Sickness

We've been passing strep around at our house for about two months. Cora got it twice. I thought I was going to escape, but no. I was so sick. Ended up at the urgent care and got 2 liters of fluid and some IV antibiotics. Plus the shot I'd gotten the first time I went to the UC and oral pills as well. God willing we have it licked now. 

I missed my appointment with the counselor last week because of being sick. I have an appointment in an hour and a half. I didn't make much progress on my 'homework'. 

Good things: Kyla will be getting a car next week and hopefully her regular license soon after that. Emma has been helping the man at the office. And this week I will start going to a weekly Bible study with some friends. 

Oh! Edward has been using the toilet! He's doing quite well. I'm glad I've not pushed him. This way of letting them figure it out in their own is much less stressful than 'training' them. :)

Kyla Had Her Hair Cut...

Birth of my eldest child

I think I'll go back in time and post the stories of all my births. I only have the last two on this blog. They are the best ones, but I'd like to have a record of the others too.
 So...

I found myself pregnant at 19. Single. I was determined to keep the baby and do the best I could to raise her (and I was sure it was a her from the very beginning).

Not having much money and the father out of the picture made pregnancy difficult. I cried most every day and often when I would wake at night. I didn't eat the best. I didn't take care of myself. I'm sure that had at least a little to do with the traumatic birth I had with her.

I had been having regular contractions every day for over a week. They would increase in frequency and intensity all day until I went to bed and the next morning would 'reset'.

Finally, about two weeks past my due date, I couldn't sleep one night. I tossed and turned and at about 3 am my mom and I decided I should go to the hospital. I got there and wasn't dilated at all. They sent me home saying I wasn't in labor. I was, just very early. I had an appointment with the OB that morning at 10:00. Just before we left for the appt. I went to the bathroom and discovered I had lost my mucus plug.

At the OBs office I was checked and was nearly 3cm so the doc said to go back to the hospital. I wish I had waited. I should have gone to eat and maybe for a walk. Alas, I did not. At lunch time the OB came and broke my water, which was stained with meconium.

A few hours later after no progress in dilation the OB ordered the nurses to start pitocin. The contractions quickly became unbearable. It was several hours later when I asked for the epidural. That gave me some temporary relief from the contractions. I began to have "breakthrough pain" and was given a dose of demorol. That did nothing for the pain, just made me out of it between contractions so that all I was aware of was pain. The rest is quite blurry.

I remember the OB coming in and being told to push. I remember the room filling up with people. They turned me on my side and put an oxygen mask on my face. I remember being told to push more. I heard her cry. I didn't get to really look at her for nearly an hour. The OB spent a long time stitching me up. He had to use forceps to get Kyla out because she was in severe distress and I was not pushing well.

When I finally got to hold her I was still so drugged I don't remember much except noticing that she had her father's ears.

My recovery was long. I was so tired. So was she. It was near impossible to get her to nurse because she wouldn't stay awake once she was latched on. When she wasn't nursing or sleeping she was screaming. There are so many things I wish I'd known then...

I look back on that and I believe I was preeclamptic. My OB I believe dismissed warning signs because I was young and had such a low normal blood pressure. I am honestly surprised now that both of us made it through that birth alive and well.

Her birth was rough. Her infancy a trial in many ways. I've never been sorry that I kept her. She has been one of the greatest blessings of my life and has grown up into a wonderful young woman. :)

I Don't Want To...

write this post. I really don't.

In less than 30 hours my eldest daughter will be leaving home for three months to attend CMI (Children's Ministry Institute) in Missouri. That should be no big deal, right? Especially considering that we've already sent her off to Zambia, China and Romania. Those times she was coming back. For sure coming back.

This time she could not come back. She could be leaving home forever. She could meet some boy and get married and have a family of her own. Some young, clueless kid could come along and take her away. He will talk of his grand schemes of being a missionary in the deserts of Africa or the jungles of South America and she will be gone. They will go far away to serve God and my child will be gone. She will be a woman in whose life I have no say.

I've no doubt she will choose wisely. She's ever so much more sense than I had at eighteen. Even so, she will no longer be my daughter first. She will be a wife first and foremost and her life would be about him. Then she will have children and be a mother. That I really don't want to think about when I am expecting another baby myself! :P

I know it is unlikely, but possible even probable. I will miss her so much. She has been my daughter. My helper. My friend. My counselor. I'm not ready for the change that will come when she leaves to start a family of her own.

Kyla-girl, I love you. I will miss you. Take care. I know that God has great plans for you. :)

I don't want anymore bad news!!

About two weeks ago Sara got a bump on her head, but it was soft. Never had seen a soft bump like that so I took her in to the ER. ER doc said that it was likely just a hematoma and nothing to worry about. I still just had this feeling that something wasn't right, so I called the ped the next morning and got her in. Ped ordered a CAT scan and yes the bump on the outside was a hematoma, but there was also another hematoma next to her brain. So today I took her for another CAT scan, just to be sure the hematoma was going away. Well, this time they saw a fracture and there is a bleed as well so now we get to have an MRI done! YEAH! :S I am so glad that I did not listen to that ER doc!!

But that hasn't been the only thing going on. A few months ago Kyla was in to the ped for strep. The NP heard a murmur while we were there so they sent her to see a cardiologist. That appt was last week. When he was examining her he asked if she'd ever suffered from joint pain and an associated rash. I told him about something that had happened about 7 or eight years ago...

Back then Kyla had complained of joint pain. We had taken her to the ped and she was referred to an allergist who diagnosed her with JRA (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis). After a few months on the meds she was no better so I quit giving her the meds (those were some serious drugs and not to be taken unless one REALLY needs them) I never felt comfortable with that diagnosis. Anyway, after a month or two off the meds Kyla's symptoms disappeared, and we assumed that it was just growing pains and that Kyla was a weanie. She has had a couple other episodes of joint pain since then.

Well after hearing that the cardiologist said that he believed what she had was rheumatic heart disease. That is caused by untreated rheumatic fever which is a result of an undiagnosed or improperly treated strep infection.

Kyla suffers a lot of strep (3 cases in just the last year). With rheumatic heart disease each case of strep causes more damage to the heart. Different parts of the heart can be affected. In Kyla's case it is her aortial valve.

Kyla will have to be on antibiotics for the next 5 years, or more, to prevent future strep infections.

I hope this is all I have to deal with right now...I just don't know if I could take anything else at the moment!