Bed Rest and Not Enough Morphine

I wasn't feeling too well but got up to get ready for church anyway. It would be so nice if church wasn't at 9 in the morning... but oh well. I was having contractions, more than usual, but they weren't "consistent" so I didn't think it was an issue. I got up, ate my Cheerios, and headed off - it was raining so we cheated and took the car.

It didn't take long for me to start feeling really sick and then this random sudden pain came in my abdomen. I wouldn't have paid too much attention to it, but it didn't go away. Then I started getting light headed and nauseated. It became very hard for me to keep my head up so I kept leaning it on Eric or resting it on my arm. I tried leaning forward and dropping it to see if I could get more blood to go to my head but nothing seemed to be working. Eric asked if we needed to go home and I said yes. I was worried I was going to pass out and I was continually throwing up Cheerios in my mouth (it'll be a while before I can eat those again) Before we got up to go a lady - brand new in the ward - came up and asked if I was ok. She was sitting 2 rows behind us so apparently it was pretty obvious that I was unable to control my muscles. She said she's a nurse at the hospital and that she could help get me out of the chapel.

It is thanks to her that I didn't hit the floor the instant I stood. She could read in my face that I was going down and she knew just how to hold me. Between her and Eric we made it to the couch and she checked my pulse. She wanted someone to call an ambulance, but our car was right outside so we said we could just drive. She was very adamant that we go to the hospital but I just wanted to go home. I could see in Eric's face that he didn't like the idea of just going home but he supported me and we went home.

Once we got home my visiting teacher called and said we needed to at least call the on-call physician at my clinic... the doctor we spoke to also said we needed to go to the hospital. I asked Eric if we had to and he said yes, he wasn't going to back down this time. I then said, "I hate hospitals though, they always stick you with something." If only I had known how true that was...

We got to the hospital and I was wheeled up to the 5th floor where Labor and Delivery is. We got all checked in and were shown to our room. I was then hooked up to various monitors that showed my blood pressure was stabilized, the baby had a good heart beat, and that I was having contractions. After taking a long time to get my history and such the nurse finally called my OBGYN who was going to be at the hospital that day for a delivery so she said she would stop by and check on me. She also ordered blood work, an ultrasound, and she said that we could take away the pain. So the nurse poked me (remember what I said about getting stuck with things???) and then got me in a wheel chair to go to the other side of the hospital for the ultrasound. Before we headed out she went and got my pain relief - morphine, in a shot (again with the sticking me...). I considered telling her that my pain was all gone, no pain, no need for morphine...isn't morphine what they gave the guy in Saving Private Ryan right before he died? (That's a quote from Brian Regan... if you haven't seen his hospital clip, you should look it up)

As we rolled down the hall the nurse explained that the morphine was to serve 2 purposes. One was to stop the pain and the other to stop the contractions. The nurse, knowing by this point that I do not like needles, tried to make me feel better about the shot mentioned that she got the shortest needle possible and was giving me a smaller dos because I'm little. I didn't feel very comforted. When we got down to the ultrasound room I was given the shot (ow) and then had my stomach examined. When we got there I said "I like ultrasounds, they don't poke you and they don't hurt..." Man was I going to eat my words. All my organs are squished so they had to push and prod to get any good pictures - I am surprised I don't have any bruises!

After almost passing out again from the morphine (lovely side-effect) we ran more tests, learned that the morphine had failed to stop the contractions, learned my doctor had to go deliver another baby, and eventually a conclusion was reached. My placenta had torn away from my uterine wall. It was a minor tear but it has the potential to grow. So I was ordered bed rest.

We were very lucky to have friendly nurses, but we were at the hospital way too long. We got there before 11:30 and didn't leave till after 6. Eric was exhausted, I was exhausted... I took a sleeping pill at 9 and was out in the next 10 minutes.

Today, bed rest is officially awful. Simply because I cannot get up and do anything I suddenly want to do everything! The morphine wore off so now I am in bed, in pain, not allowed to get up.  Eric is home, so if I get up I'm busted... He is perfectly willing to get anything I need but he is taking the doctor very seriously (she said I can only get up to us the bathroom). I know I need to be careful and take care of the baby, but really, what is strenuous activity? I feel it is in the eye of the beholder... :D

Free Fixes

There are 2 things about my home that needed fixing (ok, more than 2, but I can only do a few at a time... :D ). I wanted to make them free fixes... I thought I'd show you my crazy ideas because I am actually pretty proud of them.

The first fix was my stack of Ensign Magazines. Everytime I rearrange or clean I simply move the pile to a new place where it continues to look ugly and it is hard to sort through when I want a specific issue. I looked into magazine holders and I found a few but they were between $3 and $9 for 1! I knew I would need at least 3... So I wandered around my house looking at things. Finally, my eyes rested on our large cereal boxes. Yes, I said cereal boxes. CRAZY, I know, but let me tell you, they were PERFECT! I cut them down and covered them with paper. Unless someone pulls them out to get an Ensign Magazine, they will never be able to tell they are actually cereal boxes.

My other fix dealt with my couch. We have an ugly couch. Don't get me wrong, we are grateful for our couch - it was free... but it is ugly. This isn't a great picture, but you can see how the back cushions are slouchy and there are 3 large throw pillows. When Eric and I sit on the couch to watch a movie, the big back pillows usually end up on the floor and the 3 pillows are placed along the back on the side where we are sitting - leaving the other side of the couch bare. Well, I had an idea. Why not take those ugly back cushions and cut them into smaller pillows. The 3 that we already have cover most of the back of the couch so we'd only need like 2 more... So today I started cutting and stitching. (I have no idea what these things are stuffed with, but it is some kind of weird nasty stuff... no wonder they slouch so bad!) We now have sitting room on our couch and I am very pleased with it.

O My Soul Hungered

This may sound blasphemous, but my soul really was hungry! I needed good food... and Eric gave me the perfect excuse. 

Call us nerds if you want, but I have become SUPER ADD since I got pregnant - so one thing that Eric and I enjoy doing together is watching Starcraft 2 matches. They are short and we usually find pretty intense games. (It's a national sport over in Korea so technically you could call Americans nerds for watching football, soccer, or baseball...) Over the past month or so we have been watching the TSL 3 which is a tournament that had some pretty sweet players in it. To make things more interesting, Eric and I filled out brackets. :D  Eric said that the winner would get to pick where we went out for dinner.  What he didn't tell me was that he knew where I wanted to go and he had planned to say the same place if he won, simply to keep me happy... silly boy. At first I had the better predictions but then he started to pull ahead. Eventually we stopped keeping track because he revealed that he had chosen the same restaurant as me.

So on Saturday we had our date night. We went out to the Thai Kitchen. mmmmmmmmmmmm I didn't realize how much my soul desired Yellow Curry till I put the first bite in my mouth - HEAVEN! The worst feeling was when I started to fill up because I wanted to keep eating.  Luckily we didn't have some crazy physical activity planned for after dinner - we simply went to a movie and relaxed.

Then, on Sunday I had great food again! Eric has been wanting to try and make a soup, so one day while I was blog surfing, I came across a recipe for Tomato Basil Soup. We decided to make it for dinner and I swear it tasted like we picked it up at Zupas. SO good! Eric and I are officially the best cooking duo ever! A funny story about the soup ... we tasted it and felt it needed something. So I looked at my spices and chose Oregano and Celery Salt. Eric gave me a look, but I threw them in anyway and it totally worked! The funny thing? I had never cooked with nor tasted Celery Salt... :S But hey, all turned out well.

My soul is satisfied for now ...

Gardens and Showers

So, today I had lots of help from my favorite brother, Thomas and his best friend Wilson. I needed to cart dirt around from the back (by the garden) to fill in where the cats had been pooping. They had stayed away for a few weeks since I put oranges in the pit so theoretically they now know the area is off limits. *crosses fingers* They also helped me put up netting around the strawberry plants and weed whacked around the cracks in the patio. It looks awesome! I wanted to show you pictures!

Here is that nasty pit all filled in with flowers!

 There are flowers back by the mail box too, they are just harder to see

 Beyond the strawberries is a large hole... it looks like we were digging a grave.

Hopefully the landlord doesn't come by and freak out.

 In this picture we have 3 grape tomato plants, 2 jalapenos, 1 bell pepper, 

1 zucchini, and 1 cantaloupe.

This is a picture of our first strawberry!!!

These are some pictures from the Utah Baby Shower

 These are the cupcakes that some participants decorated attempting to match my cravings. Blech!

 My 2 cousins and I. The first, Teresa just had her baby girl named Aspen, 

Rachel is due June 14th (ish) and I am due to be induced around July 7th.

 These are 2 of my best friends from growing up - Erika and Erica. Somewhere, I have a 

picture of us from 5th grade on "twin day" ... I changed my name to Ericka for the day. :D

 Me, Kimberly, and Stephanie!!!

Not sure why Anna wouldn't smile.

Wanting a Bath

I went to the doctor last week and learned I have yet another infection (those seem to be common with me now that I'm pregnant). Ever since I started taking my antibiotic I haven't felt so good... I am blaming the antibiotic.

Today, all I wanted was to take a bath. The problem? We don't have a bath. We have a tiny corner shower - the kind that fits one person (2 if the second person is small, though they don't actually get to stand in the water...). Slightly discouraged I decided to at least stand in the warm water stream.

Throughout the shower I started thinking... I'm going to have a child soon and since our sinks are roughly the size of the pipes under them, he'll need to be able to be bathed in the shower. But how? So I started wondering about plugging the shower. I looked at our drain and it's one of those ones that has a million holes the size of my pinky. Hmm, can't just stick a bottle in the drain. Then I thought about rags. Once they absorb water, it takes longer for the water to leak through - so I grabbed 3 rags and laid them one on top of the other and placed them over the drain and then placed me on top of them. Voila - instant though not as efficient as an actual plug.

But then I ran into another problem - by the time the water falls as far as it has to to collect at the bottom it is cold. The rags aren't terribly efficient so it takes longer than it should to fill up and obviously drains faster than I would like. Bummer... by this time my water heater ran out (it has about at 15 minute life span and takes just about all day to get back up to that 15 minutes).

I have plans to try and use boiling water from the stove in conjunction with the water from the shower... but that won't work so well for a baby, just for a mommy who is desperate enough to go through the effort.

I thought about using a bunch of pens to plug the shower, but one time my roommate flushed a pen down the toilet and we had serious problems... I don't want to risk that. Plus, pens would probably poke me - and the baby.

Realize I can only fit about 10 inches worth of water in the shower anyway... so I'm not expecting fantastic results, just results.

Does anyone know if they make plugs for the multi-holed drains? Or does anyone have a great idea for a MacGyver plug??? I am seriously asking here - any suggestion is a great one. I'll try it and tell you if it works!

The Mood Ring Experiment

Every morning when I get up I sift through my rings to see which one fits that will end up serving as my “I’m taken” notification to the world. (My fingers change size daily and so I have yet to find a ring that fits every day) Today, the ring that fit was a mood ring. 

Throughout the day, depending on what I was doing I would glance at the ring… it was pretty fun and so I thought I’d share with you what happened.

When I first got up and put on the ring, it was Emerald- Average Reading; Normal, Neutral, Fine, No Great Stress, Calm, Easily Amused, Alert, Involved, Sensitive, Tender, Ambivalent, Inner Disquiet

Later, I got on the computer to chat with Eric and the ring was Sapphire- Happy, Relaxed, Free, At Ease, Calm, Accepting, Optimistic, Lively, Joyful, Coasting, Peaceful, Contented, Pleasant, Moonstruck, Near Bliss, Warm, Giving, Lovable

The color didn’t stay very long, it quickly changed to Violet - Love, Romance, Heat, Passion, Sensual, Elated, Revitalized, Happy, Relaxed, Dreamer, Deep Thought, Keen, Intrigue, Mystical, Impulsive, Mischievous

I went to return a car part and the dealership told me that I couldn’t return it without the Ziploc bag it came in (even though I had the sticker that was on the bag). The problem was that I left the bag at the mechanic’s… So I went back and they couldn’t find the bag.  That’s when the ring turned Silver/Steel- Little Emotion, Neutral, At Rest, Cool, Unconcerned, Aloof, Inhibited, Sullen, Tired, Saddened, Depressed, Paranoid, Worried, Pessimistic, Very Nervous, Angst/Afraid

So I immediately called Eric. Which turned the color immediately to Sapphire- Happy, Relaxed, Free, At Ease, Calm, Accepting, Optimistic, Lively, Joyful, Coasting, Peaceful, Contented, Pleasant, Moonstruck, Near Bliss, Warm, Giving, Lovable

I then went on a journey of driving the car for 50 miles so that the internal computer would reset. As I drove and listened to music, the color was Indigo/Dark Blue - Ecstasy, Truly Happy, Deeply Relaxed, Inner Harmony, Tranquility, Jubilant, Bliss, Highly Passionate, Lovestruck, Very Romantic, Aglow, In Love, Sublime

After getting the car taken care of (it passed safety and emissions and there were no problems getting it registered!) and going to the doctor’s (learning that my doctor will be out of town on my due date, so she moved my due date up a week) I got home to find Eric had made dinner. That’s when the ring turned Ruby- Allured, Aroused, Love/Fiery Passion, Thrilled, Awestruck, Active, Adventurous, Excited, Anxious, Insecure, Fazed, Tensed, Alarmed

Now that Eric is quietly doing homework beside me, it is back to Violet - Love, Romance, Heat, Passion, Sensual, Elated, Revitalized, Happy, Relaxed, Dreamer, Deep Thought, Keen, Intrigue, Mystical, Impulsive, Mischievous

Now, I don’t put too much stock into these things – but it was definitely fun today to see how the ring changed throughout the day.

The end to the car saga ... I hope

Drew

So, Eric gave me permission to jimmy-rig the car to pass inspection. (here are my car troubles) Rather than break more things by trying to take apart the dashboard and playing with wires, sharp objects, and matches... I called my cousin Drew. After he tried a few things we asked my dad for help.

Dad

After that we decided to pay the money to get it fixed at a mechanic's shop because jimmy-rigging it wasn't working. My dad has a mechanic he trusts and since he needed to get his car inspected, we both went this morning. He got his car inspected and I left my car at the shop. I had planned to just have them fix the mark light (the one where the dealership gave me the wrong part) but when I was filling out the paper work, the mechanic saw my paper work from Jiffy Lube talking about the stupid sensor light and apparently that has to be fixed too because apparently even though the light isn't always on, they plug the car up to a computer and the problem will still show up - light or no...

The mechanic laughed at me when I told him that I tried to do what Jiffy Lube suggested regarding getting the car fixed and I almost yelled at the poor man. By this time, I know the people at Jiffy Lube aren't mechanics and I know their advice isn't sound (I should have realized that when they suggested super glue)... I know I've done stupid things trying to get this car fixed. Next time I'll do a better job and it won't take me as long - but I don't need to be made fun of for being stupid, I already know that!

So, theoretically, by end of day today the car should be ready for me to take in to Jiffy Lube to pass inspection and then the DMV to register it ... so by end of day tomorrow I should have a safe, working car.

Our Home

Eric and I love our home. We're in danger right now simply because the insurance company our landlord is using is refusing to cover the house - they say the roof needs to be replaced along with a ton of other things... We are crossing our fingers that we don't have to move while they make the house "liveable." Our landlord has been coming over taking pictures of things to try to show the insurance company that the house is fine - hopefully it works! I know I have posted pictures a few pictures of the outside of our home, but I haven't ever done inside ones... So I have put up a few.

First I want to show you my new garden. Our neighbors Mike and Marybeth Sanders take good care of Eric and I. They have an incredible garden and had left over plants. Yay! Eric has been asking me when we were going to start our garden and being the lazy creature that I am I continually answer "I don't know..." Saturday night the Sanders provided us with a garden. I was so excited that I couldn't wait till Monday to plant them - I began planting immediately. I brought the car around back and turned on the high beams for light and began de-weeding our garden area and planted our new plants.  :D We hope to add another cherry tomato plant as well as some zuchinni. Not sure what else to plant - got any ideas?

*waves hand* There are no weeds on the side of the garden

In case you can't read the print on the picture, left to right we have 

3 rows of strawberries, bell peppers, jalepenos and cherry tomatoes.

I got into a rearranging mood Sunday night and Eric helped me move all the furniture, so now we have room for a crib!

I will now take you on a tour of Two Step:
Eric named the house that because it only takes 2 steps to take the tour :D 

When you first walk in you see the Living Room

 The crib will go where the sewing table in the corner currently is.

 We will soon be moving Eric's drums out to storage *sob*

If you take a left, you'll find the kitchen

I would like to point out that one of the "chairs" at the table is actually a step stool
that my Mother-in-law bought me to be able to reach those ridiculously high shelves!

 Yes, there is a bookshelf in the Kitchen. :D

After the kitchen you'll find the Laundry Room

If you take a right from the Laundry Room you'll come across the Bedroom

 The bassinet will probably be on the floor at the foot of the bed when we're using the changing table

And lastly, comes our small, but cute, Bathroom

 People have asked how I trained Eric to put the toilet seat back down: secret revealed!

And that is our home. It is small, but we love it!

Mother's Day

This morning Eric made me breakfast in bed and gave me my mother's day gifts. His grandparents gave us a $50 Borders giftcard for Christmas which Eric let me spend ALL of for my mother's day presents. :D I purchased the Mistborn Trilogy and Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. I also got a Vampireology book to complete my "ology" collection. See all the other "ology books?" I love this collection!!!






He also bought me a work out band to match his so that when I am "unpregnant" I can do P90X with him (after watching him do it in the mornings I'm starting to wonder what I've gotten myself into by promising to work out with him...).

In the evening, before I went crazy with rearranging the house, he sat me down and told me all the things he loves about me - it was one of the most precious moments that has ever passed in my life. He truly was made for me.

I Won!!!

Ok, so every week I look at all the fun giveaways on the craft blogs that I follow and sometimes I enter - but I never win... well, today I woke up to an email in my inbox saying that I won something! Aren't these adorable?

Chris at Us and Them made these and I thought they were SO cute! I love to sew but I'm not very good at it - plus the Mr. and Mrs. require a cruicuit or some other cut-out machine which I don't have (though I have told Eric that once we are rich that is one thing I would love to get!). And now, I don't have to worry about making them!!! I get them for free! Talk about fantastic!

I also won today because I got Eric to go run errands with me! One of the errands he had to come with -- exchanging his shirts (I keep telling him he's not as big as he thinks he is, but he never listens...). I convinced him he had to come with to Costco because he had to get his picture taken (though we learned you can have the other person come in later and I could have just gotten the card myself... oops). Sadly, the car parts store was closed so I am still on my own for that one. (The part the dealership gave me is wrong and they will look at the circuit, but there is a huge fee just for looking at it, not to mention the part fee and service charge... ugh) But then we went to Borders where I got my Mother's Day presents - though Eric is determined to wrap them so I don't actually get them till tomorrow - which is fine. :D

Awesome day.

10 Things I Learned From My Mom

In light of the upcoming Mother's Day, I thought I'd share with you 10 things I learned from my Mom:

1. Don't worry about how big your purse is, you'll need what's in it (better to be prepared)
2. Christmas music is not just for December (do what makes you happy no matter what others think)
3. Accept your failures and learn from them
4. Take responsibility for your own growth - no one else can make you into who you want to be
5. Life is going to have bumps - might as well drive fast over them! Even if it's rough on you, it'll at least startle the people in the back of the car
6. When company is coming over and you don't have time to do all the dishes, hide the big ones in the oven
7. There's always room for Jello (or ice cream!)
8. "Be who you are and say what you mean for those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind"
9. Do your homework first thing when you get home so you can play later
10. Unconditional love

I love you Mom!

*face palm*

Why do I feel like if I was a man this would be a lot easier???

So, our (well, technically my since the Saturn is now technically Eric's, not that it matters because the Saturn now hates me too... it didn't used to but ever since it decided it likes Eric better, even though I drove it for 5 years, it now gives me problems) Golf hates me... I truly think it has a vendetta against me! Which is sad because I am absolutely in love with it... I am learning to not push on the super sensitive breaks so hard and I'm getting better at getting in and out of the car. And, I love being able to run errands while Eric is gone...  But now, I get to spend even more quality time with it getting it fixed.

I dragged Eric in with me to get it registered at the DMV and learned we had to get the safety and emissions test done again since we're now in a different state. So we run down to Jiffy Lube and learn it doesn't pass... not just doesn't pass, but it really doesn't pass. Brake light out (they can fix that), mark light out - who needs those anyway? (they can't fix that because it isn't the bulb, the mechanism is corrosive), windshield needs to be replaced - cause of a few cracks??? (they can't fix that either), and, the sporadic engine light decided to turn on - it isn't on now... - and so they said there is a problem with the engine coolant temperature circuit (no, they couldn't fix that either).

So I try to get ahold of my friend's dad who is a mechanic and he won't turn on his phone and his phone doesn't take messages. Blah. Eric called the windshield people and they are mobile (score!) and are coming today (yes, I'm home alone) to fix it. So far, 1 point for Eric (the man) 0 points for me. 

So today I went to auto zone to try and get the part for the mark light... did they have it? Of course not, they only have a universal one for newer cars. The guy didn't believe me when I said it was not the part I needed so I had to take him outside and show him on my car. And then I had to show him how to take the mark light apart (can I say that I felt pretty cool???) After all that, told me his part wouldn't work in my car (duh) and said I had to call the dealership. Still 0 points. And does the dealership have the part? Of course not, but luckily they can order it! Half point for me. I ask them about this crazy circuit thing and he said when I come in to get the other part I can have it looked at and perhaps it is an easy fix! Another half point. I'll get the full point when I finish... The guy at the dealership thinks he can have the part in tomorrow, hooray! But then I have to go to the dealership and deal with more car people - who never make sense!

I am starting to think I should have stuck around when Eric's dad was teaching him how to change an oil filter because with my luck mine will break and I'll have to change it on the highway! (Is that possible? I don't even know...) I wish I could say this was all the car's fault, but really - cars hate me... I think I'm allergic or something. They all seem to break down in my presence. *face palm*