Elle Bird

There is something that I want to share with you that I really feel is worth your time to read and be involved in. It's called Elle Bird. If you've seen my facebook you've probably seen the link already. But I want to share it here too.

Carrie Stanley is the founder and creator of Imprints of the Heart and Elle Bird. On her website she tells a tiny piece of the story of how these companies came to be and why they are so important. It's just the tip of the ice berg.

I went to high school with Carrie (wow, a long time ago). We sang in the same choir, went to the same church, and double dated to prom. We both married boys from our home town and had children. But then I moved to California and we live separate lives. Still, I feel connected to her as someone I shared so many of my growing up years with. And as a mother I share a compassionate heart.

Carrie's daughter Leiryn was diagnosed with a terminal illness before she was 2 years old. I followed her Caring Bridge site as Carrie updated with new tests, new struggles, new hope, lost hope, and I cried every step of the way. No one, and I mean no one, should have to go through what Carrie and her family have gone through. And yet, they are so positive. They are still smiling. And they get through one day at a time.

While I cannot begin to compare my own struggles with what the Stanley family has been through, this cause touches a special place in my heart. There was a time when my own daughter was in the NICU, weighing only 3 pounds, that I wasn't sure we were ever going to bring her home. To look at her lying there in an isolette with IVs, a feeding tube, and monitors broke my heart and often my spirit. But eventually we did bring her home, something not all mothers get to do.

I have a necklace that Carrie made for me two years ago with my son's fingerprint on it. Every time I wear it I place my finger over the little indentation that was made by his tiny finger and I remember how blessed I am that he is healthy. I cannot wait to get one made with my daughter's fingerprint. It seems so small, it's just a piece of silver. But it's a piece of my child that I wear over my heart. And for families who have lost a child that piece is all they have.

Carrie has an infectious laugh and contagious spirit that I can see in her daughter's eyes when I look at pictures. She started Imprints of the Heart and Elle Bird to help other families who are dealing with similar struggles, illness, and the loss of a child. It's important. Please, please read her story, watch the video, and support Elle Bird. Every dollar is one step closer to helping a family receive  a precious keepsake. www.ellebirdstudios.com

In other news....

I'm feeling much better. Most days. The bruising feeling on my kidney is gone and now I just have intermittent pain from hydronephrosis (back up of fluid on my kidney). It's caused by a blockage or obstruction. I thought the whole point of the lithotripsy was to break up the stone(s) small enough to pass. And it is. But I learned that sometimes patients get a thing called steinstrasse (literally means stone street) when all the little fragments and debris get backed up in the ureter. It's incredibly painful. But it comes and goes and eventually will go for good.

I had an ultrasound yesterday, too, for my liver. Apparently the last three times I had blood drawn my liver enzymes were elevated. That prompted an order for some imaging and a hepatitis panel. The Hep panel came back negative so now I'm just waiting on results of the ultrasound. It was weird being on the other side of the machine.

Megan had her 4 month check up and is doing really well. She's 24 inches and 13lbs, 20th percentile!! She's come so far from her 2 month appointment where she was still in the zero percentile. She's talking and smiling all the time, sitting up in her bumbo, and she can roll from belly to back. Still can't quite get the back to the belly but she's trying so hard. 

Caleb starts a new pre-school on Monday that should be a little more academically challenging for him. He's just not getting enough where he is now. Brian and I both feel like the curriculum at his current school is too far beneath him and he isn't advancing to the level that he should be for his age. So, new school it is. He's really excited and I hope the transition is easy for him.

Looking for something fun, cheap, and family friendly to do with the kids next weekend. Any suggestions?

Don't mind me, I'm drugged.

I can't post to my blog from work, which is usually where I am when I have access to a computer. Instead, I write blogs and save them as drafts until I can get my hands on the laptop at home. Lately Brian has been getting another certification for work which requires lots of laptop time. I have written, rewritten and revised my blog entry so many times because it's "outdated" that it's not even worth using anymore. So I'm starting over. From home.

I had lithotripsy done on Thursday and I'm recovering well. I had another kidney stone, a few actually, that landed me in the emergency department again a few weeks ago. I was sent to a urologist (Yay! Another specialist!) and he said I was a good candidate for lithotripsy. I was feeling ok and the ER doctor had prescribed me some pain medicine so it was decided that the procedure was non emergent. For two weeks I battled the pain on and off until finally on Thursday I went under anesthesia to have the bugger blasted into a million pieces.

Although there was no actual cutting, I was under general anesthesia in the OR and did all the regular pre-op stuff stuff. It felt like surgery. I woke up in recovery with a throat that felt swollen shut from the airway tube and a lot of pain in my back. All normal but very scary when I wasn't sure where I was and all alone.

I'm doing ok, just sore. Today is better than yesterday and I'm sure tomorrow will be better too. I feel like Mike Tyson punched me in the kidney. It's bruised internally from the intense blasting and made me pee blood. Now I just have to pass all the little particles that are left from the stone, like peeing sand. But I've got some good pain meds so I'm feeling niiiice. Sorry if this post was all over the place, I'm drugged.

I'm Too Young To Be This Old

I'm much older than the years I have spent on this earth. I stay in on the weekends because the stores are too crowded and I don't go to the movies because it's too loud. But I'm also physically old and falling apart.

Not only do I have a primary physician, but I also have an endocrinologist, a nephrologist, a gynecologist, a perinatologist, and now I have a cardiologist. As if I needed one more thing, now my doctor is concerned about my heart.

I've had high blood pressure for a long time and it's always been decently controlled with medication. BP normally goes up during pregnancy but mine got out of control while I was growing Megan. So much so that she actually stopped growing and we had to have her early. We (my doctor and I) thought that things would level out once I wasn't pregnant anymore but at m 6 week post postpartum visit my pressure was still too high and I was still swollen. I was also having intermittent episodes of tightness in my chest. I was referred to a cardiologist to make sure the stress of pregnancy didn't cause permanent damage.

I just had a stress echo yesterday which showed that structurally my heart is normal. There was a dropped beat on the EKG, but I'm not sure exactly what that means yet. My follow up is next week and we'll find out if that's an issue. For now, I'm fine. The doctor got my heart rate up to 179 during the echo and I was tired but still able to talk in full sentences.

"You're a natural athlete," he said.

Clearly he needs to retire.

Me, for just a little while.

After having Megan I am officially back to work as of last Monday. It's hard, but it's good.

For the sake of my own sanity I need to work. I love my job and I genuinely enjoy what I do and where I work. I am very blessed to be able to say that. But also, I need routine. Having a schedule and a plan makes me feel organized and efficient. It lowers my anxiety.

Working also makes me a better mom. That seems like an oxymoron but it's true. I do not have the patience or imagination to be a full time stay at home mom. Do I wish I were home more? Of course. I love my kids and I want to spend lots of quality time with them. I want to do all those crafts and make all those fun snacks that I have on my Pinterest boards.

But I need that time away from the house where I am not Mom for just a little while. At work I can exercise parts of my brain that don't get used while I'm playing with dinosaurs and monster trucks. I have adult conversations that don't involve spit up. I feel like the me I was before I had kids.

I'm not an awful person. I don't wish that I never had kids. They are absolutely the best thing that has ever happen to me and I love being a mom. I could go on and on about the rewards and benefits of being their mom and how much better my life is because of them. And it's true. But being a mom means making sacrifices to my personal life, my time alone, my breakfast, my wardrobe, and sometimes, yes, my hygiene. We sacrifice our whole selves.

We all do it and we do it out of love because the moment you become a mom your life isn't about you anymore. I just don't think that means I have to give up all of the person I was before I had kids. I honestly think that's where a lot of marriages fall apart. You transform from the people who married each other into parents without looking back. You forget about the little things that make you YOU because you're always MOM.

I give stay at home moms so much credit. It's hard and I will openly admit that I can't do it. And I still think it's important for SAHMs to get out...alone. Grab a coffee and wander around Target by yourself and be you, not Mom, for just a little while. Get some "me time." It's invaluable, refreshing, and it doesn't mean that you don't love your kids if you want to spend some time away from them.

In my case my "me time" is at work. I guess that doesn't sound very relaxing but it's that time away where I'm just me. When I come home after a long day I am a better mom to my kids because I haven't been yelling all day to pick up your toys. I haven't been going deaf listening to fire truck sirens and saving the dog from super hero stunts. I haven't been changing diapers and cleaning spit up off the couch. When I come home I am just glad to see my kids and hug them a little tighter than I did the day before.

Of course I'm exhausted, but the Mom in me is refreshed and ready to take on whatever the kids can throw at me. Which is good because it might be poop.

Accessorize!!!

I love accessories. Bracelets, shoes, scarves, purses. All of it.  I love accessories because they don't make you look fat. Even on my ugliest most water retaining PMS bloated day those earrings I got on clearance are still cute.

Most of all, shoes. But here's my problem. I rarely wear the shoes I buy because I never wear the outfit I bought them for. Or worse yet - I never BOUGHT the outfit I PICTURED myself having when I bought the shoes in the first place.

I adore those flats, and I want to be skinny enough to wear the jeans that go with them. That belt is amazing, but the sweater dress I would wear it with doesn't fit.
 

I'm not kidding when I tell you that I have shoes in my closet that I have owned for 5 years and never worn. They go with a very specific type of dress that I simply cannot pull off. But.I.Love.Those.Shoes.

So even though my accessories don't make me look fat, the outfits they go with do. And until it's socially acceptable to wear heeled boots that match your purse with an oversized hoodie and yoga pants, I will continue to buy things that collect dust.