October

October was super busy. I had 2 surgeries (the second of which, wasn't 100% planned), Joey turned 5, I've had a couple doctor appointments, I got a new sewing machine, and Halloween and Emmalyn's birthdays are coming right up!

My first surgery, I was a total mess. I was terrified of being put under general anesthesia, and I was afraid that I'd lose the baby. I ended up bawling just walking into the OR, and waking up, well, it wasn't any better. Recovery at home sucked; I couldn't eat much that first day or two without puking everything up. I got anti-nausea  meds, but they didn't help much. I ate applesauce, yogurt, and bread when I could stomach it (which wasn't often). I ended up losing about 7 pounds in less than a week. My surgery was a Tuesday, and that next Monday, they pulled my stent out. That was one of the worst days of my life. 2 hours later, I couldn't do ANYthing except lay down, cry, or go to the bathroom. It was supposed to get MUCH better after the stent was pulled. I thought I was just dangerously dehydrated.

Turns out, the kidney stone that was broken up, hadn't been completely removed, and the remaining pieces were all trying to get out of my body through the ureter. There were so many that my ureter was partially blocked, and that's where all the pain was coming from. I had surgery that next morning, but was fighting it hard. I HATED going under GA. I knew I needed the surgery after an ultrasound though.

The second surgery, instead of sobbing uncontrollably before surgery, I was hysterically laughing. They put me out. I woke up, and was fine emotionally. Then they started moving my bed back to recovery. I NEVER have had an issue with motion sickness, but this was BAD. I ended up puking all over myself (it was just fluid, so it wasn't that bad). The bad part of it was that I couldn't drink even water without puking, even after anti-nausea meds. I got some stronger meds, and thankfully was able to go home that evening.

My second surgery was a week after my first. It was also on a Tuesday. The next Sunday, Jonathan pulled my stent out, and it was like night and day from the last time. The urologist told Jonathan that he had gotten all of the stones out this time, and that I should be feeling a lot better.

I'm going to have an ultrasound in a couple weeks to check my kidney's healing process (it should be completely healed by then), and I'm supposed to do a 24 hour urinalysis, but I haven't been able to drink enough water to pee more than 2 times a day. I'm just starting my first full week of being able to eat almost anything I want without puking or feeling horrible.



Joey's party was during the time I had my first and second surgery. I was doing okay during the party, but I kind of checked out near the end. I don't actually remember people leaving...I think he had a fun time with his friends and cousins. He didn't seem sad or anything that I wasn't totally there, so I'm happy. I cannot believe he's 5 years old already! We got him a bicycle for his birthday, and he has wanted to ride it everyday, which makes me happy (and tired; it's cold outside haha). We also got him his first set of real Legos, which he wants to play with every single second of the day. I was hoping he'd like them, but I think we need to get/build him a special Lego play/storage table.


My most recent OB appointment was Thursday. I am now on the lowest dose cut in half of Glyburide for my fasting numbers. I'm really hoping it works. I tried this medicine with Benjamin, but I crashed on the lowest dose, and my numbers weren't going down most of the time. I also am now on Paxil. I haven't taken anything but Zoloft for depression in over 10 years. I can't remember if I've ever taken Paxil. I'm slightly worried that I'll have more chest pains, but I'm willing to try it. I haven't started either medicines yet, because I don't want to be the only adult available in case Paxil is BAD or if I immediately crash on the Glyburide. I finally actually GOT the medicines; my doctor was only half listening when I told him which pharmacy....I didn't get to start them this past weekend....I won't start them on Emmalyn's birthday on Saturday. I'm pretty mad that my doctor wasn't listening. He's been brushing me off lately, and I am going to start scheduling my appointments with the other 2 doctors in the practice. I like them all, so that's good. None of them seem to be incompetent enough to kill me. One of them delivered Emmalyn, and she is pretty awesome (not super sweet and polite, but more like me; sarcastic when it's appropriate, and to the point, but can be compassionate if needed).


I got a new sewing machine before I had my first surgery. I have finally had the strength and patience to try it out! I love it; I don't have to use my foot pedal if I don't want to (I've never been good with a sewing machine's food pedal, so this was a big plus for me), and it came with lots of different sewing feet. It also has a different kind of bobbin case than my last machine; this one is a drop in, and SUPER easy to install. My other machine's bobbin thread would get stuck and bunched up all the time. We tried so hard to figure out the issue (we tried changing the tension, and EVERYTHING, but nothing worked. It was a cheaper machine that wasn't exactly worth taking to a shop to have it looked at). I haven't had that issue with this machine yet, and hopefully never will. According to reviews, this top loading bobbin design is supposedly MUCH better as far as bunched up and tangled bobbin thread goes. So far so good.


I wanted to sew all of our Halloween costumes this year, but it didn't work out because of my surgeries, and how bad recoveries went. I was really hoping to have family Pokemon costumes, but I couldn't find enough costumes that were cheap enough for the whole family. Instead, we went to Walmart. I found 3 different princess dresses in Emmalyn's size, and let her pick which one she wanted (she picked Rapunzel). I knew that I'd be happy with a Spiderman costume for Joey (and not a scary, gross, or evil looking one), and I showed it to Joey (I was lucky; there were only like 2 left in his size!!), and he was SO excited! For Benjamin, I have Joey's bat costume from a couple years ago, and he looks ADORABLE in it! He, of course, hates it, but he'll wear it (I was thinking of adding a Batman oval stick to the front and call him baby Batman). Jonathan probably won't dress up. I am hoping to get a set of cat ears and tail, and somehow make my belly into a ball of yarn. I'm just happy that we got good costumes for relatively cheap at a relatively late time to be costume shopping.


Emmalyn's birthday party is still being planned. I don't think she'll notice if she doesn't have a party. I was really hoping to do a unicorn theme for her, but I'm having a hard time finding the regular party decor for cheap like we did for Joey's Spiderman party. If we do a party for her, it'll be on the 11th. I think we did that last year too. It was just easier, and I didn't have to stress completely out haha. We got her a cat that has kittens inside her belly, and a few different outfits for her baby doll, and I am still hoping to make her a doll blanket (hopefully out of minky and flannel; I practiced with minky and it was hard, but kind of doable if Emmalyn doesn't want a perfect blanket haha. The stuff I practiced on got her excited and she wanted to keep it, so that's a really good sign I think).