Updates (a.k.a. BLAH)

Blah. Everyone's been asking how I'm doing and how things are going. Blah pretty much describes it all. And I AM being optimistic!

Here's a quick summary of how things are going with the pregnancy-

• My weight has begun to drop again (-5 lbs. in the week between my dr.'s apts.).
• My hematocrit (used to measure iron) levels are dropping despite any treatments.
• I'm still getting 2 liters of fluids a day.
• The baby is measuring small. We have another ultrasound on Thur. to check her again.
• There is a possibility that she'll delivered before term.
• There's a possibility that I'll need a blood transfusion.
• There's a possibility that she be delivered c-section.
• My nausea let up a little in the 2nd trimester but is back with the 3rd (although a little more manageable with the IV's and anti-emetics).
• All my non-stress tests (NST) have had good results. She responds well to whatever contractions I've had during the tests.

So, unless things change it's likely I've only got another 3 to 5 weeks to hang in there. That's it for me.

Matt had his shoulder operated on and it was the best case scenario. They just had to scrap bursa and file down a spur. He's going to physical therapy once a week and they hope to have him back to work in about a month.

Noah had his pinewood derby last Wednesday and came in 4th. He also won for most realistic car. (it was made to look like a shark) Noah is also scheduled for surgery on the 24th of Aug. He'll be getting his umbillical hernia fixed and it should be a pretty easy procedure.

Abby also got to make a car for the pinewood derby but she didn't get to place (powderpuff but she wasn't old enough to place). She did win most original (she had a silver bus with flowers on it).

Lucy is loving having her brother and sister home for the summer. She has someone to play with, finally!

Well, that's it for today.

A Great Spring Break

Today is the last day of spring break. We're all alive, all body parts accounted for (and attached as far as we can tell), no major damage to the house, no calls to DCF or 911, and as far as we can tell we've avoided the plague... I mean swine flu (H1N1).
UPDATE: I think we've all lost our minds. I'm hearing a chorus of "Do-Re-Mi"... lead by my husband.

Speaking of Matt... his shoulder surgery has been scheduled for May 15. They're not sure what they're going in after so we don't know how invasive the procedure is going to be but it should be an outpatient surgery. Unless he has a hard time waking up... I'm not dragging a sleeping man out the car.

Here's a recap of the kids spring break.
Monday: Matt worked and we hung out at home. FUN TIMES!
Tuesday: Matt was home and we broke record highs. And we refused to put the air conditioners in. (It was April for crying out loud!) We were prepared with New England coping skills though. We kept the windows open during the night, waited for the heat of the day then shut all the windows, waited for the house to warm then went on an adventure to Matt's doctors office and the mall. By the time we walked out (hobbled in my case) there was a beautiful and cool breeze.
Wednesday: Sheri, an angel in disguise, took Abby and Noah to an art museum.
Thursday: Sheri brought her kids over and they played while she helped me with my laundry and a couple things around the house... she comes every Thursday with a couple other women from the ward (the don't call it the RELIEF Society for nothing!). She also took the kids to enjoy the park down the street.
Friday: Noah got his fill of the Playstation while the girls got mommy makeovers. They looked sparkly and fabulous. Alicia also stopped by for the weekly changing of the bandages. This one was a doozy.
Saturday: I felt much better then we expected I would at the end of spring break and the weather was amazing so we packed up a picnic (o.k., Matt packed it up), picked up some passes for a Seacoast Science Center by the ocean and went to the beach for a day. It was a lot of fun and the fresh air and sunshine were so refreshing. We came home last night and all slept very soundly. It was the perfect end to their spring break.

Here's some pictures of the previously mentioned beach trip.

What kind of parents are we?!

Last weekend our ward had a cake auction to help our scouts pay for camp. Everyone was invited to bring a cake to donate and Matt had the grand idea to make the famous Hostess cake. It was a work of art, an amazing tribute to everything preservative. I can't even comprehend how many calories and fat was in it. It was stunning though and someone was going to want to pay a hefty price for it to be sure!

And then...

...the rice crispy treat cake that supported all the Hostessnessy goodness started to collapse. The forensics team has determined the rice to mallow ratio was poor (too many mallows is a bad thing?!).

So, we beg 2 questions.

The first, what would you do if you had a useless mountain of Hostess goodiness?

Our answer: Give your kids 3 minutes to eat as much as they can then chuck it!

The second question... does this make us "wicked awesome" parents or negligent parents?


(We have video documentation but it's on Matt's phone and getting it to the blog is presenting a challenge. I'll keep trying though!)