What A Week!

He's here!  After a few "near misses" with possible emergency C-Sections due to my blood pressure on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of October, our little man was brought into this world  by a team of doctors at the hospital as scheduled!

Gabriel Charles was born at 8:54 the morning of the 12th, weighing a scale tipping 9 pounds 7 ounces and he is 22 inches long!  Our OB had guessed (based on ultrasounds) that he was going to be 8 pounds 12 ounces, so he surprised us all when he came out almost a full pound above that!

Friday and Saturday are pretty much a happy blur for me...it took almost two full hours after he was born for the feeling to return to my legs from the spinal, and for us to be brought to our room from recovery.  We spent those days figuring out how to breast feed (the lactation consultants aren't around on the weekends apparently), cuddling our new "reason to be here", and just being "happy".  I also spent the entire time fairly "drugged up" on pain killers to keep the incision from making life completely unbearable.

So many wires on such a tiny body...

We were released from the hospital Sunday afternoon and headed home to start this whole "parenting thing" for real..ya know, out in the real world where you have to make your own food and stuff.  As soon as we got home, I fed Gabriel (since I'm the food source, it falls on me to do that anyway), put him down to sleep in his bassinet and went to test my blood sugar and have lunch.  Around 3 o'clock, I Decided it was high time he got up to eat again.  I had been told (and knew this already, but they treat every new parent like a complete moron...or maybe they figured I was just a moron, ha!) not to let him go more than  hours between meals, so it was time.  Not only did he refuse to eat, he refused to wake up and by 8 pm Sunday night, he still hadn't woken up or eaten anything since around 1pm (finish time, we started around noon...he likes long meal sessions)!  After a call to the after hours pediatrician, we were on our way to take Gabriel to the Emergency Room.  I don't wish this trip on the worst person on the planet...especially when your baby is barely 48 hours old (not that it ever gets any easier)!  By 2am Monday morning, Gabriel and I were being readmitted to the hospital (Well, Gabriel was admitted, I just refused to leave).  He had developed Jaundice and his bilirubin levels were high enough that he required the triple lights only available at the hospital (two sets of lights from a lamp thing above and another set that he had to lay on).  Because the lights irritate their eyes, they have to wear these "sunglasses" while under the lights.  The glasses themselves are soft and they actually Velcro onto your baby!  They basically glued two pieces of Velcro to Gabriel's temples.

Velcro for Sunglasses.

A bad dream...

He spent until about 8pm Monday night laying under the lights, not being able to be held or comforted (truly comforted, you can't really soothe a crying baby without picking them up and holding them).  If I ever have to endure this experience again, I will start by asking for the "parent glasses" and having it set up so I can just sit and hold my baby under the lights rather than watching them and feeling 100% useless in making them feel better.  I jumped every time an alarm went off (which was often) and was only able to get about 20 minutes or so of "sleep" the whole night, although even that was done in the sitting upright position on the "bed" that was really a couch that I could not lay down on because of my c-section and my inability to lay on my side (it's upright or mostly so on a pile of pillows for me...).  Instead of sleeping, I spent the night crying and "facebooking" when Gabriel was sleeping.

One hand was a failed attempt at an IV, the other is from after the IV failed and had to be removed.

During our stay (Monday seems like such a long day...I'm sure it should count as an entire week all on it's own), they also determined that Gabriel was dehydrated because my milk supply had yet to come in.  Since we are/were exclusively breastfeeding, they made me stop breastfeeding and switch to pumping and having someone else feed him.  They went as far as telling me to stay out of the room while he was being fed so that he would still associate me with the "good food" instead of the "easy food".  Monday's "bottles" could only be measured in milliliters...and small amounts at that!  For referrence, there are 30 mL's in 1 ounce.  He was only getting around 10mL every 2 hours as was only able to pump about 5 mL an hour (total from both sides).  No one in the hospital seemed worried, but did say I should top off his meals with formula or Pedialyte if he seemed to still be hungry.

Cuddling Daddy after being told we could take him out from the light while we waited for his last labs!

 So, Monday night we were again sent home with our baby.  I slept better than I had Sunday night (which isn't saying much since it was 2am before he was admitted and I spent 99% of the night standing by his crib getting a "bili light suntan" of my own), but had to get up every two hours to pump and then have Garrick feed it to him while I washed the pump parts.  Unfortunately, I think I had an equipment malfunction with my pump, while not nearly as good as the medical grade pump they had me using in the hospital, it worked "okay" the first time...but, with each pumping session after that, I was getting less and less out of me while at the same time getting more and more uncomfortable as fluids "back logged" in my breasts!  By 7am, I was down to only being able to use one side of my pump at a time (defeating the purpose of a double pump)!  Also, I was only able to get a grand total of 1 mL out!  That was never going to satisfy my child!  So, we ended up breaking down and opening one of the formula bottles they sent us home with to supplement his breakfast with.  Not knowing what he "should" be eating, we went ahead and just started with a full 2 ounce "baby MRE".  He only ate about 10mL and then refused to eat any more.  Of course, not knowing how much he "should" be eating at this time, we assumed he was full (he never acted hungry after eating between 8 and 11mL while we were in the hospital with him) and went about our morning.  Gabriel was awake and alert, he did the "baby stare" thing while I held him in one arm and washed the pump parts with the other (it's a true talent I tell you).  Then, I called his pediatricians office to make his first appointment with them and we were able to get right in an hour later!  So, we rushed to get showers and all of us out of the house and to the appointment (including my Mom, we were able to get three adults and one tiny baby showered, not the baby, dressed, and ready to go in under 20 minutes, leaving us time to stop by McDonald's drive through and even grab a little breakfast before the appointment). 

"Napping" while we wait for a blood draw at the pediatrician's office.

At his appointment, we noted that he was turning yellow again, so his pediatrician ordered another bili level check and in the meantime, got home health care involved and ordered an "at home" bili blanket, which is the simplified version of what he got in the hospital, minus all the stress and "sunglasses".  We also had an appointment with a lactation consultant on Tuesday to help me get back to breastfeeding our little man as soon as possible.  At the lactation appointment, he was diagnosed with tongue tie (which we have to have his pediatrician refer us to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to be "fixed").  Until then though, we were given a nipple shield so that his short little tongue can reach what he needs to be able to eat properly.  We also rented a medical grade pump (a Medela Symphony 2.0)...way too expensive, but worth every penny for the volume I am now getting!

We heard back from his pediatrician a few hours later and his bili levels had risen again, so he did need the at-home lights.  As soon as we got home from the lactation appointment and a stop by my OB's office for a pain killer refill, we put the light belt on him and went about our evening, making dinner, giving him his bottles, staring at him, etc, etc, etc... 

Gabriel in his arm band and Daddy napping.

Three hours later though, he was completely unresponsive and I believe he stopped breathing for a few seconds.  We rushed back to the Emergency room where Garrick did everything perfectly to get us in the building (they lock the doors in from the garage and you have to be buzzed in by security...or...push past someone as they leave so you don't have to deal with all that), and seen immediately.  Unfortunately, that meant one of us voicing the fact that we had an unresponsive infant with us and we were rushed into the pediatric emergency room and a code was called on the way in, bringing the entire staff in the room.  He needed it and I don't feel that we did it just because we were/are paranoid first time parents.  While they began checking him out, he never moved, flinched, or responded to any stimuli the whole time.  He didn't even react when they began getting basic vitals on him (other than pooping on everyone and everything three times while they tried to get his temperature rectally).  They spent a good 15 minutes on him just trying to get an IV line in and draw blood, they even asked if I would allow them to try for a vein on his head (they couldn't find any that were large enough).  To compound the issue of his being so young, was the fact that he had been in the ER only two days before and in the hospital, so he was already covered in needle sticks, bruises, and enough tape residue to stick him to the wall!  They were finally able to get a line in his elbow, but that also meant an arm board to hold his arm so he couldn't bend his elbow.  After a small bag of fluids, I'm not sure what it was, but I believe it was just a saline solution to help rehydrate him along with maybe a little sugar to help perk him up, he was awake enough to bend his elbow anyway which caused them to add even more tape to his little arm.  Eventually, after we were admitted to the children's hospital, a nurse replaced the board with a Velcro arm band that held his arm stiff.  That worked really well until he figured out how to work it off his fingers the next day!  After that, they swapped it out for a diaper.

Since Gabriel was so dehydrated, they admitted him so he could get IV fluids overnight and await blood work results looking for some sort of infection.  I also think this was partially out of suspicion that we may have been doing something to him at home, but this is only based on questions I was asked only when Garrick was out of the room and how the doctor treated us when he came in to see us.  Luckily for us, my milk finally came in overnight that night too, meaning I was finally able to actually feed my son!  But, before I could feed him, I had to pump off some of the building fluids, so with a manual hand pump, I was able to get 1/2 an ounce off one side and an ounce and a half off the other!  After that, Gabriel had a much easier time nursing (with the nipple shield in place)!  We ended up spending Wednesday night in the hospital as well since the pattern we were seeing was that he would improve overnight and throughout the morning, but by afternoon/evening, he would be impossible to wake up.  Rather than go home and end up back in the same place in a day or two, we opted to stay the night and just make sure he was really improving this time.

Sleeping the day away in our ring sling!

I'm happy to finally report that we were able to make it through the rest of today (Thursday) with Gabriel doing "normal" baby things!  He has been asleep for a good portion of the day (he is only 6 days old after all), but he did wake easily or on his own for nursing, he opened his eyes (something he had rarely done since he was born and was a concern of mine that kept getting blown off), and he has nursed well too.  I've been pumping between nursing to help build my supply for him, as well as wanting the "back up" in case we need it.  For example, he's been extra fussy at the 2am area nursing times and with he and I both being so new to this, we get frustrated easily on so little sleep.  Garrick has been giving him a bottle of breast milk at these feedings so that I can pump and we can all get back to our much needed sleep sooner.  Gabriel can nurse for up to an hour at a time, so sometimes I am losing a ton of sleep during those middle of the night nursing sessions!  Today alone I have pumped over 6 ounces throughout the day, most of which has been pre-portioned out into 35mL tiny bottles (slightly over an ounce each).  We'll get those fed to Gabriel overnight and throughout tomorrow I'm sure, we have several appointments to get to tomorrow and I may not be able to nurse at all of them.

Tomorrow is also Garrick's birthday...I think at this point, the best "gift" is just having Gabriel healthy and out of the hospital!

So, like I said in the title...it has been one heck of a week!  This is really just a glance over how busy this week has been and how stressful it's been on all of us!  I am really thankful that my Mother has been here to help, I'm not sure what I would have done had she not been here.  "New Mom" hormones are a crazy thing, especially when you pour a load of stresses on top of everything.  We won't even get into the missing paperwork from home health (because she didn't give it to us), the missing parts for the pump (because the woman running the rental counter forgot to tell me I was supposed to go get them from someone else...she also called today because she forgot to write down how I paid and when I was planning on bringing the pump back), the sick dog, the empty bank account because of all the unexpected costs due to having a sick baby, you get the gist...  I had a huge breakdown when I discovered very late in the evening when I finally had time to pump, that I didn't have the parts for the pump...all I had was the actual pump!  No air hoses, no nothing! 

I may or not go into some of this in more detail later on, but for now, I think I'm going to stop typing and go snuggle a baby before passing out (I'll feed him too).

My, oh, My...It's Wednesday Already?

 This whole summer is going to be crazy busy...we have something going on with family and/or friends nearly every weekend between last weekend and the end of September!  We have a wedding to go to at the end of August, "we" (Garrick) have decided to skip his 20 year high school reunion in favor of visiting with friends that live across the state, one of our nephews will be here late next week (after I go spend a few days down in Central OR and bring him home with me) and will be staying with us through the July 4th weekend, July 5th is our second anatomy scan (hopefully baby will cooperate and we will find out what sort of "parts" the baby has), then on the 6th, we have a short appointment with our OB and are headed to Portland for that weekend (OK, we're staying in Vancouver, but ya know...)!  July 7th is the baby shower (I foresee my little "it" getting lots of yellow, green, and orange stuff...)!  After that, the weekdays free up a bit, but we still have plans every weekend...what a crazy time!

As far as this week goes, we were out of town visiting friends...this meant leaving our house Saturday morning to make it to the hotel in time to check in and then dinner (after a short trip to the mall, I needed new shoes), followed by an evening at the bar with many more friends (I know...I say I don't have any friends, I should qualify that better and say I don't have any local friends...besides the few I do have)!  We ended up spending the entire night talking and playing games with our friends and didn't manage to get any sleep that night!  Sunday morning, we got showered, had breakfast at the hotel, and then made a beeline to the nearest Starbucks for caffeine (and decaf for me and baby), followed by a sto pat Jack in the Box for "road drinks" (Diet Sodas).  Once on the road, it wasn't  long until we were in the middle of nowhere and my blood sugars decided not to behave (I had half a bag of Coconut M&M's in my purse and we were fairly close to a town).  We made a quick stop in at Burger King for a chicken sandwich and a small root beer, and then were on the road again!  We ended up getting home around 3:30 Sunday afternoon and after a quick trip to the vet to get Rosie (we board her at her vet's office when we need to go out of town and don't have anyone to watch all of our pets), we were home and finally in bed asleep by 4pm!  Monday was a typical day, except that at my OB appointment on Friday, my doctor decided it was time to reign in on my blood sugars by placing me in the hospital for a few days...Monday I got the call to be at the hospital at 8:30 the following morning.  So, I had to unpack the suitcase from the weekend to repack for a stay at "hotel hospital" for an undetermined length of time.

Also on Monday, we went to do the baby registry.  I'm not a huge fan of Babies R Us, but it is close to the house and they offer a few "perks" when you register with them.  First perk, we get 10% off anything left on the registry (either 1 month prior to or 1 month after the "event" date, but I can't remember which)...savings for us, woohoo!  The caveat there is that you only get the 10% savings on a single shopping trip (can we all say "expensive trip" together on the count of three?).  We also got signed up for a VIB (Very Important Baby) card, this is basically a gift card that anyone can put money on (it's on the registry as an option), I have an issue here too though...the card (and therefore the money put on the card) can only be used for diapers, wipes, baby food, and formula!  I need to call the info number to ask if cloth wipes and diapers count, otherwise I don't see this card being of any use to us...unless I fail miserably at making baby food and let's be honest, if I can keep the dog alive by making her food, I should be able to do the same for a baby, right?  Lastly, Babies R Us is expensive!  We put things on the list that we want/like, but I really hope that people do some shopping around and get whatever they choose to get for our little nugget (assuming anyone does) at a store that carries the "same" product for a better price!  A prime example of that is the infant car seat we put on it...it is the car seat we plan on getting, but we plan to purchase it ourselves from Baby Depot (in Burlington Coat Factory) for about $30 less than the one on the registry!  Some things are sorta kinda on there twice...there's a "baby essentials" gift set that has a bunch of crib sheets and changing pad covers that also comes with a changing pad (I really love this set in both the yellow/green combo and the yellow/white combo), but at $80, I don't think anyone will actually get it.  So, we also added a plain, no frills changing pad (it happens to be BRU brand, but any would really do) along with 4 or 5 different changing pads (more for the color than whatever design is on them). Really, I just know we need the pad for atop the dressers I have yet to build and enough covers for the pad so that we can change the baby on a clean surface!  I feel horrible that I don't "care" what they look like, but I do know that right now (until we know what we're having), I'm sticking to the yellows, greens, and browns because they'll work either way.

Lunch today, minus a slice of bread...

So, here we sit on Wednesday already! I can't believe how fast this week has just flown by!  On the bright side, we hit the 21 week mark today!  Go us!  I did see my OB this morning and he plans (at least for now) to send me home tomorrow morning, but won't say "for sure" until he comes to see me then.  Which means I may or may not have a ride home tomorrow.  I know Garrick will either do it himself or arrange a ride, but I really hate that he has to take time out of work to deal with this when it feels like a mostly wasted stay for me.  They have about as good of control on my sugars as I have been having at home!  Yesterday I was low all day (though I would not have been had I been home, I would have treated the low more aggressively to start) and today has been bouncing between what I think of as "perfect" readings and being around 200!  I finally figured out this whole "hospital food" thing too...since I'm Diabetic, I don't have the luxury of having anything I want and with the restricted carb counts at each meal, I have to be very careful what I pick or I will starve!  I didn't order my lunch yesterday, I let them pick it for me...I got a single tiny tortilla with some chicken in it, a teeny packet of salsa, 1/3 cup of brown rice, and a fruit cup...I was so hungry by the time dinner got to me that I nearly inhaled it!  y breakfast this morning, I have the "system" worked out though...I ordered scrambled eggs, sausage, lite yogurt, cottage cheese, decaf coffee, hot chocolate (sugar free), whole milk (for the coffee), and a strawberry jello (sugar free)!  Without eating the Jell-O (I have it saved in the fridge for later), I was stuffed!  The key is to pick several lower carb options!  For lunch I did the same thing...except I know the tech who took my food order thinks I'm nuts.  I ordered half of a sandwich (1 slice of bread, ham, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and mustard), a garden side salad with Ranch, a fresh fruit cup (the melon in it is really yummy), another Jell-o (sugar free again and this time "tropical", it was gross), and a chef salad (included a sliced hard boiled egg, some turkey meat, 4 tiny cheese cubes, cucumbers, and a few cherry tomatoes)!  The tech asked me if I was sure I wanted the side salad since I ordered a "big" salad too, lol!  Keep in mind though, the side salad is like 4 bites of lettuce with a single slice of cucumber and one cherry tomato...  Again, I'm stuffed, but really looking forward to dinner tonight (as soon as I get it ordered)!  I sleep much better when I'm not starving...last night was miserable and the night nurse spent from 7pm on trying to force feed me a sleeping pill!  She also tried to tell me I needed to have an IV "access" line put in, but I turned her down on both the unneeded sleep aide and the IV line, I sleep very lightly in places that are not my own bed, but I sleep just fine between the wake ups (for which I am fully awake for and not groggy)...I also have no need for an IV...all they are giving me is insulin and my BP pills!

Happy Seis de Mayo!

Well, we did not celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but we did go out this evening for a yummy Mexican meal at our favorite local restaurant, Pueblo Amigo!  I had Chicken Fajitas (that I ended up sharing with the chickens, they got the leftover grilled onions and peppers, some Gaucamole, Sour Cream, Lettuce, and a pile of Mexican Rice) and Garrick got his standard "Nachos".

Prior to dinner though, we had a fairly uneventful day.  My blood sugars were pretty high this morning, so I was really only up long enough to test and get some insulin.  I went back to bed after asking Garrick to check on me periodically just in case my blood sugars took a dip in the other direction.  Several hours later (just in time for Lunch), with more "normal" sugar levels, we headed out for Breakfast/Lunch and to do our weekly grocery shopping.  Of course, my afternoon plans were thwarted by my forgetting the coupons for potting soil!  I did manage to keep myself entertained though by watching A Turtle's Tale on Netflix...it's a cute little cartoon.  While I was "busy" with that, Garrick was (and still is) busily working away at whatever class he is currently taking in his Master's degree program (it has something to do with computers...other than that, I have no idea)!  Then, of course, was the aforementioned dinner at Pueblo Amigo.  Followed by a trip back to Fred Meyer, with coupon this time, to pick up 4 bags of potting soil!  Along with the 2 bags I had leftover from last year, I hope to have enough to plant my Tomatoes and herbs tomorrow.

A few weeks ago, I had family visiting.  My cousin who came is a wonderful woman whom I love to pieces!  We are a lot alike I think...  She even came bearing gifts for us!  She gave us a brand new HealthMaster!  I can't wait to start making some of the yummy recipes that came with it and will most likely "juice" my way through Summer when I just don't feel like doing a lot of cooking. 

She also stocked me up on makeup products, a full line up!  Of course, I don't really "know" how to "wear" it, but I do like playing with it and may figure out a decent "look" for myself one of these days!  This morning while "playing" with it, I found that the foundations are way too dark for my skin (according to Garrick, it looked like someone had punched me in the cheek while he was helping look for cotton balls).  So, when the search for cotton balls turned up empty, I realized, I also do not have makeup remover either!  I tried the stuff my cousin gave me...it worked but it left me feeling very dried out. 

What's a gal to do after that happens?  Hit the internet, of course!  I poured over pages and pages of "how to" guides to make your own...most just say to take a cotton ball and dowse it in Olive Oil to get rid of makeup "naturally".  Now, I have no problem with the "natural" approach, but I do take issue with just rubbing oil on me and expecting to be "clean" when I'm done!  So, after pouring over more pages, I came to the conclusion that I already had a perfectly good recipe here that I could modify (slightly) and have a great makeup remover!  So, I went back to the "How to Make Your Own Baby Wipes" page over at Want What You Have and did a little math!  I didn't want 2 1/2 cups of makeup remover after all!  I worked it down to 1/4 of the recipe, or just a little over 1/2 cup.  Of course, the little jar I grabbed only held 1/4 cup, so I just halved it again and adjusted as I went as well.

My Makeup Remover Recipe

4 Tablespoons hot Water (I turned the teapot on while I melted the oil)
1/4 teaspoon Melted Coconut Oil (I keep mine in a glass jar & mcrowave the whole thing for 30 seconds to melt it)
3/8 teaspoon Baby Shampoo (anything tear free)

I used my 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon to measure the oil and shampoo, I wanted it to have a bit "extra" oil to help moisturize...you can use more or less of both of these ingredients, but I wouldn't go nuts on either!  Then, when they were in the jar, I measured the hot (not boiling, but it could if you want to wait and aren't planning on running straight to the bathroom to try it out) water into the little jar and gave it a stir (with the 1/8 teaspoon to get the last bit of shampoo and oil off it).

Simple, huh?  Of course, I still had the dilemma of not having any cotton balls!  I tried a few squares of toilet paper, but it left little balls of paper on my face, yuck!  Then, I grabbed a semi-soft cleaning cloth out of my linen closet (the lightest color I could find to make sure the makeup was actually being removed), dipped the corner in the solution and wiped away the makeup I wore all day!  Afterward, I wet the other side of the rag with cool water and gave my face a final once over (to sort of rinse the shampoo residue away but hopefully leave the oil behind).  An hour later, my face still feels clean and super soft!  This had the added bonus of letting me "try out" the wipe solution I plan on using once the little one actually gets here...if it works this good on my face, I'm sure I'll be happy about using it on his or her little hiney! 

I also found my way to a new "favorite" blog that I've added to my list of daily stocking reading list!  Her recipe, looking back on it now, for the makeup removers is darned near the same...okay, exactly.  I just don't bother with purchasing water when I can just get it out of the tap.  If you "must" have distilled water though, boil it hard (you know, that really fast boil that spits hot water at you) for 10 to 15 minutes then let it cool to room temp, voila, distilled water!  She also has recipes for homemade shaving lotion, fabric softener, stain remover, and many more that I want to try!  Garrick will appreciate the fabric softener I think, he is still getting used to doing the laundry without dryer sheets, fabric softener in the wash, and OxiClean!  When I make the fabric softener, it will go in a spray bottle to be added to a washrag and tossed in the dryer.  We can't have softener residue in the washer, it'll ruin the cloth diapers!

I am still working on figuring out how to "adapt" my homemade Laundry Soap recipe to something that doesn't take up quite so much room and uses less water (it tends to separate and annoy me).  An added bonus to making it with less water would be that I would need less "product" per load because it would be more concentrated.  A note if anyone made the recipe I posted about a while ago...make sure you put it in either before you put the clothes in (while running water into the machine) or stick your full soap cup under the water stream.  Do not pour it directly on your clothes, especially dark colors!  I've had to put things back through the wash a second time because the white soap left soapy marks on the clothes!

Busy week this week....veggie planting, house cleaning, diaper making(?), and Friday I have another OB/GYN appointment!  We should know at this visit when our ultrasound will be (assuming 4 weeks from Friday since I'll be 20 weeks in early June)!  Today I am 15 weeks 5 days, if anyone is counting.  My how time is just flying!  We went this weekend and picked up the crib and high chair from Garrick's parents.  I had no idea what the crib looked like and was pleasantly surprised to see an exact match to the crib my parents had for me when I was born!  This one is much newer though.  I'm still considering using it downstairs in our soon to be moved office space though, rather than as the "full time crib", I think I still want one with no drop sides and stuff for the overnight use.  This will work excellent for baby napping in the shared office space though!  The highchair is perfect, it actually sits in an upright position (the newer ones lay back and drive me insane)!

Well, I'm off to take inventory of the "homemade" supplies I have/need...I think tomorrow will also be a day of making some "supplies" too!

Another Busy Week!

This has been heck of a busy week for us!  Monday and Wednesday I had dentist appointments and got 2 fillings on both days!  My teeth suck...   Tuesday was a trip to the Endocrinologist, where I got in trouble (again) for not getting my fasting labs done!  I really wish you could make an appointment for those...I'd be more likely to actually go then!  I did get them done on Wednesday though...I skipped my morning coffee before my dentist appointment (at 7:30am) and went in for my blood draw with an almost entirely numb lower jaw.  Try spelling a name with an "f" in the middle to someone when half your tongue and lip are numb and not working properly!

On Tuesday I stopped in on my eye doctor to make an appointment there as well (for Monday).  While we were there, nephew #3 played with their toys for a little bit...he was really good during my Endo visit and only interrupted twice!  He also got stickers at both offices...they gave him two stickers at the Endocrinologist, so when I asked him what he should say at the eye doctor (as she was passing him the basket to pick from) he said "I want two!"  That, of course, got the whole staff laughing...and then he said his please and thank you.

Tuesday was probably our busiest day this week.  I have been working hard to arrange our days so that my other half still gets to take his SUV to work and not have to worry about us dropping him off and remembering to pick him up again.  So, after picking him up from work on Tuesday (he worked from home while I was at the dentist to watch our nephew), he dropped our nephew and I off at the Mall and came home to get the coupon (I forgot to print it before we left the house that afternoon) for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (Perkins)...they emailed me a 20% off coupon and it was Tuesday, kids eat free!  Northtown mall has a kid play area (that #3 refers to as "the park" that is padded from top to bottom and perfect for even the earliest of walkers to run around in without getting hurt.  However, when getting dropped off...we got let off at the opposite end of the mall!  It was a lucky break though...I have been promising to take #3 back to see Santa since we got back to Spokane.  He got to see "him" in Bend while I was visiting, but he said he forgot to tell him something and wanted to see him again!

#3's list of "somethings"...

• dog bone (for both dogs)
• a wooden house (that he can paint himself...black!)
• Furniture for the house...every room, please!
• Please come early so we don't have to wait so long!  (This is really due to the two of us having to travel home on the 24th...but he likes the idea of being Santa's "practice run" for this year!)

He could have gone on and on, but there was a line forming behind us by that time!  He got a little coloring book, thankfully they weren't giving out candy canes like they were in Bend, and then we set off to finish our walk to the play structure!  Can you believe they want $30 for a single 5x7 photo here?!?  This is probably why I can't remember ever going to do this as a kid...

We made a pie this week too!  It's gone now...but it was pretty good!  Pumpkin "Custard"...but I cooked it a little too long, so while it was still creamy, it cut a little better!  I modified a recipe given to me by my Mother...who modified it to her liking from a recipe they were giving out at the WIC office (typed and printed on a computer, so who knows where they stole it from!).

Here is "Marcy's Version...Pumpkin Pie/Custard":

• 2 cups Pumpkin (either from a can or from the "real" thing...I used 2 "Pie Pumpkins" that I baked the night before)
• 3 eggs (I used fresh eggs from the girls, so Large eggs)
• 2 cups "Milk product" (I used Hood's Calorie Countdown*, Coconut, Almond, and Soy are all good subs...or mix and match!)
• 2/3 cup Splenda (I think it could have used a little more "sweet", but a fresh whipped cream would add to this too)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon Clove
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger (Or you could use Pumpkin Pie Spice...but I would still use the Cinnamon too, just replace the other spices with it!)

Put everything in a blender or mixer (this filled my blender to the very tip top edge) and give it a whirl to mix everything really well.  I Pulse my blender with each ingredient...start with the eggs and "milk", then add your Splenda and spices...finish by adding in the pumpkin!  I started with the pumpkin and it was really hard to get everything to blend well.

Pour into a pie plate (or two if they are shallow, or even small glass dishes...use a water bath with the small ones though) and bake at 350 for 30+ minutes.  The original recipe says 45 minutes...I think mine took about 75 minutes though...hard to say when you have a little guy running around the house!  Start checking it after 30 minutes...just keep setting the timer for another 5-15 minutes (after 30 it looked very soupy still so I gave it 15 minutes and then slowly increased how often I was checking it).

The really observant have already noticed, I'm sure...but there are a few things I'd like to point out about #3 in that photo right there.  First, he's wearing my kitchen apron!  He had just got clean pajamas on, and I didn't want pumpkin on them since he was going to my bed when he finished his pie!  I had to tie the neck hole up to make it fit him, but otherwise it is perfectly kid sized!  (I smell another craft project coming on!)  Now look at how nicely he's sitting up to the table...since we don't have a high chair/booster seat anymore, he is getting to sit in a regular chair with a 12-pack of Diet Cola on it!  It is working very well...even if t does look, um, well...trashy!  Lastly, do you see the television on behind him?  Chicken Channel!  Now see my chickens...one out of the three is actually on the roost!  One is on the side of the nest box and the last one is in the nest box!  This is how they have chosen to sleep since the weather got cold almost nightly!  It is never the same chicken in the same spot either...they take turns getting pooped on by being the one in the nest box!  I have tried going down and moving them, but this is how they always rearrange back to once I leave.

Perkins knows how to get kids to eat...at least our nephews anyway!  All three of them clean their plates when we got here!  (Remember, I said we went on Tuesday...)  While we did actually bring food home for #3 after this meal, he ate everything I let him have while we sat there!  This was our second trip to eat with him...and this meal went over much better than the previous meal.  During our first visit, he chose the pancakes with chocolate chips.  He ate all the chocolate off and refused to eat the pancakes!  We eventually got him to eat one of the "ears" it was shaped like a bear head (big round with little round ears), but unlike the photo which was two small pancakes and a large one, this one came as one large pancake!  He ate the rest over two more meals.

Tuesday I got him talked into the "Rainbow Sprinkle Pancakes" that also came with bacon (and powdered sugar and whipped cream).  We immediately slid one of the pancakes off of his plate while he ate the mountain of whip cream off the top!  #3 also chose to take his 2 slices of bacon home.  So, he ate one giant (to him) pancake for dinner along with a glass of milk (I think it was chocolate, but I could be wrong).  When he finished his milk, he asked the waitress for a glass of water instead of a refill, I was proud of him!

This morning while he was still asleep, I started to assemble the gifts to get them wrapped!  Of course, he got up before I finished that step, so he got to help with some of the wrapping too.  First though, it was off to gather my stash of empty boxes!  I save boxes like a madwoman throughout the year specifically for Christmas!  Square (or at least straight and flat) packages are so much easier to wrap than how stuff comes packaged...  Anywho, my box stash inhabits a large portion of the closet that is also doubling (tripling maybe?) as the "warm, dark place to make my Homemade Sauerkraut!  Also in there is a leaf to a large dining room table that we are currently not using (the rest of the table is taken apart and being stored in a room in the garage).  Needless to say, things ran amok on me and while trying to catch the table leaf as it went crashing down toward my jars of 'Kraut...I got caught averting disaster (in the form of broken glass and half fermented cabbage all over the place)!  I have no idea what "bit" me, but it is still bleeding a little and I need to change the band-aid again...6 hours post "incident"!  But, you aren't "really" wrapping gifts until you draw blood, right?

Gift wrapping has been a bit of a "bother" for me this year too!  It appears that all of my boxes are just a hair too big for the amount of paper I have!  This partially wrapped gift that is pictured here for example...no matter which way I turned the box, the roll of paper was just not bog enough!  I ended up putting a piece of "scrap paper" to fill the hole...it was from another roll entirely and doesn't match, but what does an almost 4 week old care about the wrapping, right?  I had to "Patch" together almost every package I wrapped!  Some of that though was because I am actually running out of wrapping paper!  I'll suffer through this year and buy more after Christmas when I can get it for $0.70 a roll or less!  The one pictured here I actually bought a year or two ago at World Market after Christmas...they better enjoy it because I am never buying paper again that doesn't have a squared pattern or those little grid lines on the back!  I can't cut a straight line to save my life!
I did get a good amount of wrapping done, but am not finished by a long shot!  What I have left though are all smaller gifts and all I have are large boxes!  I did notice that I need to get some quality toy shopping done though...I hate the fact that I don't have any good "toys" for the boys!  Lots of clothes this year...for everyone!

While I was busy wrapping, #3 went to watch Toy Story 3 (Thank you Netflix for putting it on the streaming video list!) in our room.  This is about how he's spent every day when we're home!  The grin is because he just can't help himself!  Any time he even thinks I might be taking a picture, he grins and says "Cheese!"  He actually watched about 75% of the movie before he got up wanting something, I think that's a record!  He is currently fighting nap time...2 hours and counting!  If he'd just fall asleep everything would be great!

That Four-Letter Word...

Snow, of course, what were you thinking?  They are calling for it overnight tonight here in Spokane, yuck!  Even though they are really only calling for "up to 1/2 an inch", it's still coming and preparations need to be made ASAP!  So, after my 2-week post-op appointment today (where I got the all-clear and told I can skip the 6-week appointment unless we'd like him to be our "we-want-a-baby" doctor), I ran around town in preparation for snow and my being out of town in the near future.

Yesterday my shoes started falling apart, and I mean literally...chunks fell off the sides of both shoes!  So, my first stop was the mall to pick out a new pair of shoes, in fact, I got two pair.  Payless (as always) is running a BOGO sale, you know, where you get the second pair for 50%.  So I picked up a new pair of Champion "Fitness" (I wore through a pair of these over the summer, but they are so comfortable!  These are ones that have the "yoga ball" styled toes and heels, so you kind of rock while you walk.  I liked them and they were on sale for $24 (normally $35).  For my second pair, I spied a pair of Champion "Activelite".  They have a flat sole, but are designed for walking in and were on sale for $19 ($9.50 with the BOGO deal).  Since I have been going through shoes so fast recently, I suppose that means I'm more active than I was a year ago, half off a pair of shoes was well worth it in my opinion!

Next was the grocery store for a couple of reasons, first of all, I was starving!  I didn't cook this morning and had planned to grab an Atkin's bar on my way out the door, but forgot it.  Since I needed to pick up some more needle caps for my insulin, I also stocked up on bars and shakes for when my sister goes into labor (any day now, so trying to be as prepared as possible before hand).  I also got a package of Grape Tomatoes, they are so yummy!

Last stop before heading home was another trip to the feed store.  After researching online, I decided on the bucket and bird bath heater to keep the chicken's water thawed this winter.  Usually I can find better deals online than in store, but this time, Aslin-Finch beat out Amazon!  For $34, I got my de-icer and got it installed today!  While there, I also picked up a bag of Cracked Corn (corn is like a nutritional space heater in the girl's bodies, the energy used to process it keeps their body temps up, therefore warmer chickens!  Since the suet cake went over so well on Sunday, I bought several more as well as a suet feeder, which was harder to figure out how to use then it should have been.

Then it was home to start the "winterization" of the coop & run.  All that really meant was "get something up to keep snow from blowing into the coop".  For the most part, it's protected, but there is that one spot, to the left of the staircase down off the porch, where the coop has a hardware cloth "window" built into the coop.  That was easy enough to protect and took the least amount of time of anything out there today!  I had saved the old shower curtain a few months ago when I replaced mine.  After running it through the washing machine with a light load of clothes, I hung it up to dry over the railing and then folded it up once dry.  Today, I unfolded the curtain, grabbed my staple gun and got to work stapling it up!  I wanted to still allow air flow through the window, they'll need the venting to keep the moisture from breathing down in the coop as the temps drop, so I tacked it up on the last beam, about six inches from the coop wall, and then down one side.  On the side actually under the stairs, I added a few staples to the coop to angle the curtain in and help try to protect that open window.  The curtain still had "flow" and is not tacked anywhere along the bottom, that way it hopefully has enough give to not get torn down too soon!  However, we do buy the cheap liners ($3-6), so replacing it won't be too hard to do.

After getting the plastic curtain up, is was time to "pretty up" the rest of the coop and run!  They got fresh pine shavings in the coop, as well as fresh Orchard Grass in the nest boxes.  The Alfalfa Hay that was in the boxes got dumped into the run for them to pick through.  They didn't eat it in the boxes, but once it was on the ground, they have been having a ball finding all the bits of leaf and such in it!  Anything to keep them busy and entertained...  Here's a good view of the lights I got strung up over the weekend too, I forgot to reset the timer, but will get that done this afternoon as well.  They have all been spending more time in the boxes since hanging the lights, but I think we're having a water issue now that is holding up the egg producing.

With the purchase of the de-icing unit, hopefully the girls will again have unlimited water flow!  It was simple to hook up too, just lay the unit flat in the bottom of the bucket and plug it in!  Of course, to do that, we had to drill a new hole and get a new hanger positioned where the short 6-foot cord could reach the outlet.  The water is now hovering over the sand box turtle...but at least they'll have water!

We've had to punch out two cord "holes" in the cover over the outside outlet now...the lower cord is for the light timer (an outdoor-rated extension cord) and the top for the water heater.  That was much easier to do the second time around, when I figured out how to get the cover off!

Doing the clean-up in the coop meant a few added treats and storage options as well.  To the left here you can see the relocated water system, the old hay that is a new found toy, and the Cat Litter container.  That container is full of Cracked Corn!  Weather proof, and most animal proof too!  There's even a bowl I use as a scoop in there for a fast treat!  I cheated and sprinkled some corn into the hay for this photo op...

I love reusing these Litter containers...the one in the front actually has the extra extension cord wound up in it!  This keeps the girls from pecking at or pooping on it.  The two containers stacked behind it are full of Chicken feed.  With ouring about a cup r so straight in the feeder, a 50-pound bag of crumbles fills three of these litter containers.  The third one resides in the black garbage con to weight it down a bit, the hay, pine shaving, Oyster Shell, Grit, BOSS, and Meal worms don't weigh all that much!

One last "treat" to keep the chickens happy, healthy, and entertained through the colder weather months was the Suet Cakes.  On Sunday I gave them a "High Energy" Suet cake, which they still have part of laying under their feeder, however, the dirt on it bugs me to no end!  So, I picked up a $3 suet holder today, along with several more suet cakes, they're on for a good price and at one or two a week, I wanted to have enough to last!  I know it's really hard to see here, but the black wire thing near the concrete pillar is the holder, holding a Suet Cake.  I have hardware cloth on this corner of the coop too (covering a one to two inch gap), so it was a easy spot to hook the Suet hanger to that kept the cake away from outer walls were other "wildlife" (squirrels and wild birds) could get at it.  The girls are a little afriad of the cage at the moment, but I'm sure they'll figure out there's a yummy treat in there soon enough!

Remember how I said I went to the Mall today?  This really disgusts me...only because I'll be so freaking sick of it by Christmas!  They have already begun decorating the Mall for Christmas!  November freaking 2nd!  Okay, it isn't overboard (yet), and there was no Christmas music being played...but come on!  Those strings of lights hanging are covered in bits of ribbon, bows, and those little Mylar "fireworks" looking things too.  I could handle the lights, and [probably wouldn't have even noticed them, but the big red bows with fake pine greenery?  Ugh.

In other news...my blood sugars have finally decided to cooperate with me!  My surgeon was very impressed with my recent readings, but I think he was even more impressed by my being able to wake up with a sugar reading of 36, get up, and treat it myself.  Like most people who aren't Diabetic, they go by the numbers others have told them are the "coma thresholds" and are impressed to see people up and moving at anything lower than that arbitrary number.  (Case in point, once when I was at camp, so we're talking 20 years ago, one of the camp counselors had a low blood sugar at one of the "dances"...she had a blood sugar of 9 and was still up and active!)  At any rate, we did discuss the size of my fibroid (the parasite living off my body for who knows how long) and decided that it may have been contributing to my insulin needs as well. 

Below is a photo of my logbook for this week.  [I really liked my "free" logbooks I got at a conferrence a few years back, they are made by drug companies to be given away at these sorts of things...I have no idea how to get my hands on more of them!  Lilly makes the best logbook, followed closely by Sanofi Aventis!  What I have now is the best substitute I could download and print off the internet...]  If you look to the far right near the top, you see that 52 at 4am?  That was the result of taking 5 units of Lantus before bed the evening before!  Prior to surgery, I was taking 26 units every night before going to bed.  Now, back in the left most column...138 is still a bit high for a "normal" person, but when have I ever claimed to be normal?  For me, this is a great reading!  This morning was even better at 103.  However, lunch today, even without eating anything other than an Atkin's bar while out and about, killed my average for the day! (Yesterday too...this afternoon isn't pictured here.)  I'm going to give it another day or so before I start messing with my morning Lantus, but it appears I may need a bit more in the morning to hold me through lunch and into dinner.

Speaking of the size of my fibroid, it was impressive all in it's own right!  My fibroid weighed in at 455 grams (1.003 pounds)!  That's just barely over a pound, but that isn't even the part that makes it sound big!  An "average" Uterus weighs 70 grams, making my fibroid 6.5 times the size of an average Uterus (making the combined over 7 times the size it should be assuming anything about me is "average")!  The doctor told me I am still very swollen and will notice that going away over the next several weeks (possibly a few months), but there was nothing he could do to help with the "skin sag" I have going on. 

On the weight front, I have lost all of my "surgery weight" that I gained thanks to a sugar-filled electrolyte IV bag!  I've even gone down "unofficially" (since it isn't Friday yet) a few more pounds!  This morning I weighed in at 254.0!  I was sitting at 256.8 the morning of my surgery.  Little steps...my next mini goal is fast approaching, 247.2 will be 50 pounds gone forever!  Only 6.8 pounds to go!  Since I have switched to wearing exercise shoes already, I'm not really sure what my reward to myself is going to be...my original plan had been a pair of Sketcher's Shape-Ups, but having tried them on and compared to the Champion brand ones, I prefer the less expensive shoe.  I still want to keep the "exercise" theme going because 50 pounds gone was my "start point" for really working more activity into my weight loss.  I can't lose 150 pounds on diet alone!  Maybe a DDR game for my Wii?  The issue there is that I still haven't found a decent spot to keep the Wii where I'll actually use it!  I already have Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus, but they haven't been touched in almost a year...and the Wii Fit was the entire reason I bought a Wii in the first place!  In January no less when the balance boards were worth their weight in gold if you could get your hands on one (we lucked out and the Circuit City 2 blocks from our house got a shipment in and my other half went down to grab a ticket 2 hours before the store opened for me...they only got 6 in and were basically raffling them to the first 6 people that read their paper and got there before 8am.)...it only took me 2 weeks to get one, but some people had been looking since November for them!  (I've had my Wii for about 2 years now, so this may or may not be the case come January...plan your fitness needs well in advance of the "Resolution Rush"!)

I'm tempted to get a gym membership, but I don't like being the "fat girl at the gym who can't keep up"...and jump ropes are out because my bits giggle way too much for that!  I've even tried getting in a simple walk for the exercise, but that was lonely alone and the other half just isn't all that motivated to go with me, it lasted about 3 weeks.  If I could get a super deal on one of those sit-up machines (padded metal frame that assists you in "proper form"), that might be an option, but I don't think I could justify another piece of equipment when I am so bad at using what we already have!  Maybe just an alarm to remind it's time to get up and go use the Wii, lol.  Any suggestions?

Warning, Graphic Photos Below!

Okay, you have been warned!

This is where I'm going to do a little "show & tell" about my recent surgery, 'cause I know you're just dying to see what the inside of me looks like (mostly because I want to share what fascinates me), I am adding photos taken of my innards.  If I could figure out how to share the videos, I'd do that too...but since I can't, for now I'll just describe them.

First, let's start with the pretty flowers my Aunt sent me!  Everyone likes flowers right?  (This is your opportunity to see a pretty picture while you decide if you really want to see exactly what my Liver, Uterus, and Ovaries look like...if you are squeamish, don't go past the pretty flowers!)  Sadly, as of today, they all need to be thrown out, but for about 5 days, I have enjoyed this lovely bouquet sitting next to my monitor on my desk in my office.  Now that I actually own a vase...I may buy myself flowers from time to time, since no one else does, lol.

Also in the photo...see that corner of computer screen?  That's a recent gift from my other half, he bought me a second monitor, which I am now completely in love with!  I spent a total of 18 hours over 2 days fishing in Dalaran (World of Warcraft city for all you non-WoW players) in an attempt to finally fish up my Giant Sewer Rat pet (1 in 1000 drop rate, I have cast my line well over 5000 times since the pet was released, still no pet for me).  In that time, someone popped in, sat next to me for about 20 minutes and fished up my pet dab-nabbit!  I have also watched all 2.5 seasons of Seaquest DSV (2032 for that last half season), the entire series of Earth 2 (another TV show that only lasted part of a season, but I realy liked it then and now), and the first 45 or so minutes of Meet Joe Black...all streaming through Netflix to that second screen.  Still no freaking pet, but I got a lot of really old TV watched in the process, lol.

The 'Pass the Pigs' game is there...still unplayed, but someday we'll get to it.  And down there in the very bottom of the photo...Sims3 Pets!  My other half (better half this past week or so, since I have been barely functional) went out and got it for me while I was in the hospital, he's so sweet (even if it wasn't flowers)!  I am now completely re-addicted to playing The Sims...my favorite activity at the moment in that game is "anything to do with the horses"!  I'm in the middle of building a horse breeding/rescue lot...but back to what I'm supposed to be writing about!

So, the surgery...we arrived at Sacred Heart bright and early (before the sun woke up) at 6:20am, earlier than the 6:30am check-in which the check-in nurse felt the need to point out to me.  I was banded with the first in a series of plastic/paper wristbands, handed a plastic folder with paperwork in it and told they were "full downstairs, so go sit in the waiting room up here, but don't pee and don't leave"...cause I guess they thought I looked like I'd run away and hide in the potty?  About 5 minutes later, the entire group of us (my Honey and I along with  two sisters and their elderly Mother) were told to go ahead and headed downstairs...apparently we were supposed to know that meant to walk over to the elevator and go to level "L1R", not that anyone had told us that...we got told to "go" and that we should already know where we were "going" to!  That plastic folder I was handed?  It was labeled "L1R", but that hadn't been pointed out when I was told to go wait on the bench.

Once down in "L1R", we walked down a short hallway to another nurse's station, better to call this a "check-in desk", since I don't think the gal in scrubs sitting behind the desk was an actual nurse...  After checking in (for a second time in under 10 minutes), I was sent to wait in yet another chair.  Soon after my "pre-op" nurse came to get me and we were whisked away into a little room with a giant glass wall, the pre-op room where we would wait, I would get naked, and they'd do everything they needed to do in the next 2.5 hours before my surgery.  Blood Pressure first, it was high (imagine that!).  Then, I was led to a bathroom and told to pee in a cup, since I'm under 52 years old, I run the "risk" of being pregnant (even though the fibroid was keeping that from happening along with the fact that "Aunt Flo" was here for a visit).  Not that I mind peeing in a cup...but what I do mind is the inevitable "peeing on my hand"!  It would be so much easier if they just had me pee in a "pee hat" (actual name for the plastic bucket looking thing they can put under the seat to collect everything in.  Funny story here...when I was 16, I participated in a drug trial for IGF-1, a drug that would have been awesome, if it didn't also speed up Diabetic Retinopathy.  I had appointments every 4-6 weeks and for 24 hours prior, I had to pack around a pee hat and a jug to collect all my urine in...not only could I fill the 1-gallon jug in under 8 hours, but I routinely overfilled the pee hat!  I have a very healthy bladder system...the second visit, they gave me 2 jugs, assuming I couldn't possibly fill 2-gallons over a 24-hour period...they were wrong by the way, so they went back to one jug and just had me collect first thing in the morning and once or twice more throughout the day...I still filled the jug for them.)  Back in the glass room, I got my "uniform" for my visit...a backless "dress", a pair of what they called "underwear", and blankets straight out of the oven.  The underwear are not a normal part of the "uniform", but I needed something to put a pad on...  Then it was all blood draws, IV lines, and waiting for everyone else to be ready.

I have deep and rolling veins, what this equates to is lots of needle sticks when someone wants blood from me, or in this case, access to my bloodstream for drugs.  I warn them now, it usually means fewer sticks in the end.  The nurse thought she found one, numbed the area (ie the vein itself) to try and make it "hold still", and lost it...a few minutes of digging around and then she gave up and moved on to my other arm where she finally got a vein to hold still long enough to get the IV in...in the back of my hand, those are very painful by the way!  See all that tape in the photo?  I still have tape residue on that hand, as well as on every other bit of skin they decided to tape or bandage in some way...

I'm not sure if you caught it (or can see it now), but the red/white striped band around my wrist is there because I'm allergic to Hydrogen Peroxide.  It is one of those "weird things about me" that is very uniquely weird to me...it does very, very bad things to my body!  Sure, it cleans wounds and such...but it also has a chemical reaction with my body that actually eats away the skin!  First, it hurts like a S.O.B., then the entire area turns bright yellow (I'm talking bright yellow, not a little jaundiced looking), after that, any skin the Peroxide hits turns white and dies (I use a Peroxide based contact cleaner...if I'm not extremely careful with it, and I get some on my fingers, I lose a few layers of skin off where it hits...the Peroxide there gets neutralized overnight and makes it safe for me to use though).  So, I try to stay as far away from it as possible...also, I didn't want to get a bath of it thinking they were cleaning my wounds...they could have done a lot of damage thinking they were helping.  I ended up with 3 wristbands for my stay...the red/white allergy band, the plastic and paper one I first got when I got there (this one had my bar code on it so they could pull me up on the computer and make sure I was getting the meds I needed to be getting and not the ones meant for my roommate or someone down the hall.  The last one, I really have no idea what it was for...It was hand-written with my name, the date, and some numbers that I believe are the code for the hospital (there are several hospitals all tightly packed into one area here).  When they were originally put on, they were put on very tight...the anesthesiologist, maybe it was the surgery nurse, told me they would be removing them during surgery and would make sure to put them on looser when they were done.

While waiting for everyone to get ready, they started me on an IV bag of "Electrolytes"...I think this is just a fancy cover-up for having something going in you so when they add they "knock you outs" you don't notice it right away.  When the anesthesiologist came in to give me a once over, he declared me to have a Heart Murmur...this is something I need to talk to my "regular" doctor about, but I haven't called her yet to make an appointment...yes, I'm procrastinating.  Sometime after 8:40, the last time I can remember looking at the clock, he came back in, put a syringe full of something in my IV, and that is the last thing I remember until I was waking up in recovery at 3:25pm (I asked what time it was and got an amazingly accurate answer back).  Apparently though, I was chatting away as they wheeled my bed out of the room on the way to surgery, for all I know, I got myself onto the operating table after "meeting" the robot!

Post surgery, there are a few things I remember with vivid recollection.  First, my "magic button"...the transport dude called it that...this was the button that fed me my pain killing Narcotics!  It was like Morphine, but apparently much safer to use.  The nurse in recovery asked me what my pain was on a card with smiley to not-so-smiley faces on it and then reminded my to push the button..."what button?" I asked, evidently, she had handed it to me and I kept dropping it.  Before leaving recovery, the "dude" (I don't remember seeing his face, I remember his face being where I could see it, but I have no idea what he looked like...his partner was an older guy though) made sure I got to push my button one last time before he unplugged it and they started wheeling me through the hospital to my room for the night.  Once there, he plugged me back in and tied the "magic button" to the bed rail for me...I had dropped it several times while he waited for his partner to arrive to take me.  Though, I assume the tying the button to the bed thing is "SOP" for his job, I really appreciated it!  The second thing that I was in absolute love with (the first being that magic button) was the "knee-high intermittent compression device"...in other words, a leg massager!  If only they hadn't been plastic...I had been sweating up a storm since walking into the hospital that morning, so the plastic against my skin wasn't all that great once the "knock me outs" really started wearing off.  The nurse I had once my other half left though decided the noise was annoying her and so she turned them off!  Luckily, she wasn't my nurse for very long, and when the overnight nurse came on and I told her they hadn't done anything for a while, she turned them back on for me, they really made my legs feel better!  They also are there to help prevent blood clots from forming in someone who has spent hours not moving her legs...yup, I really didn't like that nurse, but more on her later....

As far as managing my blood sugars go...the hospital SUCKED at it!  I understand wanting me to run a little high during surgery, but I was told they'd be managing it by keeping me right around 200, which in all honesty, isn't that high.  However, the first test I can remember after that was 280!  The lowest I ever was throughout the evening, overnight, and into the next morning was 263...  The nurse I was talking about before that turned off my leg machine?  Here she is again...she walked into my room, shoved a needle in my arm, and turned to leave.  Before she got too far I asked her what she had just put in me (my right to know before it went in dammit)...Novalog (woot!  Insulin!), "how much?"...3 units!  I told her that was going to do nothing for the blood sugars, I need 1 unit to bring me down 10 "points"!  The answer I got as she left the room was "well, we'll see." (I'm going to cuss here) Bitch.  But, let's fast forward to my savor in nurse's clothing who came on duty somewhere between 8 and midnight...when I asked her for insulin because my blood sugars were still very high and it was making it harder for me to breathe (not an easy task due to the pain I was in anyway), she tried calling my Endo to get an order to increase my insulin (because apparently, I am not able to decide that on my own), except, my surgeon wrote down the wrong name...so they kept telling the hospital staff "no one here by that name" and hanging up on them!  Hours later, she finally came and told me that they were trying to find someone in the field that knew me because they didn't have the right office...I gave them the right name, they called back and got put through to the partner that was on-call that night...not my doctor.  Unfortunately he was a tool...he claimed to have never heard of me (well, duh, I'm not your patient nimrod!) and therefore was not  going to even suggest they veer away from the standard procedure that the hospital has in place for all diabetics (types 1 and 2) when it comes to insulin.  The nurse did "bump me up" to the next level of care, which doubled the amount of insulin she could give me (I got another 6 units somewhere around 12am), but still did nothing for bringing me down.  At this point, they were refusing to give me any Lantus too because I wasn't eating anything...here's the kicker though...the kitchen is only open 8am to 8pm!  Want something to eat between there?  Tough!  I finally begged a sugar free jello out of the fridge the nurses keep snacks in...everything else was full of sugar, what a great thing to give someone who already has high blood sugars and is on a low-carb diet!  Apparently though, Jell-o didn't count as actual food...  In the morning, the surgeon finally made it around to see me about 7am, he okayed a dose of Lantus for 35 units (I was asking for my full 54 that I normally take...my reasoning was that (duh) my Lantus is what helps regulate my blood sugars...it is a 24 hour, long acting insulin and it imperative to not interrupt it!), but I had to eat my breakfast before they'd give me any insulin...someone really needs to educate the hospital on Diabetes Care!

Some time after 9am, a Type 1 Diabetes advocate showed up at my bed...the hospital has an oversight group that specifically watches over the care of the type 1's all over the hospital...sadly, this is a 9 to 5 group.  Because my sugars had not been below 260 all night, I was near the top of the stack of patients who needed help that morning.  I was given another scale to rate what level of care I thought I got was...with 10 being "I'm calling a lawyer when I get out of this place", I gave them a 9...besides the one nurse who couldn't do anything without a doctor's approval, the rest had really not given a flying flip about my diabetes and what I was saying needed to be done about it.  The advocate got me a little more insulin, but since I was "checking out" at Noon, she was a little late in getting there.

Because of this surgery, if we ever do get pregnant, I'll need a C-section to deliver...which means another stay in the hospital.  Next time though, they will not be managing my Diabetes beyond the operating room...I'll get my other half taught how to manage it (he really should know this anyway for if/when I get sick...) and he will be doing it for me until I can manage it myself again.  I played nice this time around, even though I had my meter and insulin sitting right there by my bed all night, concealed in my little black suitcase looking box...they thought my toothbrush was in there.  Next time, I'll be giving myself insulin whether they like it or not!  I was miserable all night...granted I probably would have been anyway, but I could have at least been miserable and been able to breath better!  It is really hard for a non-diabetic to understand the weight you feel on your chest (specifically on your lungs) when sugar levels get too high...but stack an entire set of encyclopedias right on top of your chest, up high so they're crushing your ribs against your lungs...now breath in....that's kind of what it feels like, but not really...I think that would be easier to do.

Last, but not least on my rant of things I do remember from my surgery...the food!  Yes, I realize it was hospital food and it really isn't supposed to taste "good", but come on, at least get the diet right!  First, remember how I said I "came to" around 3:30?  At 5:30 they brought me dinner!  I promptly sent it away, not only was I not hungry, there wasn't one damned thing on the plate I could eat on my low-carb diet!  Chicken, noodle casserole of some sort, corn, dinner roll (or something), fruit cup, skim milk, a few other odds and ends...all loaded with carbs.  The first nurse on duty even tried to force feed me Cranberry Juice mixed with 7-Up!  I did except her offer of a Diet Lemon-Lime soda though....it took me all night to drink the 8 ounce can, my preferred beverage was ice water...by the gallon! I drank 4 or more of those 32-ounce pitchers throughout the course of the night.  When they finally brought my breakfast (which I could not special order because I couldn't find the freaking phone to call them from), it was scrambled eggs (1/3 cup, so I'm assuming it was actually some sort of "fake" eggs or egg beaters type)..they were worse than chewing on cardboard...even with the little packet of salt and pepper I was allowed, along with another pile of items I could not eat on my diet!  God forbid they put a little meat on the plate...no...a scone, bowl of Cheerios, another fruit cup, more skim milk...that's what they sent me!  The saving grace of the while plate was the little 6 ounce cup of coffee they also sent...however, the sweetener was an off-brand blue packet (which they gave me 2 of)...and if I wanted to put anything other than that nasty skim milk which I had already told them I couldn't drink, the nurse could "slip" me some powdered creamer!  Why not just give me a mini moo or two???  Yes, there are 10 calories in one, but 0 carbs!  The entire "menu" is centered around carb counts these days...a packet of powdered creamer has 5 grams of carbs (no joke!), but that was my option?  Needless to say, I drank my coffee black with 1/2 a packet of "Sweet Thing" in it...I am still craving a giant mug of something from Starbucks...

 Take a look a the carb counts for this single meal at the hospital...this is what they consider "healthy" in the kitchen!  Oh, I forgot about the OJ completely...  That's a meal with 86 grams of carbs!  That is more than 4 days worth of carbs for me!  And on any given day, I eat a heck of a lot more food than that!  I choked down the eggs and drank my coffee (which wasn't even hot by the way) and called it breakfast...it got me the much needed insulin at any rate!  Check out the carb count on the scone alone...my Ipod touch is bigger than that thing was...if you cut it diagonally though and laid the two halves together, that's about the size of that "pastry"...  Even with refusing to eat what they called food...I gained about 6 pounds from my overnight stay.  Somewhere along the line someone admitted that the electrolyte solution they were using had added glucose to it!  I had Google'd the specific electrolyte solution prior to going in for surgery...there should not have been any sugars in it!  As of today though, I am back to what I weighed the morning of my surgery.

The parts I don't remember but have been told about...vaguely:

Here's where the squeamish should really stop...

So here is what my tummy looked like within hours of surgery...four cuts, plus one hidden in my belly button, along with the "anchor" wounds from the kickstands that hold the robotic arms in the holes cut into me.  What's missing here are the bruises that formed after the fact...here it looks all pretty and "nice".  The other thing "missing" is the small scratches all over my tummy and chest that I gave myself throughout the night that followed surgery.  The pain meds made me itch terribly!  I actually took a chunk of skin off with a fingernail on my breastbone...it's healing along with everything else but ouch!  The pain meds also made me nauseous and I actually vomited a little overnight.  The nurse (the one I liked) gave me something that made the nausea go away, but it gave me gas and hiccups!  Both of which really hurt...  Technically the med didn't do either, they were both a side effect of being blown up like a balloon for the operation, the gases have to get out somehow!

A few days later and I'm black and blue all over...  As a side note, I have all my bits covered, it just doesn't look like I do..  That deep purple bruise doesn't actually hurt (the bruise doesn't anyway), but just under the edge of my ribcage on that side has been the source of 90% of my pain since Tuesday afternoon last week!  I'm guessing that that is the side the had the majority of the fibroid listing into it, as well as the side that my Ovary was actually attached to my Uterus via some Endometriosis.  Yup, lotta "fun" going on in there...  There is loads of dissolving sutures (stitches) and Super Glue holding me together still!  Though, the gobs of superglue have fallen out of my belly button and all that remains there is a bright red line were they cut into me.

My innards:

I have no idea why, but the surgeon provided us with a photograph of my "beautiful" Liver...yes, it looks to be nearly encased in fat, but imagine what it must have looked like a year ago when I had nearly 40 extra pounds of the stuff floating around in there!

He couldn't get my entire Fibroid in one photo...but remember, he did say this was the size of a volleyball!  That big round thing the robotic arm is resting on is the fibroid, totally encased within the wall of my uterus!  It was between layers of the wall, to the inner wall but not through it, so that meant he was able to leave the interior wall intact, bettering the chances for successful pregnancy once everything has healed back up.

In this last photo, the stuff that looks like snot is the Endometriosis, it's Uterine lining growing outside of the Uterus.  This is something I have been "checked" for twice in the last 4 years and been told I didn't have!  Not only did I indeed have it, but it was so thick on one side that my Ovary had become attached to the outer wall of my Uterus!  The Fibroid didn't help anything either, on that same side, the fibroid had smashed my Fallopian tube flat and was smashing that Ovary too.  I have a few more weeks of healing before I get my period again, but here's hoping for something closer to what I'm told is a "normal" period this time!  The whiter glob is the Ovary here, the pink floppy looking thing is my Fallopian tube and the red (bloody) stuff on the white is the tissue growing where it doesn't belong...it is gone now.

I believe I have mentioned that I have video clips of the surgery as well...I still can't watch more than a few seconds of any of them without getting ooked out myself...but they are very interesting!  They range from the first incision into my Uterus clear through to the vacuuming out of the Fibroid!  Which is gross and cool all at the same time...imagine a round version of a "Flow-bee"...kind of like a vacuum tube that got it on with a blender...this would be their love child.  They basically twirl the fibroid around in circles while this tube cuts it into a giant ribbon  to be pulled out of the body through that "tiny" slice in the center of my belly.  However, in watching the 4 minute video..."I" clogged the vacuum!  It was like watching a cat vomit up a super long hairball...they had to stop the suction of the vacuum/blender love child, and pull the ribbon back out and start again!  It was very gross...but if I can get it figured out, I'll share it with anyone interested in watching!

But, here I am, a little over a week since my  surgery and feeling "better" every day!  Last night, I even spent the night back in my own bed!  This, I am sure, peeved Baby off to no end.  Since Frappy made her way upstairs to join the family (she spent months refusing to come upstairs when we first brought her home), she has replaced Baby on the bed at night.  When both my boyfriend and I are in bed, Baby and Frappy won't share the bed...although, when the boyfriend isn't there, the cats share the bed with me just fine.  At any rate, my not being there and having my office door open (and therefore access to the spare bed available), Baby has spent the last week in the spare bed with me.  Some days he didn't get out of bed until 4pm!  The spare bed is rather comfy though, I really can't blame him.  He was a very good kitty too, he only tried to step on my belly once in the whole week!  He spent the first few nights at the foot of the bed while I was using a giant mountain of pillows to elevate my head and keep me in more of an upright position...once I was laying flatter, he took over the unused pillow pile!

I'm still in the process of healing (as well as taking Advil and Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen), but am getting there.  Pants are still an issue for me...they hurt to wear so I am still basically "stuck" in dresses, unfortunately, I own a whopping 3 dresses that aren't "fancy dance" type dresses (which I own 2 of, one that now fits me and one that is still too small).  Of those three, one is way too big and the other two don't fit right (or look very good on).  I do have plans for leaving the house this evening...we tried it a few nights ago, but the pain of the pants I was wearing coupled with a bout of digestive issues made the evening very painful...also the bouncing around in the car due to our sucky roads put me near tears before we got to the restaurant.  I'm going to attempt another pair of loose fitting slacks again tonight...besides not really wanting to cook (again), I have a cooking and craft bug going pretty bad and it is really hard if not impossible to talk the other half into going to buy me 3 or 4 skeins of yarn and a vegetable that he hates with a passion...  It also gives me a chance to test and see how much "better" I really am feeling!  I am going to have to drive myself to the 2-week post-op appointment on the 2nd of November (Can you believe next week it'll be November?)...and I really need to be weened off the narcotics by then...they really make my head fuzzy!

As far as the Diabetes management goes...life is feeling much "lower" now.  As soon as I got home (I took a pain killer as soon as we got them from the pharmacy...the nurse who took me out to the car hit every bump in the hallway she could, I was crying because of the pain she inflicted on the way out of the hospital...they stopped feeding me pain killers at 9:30am and it was 1pm before I got to leave the hospital, I was already in a lot of pain) I took a large dose of Humalog to bring my blood sugars down...it took 2 doses of 20 units to bring me under 200.  Since then though, it's like the Fibroid was requiring it's own insulin supply...I have had to cut my bedtime Lantus dose from 26 units to 15 units to prevent middle of the night low blood sugars.  I may have to adjust this down even more as I was awoken at 5am this morning by yet another low blood sugar!  However, we had a bit of an issue last night with the needle on my Humalog pen, so I may have double dosed and not been aware of it.  We shall see what tonight/tomorrow brings blood sugar wise.

I will eventually get my "regular" doctor called about the murmur the anesthesiologist heard, but it won't be this month, mostly because there are only 4 days left in the month.  However, November and December are very busy months this year!  I have the post-op appointment on the 2nd, sometime between the 10th or so and Thanksgiving (early December if my sister had things her way) the latest baby is due, then I have another post-op on the 30th of November.  Then we get into the December mess...I have dentist appointments on the 5th and 7th to have some cavities fixed.  Mid-month we leave to go visit both sides of the family that live on Oregon, only to be home by Christmas morning.  Home for a few weeks and then in mid-January, we fly to Las Vegas on vacation!  This will be our second "real" vacation that we have ever taken together...I don't count going to visit family as a vacation...there is usually work and/or stress involved there!  Take our trip in December...the week before Christmas...I have to worry about packing foods that we can eat while staying with the other half's brother and his family...that means buying a box of Mini Moo's at Cash & Carry (no refrigeration needed), baking snacks we can have, preparing a recipe list of sides I can easily make us without dirtying every pan in their kitchen (no cook options are best), making sure there is still room in the SUV for the presents for everyone, and room for the dog, because she is going to spend a few days with "Grandma" while we visit them (she'll stay in the hotel with us while visiting my side of the family).  Eating at "my side of the family" will be less stressful...my Mother is now following the Atkins diet as well and my sister plans to start after the baby is born.  So, most if not all things edible there will be things we can eat without worrying too much about it.  For the Vegas trip, we are worrying less about taking food and such...mostly because we are flying, but also because we do plan on "cheating" a bit while we're there.  Meals aren't so much of an issue, we can always eat the guts out of a burger or sandwich...but I don't see them offering too many low-carb drink mixer options!  And, we do plan on doing a bit of drinking while there.

I mentioned farther up that I gained 6 or so pounds...tomorrow morning is my "official" weigh-in for the week, but this morning's reading was 258.2, right where I was "unofficially" the morning of my surgery.  That is a step in the right direction anyway.