Heartburn is going to be the death of me

For several weeks at the beginning of my 2nd trimester I was plagued with heartburn. We're not talking any sort of normal heartburn either. This heartburn starts in my sternum and then emanates to my back and then up into my shoulders and even down my arms. It hurts and that's putting it lightly. There's no finding relief from it once it starts. Tums didn't work, a glass of milk was a no-go, all of my normal remedies, which generally take care of it, failed. This is my 8th pregnancy and never have I had heartburn like this before, ever.

Then we went searching for info online and went to the store armed with information. We picked up a different flavor of Tums (our bottle was several years old and definitely expired) and we found some Gaviscon. Between the two they covered all 3 types of heartburn relief and seemed to do the job. Then I went to the Dr and they informed me that the one product which was actually helping me (the Gaviscon) was on the unknown list for pregnancy. This was explained to me to mean that it had been tested on animals with results that weren't favorable and either there is nothing known for human consumption during pregnancy or women who have used it during pregnancy have reported abnormal or unwanted results. The basics were that they didn't recommend that I take it and they said if I continued to have issues to let them know and they'd see what they could do to help. Well, the heartburn let up so there was no need for it or anything else.

Then this last weekend it started back up with a vengeance. Saturday morning I had a bowl of cottage cheese with fruit and we headed off to rehearsal for the primary program. At 11:30 it hit me and it hit hard. We had to leave early and head home. I took some Tums, had a glass of milk, layed down, stood up, sat down, and tried every position before I finally gave up and took some Gaviscon. When it still didn't let up I decided to try a bath and as the bathwater was pouring I finally had some relief. I sat in the tub anyway and then took a nap. I got up and felt fine for awhile, had something to eat and then started to make dinner for the family. The heartburn started up again and this time it was worse than the AM. I tried everything all over again with no relief at all. I suffered through it, I cried, I changed positions, I sat in the tub 3 different times-nothing. Finally about 3:30am (yes, it really did last that long) I felt the need to vomit and it came up. The food I had eaten before 5pm was all there leading me to think that maybe this is more of a digestion problem which is causing the heartburn? Just an idea. Anyway, within about 20 minutes the pain subsided and I was able to go to sleep.

Sunday I was fine pretty much all day but I was careful what I ate and how often I ate it. Then about 10PM it started up again-I was not looking forward to another night of pain. I tried to fight it-I moved around, got up and twisted things around and even tried going for a walk around the block. By the time I got back I could feel the need to vomit again and actually looked forward to it so I could get some relief. Now, I'm not one of those people who can willingly stick my finger down my throat in order to get that result so I was trying to figure out what to do. I was leaning on the kitchen counter feeling helpless and crying while trying to think of what I could do when I had this thought. I had posted about my heartburn on Facebook and many friends responded with ideas to help and one of them was to take a spoonful of vinegar. I did try it once and the result was that everything immediately came back up-this is what I wanted tonight. I needed the relief from the pressure and it was already nearly in my throat anyway so I cleaned out the sink (the one with the garbage disposal) and got out the vinegar. I took the spoonful and waited. Nothing. I walked around the kitchen, started to pack the kids' school lunches and started to think "maybe I should drink a glass of milk-then the vinegar will make it curdle and have my result". But as I thought this I realised that the pain was gone. I waited a few more minutes and started to feel good. No more nausea, no more pain, nothing. Not exactly the result I wanted but hey, it actually worked! It was midnight by then so I went upstairs and gladly went to bed.

Cue Monday. Monday was good, I was on my regular schedule-ate food, walked Rebekah to kindergarten, ran errands, had a late lunch and then picked up kids from school. Josh came home and let me take a much needed nap and I got up in time for dinner, which I had prepped right before I layed down. As I went to the table it started up again-I'm really starting to hate heartburn. Josh suggested a giant pickle (which is essentially bathed in vinegar, right?), which sounded much better than a spoonful of vinegar, so I got one out. I ate it and waited. This time it took about 20 or 30 minutes and just as I was about to give up, the pain subsided. It actually works, I don't know how or why or what the science is behind it, but it actually works. It doesn't taste good and I don't recommend it with milk, but it works and I'm so not complaining.

So, the moral of my really long story is that heartburn is going to plague me and I'm not sure that having a baby with a head full of hair is worth the pain, but I'm so glad to have found something to work (for now anyway) to make it go away. Thank you to Regina for suggesting it (even though I doubted you at first) and I'm so glad to have had the courage to try it twice to figure it out. So next time you're having killer heartburn and you think you're going to die, give it a try and let me know if it works for you too.

Winning is Fun

Especially when you didn't know you were entered to win.

I got a phone call this morning from the vice principal at the kids' school. The only times I've ever talked to her is when there are concerns or problems about one or more of my kids so with her calling I expected the worst. So she starts out thanking us for attending the school's literacy night a couple weeks ago. This was a night where they explained to us how they grade our kids on their reading and how their program works. We wanted to go because the school and teachers have expressed concerns about all of our kids and their reading, we thought they were doing pretty good. Their program is so much different (and a little messed up if you ask me) than any other school or program we've ever dealt with and we wanted to know how it works.

Then she says "the other reason that I'm calling today.." this is where I expected to hear all about problems with one of my kids. Instead she goes on to tell me that the PTO put together a gift basket of learning games, treats and gift cards and then chose from all the parents who attended that night and our family was chosen. And those were the only reasons she was calling today. Talk about a pleasant surprise. Not only was she not calling to reprimand me as a parent (again) but she was also calling to tell us we won something nice and see when we could pick it up. This is what we got when we gotpicked it up after school:


It has a brain Quest game, Boggle, a dictionary, a Thesaurus, pretzels, gold fish, popcorn and a gift card to Barnes and Noble (there are probably some other snacks but they're buried in the basket and I don't feel like getting up to go look right now).
So we won a gift basket of nice things in a raffle we didn't know we were entered in for attending a parent information night where we learned about how our kids are expected to read at this school. For once it pays to have an unfair advantage of 4 kids, meaning 4 entries, in a raffle. For all the crap the school has given us this year, it's nice to finally have something nice for once.

23 weeks already

So we went to the Dr yesterday, twice. I had an ultrasound done in the morning and then went back to see the Dr in the afternoon. The last time I was in for an ultrasound the tech couldn't get one view of the heart that she needed and a view of the uterus so she had to reschedule to get them again. I'm not complaining because every time they need me to come back we get to see the baby once again and get more pictures to add to her album. She's always so cute with her little hands around and above her head (see above).

This time they were able to get the views they needed of everything and we got a few more shots of cuteness in the process. I love this shot of her little legs crossed. It makes me picture her just kicking back in there relaxing and floating around. We were also able to confirm that she is, in fact, still a girl, no question about it (see money shot below). As of yesterday, she weighs approximately 1 pound and 2 ounces-she's getting there.

Is it considered porn to post a picture of your babies genitals as pictured in an ultrasound? I don't think so but wondered what everybody else thought.

So, now that things are confirmed and we know exactly who is hanging out in there, I fully plan to start going through and sorting out baby clothes and getting rid of everything boy. If, for some reason, she happens to grow some extra extremities between her legs in the next few months and comes out a boy, I guess we'll have to go shopping.

So now I'm scheduled for a fetal echo (a high tech ultrasound of the babies heart), I'm having my glucose test done next appointment and then they want me to have more blood drawn in order to test, again, for genetic disorders. All of this because I'm now 35, I declined having an amnio and have lost the last couple babies. I honestly think it's a bit much but as long as the insurance is paying for it and it isn't invasive, they can run all the tests they want and I don't care.

I am trying my best to fully enjoy this, my last, pregnancy and so far I'm doing pretty good. I love every little kick and wiggle and hiccups are the best thing ever. I don't mind some of the rough stuff like heartburn and aches and pains now because I know that this is the little girl we've been waiting for and that this is the last time I will likely be going through any of these things. I love being pregnant, aches and all, and am quite willing to wait it out and deal with it in order to meet this precious little spirit when she's ready to come out and officially join our family.

Happy Birthday to Raven!

(Photo courtesy of Chuck E Cheeses, where we celebrated her birthday as a family)

In some ways it's hard to believe that it's been 7 years now since Raven was born. In other ways it seems like it's been forever ago. It seems so long ago that we lived in Germany and had some great friends and a wonderful doctor who was so patient and cared about those he saw and the babies he delivered. It's so hard to find a Dr who measures up as we travel around.

Raven is so nice and helpful to have around some times and then there are days when she's getting into everything and sneaking anything she can find and driving me crazy. She's such a smart girl and we're so proud of her and what she is accomplishing in school and elsewhere. Raven is a great reader and many who hear her read are amazed at how well she reads (except for her teacher at school but I won't go there now). She can be a challenge some days but when it comes down to it I don't know what I'd do without her in our family.

I remember having my 2 boys and finding out I was pregnant again. I was at a point where I had too many boys in the house and I was so afraid of adding another one to the clan. I prayed and prayed that the Lord would make her a girl and I vowed (quite seriously, and I think the Lord knew I was serious) that if that baby turned out to be a boy then I was done and we would quit having our own and adopt 2 girls and call it a family. I cried tears of joy when we had her ultrasound and found out she was a girl-I was so happy. She was happy and adorable and lit up our family. She hasn't changed much in that aspect. She is mischievious and inquisitive always and, though it might drive me nuts some days, I know she's smarter for it.

Happy 7th Birthday Raven! We love you so much!

20 weeks and counting

So, after a year of trying, losing and failing, I'm finally pregnant (again). This time it appears as though the baby is healthy and without issues and may actually make it full term. This excites me to no end. It's been a long and agonizing 20 weeks.
In the past, we were so anxious to tell family and then waited only through the first trimester to tell friends when we got pregnant. Then a little over a year ago I got pregnant and something just felt wrong. I told the Dr but he blew it off. They couldn't get a strong heartbeat but blamed it on the instruments, never saw things quite right and, again, blamed it on the machines. Then a couple days short of 20 weeks I started to spot and bleed and went to the ER to discover that our baby no longer had any heartbeat and my body was passing it out. After 3 ultrasounds by 3 different Dr's, we opted to speed things up with medication and I gave birth to a tiny, perfect but still born baby boy early in the morning on August 23, 2009. It was devistating-something I never thought I would ever have to go through. We grieved and cried but knew at the same time that it was the way things were supposed to be. We weren't meant to raise Kyle on this earth.
We moved on and decided to try again. By 6 weeks later when I went back for my follow up check (yes, they do those even when your baby wasn't born living) I was pregnant again. After a couple more ultrasounds where we saw our baby and a strong heartbeat, we decided to tell family-we were excited to be able to move on so quickly. Then, in mid-December, I started to bleed again. 11 weeks is pretty normal for miscarriage so this time nobody was concerned, except us. We wanted more answers and were concerned, knowing that we had one more little spirit that has been overly anxious to join our family for years and hoping it wouldn't take more of this loss to get her here.
We moved in January from Australia to the US and transitioned from military to civilian shortly after so we deceded to wait a little before trying again. April seemed like a good time for that but my cycle came and went with no luck. We moved again in mid-April from Arizona to Colorado and were in a hotel while we looked for a house. By early May we had a positive pregnancy test but didn't dare celebrate too soon. We moved into our new house the end of May and started getting settled. The first trimester came and went and our new insurance became effective. Insurance cards finally arrived in July and I decided maybe I should make an appointment. Josh took a couple more weeks to get me the info on Dr's we were allowed to use but I wasn't in a hurry.
See, in the military, they paid for everything without the need for a co-pay, as long as you used the military Dr's, and it was wonderful. Now we have insurance where co-pays are required and there are yearly deductables to be met and I wasn't anxious to start paying those things only to lose another baby. At 15 weeks I got the Dr info and at 16 weeks I finally made an appointment. At 18 weeks I met my new Dr and got to see my baby on ultrasound for the first time to date the pregnancy. I almost expected to see nothing in there when they started up the ultrasound but lo and behold, there was a baby. Beautifull and perfect. It had all it's fingers and toes and a strong beating heart and it was active and moving all the time. It's a little miracle!
We finally told my Mom and Dad we were expecting at a little over 17 weeks and then my in-laws at about 18-19 weeks (my mom would have had to wait too but she's a spoiler). Three days ago we had the anatomy ultrasound-the baby was still there, still wiggling (which I knew, cause I feel it all the time) and still with a strong heartbeat. And now we know that IT"S A GIRL!!!
She has all of her organs and they are where they should be, there's no sign of down's syndrom or any other defects, all blood tests have come back fine-including the genetic ones (cause I'm 35 now and they want to test everything), and, most importantly, she's growing and developing right on track. And now we're here and telling the world how excited we are to be having one more baby and our last (both a happy and sad thing all at once). My persistent little spirit, who wanted so badly not to be forgotten, can now have her physical body and join our family and I'm ever so greatful to be able to have her.

See, she's waving hello to all of you!

Do You Remember??

There are some things that, as we look back or talk about, we never forget where we were or what we were doing when you heard or saw it. Being September 11 today, the first thing we're all thinking about is the terrorist attacks that took place 9 years ago. To me, it's all so fresh in my mind and my memory that to say it happened 9 years ago seems unreal.

We were atationed in Bad Aibling, Germany at that time and we had Josiah, who was 10 1/2 months old. I had been out walking around base with him in the stroller while Josh was at work, we had gone shopping for a few things at the commissary and then come back home. I turned on the TV and thought I was watching a movie. It looked interesting so I watched for a few minutes until I realised that it was the news, not a movie. Just then the 2nd plane hit the towers. We sat glued to the TV for awhile watching and wondering just what it meant for us, being overseas and all.

As we walked around base later that day, the hummers, armed guards and guns all started coming out. The base was locked down-nobody could drive on base for a week or two. If you drove off base then you had to park off base and walk back on. They finally opened up the gates with massive inspections once a week to let cars back on (which we needed to do our big shopping trips once a week). After a month or so they set up a big tent and did inspections of every car driving on base for many more months-it may have even been a year or more. It was crazy and even a bit scary for awhile. We had just been home to see family in May that year and had no plans of another trip for another year and a half.

So that's where I was. I was in shock and awe and the world changed as we knew it.
As I ponder these events though, I think of another time and event when I can never forget where I was and what I was doing. On January 28, 1986 I was in elementary school. It was a big day and they were launching a new space shuttle-the Challenger. This time everybody was watching becuse there was a teacher on board and it was a big deal. They had it playing on the big screen in the library of the school. I was the lucky one that got to take our attendance to the office and, as I walked past the TV, I watched a replay of the explosion. All 7 astronauts died that day. It was devistating and so sad

They all had families and I'm sure that those families also remember that day and all that it had in store every year as well. It may not have been a terrorist attack or something that somebody planned as sabotage, but it put the space program back 2 1/2 years while they figured it out and regrouped and then planned and built a new shuttle to be launched.


So today, while my thoughts are on 9/11/2001, I also remember many others who have lost their lives, whether fighting for our country or furthering our knowledge. They are all disasters either way. My thoughts and prayers go out to all who have lost their lives and to their families who grieve for and miss them every day. And, especially, to all our troops who are deployed or will be deploying to go and fight for our freedoms and rights and the families who worry and miss them every day while they're gone.

Random thoughts

I don't have anything too exciting this week but thought I'd share a few random thoughts anyway. So here goes.

1. We're potty training Caleb this week. With my first 4 kids, if we took off their diapers and let them run around naked, there were constant messes everywhere. With Caleb, letting him run without a diaper=potty training. He is constantly running to the toilet and, other than some partial starts in the diaper, he hasn't really had a dirty diaper in the last 4 or 5 days. If I had known earlier, I would have been letting him run naked for months now. I'm so tired of dirty diapers and so ready for him to be potty trained.

2. In order to save myself trips to the store and the possibility (or should I say inevitability) of finding many more things I can't live without, I've started making bread. The kids usually devour white bread so I decided to try whole wheat bread this time. Not only do they eat it nearly as good, but it's also better for them and fills them up faster. So there is less bread consumed, their healthier and it's not that hard to make one loaf every day.

3. My good friend Kathy is on her way to my house right now. This part is so exciting! We haven't seen each other since she and her husband dropped us off at the airport to fly to Australia 3 1/2 years ago. We've talked on the phone, but that just isn't the same. I'm so anxious to see her kids, her newest little one and especially to spend some time hanging out with her again. I really miss living across the street from her and will miss her even more when they leave again and shortly head to Africa. Africa is so far away, I kind of wish she was sticking with her original plan of living stateside while her hubby went alone, but I also understand her need to be with him. Husbands win every time and that's completely understandable. Hopefully we'll get her blog and FB set up while she's here so that we can keep up with each other better.

4. Teaching the sunbeams at church is such a challenge. 4 year olds are rowdy and irreverent and it's so hard to teach them to be better when you hardly know them. I'd like to think that we're making some progress, but honestly I'm just finally learning all of their names. Reverent progress will come eventually, I hope.

Ok, I think that's it for today. If I remember something else then I guess it'll leave something for another post another day.