It's My Birthday and I'll Blog if I Want To

Honestly, I kind of always forget it's my birthday. I just have so much other stuff to focus on that until someone else greets me with birthday wishes, I think it's another day. And most people don't know when my birthday is. I just don't like to be the center of attention. I never tell the kids, and I always discourage my sweet husband from doing something.

I think he's had enough of that, though. I don't know if it's the rough time I'm having with this pregnancy or just the years of me telling him "no, nothing big," but he has outdone himself this year.

First off, he bought me this...

I could have peed myself. Well, almost peeing one's self when pregnant happens more than most pregnant ladies like to talk about. And, believe me, he got a good deal on it. If he'd have paid the $600 sticker price, I would have shot him in the foot with all of the medical expenses that are occurring with this pregnancy. My old watch was on it's last legs from everyday wear over the past few years.

And then he got me a rose delivered to the house. Just one rose with a note that only said he loved me. It was perfect. 

And then, oh it's not over yet, he's using a gift certificate we got for Christmas to go get me steak and shrimp and eggplant for dinner. I'm getting a big ol' 13oz ribeye with some fried eggplant covered with shrimp creole and a piece of king cake cheesecake. I am soooo looking forward to dinner - which is being brought to me, so I can watch in pj's in bed watching Dark Shadows if I want to! Which means I don't have to worry about anyone seeing my fat lip... I'll share that embarrassing story in a minute. 

Other than that, it's been a normal day. The kids and I slept in and cuddled in bed for a while before I got up to make breakfast. I made them some donuts and we've read stories and played games and I've fixed Auds' hair to match each of her 10 outfits she's worn so far today. Now, I'm taking a blogging break while I work in the studio on some precious newborn portraits. 

So how did my fat lip happen? It's so embarrassing. It's raining here. A lot. Like massive flooding 13+ inches in a day raining. Our yard is a swamp pretty much, but our house is dry and for that I'll praise the Lord. I'm also thankful that we didn't get hit by the two tornadoes that rampaged just a bit from our house. Anyway, it was raining and cold, my hardworking husband was working what would end up being a 17 hour day and we had no food in the house. So, I bundled the kids up and took them to make groceries. In the 30 degree weather. In the rain. Right before lunch. While pregnant. Sometimes I wonder about myself. 

Anyway, the mail had just passed and I didn't want to walk down our long driveway to get it so I thought "I'll just drive up to the mailbox on my way out." Yeah...haha. As I'm leaning out of the van to get the mail, I bumped the window button and it started to roll up hitting me square in the mouth and catching my head between the window and the top of the door before stopping and going back down. Thank goodness no one was out to see that. "Honey, what happened today?" "Oh, nothing. That pregnant lady next door got her head stuck in her van window when she was hanging out of it." 

And, let me tell you, it hurt! I now have a big fat lip and a bruise. It's attractive, let me tell you. 

The most random stuff happens to me, I think I should write a book. Perhaps I'll call it "The Woman Who Gets Attacked by Windows and the $100k+ Pregnancy." Lemonade from lemons, folks!

I'm Learning

Thank God for whoever invented pinterest. Since I came from a background that was as domestic as a lumberjack, it's safe to say it's been an interesting journey since being married these past 6 years. I've learned to do laundry and iron, dishes, cook and see and am still learning.

I caught a pin on making your own chicken stock. The stuff in the store is expensive and full of goodness knows what, plus you still need the chicken. But, if you buy a whole chicken at 99 cents/lb and a bag of carrots and celery for $1 each, you can make your own - and keep the meat!

So, last night I made my first stock and deboned the cooked meat from the chicken. All while about to throw up an with two toddlers hanging off of me. I made 5 containers of stock to freeze and got two bags of shredded chicken to cook with. Not too shabby if you ask me.

I'm on a kick of trying to pre-make foods. My sweet husband has been working 17 hour days trying to settle a multimillion case, and I just feel like I'm floating in between all of my appointments, church activities and the kids. In order to help me on those late nights, it'd be great to just grab a meal and warm it up.

And Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Blogging

Oi. The end of the year and beginning of this has been absolutely CRAZY!

The kids loved their Christmas presents, which I'm thrilled about. Of course they got spoiled by other family members, too.

We had a great Christmas, albeit stressful with driving all across the state to visit everyone.

New Years was brought in with our annual Watch Night Service. We were there for seven hours (yes, that long), but it felt like 2. The worship was AMAZING - exactly what I needed to cleanse my soul before the new year - and our bishop preached. He is just phenomenal. He has so much wisdom and knowledge and is so prayerful and lead of God that you could listen to his sermons 100s of times and not catch every nuance. He spoke for 3 hours and didn't finish and I honestly wanted him to keep going. But, it was almost midnight and our tradition is to take communion at the start of the year as a consecration.

So, at 11:59, I happily took communion. And at 12:01 I was in the bathroom throwing up. Woo hoo.

We slept in as much as the kids would allow on the 1st and just had a family day.

January 2nd brought a trip to the ER for severe abdominal pain. Drum is fine, but my intestinal system isn't functioning properly and isn't processing anything. A few hours spent there and I get sent home with the condition to come back if the pain hasn't calmed down by the end of the week.

Friday brought the second trip to the ER. Since I have a bicornuate uterus with a history of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and pre-term labor, we have to be extra cautious about anything and everything.

Sunday was the 6th, which starts carnival season, so we went to the French bakery to get a king cake after church and started to take down our Christmas decorations.

Monday brought a trip to specialist #2, which still has me vexed. The specialist talked to my midwives and my OB and got me a referral into see them and figure out what the problem is. I get there any only see the NP, who was the most condescending person EVER. I'm usually very forgiving and let things roll off my back but.. if I weren't a Christian, I could have popped her one. She told me that there was nothing that they could do and they wouldn't even look at me since I was pregnant and my OB should have told me that. My question, is if my OB should have told me that and you knew you wouldn't see me, why did you tell him to get me a referral and get over there ASAP to figure out what was wrong. And then charge me $225 before insurance, which means I may get another bill later. Yay.

Today I finally caught ahold of the company who is supposed to be providing my weekly progesterone shots. I was supposed to start taking them two weeks ago. I still haven't received them. They tell me that the meds cost $15,000. Yes, you read that right,  15K! And that my insurance would only cover $12,000 of that, leaving me with $3000 to pay. And the money had to be paid up front before they would deliver the first dose.

I don't know about you, but I don't just have 3K to just hand over without a second thought. I asked if there was anything we could do about that. I was transferred to the actual manufacturer and had to answer a whole bunch of questions. I told them I couldn't pay 3k today, especially seeing two midwives, one OB, and two specialists who all have their own bills. They put me on hold and got a manager and then asked me if I could afford $25 a vial, and a vial should last about a month. That is a whole lot better than $3,000 if you ask me. So, the manufacturer is going to absorb the rest of the cost and tell the providing company who will then ship me the medicine next week - three weeks after I was supposed to start.

I've been advised to reduce as much stress and get as much off of my plate as I can since my body is having such a hard time with this pregnancy. Bless my husband, he's been doing the dishes, the laundry, dinner, and giving the kids a bath most nights. I have to do prenatal yoga and take regular detox baths as well.

My baby crew (midwives, doctor, and specialist) have also gone form the big goal of getting me to full term to go to month-by-month goals. That in and of itself is pretty terrifying. Imagine having your midwife tell you that instead of focusing on getting you to full term, they're just gonna worry about getting you to 20 weeks, then 24, then 28. They're doing it so that as the issues arise, they can give them the attention they deserve to try to keep Drum and me as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

But, it's hard. And its rough trying to decipher what pains I should rush to the ER for and what pains are normal. Coz, sometimes pregnancy is just rough. But with a slew of complications, all of the lines get blurred.

So, I spend most of my days playing with the kids, nesting as much as I can (and getting fussed at later for it) and resting. At least I have something shiny to look at while I rest. My sweet hubby spoiled me and bought me a new watch. My old leather watchband was falling apart after three years of daily wear and the face was all scratched up. So, I got my birthday present a week early. It's more function than form, but he did get me a pretty little one.

I go see the midwife again next week, and in Jesus' name it'll all be alright. At this point, I'm just trying to be calm and stand on faith that God will take care of us. He knows what He's doing.