No Sick Time for Mommy

It's been quite the week to say the least. It all started Tuesday with a dull backache on my left side. Of course, with lugging 2 kids around, I always seem to have new aches and pains in my back and knees so I pretty much ignored it. By Tuesday night I was getting some weird pains but I chalked it up to exhaustion and headed to bed at a blissful 8:30pm. Slept ok, but by Weds there was no question it was getting worse. By the time Matt got home from work, I was almost delirious with pain --- all through my back, left abdomen. Yuck.

So we called our awesome neighbors to see if they could stay with the kids (thankfully they could!) and headed up to the ER. In a matter of an hour, I was thankfully hooked up to pain meds, IV fluids and had a CT scan --- and diagnosed with a kidney stone. I know these things are pretty common but with all the ailments I've had, kidney stones have never been one. Actually shocking considering the amount of diet coke and lack of water I drink. Anyway, the thing came back measuring about 6mm. They sent me home with some more meds, told me I had about a 60% chance of passing it on my own, and to see a urologist soon.

Luckily in all of the appointments leading up to our invitro stuff, we fell into a great urology practice so I was able to get in pretty quickly. On Friday I went to see him and he was not as positive about the 60%  chance. He thinks probably "slim to none" that I'll be able to get rid of it myself. Awesome. So I head back on Monday for an xray to see if they can see it with the naked eye & if it's still there (and trust me, as of Sunday, it is!), they'll have to blast it sometime this week.

Unfortunately, Mommy really doesn't have time to be sick. I have Christmas cards to get out, a tree needing to be decorated, clothes that need to be washed, dinners that need to be made, and not to mention 2 kids who would like to be fed on a semi-regular basis. Thankfully Matt was able to take a 1/2 day on Thursday to help me out and he has every Friday in December off. So he has been a HUGE help taking over many duties. It's times like this when I realize there is NO WAY I could raise these twins on my own. As much as I'd like to think I am a pretty independent girl, I NEED my husband. And not so much for the things that he does for me and how he provides (although he's wonderful at that) but for the emotional support he gives me. I literally cannot count the number of times that he has had to be at my bedside in a hospital, ER, or urgent care. Poor guy. But he is always a trooper and is always trying to make me laugh or whatever to take my mind off of what's happening. Truly blessed to have him by my side. I just wish he didn't have to be by my "bedside" quite so often!

Along with our crazy week, we also had our Christmas card picture session scheduled for Friday. I really didn't want to have to cancel because I knew we wouldn't be able to do them again for at least a couple of weeks & I really wanted the pictures for the Christmas cards. So I popped a couple of pills, half-heartedly attempted to do my hair, got the kids dressed and headed out the door for an hour long session. My photographer Kendra is SUCH a trooper - and put up with my drug-induced haze and always present self-consciousness.

I had a sneek peek of the pics this a.m. and all I can say is that it is WAY obvious that in the beginning I did not feel well at all. It was also fairly obvious that I should have spent more time on my hair. Ha. But towards the end, I suppose the meds kicked in and I looked a little more pleasant. And of course I am completely biased, but all of the pictures of the kids are sooo cute!! I can't wait to get my hands on them & figure out which ones to use. I spent way too much time planning their outfits & accessories and of course, we didn't even have time to get through half of the outfits I brought with us :)

We did have some good news yesterday though --- God always seems to know when I need that! We are blessed that Quinn qualified for the ECI program through the state -- which means she gets OT every month as well as monthly visits from a dietician. We love love love our dietician and she is always available when I have questions or need support. So she made her monthly visit out to our house on Saturday (another plus, we don't even have to travel to see her!) and gave us great news about Quinn. She has continued to gain weight steadily and is right on track for her adjusted age and given her heart condition. She is now at around the 10th percentile for both length and weight and she is perfectly proportioned for her size. Her scale had her weighing in at about 13lbs 3oz --- I actually think her scale weighs a little light, so I'll be interested to see what our pediatrician's scale says at their 6 month appt on Monday.

 But this was just blessed news considering Matt and I were about to start pulling our hair out again after a couple of very difficult weeks of feeding her. Luckily in the past 4 days, she's rallied and done much better again -- but there is nothing worse than knowing your baby needs to eat so she can be big enough for a life-saving surgery and she wants nothing to do with it. Heartbreaking is a word. Frustrating is another.

She also gave us the green light to start spoon feeding some rice cereal to both babies. She had really wanted to wait until they had better head control and they seem ready now. And when we offered just an empty spoon to Quinn, she sucked mightily on it so we're hoping it will go well. We still need to break the  high chairs out of the boxes but plan on starting the cereal tonight. I pray, pray, pray that my daughter just LOVES solids and is just incredibly bored with bottles and formula. I know we still have a ways to go before they will strictly be on solids and I can pitch these bottles, but if the next 6 months go by as fast & furious as these former, then we'll be there before we know it. And my bottle angst (and Quinn's) will be a distant memory.

So that's pretty much our week in a nutshell. Probably a lot of meaningless stuff that bored all of you :) But such is our life! Getting a little cabin fever having been in the house for the most part since this past Tuesday but my bed seems to trump most outings. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Maybe this thing will pass overnight and no "blasting" will be necessary. That's my prayer for sure. There's no sick time for Mommy!

Coming next: R&Q's 6 month updates as soon as we go to the doctor tomorrow! How are they 6 months old already??!!