when it rains...

it pours.

Four weeks ago my sweet great-grandmother was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and was given six months to live. As hard as it was to accept the fact that she had a "time frame" on her life, we were at least thankful because we felt like we had enough time to spend some "quality" time with her, most importantly, Claire would be able to meet her great, great-grandma, Nanny.

Last Tuesday, my father-in-law had a double knee replacement surgery. He's in a tremendous about of pain (as you would expect) but is working hard in physical therapy each day. 

The following day, Wednesday, Matt found out that he was going to have to go under the knife again because his elbow replacement was not fitting properly.  Another orthopedic surgeon would be replacing his replacement. Ugh. He was doing so well. Going to therapy twice a week and was finally able to do a lot of things he hadn't been able to do since his accident five and a half weeks ago.

Two days later, Friday, we got a late night call from my sister explaining that my Nanny had officially stopped eating and how the home health nurse said that, typically, a patient will stop drinking shortly after they stop eating. She told me that she will most likely only have a couple of weeks, rather than than the months we thought she had. I so desperately want her to meet Claire, but she's just not ready for a two and a half hour trip (each way). Not to mention that she really shouldn't be out and about at only one week old. I have been having a really hard time with this. I've tried to call her but she's hooked up to morphine to keep her pain at ease and to help her sleep.

This past weekend I ended up with mastitis. I felt like hell. Thankfully Claire slept for 5 hours straight the night I was most sick. I woke up with a 101.7 fever on Sunday morning and was in bed the entire day, only getting up to feed the babe. I called maternity and the on-call ob ordered me an antibiotic.

As of now, 11:15 Tuesday morning, Matt's already in and out of surgery and I'm feeling better, praise God. Matty's recovery starts all over again. He won't even start physical therapy for two weeks. I feel bad because all he wants to do is pick up his little girl, he wants to be able to comfort her when she's crying while I'm in the shower or going to the bathroom, and believe it or not, he wants to be able to change her dirty, stinky diapers (yes, this is the truth). Ohh the things we take for granted.

For now, we have to work on getting him better.

here's claire this morning. her and mommy are staying in our pjs today!

please excuse the dirty diaper rolled up in the back!

39 weeks!

how far along? 39 weeks- when is she coming out!?

Claire’s size: roughly 7 pounds, the size of a mini watermelon & over 20 inches long           
weight gain: up 7 pounds from last week... (see below)
maternity clothes? Of course!  
stretch marks? let’s not talk about that. mmm kay, thanks!
sleep? it’s been great up until Matty’s accident a week or so ago.

best moment this week? Matt’s surgery and recovery going smoothly and Claire staying put!

food cravings: nothing.
gender: Girl!
belly button in or out? not out yet, but something goofy is def. going on!
movement? generally speaking she’s very quiet- very slow movement, though VERY strong and sometime painful. Every once in a while she becomes a WILD WOMAN in there and goes absolutely nuts. Last night was craaaazy!
what I miss?  nothing, really.

what I'm looking forward to: Claire’s arrival… any day now!

Sooo i gained 7 pounds in a week. good news is that i lost 3 pounds the week before.  

i am so incredibly ready to push this baby out. discomfort is my new best friend.
matt's doing better. he started physical therapy today and everyday is a better day. praise the lord. 
i'm off to do some more resting! i'll leave you with a photo of the pup!

he's been such a good puppy!

 

quick update.

I'm still pregnant.
Matt fell off of one of our roofs on Thursday.
He somehow managed to miraculously break his radius. He had a guardian angel with him on Thursday. He landed on our driveway. He could have cracked his head open, broke his neck or his back, or sustained so many other more serious causalities. Praise be to God.
Spent all day/evening in the ER Thursday.
Appointment made with Orthopedist Surgeon and surgery was set for Friday.
His parents arrived to help.
Thursday night was the night from hell. Pain was unbearable.
Went to appointment surgery pushed back until at least  Saturday because they didn't have all the parts for the surgery- possible replacement of the radial head.
I had my 38 week checkup. Still 1 cm dilated BUT I'm 50% effaced and Claire's at 0 station. Waahoo! At least some good news! I lost 3 pounds (my weight has been so strange this pregnancy). 
Friday night, another night from hell. Pain just won't subside- even with the help of narcotics.
Saturday rolls around, replacement part is delivered- has to be sterilized for at least 24 hours. We watched the Notre Dame football game on television- the won! Go Irish. Dr. called surgery is going to be Monday- no sooner, no later. Thank God for a definitive answer.
Saturday night is better. Finally figuring out how to manage his pain. 3 Motrin seem to help take the edge off- at least enough for him to catch some zzzz's
Sunday comes and Matt wakes up refreshed. Has some coffee and some cinnamon rolls (mmmm.. my favorite!). Spends the morning/afternoon dry heaving. Not.a.good.time. After much discussion and coaxing we get him back to the ER. The pain is too much and he's apparently dehydrated.
Long ER story short- he bitched and complained the entire time we were there, so we had him discharged. He wanted something to eat- an Arby's roast beef sandwich. He ate 2. Got home. He started feeling sick. Vomited for the next 3-4 hours. I had a mental breakdown. Went to bed at 7:30 because I couldn't calm down. Thank God his parents were here. Don't know what I would have done without them.
So yesterday was the big day. We expected the surgery to last about 2 or so hours. But we were never told exactly how long we should have expected it to last. 6.5 hours later, he was finally stitched up and heading to recovery. He went under around 3 and we didn't see him until 11. What an exhausting day.
Good news is that he has a good prognosis for the healing. The doctor who did the surgery was extremely nit-picky and very thorough.
I took today off due to a serious headache/high blood pressure, hopefully I will be able to get some rest once I go see him.
He's in a lot of pain but hopefully the hospital staff will be able to get(and keep) him pain-free. He deserves to be comfortable for a couple of days.
For now, we're all crossing our fingers that Claire will stay inside of mamma for a few more days! If we can make it to 39 weeks, I think we'll all be in the clear. In the meantime I'm going to be busy caring for my poor husband. Say a prayer for us! Lord knows we need as many as we can get.

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks Matt and I's 10th "dating" anniversary. Ten years people! I cannot believe it. We started out as friends and it blossomed into something so truly amazing. We are not only each others life's companion, but we are also each others best friend. We spend all of our time together. If we aren't at work, we are with each other. We're total homebodies, so we spend a very large portion of time at home, hanging out and driving each other crazy ;)

This Saturday will mark our 5th wedding anniversary. And shortly after our anniversary, we will be welcoming our first baby into our lives. What a wonderful, wonderful life. I couldn't be more thankful.

Here's a photo of us from Sunday. Matt's parents and grandfather treated us to a wonderfully yummy anniversary dinner.

34 weeks pregnant, 2012

and here are some old ones :)

on our honeymoon, 2007

a wedding photo, 2007

and another :)

when we moved in our home, 2009

at a charity banquet, 2009