Hospitals Are Not Very Fun

Well, it's been a while since I've written anything, and that's mainly due to the fact that I was in the hospital for 6 days. I had gotten sick with a stomach virus on Thursday, Sept. 17th. I spent that whole night sick at home, and the next 2 days I was so sore that I couldn't move without help. On Saturday, I started throwing up again, and since I hadn't eaten anything or kept any fluids down, Josh took me to the emergency room. Both of us thought we would get in, get some medicine and an IV, and then we would be back home by daylight on Sunday. Well, we were taken back pretty quickly, since I'm pregnant, and they gave me an IV and some medicine for nausea. The ER doctor came in and pushed on my stomach, which made me scream (my muscles were sooooo sore!). He feared that I had appedicitis, so I was sent to get an ultrasound. Believe me, ultrasounds are great, but not when your muscles are so tense that you can't even yawn without pain. The ultrasound tech couldn't find my appendix, so after being tortured through the ultrasound, I had more doctors come see me and poke at my sore belly. At around 6:45am Sunday, I was transferred to a room. They were admitting me, and they put me on the labor & delivery floor with all the other preggos (but unlike the rest of them, I wasn't going to be going home with a baby in my arms anytime soon.)

Josh had spent that whole night in a small little side chair in my ER room, while I had been in and out (due to the medicine) in a bed. When they transferred me, Josh went home to catch a quick nap and to get me a much needed change of clothes. We called my parents before he left...neither of us thought that the hospital would admit me, but we were both certain that I would be home soon. Around 10am, a nurse came and took me to have an MRI done to check my appendix. When I returned to my room, my dad and stepmom were there. My mom and Josh arrived less than 30 minutes later. The MRI showed that my appendix and my gallbladder were fine, but the doctors were still keeping me. We all assumed that I would go home the following day (Monday) since I was feeling slightly better and my appendix was fine. My dad and stepmom returned home, Josh went home since he had to work Monday, and my mom stayed with me at the hospital. Well, it turns out that the pain medicine they were giving me makes me nauseous. Every 4 hours they would give me nausea medicine and pain medicine together. I was on a 4 hour schedule. They would give me the medicine, and it would would knock me out for 2 to 2.5 hours. Then I would spend the remaining time nauseous until I could get more medicine. The doctors finally realized the connection (pain meds = nausea) on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday were better days, and dad came and stayed with me Thursday night. I was finally given solid food on Friday, and when I was able to keep it down, they sent me home.

I can't believe I was in the hospital that long. I missed a whole week of work, 2 children's sermons (since I was still recooperating yesterday), and sending bday cards to some friends and family. The diagnosis I was given: gastroenteritis. In other words, I got a stomach virus that led to my intestines being inflammed. I am on an antibiotic and a probiotic to help my stomach. My muscles are so weak, especially my leg muscles, from laying in a bed for 6 days. I am finally back at work and trying to rebuild my strength, but it's going to take a while.

But, the good news is that the baby and I are both doing fine now. The baby actually seemed to enjoy our time at the hospital. It was doing flips during the ultrasound, which prevented us from seeing it's sex and also made it harder for the ultrasound tech to get all the required measurements. The baby also enjoyed kicking at the doppler and hiding whenever the nurses would try to check its heart rate. Oh the joys of hospitals.

Back from the Beach

Well, our beach trip was a blast! (Even if we only spent an hour and a half total on the actual "beach" itself) It was great to just kick back and catch up with Mom, Bruce, Vic, Charity, and Baby Luke. Josh and I thoroughly enjoyed our time just sitting around the condo talking with everyone or watching Luke play. He is by far the cutest and happiest baby I have ever seen! He smiled and laughed, and he was just a complete joy.



But now it is back to work. Rally Day went fine on Sunday...not much of a crowd though. Sunday was super busy with the Rally Day breakfast starting at 8:30am, Sunday School at 9:30am, worship at 10:30am, catfish fry and fellowship at 11:30am, and then a bridal shower for Brittany (Josh's brother's fiancee) at 2pm in Butler. I was at the church at 7:30am that morning and didn't get home until almost 6pm that evening. Needless to say, I was exhausted, and I believe I fell asleep on the couch before 8pm.


Well, enough talk. I promised pictures from the beach in my last post, so here we go:

Is he not precious?

Early bird walking the beach at sunrise.

Sunrise

Sunrise over the dunes

Luke and his Aunt Jessy

Off to the beach...almost

Well, my work day from hell, didn't turn out so bad. I had a to-do list about as long as my arm today, but I managed to get all of it done (or at least the stuff that really matters). Now I am off to the house to spend some time with the pup before I take her to her puppy-sitter's home for a few days. I still need to wash some things, iron some outfits, and pack my stuff tonight, but at least my work things are done. Josh and I will be leaving out in the morning, and I can't wait to get there and just spend time with the family. We haven't seen Vic, Charity, and Luke since the weekend of Beth's wedding, so I bet Baby Luke hasn't grown quite a bit since then. I hope you all have a great week, and I will update with pictures when we get back.

Ciao!

Oh Yes, It's the Second Trimester!!!

Oh Mexican food...how I've missed you! Oh how wonderful the day can be when you aren't so tired and achy. Oh the joys of having some energy! Oh how I love not being constantly burdened with nausea and heartburn! The joy of the second trimester is starting, and I am on cloud nine. Well, most of the time. I've got a lot to do at work this next week, so most of my new found energy will be used in the office instead of at home. Sunday school is starting soon, we have a big Rally Day celebration I am sorta in charge of, the nursery is a germ-a-phobes nightmare, I still need another Sunday school teacher, and our new interim minister starts today. Whew! I am bogged down with Sunday school curriculum that needs to be copied and organized, decisions to be made, a nursery to disinfect, and a pile of more work on my desk. Not to mention, I will be in the office only one day next week, so I gotta get this stuff done NOW.

But besides work, life is going pretty well. Josh and I are going to the beach next week with Mom, Bruce, Vic, Charity, and Baby Luke. It will be our first official vacation since our honeymoon, and boy do we both need it! We will be in Gulf Shores Sept. 9th through the 12th, so that gives us the longest beach vacation we have ever gone on together. We usually go for 2 days max due to our work schedules, but this time we used the vacation days we have been saving up for such an occasion.

Well, I am going to read to kindergarteners at 10am, so I better get some work done before then. Hope you all have a great week!