Hospital Visit & 32 Weeks

I haven't had a chance to post much lately and it hasn't been due to lack of excitement at our house! Unfortunately we've had a little too much excitement - especially for this pregnant lady.

To start off with a positive note... Rob officially graduated with his Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies at the beginning of August from Arizona State University. There is no commencement ceremony in the summer time so we held a small family party for him to celebrate his achievement. He's pretty much put himself through school on his own, served a mission, joined the army, worked full time the whole time he was in school, provided for a family, started a business, changed his major 3 times, and has more credits than any person should have... so it took him longer than others but he's done and we both are very happy to be finished. He'll start his Masters degree at Grand Canyon University next week so he's not done yet but it's an online program and we're looking forward to that part.

Last week Rob came home from work having a really hard time breathing. We have a Nebulizer at home so he did a couple of treatments but it wasn't working. He wasn't really responding to anything and couldn't really tell me how bad he was feeling. I kept suggesting we go to the hospital but he wasn't really responding much. Thankfully I was prompted to call his parents over to help and also request a blessing for him. His parents and brother showed up a little bit later and quickly realized that they needed to get him to the hospital. After the blessing, they managed to practically carry him to the car and get him to the emergency room. I stayed home with Ellie while he was treated at the ER and they struggled getting his breathing under control and finally decided to admit him to the hospital about 2 a.m. Looking back it was amazing how calm I was able to stay when Rob came really close to not even making it through the night if he hadn't of made it to the hospital. Turns out his breathing problem was a result of a lot of bad things happening at once. He somehow punctured a hole in his lung (we think from breaking his ribs at one point), then he was diagnosed with valley fever (a lung disease) and then his asthma on top of it all. After a few days in the hospital, the doctors let him come home. It was an experience I never want to repeat and I'm so grateful for all the prayers that were answered over the course of last week, that Rob is feeling better, and for all the people that were willing and able to help us. It's really made me grateful for many, many things!

In other news, I'm at 32 weeks.... only 8 more weeks to go! I feel like I've grown a ton in size the last few weeks and I know that's what is supposed to happen but it's another reason why the 3rd trimester is so hard. That and all the other fun parts like breathing difficulty, sleeping difficulty, etc.

But I'm trying to enjoy the days of just having one child and getting lots of play time in with Ellie. She got a set of pretend play food after she stayed "dry" for 3 days in a row and we are constantly making "munch" in her play kitchen. She can be entertained with the food for hours! Even if I do find play food all around the house these days. And she insists that I sit on the ground to play with her and some days I wonder if I'll be able to pull myself back up again. And we spend LOTS of time reading. She's always loved being read to but it seems to have increased lately and is at the point where she can "read" her favorite books to me. She's even asked to go to the library so we can get more books to read. And of course the falling asleep in crazy positions is continuing! It just makes me realize that we had a good day of fun when I catch her in these poses.

The End of a Long Week

I guess after last Sunday, I should have known it was going to be a rough week! But it's okay, we survived and are ready for the new (and hopefully much better) week ahead).

I had my monthly OB checkup last week and it was time for me to get the glucose test done. My doctor sends me home with the bottle of stuff to drink an hour before my appointment and of course they stress being on time for this appointment. I finished the drink an hour before my appointment and headed over to my Mother in Law's house to drop off Ellie in plenty of time. I stopped at the gas station on the way and the trouble started! After I filled up my tank, my battery decided to die on me. No warning whatsoever! And of course the jumper cables are in Rob's car not mine. I start asking everyone around me at the gas station if they have jumper cables and no one does. I'm starting to panic a little bit since I have to be on time for this appointment. I tried to call Diane and her line was busy. So I call up Rob in tears (even though he's across town and can't really help me) but he's able to get a hold of his mom. Only she's watching a lot of the grandkids that day so it's a little bit of a fiasco trying to get them covered and come rescue me. I finally am able to get a gas station attendent to jump my car for me (bless his heart!) and as soon as I get started again, Diane shows up to take Ellie for me. I didn't notice until after I had practically thrown her in the car so I could take off, that Ellie had peed all over the seat! Poor thing. She is pretty much potty trained but I was flustered and wasn't paying attention! I race over to my appointment and I'm about 15 minutes late but they still decide to do draw my blood and see if the glucose tolerance test works. Crossing my fingers it did and I don't have to go back for the 3 hour appointment. It was just a mess! Not a fun day in 114 degree weather for a highly emotional pregnant lady to have a dead battery.

On the plus side, my doctor did an extra ultrasound that day. I tried to get an additional confirmation that we really are having a girl but no such luck. The little stinker wasn't going to budge her legs. At any rate, everything is looking good. She's a little on the smaller side but not too surprising for me! I can't believe we're down to 10 WEEKS until my due date.

We did a few cleaning projects this week and Ellie was a great little helper. I can't do anything anymore without her wanting to help but it's nice that she wants to do so much. I rotated out some toys and brought back some old ones and Ellie was in heaven. She loves this Fisher Price Farm:




And one night this week, I let her lay on my bed and watch a cartoon and within minutes found her like this on the edge of my bed (notice the lotion on her arm, she always manages to find it no matter where I hide it):




She has been so tired lately and sleeping in a lot and not waking up easily at all. I'm enjoying that she is becoming more of a deep sleeper since she will be sharing her room in a few months and it'll be nice if she doesn't wake up. But it now takes me 30 minutes to wake her up in the morning! Such a new concept for me.


Thanks to my dad we have a new Webcam that actually works well! Ellie LOVES to see herself on the screen and asks everyday if we can talk to Papa and Debbie. Of course as soon as I try and get her to TALK when we have it on, she won't. And every other time of the day I can't get her to be quiet! But hopefully as we use it more she'll become more comfortable with it. It's fun to see Grandparents far away!

One of those days...

That's really the only way I can describe the events of today so far! It started out with my coming down with a major head cold on Friday night out of the blue. I really do think it's true that pregnant women are much more susceptible to illness than other times since I seem to catch a lot of stuff when I'm pregnant! We had a low key Saturday at home and after planning my Sharing Time lesson for Sunday... I was in bed by 7:30. Rob was nice enough to deal with getting Ellie calmed down and put to bed for me so I could get to bed. I was able to get a lot of sleep in and woke up this morning feeling a little bit better.

We headed to church and were running a bit late and I sat down and realized very quickly how hot it was in the chapel and saw everyone fanning their faces. The air conditioning wasn't working in the chapel! My friend Karlie handed me a large folder to provide more air and Rob had to go and sit on the stand since the majority of our Bishopric was at Girl's Camp. As soon as we had the Sacrament... I bailed to the much cooler hallway with Ellie. Granted I missed the rest of the meeting since I couldn't hear anything out there but I know I would have passed out with the heat! Thankfully the Primary and Nursery rooms seemed to have working air conditioning.

Ellie has decided not to take a nap today and has been watching some cartoons and being pretty good considering the no-nap thing. Rob headed to do some visits and I was sitting here on the computer doing a little catch up when she walks in and says "Look Mommy". This is what I see:



This is pliable hair clay/pomade that Rob had used this morning before church and left on the bathroom counter. Let me tell you this stuff is not easy to clean off or wash out of hair! After four washings - I can still feel it in her hair. Oh the joys of a curious 2 year old. :)

Good thing I have a full container of ice cream in my freezer... I'm definitely going to need a big bowl tonight after this fun filled day! And thankfully most of my days definitely do not go like this....