The past 3 months…

These past three months have been some of the longest of my life. We have had ups and downs but because of our wonderful family and friends we will survive! I have several pictures and updates on Kate that I want to share, but that will have to be a later post (and I’m not sure how quickly I will get that done, but surely it will be within the next three months!). This post is about all the life changing events that have happened over the past three months with our family (and it’s long – sorry!).


The first big news was received in February was that I was pregnant! I will admit the first thing I did when I told Justin was burst into tears. Not because I wasn’t happy to have another baby, but because I was so afraid of being sick again. Several people told me every pregnancy is different so I had a glimmer of hope maybe I wouldn’t be sick (or as sick) this time. I was wrong – I have never been this sick in my life and hope this is the last time I ever have to deal with anything like this. At my first doctor’s appointment, I was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum – an extreme type of morning sickness which only occurs in .5 to 2 percent of pregnant women. Lucky me. Over the next couple weeks I was in and out of the doctor’s office, in the Urgent Care for IVs and out of work for days at a time.

Instead of getting better in early March, I slowly was getting worse. I would have spells where I couldn’t keep anything down (liquids or food) for a day or so. My knees were all bruised up from kneeling on the hard tile bathroom floors and my stomach muscles cramped with every move I made. It was all I could do to gather the strength to take a shower and lift my arms above my head to wash my hair. The only time I could escape feeling nauseous was when I was asleep. On top of these extreme symptoms, I also had the standard pregnancy symptoms of feeling tired all the time and going to the bathroom every couple of hours (which seemed unexplainable some days because I wouldn’t think I had a drop of liquid in me).

After losing 15 pounds and getting no relief from an array of oral medicines, I was “qualified” for a Zofran Pump to help with the nausea and vomiting. Although it didn’t cure my nausea or vomiting like I had secretly hoped for, it did help me function and get back to work, which it was I desperately needed. When the nurse came to my house to walk me through the pump and how it worked, my initial thought was “I don’t want to do this”. It was very intimidating at first, but the whole process has gotten easier to manage as the weeks go on. I am connected to it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The pump slowly forces medicine into tubing that is connected to a port, which I have to change once or twice a day to various sites around my stomach. One thing I’m thankful for is that I do not have an aversion to needles because I have to stick myself in the stomach each time I change the “site”. Ouch!

This pump and I have a love/hate relationship. The biggest hassles are taking it in the shower with me (it has a special bag since it can’t get wet) and sleeping with it at night. Anytime I move at night, I wake up because the tubing pulls at my stomach and I have to make sure I adjust the pump to allow for enough leeway. Even on the pump, I still have occasional vomiting and continuous nausea all day, but it does help take the edge off the nausea parts of the day. I guess I just have to take what I can get.

Justin and Kate have been troopers through this ordeal. I feel like I have abandoned Kate, so I’m glad she’s too little to remember this. Justin has taken over all the responsibilities around the house and taking care of Kate. As soon as I get off work, I go upstairs and get in bed for the rest of the night. Justin will feed, bath, and get Kate ready for bed and bring her up for a little bit of time with me. I feel so helpless and worthless not being able to take care of her, but I know it won’t last forever.

Poor Justin has been sleeping downstairs on an air mattress in the living room for the past three months. As soon as I got sick, he moved downstairs. Whenever I mentioned I was looking forward to the day I was no longer sleeping by myself, he jokingly said he wasn’t sure he was going to move back upstairs since he currently had it made – he had a bed to himself, the big screen tv, and the refrigerator close by. Haha – but deep down I know he misses me.

With all this said, I am 99% sure this is my last pregnancy. There are some people that love being pregnant, but you will never hear that phrase come out of my mouth. I am 16 weeks along and hopefully through the worse part, but I’m still not even 75% back to normal. With Kate, my sickness lasted to 20 weeks and I’m praying that this time it will also go away by then. I’m only a month away but that still seems like an eternity. One of these days I will be able to meet up with friends, go to church, and participate in life again, but until then I really appreciate everyone’s patience with me, especially my husband’s.

I am so thankful that all of the doctor’s appointments have gone well and the baby has gotten a healthy report. I am due October 20th, but when the baby’s measurements were done, they estimated my due date to be October 16th so we will see when this baby decides to arrive. May 22nd is the day we find out what “this baby” is – a boy or girl?! Every single time we ask Kate what she would like she says “baby sister”. Mommy is thinking “baby brother” only because I don’t want to be tempted to do this a third time, but a “baby sister” would be nice too since we already have all the girl stuff. We’ll soon find out!

Another big life event was Justin’s appointment at Shands in Gainesville. The Lord’s timing is perfect because the day I found out I was pregnant , we received a call that Justin had an appointment at Shands a couple days later. Although I was a little bit queasy, I was so thankful I was able to go with him. I was shocked we were able to be seen so quickly after getting a referral and it put my mind at ease hearing another doctor’s opinion of Justin’s condition. The doctor listened to the symptoms and confirmed the diagnosis of epilepsy, although he recommended Justin’s medicine be increased significantly. It was hard to hear the diagnosis, but I had told myself I would accept it if I heard it from two different sources. The doctor reassured us that this type of epilepsy is not genetic so that was comforting for both Justin and I. Thankfully Justin’s medicine seems to be working great with little to no side effects and we’re just counting down the days until he can drive again.

And as if we didn’t have enough going on these past several months, another big life event for Justin was preparing for and taking the exam in April to become licensed as a Professional Land Surveyor. Every weekend for a couple months, we would ask someone to watch Kate while Justin studied and I was sick in bed. Right before the exam, Justin and his dad went to Atlanta for an exam prep course and then came home for a night before leaving for Orlando to take the exam. I cannot express how proud I am of Justin. He won’t get the results until July, but I’ve tried to reassure him it will be fine. I know it’s everyone’s fear that you don’t pass the first time because you don’t want to go through the ordeal of studying again, but he’s a smart guy and I have all the confidence in the world in him.

I’ve had my emotional breakdowns and “woe is me” moments, but I try to put everything in prospective and count my blessings. I’m so thankful God has blessed up with a second baby on the way. I’m thankful for my health – being on this pump makes me realize this is short term, but other people deal with pumps and other medicine devices for the rest of their lives. I’m extremely thankful and blessed to have my parents, in-laws, a grandmother, a brother and sister-in-law, and friends in town to help us through these difficult times. Thank you, thank you, thank you!