone thing so I stopped, and the 8 lbs was back in no time. Blah. Something has to work. Anyway, after dinner we went to see a movie. We saw "Fred Clause", which I thought was cute, but Brian wasn't impressed by. It was still nice to get out just the two of us.

The little princess is unhappy again, I better go

My lithotripsy

Yesterday was my lithotripsy. It went pretty well as far as doing what it was supposed to do. I got to the hospital a little early...around 10:40 or so. I had to be there at 11, and my procedure was to be at 1:00. They called me in right away, and all the pre-surgical stuff that the short-stay unit had to do was done by 11:05....ekg, urine pregnancy test (I swear they've done so many of those lately...it's like they think not having a period since February 2006 is ABNORMAL or something *cough*), pre-procedure vitals etc. They had this really cool thermometer. It reminded me of Star Trek, because it didn't even touch you. They just pushed a button and ran it over my forehead and behind my ear down my neck a little. It made these little bleeping sounds. I want one.

Speaking of Star Trek, that's what Brian and I watched for the next hour while we waited for them to come get me for my real pre-procedure stuff. It was around 12:30 when they came for me and brought me down to a different floor. There they started my IV, and took me down the hall for an xray. When I got back, Dr. Rodriguez (the urologist) came in. I hadn't met him, and I could tell he was trying to remember me....I had seen his physician's assistant in the office. He was typical surgeon. Not much of a people person....doing his best work when people are asleep. He probably thought he had seen me in the office, because he "couldn't remember what tests we had done that saw the stone." Apparently the xray they had just taken was "not impressive." I was kind of hoping that meant I didn't have to have the procedure, but no such luck. It only meant that the makeup of my stone was probably porous, and just didn't show up well on the xray (denser stones will show up white I guess), and he wanted to add an extra procedure called a cystoscopy....a procedure where they put a little camera up the urethra and look around in the bladder. Ouch. So, whatever...I signed the consent. I would be asleep anyway.

Then I met the anesthesiologist. When he introduced himself, I tried not to laugh. He had this high pitched funny voice, and his name was "Dr. Peaches". He also had to be about 80 years old. For the third time, it was explained to me that they don't use the "immersion" tub anymore. (I had asked the question when the pre-procedure nurse called me a few days before, because my paperwork said "the shockwaves pass through water". So I guess everyone I met felt they had to make sure I knew it wasn't like that anymore). Now they just put you on a surgical-type table, and a gel-like membrane thing is lined up with the area of the stone, and the shockwaves pass through that. After I finished talking to Dr Peaches, he raised his eyebrows and said, "It's time to go." It was kind of Kevorkian-ish...lol. So they brought me to the lithotripsy holding area (incidentally, the same room where I had my xray) and it wasn't long and I was sleeping.

When I woke up, I was ok. I felt a little ache in my back. They gave me back my glasses, and told me something about the stone, and that they think they got it all. I was more aware than I thought I would be at that point, but still the details are a bit fuzzy. I guess it took a little while for me to wake up....I think I saw 2:30 on the clock. I remember my first thought was, I really have to pee! But I didn't feel like I would be able to get up, even if they had let me, so I just laid there. After the recovery room, they took me back to the short stay unit where I had started. As time passed, my back hurt more and more. The nurse had warned me that some people don't feel anything. Other people feel like they've been kicked in the kidney by a mule. I guess I was in the latter category, only it was a really big, powerful mule. Or maybe a buffalo had trampled me. I wasn't sure. But when the nurse asked me if I wanted pain meds, I said "No thanks, I'm ok." Stubborn. I get that from my husband. A few minutes later, I buzzed the nurse because I really had to go to the bathroom. She had said that is not unusual after this procedure. So she came in, and set up my pee-hat in the toilet. She said "Wow you must really want to leave huh." The criteria for being able to go home was to urinate once. So I did, and without too many details....it burned (from the cystoscopy) and it was very very bloody (also normal, but weird). Then I went back to bed and laid on one side, then the other. There was no comfortable position. The pain kept getting worse. I just wanted to go home, so I buzzed the nurse and told her I was ready. She came in and took out my IV and said it would be about 10 minutes for transport to come take me down in a wheelchair. Brian helped me get dressed and I laid down on my belly on the bed. That seemed to be most "comfortable". Along with the pain was a good amount of nausea. Finally as we were waiting, I broke down and asked the nurse for a Vicodin.

The ride down to the parking area in the wheelchair was hell. I was in pain, and trying not to get sick. That hospital is like a maze, and it seemed like forever to reach the entrance we had come in. It was a long walk WITHOUT pain and nausea when we arrived. Much worse when every bump made me hurt, and going down the ramps too fast make me want to hurl. When we got to the door, the transport girl and I waited while Brian got the car. While we were waiting, I thought I was going to lose it, and I didn't have anything to throw up in. The transport girl ran and got me a bucket, but just in time, Brian pulled up and she wheeled me outside. The cold air seemed to cure it. Whew.

When I got home, I took another Vicodin, and slept while Brian went to get the baby and get me some Chicken Noodle Soup from Panera. Today is much much better. Still achy, but not excruciating. To be honest, my C-section hurt less than that. And this one didn't have an incision. Weird. Sometime today or tomorrow I'll start passing the pieces I guess. I have to save them for my followup appointment in 30 days. They have to be analyzed to see what it's made of, as there are several different kinds of stones. It's probably made of Taco Bell, or other fast food. :) I'm just glad it's over.

Busy busy

I've been so darn busy tonight. Got home from work and had to go to Austin's conferences. Let's just say....there were no surprises, except for all his teachers telling us how respectful and funny and "enjoyable" he was. One said he was always smiling...Brian said "He must burn up all those smiles at school because he never brings any home." Haha. We had Ava at conferences, and she kept putting her two cents in. She was just talking and talking the whole time we were trying to talk to his teachers. It was cute though. After conferences I was just trying to get some cleaning done. I just don't want to have to come home to a messy house after my surgery. Plus, I guess I'm a little nervous, so that nervous energy kicked in. I know that my procedure is no big deal, but this will be my first time under general anesthesia. So yeah, being intubated and all that doesn't sound like much fun. The good news is, I've gotten a lot done tonight. I think this is the first time I've seen 11:00 pm in ages. I must be getting old...I'm usually in bed by 9 or 9:30.

In between all that cleaning I watched a show on the History channel about squid. These divers were doing something they called "Operation Trojan", where they caught a 5-6 foot Humbolg (sp?) squid, attached a camera to it, and let it dive down to 1000 feet to see if there are such things as huge Humbolg squid. Their theory was that Humbolgs are cannibals, and they bigger relatives that live in the deeper oceans will come check out the littler squid. They caught something on camera, but they didn't know if it was a Humbolg, or Arciteuthis (giant squid) or even the Colossal Squid (forget it's technical name, but it's like Arciteuthis, only shorter and thicker/heavier). They didn't get a good enough view to decide what kind it was, but they were able to measure parts of it, and put it into equations for each species. If it was Humbolg, it was over 60 feet in length. If it was Arciteuthis, it was upwards of 120 feet! Yikes! They put it in perspective....Christopher Colmbus's ship, the Nina, was only 60 feet long. Anyway, blame my husband for making me a history channel geek. I love the ocean ones.

Well I guess I should fold some laundry and try to get some sleep.

Two more days

Only two more days until my kidney returns to normal (hopefully) and it no longer has to play host to the gigantic kidney stone Brian has nicknamed Xena. I had some pain today....not too terrible, but it kind of felt like bad menstrual cramps, just a little higher up....sorry tmi. I still didn't take my Vicodin, or even Tylenol, so it looks like I'm going to make it to my lithotripsy without another episode like the one a few weeks ago. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I am also crossing my fingers that the lithotripsy works. One of the shot patients at work has been dealing with a kidney stone for two months now...but hers is REALLY mammoth....almost 2cm wide. Mine is a mere 1cm. And her lithotripsy failed, as did her surgery where they went up her ureter to try to zap it. At least she was able to tell me that the lithotripsy procedure itself is a breeze....the worst of it is just dealing with the general anesthesia stuff. I guess I should be grateful that I'm a mutant and have an extra ureter coming from the right kidney, otherwise I would've had to wait all this time in lots of pain like she has been doing. She has a stent too, which she said was also painful. Poor lady.

The good news is Ava seems a bit better today. Still stuffy and a bit snuggly/sleepy/clingy tonight, but not as bad as yesterday. I went to see her at lunch today and fed her some peas. Or maybe I was feeding her bib, it wasn't completely clear to me which I had done after it was over. She did seem to get some down her throat though. :) Hopefully she'll be completely healthy by the time Grandma and Grandpa have to watch her on Thursday. They get her on Saturday too, and I get to go on a date with my darling husband for our anniversary....yay for a night out just the two of us!

Sick baby

Poor Ava has her first real cold. She kind of started getting stuffy over the weekend, but Sunday night she kept waking up and I'd hear her snuffling and snorting on the monitor. She then proceeded to wake me up at 4:00 Monday morning. Ugh. Do you think that being up that early would mean I could actually do my hair and really get a lot done? I thought so too....but no such luck. I barely got to shower, and that was only because I let her fuss in her crib while I did so. There's just nothing more pitiful than a snotty baby. She was really clingy, but she didn't have a fever (the little pooper was laughing the whole time I was taking her temperature). For some reason, suctioning her nose cracked her up too. I would start suctioning one side, and then she'd open her mouth so it made like a darth vader noise, which made her laugh hysterically. So I figured if she was laughing, she must be ok for daycare.

It's funny the things that I would've normally found gross don't affect me in my child. She sneezes and I swoop in to wipe her snot. She needs mommy when I get home from work, and I snuggle her close, even though her nose is running and getting all over my work clothes. But as Austin pointed out, at least I was wearing green.

More peas please...

Well, we had wanted to wait until Ava's 6 month appointment to start feeding her solids, but I swear that girl was going to make us go broke buying her formula! So we tried out some peas for lunch today. It was fun. Let's see if this video works.

Here are a few more...before, during, and after

Poor baby, she didn't know what hit her!

Wow...a blog...now what do I do?

Hahaha...here I am, attempting to set up a "blog", which I've, until recently, thought to be one of the stupidest and most annoying web-words out there. But ya know what? I like the computer. I love to type. And I've always wanted to keep a journal, even moreso since I've become a mommy in May, 2007. So what the heck, I'll give it a try. Can I be technically savvy enough to figure out such supposedly simple things as how to put in my profile, how to post pictures, or how to set up my page in general? It remains to be seen....so here we go!