February 27, 2009

A few Birthday Shout outs---
Happy Birthday Auntie Chianna!
Happy Birthday Uncle Andy (the big 3-0)!
Happy Birthday Auntie Kris!

It is amazing how excited we get to do something new with the babies, or when they learn to do something new! Most recently, within the last week, Evan has moved from his usual screaches, to a more pronounced, "Da da da" or "dab dab dab dab" noise. Curt loves that of course, dispite my reminders that they ALWAYS make the DA DA DA noise first. He is of course convinced that he simply is the coolest person ever and why WOULDN'T they want to say the Da DA Da first? I should also note that Curt finds it ESPECIALLY adorable when Evan does it at midnight. Nothing like laying in bed and hearing him jabbering away!

Evan has also done some more small giggles for Curt lately too, which we adore. And Alec has continued to practice his rolling over from tummy to back like a strong boy!!! The other thing is that they are really noticing one another more and more. They look at eachother and really SEE one another. I guess the other day at Grandma Chi Chi's house, Alec hauled up and wholloped Evan in the face as they were looking at one another! Poor little dude!!!

The other big milestone, is that Curt bought a box of Rice Cereal today! We just may test them out with a very runny cereal mixture and see how it goes! We'll see if they're ready for it or not quite yet! Curt is super exicted to try it out. I'll let you know!!!

And should you be wondering why this post thus far revolves around Curt and the babies, it is, of course, because I had my surgery on Monday, which REALLY limits my interactions with the babies right now. :( Monday went great actually. I did very well keeping my nerves under control until Sunday. Then I started getting anxious and worrying about what would happen if things didn't go well, or if I died. Yes, I worry about the worst. I did pray about it, and put it in God's hands, and that helped me tremendously. I really felt a sense of calm after I prayed about it, and I slept great the night before surgery, which if you know my worry habits, is completely unheard of.

Monday morning Curt and I had to get to the hospital by 6 am, which we did! I felt the need to tell everyone that asked me what my procedure was today, the WHOLE story, because when you tell them that you are in having Abdominoplasty, they likely get a different impression than if you explain WHY you were asked to go that route, through a plastic surgeon, rather than the general surgeon. #1 Hernia and #2 Muscular damage= abdominoplasty for NONcosmetic reasons. And heck, if I get a little tummy tuck out of the deal too, great, but I NEVER would have had one otherwise!

The morning went quickly, from check in, to gowning to the pre-op room, to the OR. I did get a little chuckle when they asked me when my last period was, and I had to talk it out loud to figure it out....well....the boys were conceived in January of 08, so it'd have been December of 2007! I have yet to have a period since I'm breastfeeding/pumping so regularly. They told me that I absolutely needed to have a pregnancy test prior to the surgery. After I laughed, I peed in the cup happily, telling them that if it was anything but negative, it wouldn't be abdominoplasty they'd be doing, it'd be open heart surgery b/c of my heart attack. Of course it was negative, very negative, thank the good lord! I remember giving Curt hug and a kiss prior to being wheeled down, and switching from the gurney to the OR bed. And my LAST memory, is of them giving me some medication to "relax" me, telling them "wow...it sure does work quickly", and then I remember the nurse asking the anesthesioloist if he planned to "tube" me, and he told her that yes, the procedure was lengthy, and he planned to "tube" me. Then lights out.

I hardly remember a thing until they wheeled me into my hospital room after that. I know that morphine was a good friend of mine in those first 24 hours. When I was lucid enough, Curt talked with me about the procedure and the repair. The doctor told him that the damage was quite alot worse than he imagined. He said it was about 15 cm wide, and covered the entire length of my abdomen, which he measured at 29 cm, so 15x29cm hernia. Holy shit! The surgeon was so impressed by my "substantial defect" that he took a photo of the defect with his hands inside of it as a point of reference to show just how large it was!

The pain has been all over the board, from mild (while resting) to severe. The morphine was amazing, and I nearly kissed the nurse that put it into my IV, and the Percoset has been similarly fantastic. I have really had to stay on top of the pain medication because I've found that if the pain gets on top of me, I'm miserable. Day 2 was perhaps the worst pain-wise, and I needed to take 2 Percosets at a time to keep the pain at bay. Since then, one has done the job, but mostly round the clock.

Perhaps the most annoying, uncomfortable piece of this has been #1 the surgical abdominal binder which wraps around my abdomen to compress my abdomin in order to reduce swelling and hold things in place and #2 the two drains that are coming out of my belly to keep the fluid out and swelling to a minimum. The drains have pulled at times and bled, which stinks. And the binder is SO uncomfortable :( I simply HATE it.

At our 3 day check up, the surgeon told us that the drains need to stay in until at least the next appointment (in a week) and the binder must be worn at least that long, and then I can switch to another binder, that is less uncomfortable. Humbug. It is staggeringly uncomfortable, which makes me depressed and feeling miserable.

So, as I sit here, doing not much of anything, Curt carries the load. He is an amazing caretaker and father. He does everything without complaining and is SO nurturing, it's refreshing. I love him so much, and fall in love with him more and more each day that I see him taking on so much, and never once grouching about it. We are so lucky to have him.

And one last huge thank you to all that have come over to help, or brought food over. I can't even BEGIN to tell you what a relief it is for me to see that Curt doesn't HAVE to carry the load. He absolutely CAN do it, and does it SO well, but any little help is a welcome break. Thank you so very very much.

Alrighty...lunch time...time to eat then sponge bath it up! Yum yum!!!