Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Quick update since it's been a month.

The other day on the phone Char asked me if we switched sites for the blog since they hadn't gotten an email telling them there was a new post in a while. Um, nope. Just haven't done a post in a while. Oops. But I'm on it now!

First, pictures. I'm putting some pictures and videos on Facebook. But our new site where I'm loading everything is shutterfly. They have free unlimited pictures and up to 10 videos. I'll just delete the oldest video when I'm ready to put the next one up. Here's the address: http://deiderichs.shutterfly.com/ There's also an option to put journal entries on that page so if I end up really liking it, I may stop using this one so everything's in one place. You can also order pictures straight off their site to be delivered or picked up at Target and they're pretty inexpensive.

So what all has happened in the last month? It doesn't feel like it's been that long since Alex was born. Seems like just last week we were coming home from the hospital. On the other hand, it seems like we've been a family of 4 forever. I went to the commissary alone today and it felt very weird to not be holding a hand, pushing a stroller, or wearing a baby in a wrap. And I made it in and out in record time.

Alex is now holding his head up and making good use of his tummy time mat. Jackson HATED it and we would have to just deal with the fact he was going to fuss when we put him down there and just try not to let him get TOO upset. Alex doesn't mind it at all. He hangs out and does some good work for 10-15 minutes before he starts fussing. That's pretty much been the pattern for everything though. Alex is much easier going than Jackson was and I didn't think that was possible. He does spit up (okay throws up) a lot, but that should die down the bigger he gets. But it does mean lots of extra laundry in the mean time. One thing they have in common is not liking bubbles in their tummies. Jackson was impossible to burp. Alex burps a little easier, but it's gotten harder over the last week or so. And he is pretty unhappy if I don't get all the air out. He sleeps in his bouncy seat so he's on an incline.

Jackson got re-tested for speech therapy and tested out of the program. We're still in contact with the speech therapist so she can keep an eye on a few areas. If anything doesn't improve like it should by the time he's 2 1/2 or if something gets worse, we can go back to regular therapy sessions. But for now he's in the clear and tested at or above normal in all but one area and he was within the normal range for that.

Jackson is also learning new things at an incredible rate. He's counting to 7 now with a little help, and starting to learn his ABCs. It seems like every day he shocks me with something he knows that I didn't expect him to. Today I came home with a cheese slicer from the BX. He saw me taking it out of the packaging and said, "Want some cheese please." We've never had a cheese slicer before so I have no idea how he knew what it was. Especially since when I asked Mike, he had no clue what it was for.

He's also growing almost visibly. He can now push the down button on the elevator (and loves to have the privilege of doing so for us). And the other day he was supposed to be napping but was messing around in his room instead and Mike and I were in the living room. All of a sudden he appears out of nowhere and says, "No nap." We were both too stunned to tell him no so we just let him stay up. There hasn't been a repeat performance yet but it won't be long at all before he's opening doors all over. And Mike taught him how to open the fridge so he gets his own milk out now, too. My baby is definitely a little boy now!

Mike has been staying busy studying for his test for the next rank (Master Sergeant). And also training for the Frostbite Half-Marathon next month. He's had to take some unexpected breaks for injuries and illnesses, plus he took a week off when Alex was born. Hopefully he'll be ready in time. Jackson loves riding in the jogging stroller for Mike's long runs. The distance doesn't matter; he always has fun. Except the last time. It was a 10-mile run, which wouldn't have been a problem, except it was pretty cold out. Despite 3 layers, extra warm socks, mittens, and a hat, Jackson got REALLY cold. He did NOT like that! So he'll have to stick to shorter runs only until it warms up outside.

I've been busy but with nothing to really show for it. I try to stay on top of the housework and have done a decent job the last few weeks. But that's only because Mike's been helping me. It surprised me a little how big of an adjustment it was for me to go from one baby to two. I'll probably be able to get more accomplished once Alex isn't nursing every 3-4 hours anymore. But that ties up a lot of my day at the moment. It is pretty helpful that Mike is on swing shift (second) and works 3pm-11pm. I can get stuff done during the day and he's here to help me with the boys. I got sucked into the Twilight series so I did lose a week there where all I did was read and I totally ignored any housework that wasn't 100% necessary.

I got my stent taken out yesterday at a hospital off base. The doctor was nice (I think) and I was definitely glad to have a translator. They do things much differently at Japanese hospitals than they do in the states. It was kind of interesting to see their processes here though. And I'm VERY glad to be stent-free and completely finished with the whole thing. The CT I had done at the beginning of the month showed a few small stones, but those were on my right side and my stent was on the left. They were small enough to pass so they may actually be gone already. I likely wouldn't notice them passing except for maybe some minor pain.

In other health care news, Jackson had to go to urgent care last week. When I put him down for his nap I had Alex in one arm, and used the other hand to put Jackson in his bed. I picked him up by his hand and dislocated his elbow in the process. He'd been sick and whiny and fussy so I didn't know I'd done anything to him since he didn't seem any fussier than he'd been the last few days. He took a nap (!) and when he woke up he wouldn't use his left arm. A few tests (give me five, raise your arms over your head) and we knew something wasn't right. So we took him in and after some x-rays the ER doc determined it was nursemaid's elbow and just needed popped back into place. After a few tries, he couldn't get it in so he called in the orthopedist who got it. I'm just glad the room was small and there was only enough space for one parent. It meant Alex and I had to wait in the waiting room and I didn't have to witness Jackson's pain. Once they got it back in he was totally fine immediately and was using it again no problem.

The same time Jackson was in the UC, Alex had an appointment with the audiologist. He failed his hearing test in his left ear while he was still in the hospital, so they had us come back to repeat it. He failed again, so we have another appointment in January. If he fails AGAIN using the same method, they'll try a different method where they hook up electrodes to his head to see if there's any brain wave activity when they play the sounds. They think it could just be fluid in his ear causing him to fail up to this point. So we'll see.

Whew. I guess that's it! I'll try to not go as long between updates, but it is hard for me to remember and find the time. =)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Alexander John Deiderich--he's here!

Yep, Alex has finally made his appearance.

Here's the short story. He arrived on Friday November 20th at 6:24 pm. I was 37 weeks, 5 days pregnant which made him 16 days early, and 11 days before his scheduled c-section. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces (which is pretty big for his gestational age despite being very average for a full-term baby), and was 19 1/4" long with a 13 3/8" head. Aunt Sheila pointed out that at 6:24 pm Japan time, it was 4:24 am Ohio time, and Jackson was born at 4:24 pm. I think that's pretty cool!

So here's the whole story. I woke up at 0530 having contractions. They lasted until 0700 when I got out of bed, but they weren't regular. They got as close together as 4 minutes, but some where as far apart as 10 minutes. I was going to call the clinic when I got up, but then they stopped, so I didn't bother. They started up again around 0930, but were still pretty far apart and died out at around 1015. Then more contractions around 1045, and at 1110 I decided maybe I'd better pay close attention to how far apart they were. I timed them for 2 hours (which included a 10 minute walk to a restaurant for lunch, eating, then walking home). They were still inconsistent, but I called L&D anyways. I was told pretty much what I expected. "Wait until they're at regular intervals to come in." By 1415, they'd all been 4-5 minutes, so I knew it was time to get ready to go. I called Mike's work and told them to send him home. I was a little embarrassed since we'd just had a false alarm the day before and I didn't want them to think I was just trying to get him out of work. There was an exercise going on where they practice what to do if the base gets attacked, so I was getting him out of more than just normal work. I didn't want to be the wife who cried labor! Than at 1430 I called L&D and told them my contractions were 5 min apart for an hour and they told me they'd get a room ready for me. Then I finished packing my hospital bag and Jackson's bag for the sitter's house.

Mike got home from work around 1515, and while he was showering and changing, I walked Jackson over to Trysta's and dropped off him, his stuff, and Mike's keys (so she'd have a car with a carseat in it). We left for the hospital around 1530 and after driving through Burger King for Mike (who hadn't eaten basically all day), got to the hospital at 1545. They hooked me up to the monitor to watch Alex's heart rate and my contractions, and after 20 minutes, the doctor came and checked me. She said, "Yep, you're progressing, so we're going to go ahead and do it today." It wouldn't have been enough to admit me if we were planning a normal birth, but it was obvious I was in labor so there was no reason to not go ahead with the c-section. We were trying to avoid full on labor. That was at 1616.

Then everything started happening pretty quickly. Mike went back to the car to get my bag and pillow (which I didn't want to bring in the first time in case they sent me home) and the nurses and techs started getting me prepped for surgery. Hep lock in, catheter in, bed moved from non-stress test check-in room to LDRP (labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum) room, forms filled out and signed, jewelry off, etc. Then we got the talk from the anesthesiologist about risks of a spinal, what to expect, blah blah blah. Around 1800 they wheeled me to the O.R. and did my spinal. The dr. checked me then and I was 5cm dilated.

******Side note. Getting to 5cm with Alex was a totally different experience than getting to 5cm with Jackson. With Jackson I was on pitocin and thought I was going to die every time I had a contraction. With Alex I was still talking through my contractions and while they did hurt, I wouldn't have been asking for drugs yet if it'd been a regular delivery. In fact, I might've still been laboring at home. Major difference for sure!!!**********

Then they brought Mike back all dressed in scrubs and started cutting. They had to use the vacuum to guide Alex's head out the small incision they made. Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. I did have to be given Zofran at one point (anti-nausea med) but that was totally minor. Alex came out screaming bloody murder. And kept screaming the whole time he was in the OR. They cleaned him up and then took him and Mike back to the room while they finished sewing me up. His Apgar scores were 9 and 9, and they said they pretty much never give anyone a 10. And at first I thought he looked like my baby pictures, but I've recinded that thought. He looks like Jackson. Other than the full head of hair that Alex has vs. the NO hair until he was 1 1/2 that Jackson had, they could be twins.

I was back in the room by 1855 and Alex was still screaming. Well, actually Mike had gotten him calmed down from screaming and wailing to just crying really loudly. Once the nurses did what they had to do with me (about 5 minutes), Mike gave me Alex and I started nursing him. Then he was happy. He nursed easily right away and had a normal feeding session (20 min on each side). Then he was zonked. Guess it was pretty tiring for him. I tried to wake him up at 9 and 10 to feed him, but he wanted no part of that. He finally ate again around midnight.

Trysta brought Jackson to visit and he stayed for about 30 minutes before Mike took him home and put him to bed. He wasn't quite sure what to think, and I don't think he understands that the Baby Alex that was in Mommy's belly is the same Baby Alex that is in the bassinet. But I'm sure he'll figure it out.

Jackson visited all morning on Saturday and left at nap time. He spent some time getting in Alex's face or cuddling with me while I held him, but still kind of standoffish. Plus we had lots of other visitors, too. Also on Saturday when we were sure all of the anesthesia was completely worn off, I could safely say I can no longer feel my stent at all, which is pretty good news. (Still no definite plans on when that is coming out but I could care less now that it isn't making me miserable.)

We got discharged on Sunday afternoon. Alex has a little jaundice so we have to take him back to get labs drawn on Monday, but the doctor expects him to be fine. Of course there's the birth certificate, passport, social security card, etc. paperwork to do, too. We're very happy to be home, and everyone is perfectly healthy. I'm in a little more pain than I remember with Jackson, but I'm taking it easy. It's nothing unbearable, and I'm much happier now than I was 3 days ago. I'd rather be in pain that I can manage with Motrin and a little Percocet than have constant misery from the stent!

I know everyone is anxious for pictures, and I posted them on Facebook here. You should be able to see them with that link even if you don't have Facebook. And it's bedtime now (way past it probably!). I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to come, so keep an eye out for them.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Jackson Video

Video of Daddy making Jackson dizzy. He LOVES it!


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Alex Update

I had an appointment on Thursday with the OB. I'm 2cm dilated and 50% effaced, so it really could be any day. I'm having contractions and cramping that seem to be getting progressively worse. Nothing to send me to labor & delivery yet, but I have a feeling it's not far off. With Jackson I was 2cm & 50% on Tuesday afternoon and I went into full blown labor on Wednesday night. Although I didn't get a repeat performance with Alex, I'm sure his arrival is pending in the very near future. Well, hoping anyways.

Jackson's MRSA is back so he's been on antibiotics for that. They went ahead and tested me since there are precautions the nurses and doctors will have to take when I go for appointments if I'm positive. Also I'll be the second c-section of the day instead of the first if I'm still positive then. I'll find out results of the culture on Monday probably.

I've been sick with a cough and sore throat for a week, but I think I'm on the mend. No fever or other symptoms, which is good. Just an annoyance.

We had pictures taken today. I wanted to get them done ASAP while I'm still pregnant... because I'm hoping to not be pregnant much longer. =) I was going to upload them to picasa but you can only do them 5 at a time there and there are 53 total so that was going to take forever. They're on Facebook now (since I can bulk upload them there) and also photobucket (although I am seriously close to running out of space on there). If anyone wants any printed, let me know. The place we had them taken charges $20/sheet.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Parties, Halloween, and everything in between.

So where to start?! It's been a while since I've updated. As usual, things have been hectic around here, but I finally have time to get on it.

In the last post I mentioned our plans for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea if the OB okay'd it. Monday morning (at 4am) I woke up feeling like I might have a UTI. With a ureteral stent in place running from my bladder to my kidney, a UTI can turn into a kidney infection in 12 hours, so it's not something to ignore. So I headed to the FCU right away. They did cultures and whatnot and found out there was no infection. They also monitored me for contractions and Alex's heart rate just as standard procedure. (As usual, his heart rate was fine and I had a few contractions but nothing major). The OB came in and talked to Mike and I (the nurse told me the dr. wanted Mike there for the conversation) for a while. She explained what restrictions I should adhere to (things I should've been told before leaving Tripler but wasn't). Basically nothing. I was seriously restricted (no driving, or baths) for 2 weeks, then just less restrictions (no lifting >20lb) for 4 weeks. The rest of the restrictions are for the duration of my pregnancy (no running, jarring exercises, sex, etc.) to avoid possibly jarring my stent out of place. That would be REALLY bad and would probably involve me going back to Tripler and staying until the baby is born. After that lecture, it was clear that any Disney-ing was out. So we spent Mike's 2 weeks of free leave sitting around the house. I felt bad that we couldn't do anything fun because of me, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

Meanwhile the stent is absolute misery. I'm not sure what happened since it felt okay the few days I was in HI after the procedure. But for the past few weeks it's been horrible. Bad enough that I was planning on refusing to let them put another one in when it was time to change this one out. The urologist at Tripler said I would need this stent changed out 4-6 weeks after having it placed. The OB here (who is coordinating my care) decided no Japanese dr. will touch me being pregnant (based on experience at the very beginning of this ordeal), so it would be easier to send me to the urologist at Okinawa. That would involve a flight there and one back. Even though they're short, I'm REALLY pregnant to be flying. It would mean me flying home a few days before hitting 36 weeks when the risk of delivering on a plane skyrockets. The urologist at Okinawa decided I'm better off leaving the stent in since the only reason to change it was to avoid the small risk of it getting encrusted. The OB agreed with her and when the urologist at Tripler found out how far along I'd be for the flight home, he agreed too. Everyone was happy with that decision except me. I want this thing OUT!!! The part that coils in my bladder causes constant spasms, so I always feel like I have to pee. And when I do pee it's very painful. I'm not really comfortable leaving the house because I get very little warning when it comes to my bladder and I'm afraid I'll be in the middle of the commissary and pee my pants. So far it hasn't happened. =) The OB did give me some meds to help, and they do help a little. But I won't be sorry to see this thing go. Also, there's a chance that there's a big stone left that didn't show up on x-rays or ultrasounds. My first one didn't show up on any imaging until they did an MRI (which we can't do here), and the only way they knew I had an obstructing stone was that they could see via ultrasound there wasn't urine flowing into my bladder. If I got another stone right now, they'd have to send me back to Tripler to have the baby (probably with an OB on the plane since it's a 9 hour flight and I could have the baby on the way there). So I guess I agree that it needs to stay in for safety reasons although that doesn't make me any more comfortable in the mean time.

The final decision was that the stent stays in until 4 weeks after Alex is born. They want me to recover from the c-section before doing another procedure. They're looking into sending me to a Japanese dr. so I don't have to fly anywhere but no one is hopeful that we'll find one willing to take my case. The OB doesn't see what the big deal is for me to spend 3 or 4 days flying to Okinawa to get it taken out there and coming home, so she's not exactly pushing for me to be able to go off base. I'm not real thrilled about flying with a 4-week old with an immature immune system. Not to mention I'll have to find someone to go with me to watch him while I'm having procedures done. So we'll see when the time comes.

My c-section is scheduled for December 1st, but I'm really hoping Alex decides he's ready to come before then. Having him on the 1st means waiting until after the holidays to get my stent out. Having him a week earlier means I'd be home by Christmas stent-free. I pick that. Unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to convince a baby to come when I want him to instead of when HE wants to.

Then on the Thursday before the parties, I fell. We were coming out of the Taiyo rec center where we had lunch, and I missed the two little steps from the door. I just forgot they were there and didn't see them. But I landed flat on my front. My face took the brunt of the impact, and some was dispersed to my hands and knees (my reaction time was super slow so I didn't really catch myself like I should have) and my belly hit, too. Everyone FREAKED out!! I kept saying, "I just fell!" but no one would listen. They called 9-1-1, and I got super special treatment. 2 Firetrucks, 2 ambulances, 3 police cars (can we say OVERKILL?!). Then they put me in a c-collar and on a backboard, loaded me in the ambulance and sirened me across base to the hospital. They cleared me "spinally" in the ER and sent me upstairs, where once again, they hooked me up to contraction and fetal heart rate monitors. Alex's heart rate was fine, but I had a LOT of contractions in the first 4 hours so they decided to keep me overnight. They said it was just uterine irritability from being jarred in the fall, which makes sense. They wanted to make sure I didn't have a placental abruption or bruising on my belly. I didn't and I went home the next afternoon.

Yes, seriously, I have the worst luck. Poor Alex has been through more already than most kids go through before they're 5 and he isn't even born yet!!! Luckily, he's been pretty unaffected by everything. Unfortunately I foresee that making him difficult to reward or punish since he doesn't really seem to care. =)

So there's the medical update. Now on to the fun stuff!


Jackson after playing in the dirt.

Jackson had his 2-year checkup and the doctor was very nice. He's in the 25th percentile for height and weight, which is pretty much where he's hung out all his life. So he's growing fine. Developmentally she had a few concerns, but all of them were communication concerns which are already being addressed in speech therapy. Some of the behavioral things I mentioned caused her to pause a little. Not really concerned but she wants to see him again in 3-6 months instead of waiting for a year. He's doing some strange things that are probably due to the 5 million changes going on in the house right now with moving, and Mike coming home, my medical stuff, etc. And it's not going to get any better until well after Alex is born. So we'll see but no one is really actually concerned at this point, just trying to be proactive to make sure if there is something wrong we catch it really early.

Then there was the party. Oh the party! I fell on Thursday, got out of the hospital Friday and the party was Sunday. I had a very busy Saturday night! Mike made a huge difference and helped me frost cupcakes, washed dishes that I needed to re-use and pretty much anything else I asked him to do. I ended up with 4 dozen cupcakes and 18 chocolate cornflake cupcakes. Okay, so the chocolate cornflake cupcakes didn't turn out that great. The problem was I ignored my Brittish friend who told me "just melt some chocolate and put in cornflakes until they're all coated but not too soupy." Instead, I found a recipe online. MISTAKE. Oh well, I'll know for next time. Plus I also made 18 (so 36) deviled eggs, and cut up veggies and fruit for a veggie tray and fruit salad. It all took about 3 1/2 hours to do.

The morning of the parties, Jackson got his trampoline when he woke up. He absolutely loves it and I love having a place to tell him he can go jump so there's no more jumping on the couch or bed.


The shower went well. There were 9 people including me and it was very low key. Sat around and talked for a while, had some snacks and cake, then opened presents. Alex got lots of cute outfits!


Jackson's party was a huge hit with the kids. Everyone loved the bouncy castle. And I had traced and cut out pumpkins on orange construction paper. They decorated them with stickers and crayons then "laminated them" in contact paper. Jackson knew how to blow out his candle, which was adorable. We'd been telling him that it was his birthday since that was the day he got presents. He'd talked to family that morning and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him on the phone. When they finished he said, "More sing" and O'Sheila made them all sing again. He tried the same trick at his party, but it didn't work that time!


He got so many presents that we had to save the ones from family for the next day. By the time we got the room cleaned up and got home it was time for Jackson to go to bed, and I couldn't move off the couch. So the next day he got to open presents from family. He got started and then both camera batteries died. Then while we were waiting for them to charge, he got tired and had to take a nap. After he woke up from his nap we finished those presents. And we still hadn't given him his bike. He didn't get that until the NEXT day.

So he opened presents for 3 days. RIDICULOUS! I'm concerned about how Christmas will go....

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Weekly Update 10/11/09 and End to Jenni's Adventure

These pictures and videos are from an earlier blog post, but I just now had access to be able to upload them onto the computer.



The end of Jenni's Big Adventure:
DAY 10--Tuesday 10/6/09
I got up early and headed back to the hospital for one last visit with the urologist. Some paperwork to fill out and last minute discussions for arrangements in Japan. Then I stopped by OB to get my records from the ultrasound they did. One last stop to visit the Air Force liaison and she had flight info for me. I got everything I needed from her, then headed back to the hotel. I was NOT sorry to be leaving Tripler (for hopefully the last time!)

I'd e-mailed my cousin Chris before I left for the hospital that morning asking if he had any contacts in Hawaii that might be able to give me a good idea of what things were IMPORTANT that I see since I only had a very short time on the island. Within an hour he had lined up someone with the afternoon off who was willing to take me around and show me everything I wanted to see. Since I hadn't done any research, I had no idea what I wanted to see, so he just showed me things he thought would be important. He picked me up at the hotel around 1 and after some lunch and a vehicle switch, we headed out.

Our first stop was a rare look at the USS Arizona Memorial. Where my hotel was and where my guide (Kebry) lives is on an island in Pearl Harbor called Ford Island. You used to have to ferry back and forth between it and the main island, but about 10 years ago they built a bridge. There's a restricted part of Ford Island where you can only go if you live in the Navy housing that's back there. Just so happens, that's where Kerby lives. So he took me back there and showed me this little nook with an INCREDIBLE view of the Arizona memorial.

I didn't get to do the whole "Pearl Harbor Tour" deal because you have to go in the morning and sign up for tickets later in the day. The timing just didn't work out to where I could do it. But I still at least got to see the sight from here.

Our next stop was Waikiki Beach. There's a really nice DoD hotel there and we walked through it to get to the beach. We are DEFINITELY staying there when we go to Hawaii (whenever THAT is!). They have pretty prime beach property. We walked down and stood on a pier and got some good pictures of Diamond Head.


On our way back to the car, we went through the Hilton Hawaii where there were penguins. Yeah, penguins in Hawaii, I was surprised too. It just so happened we were there at feeding time.


We headed to a place called "Halona Blowhole". The waves hit the rocky shore in a way that forces water up through the rocks in what resembles a whale's blowhole. It was actually very cool. I got a video of a small spray, but seconds after I stopped shooting, there was a much bigger spray that I missed. That one was REALLY cool, but you still get the idea from this video:


Then we went to Pali Lookout. Well, actually there was another stop between Blowhole and Pali, and I have two pictures of it. But I can't remember where we were. Dang. I knew I should've taken notes!!


Okay, so Pali Lookout. It was basically a great place with fantastic panoramic views of lots of things.


After Pali Lookout, we headed back across the island to the Navy Base. We were at what I THINK was the club, but I can't be 100% sure. They had an outdoor patio where you could eat (during normal meal times only I think which was not when we were there). The view from that patio was ridiculous. If our club had that kind of view, I don't think we'd ever eat anywhere else!


Then it was to the Navy Exchange (NEX). Not your normal exchange by any means. It was more like a mall than an exchange. When we walked in, Kerby pointed out the ceiling that was done by Wyland. That was pretty impressive!


We did a little shopping, then headed to Hickam AFB to check out their exchange. (I was looking for a coin for Mike's collection and they didn't have anything "Hawaii" at the NEX--just things "Navy"). After I found a coin, we had dinner in the food court and headed back to the hotel. Whew! I still say that was a TON of touring in only 6 hours!


DAY 11--Wednesday 10/7/09
Kerby tasked one of his sailors (who I later found out was not getting out of work as I thought, but was actually on leave) to be my guide the next morning. I had to be at the airport at 10am to catch my noon flight, but I wanted to check out a flea market type thing that was going on that day. She picked me up at 8am and we headed to the market, where I found a few souvenirs for myself, and some dried peas for Mike (weird, I know, but he had asked for them while he was deployed and I hadn't been able to find them anywhere).

Then at 10 I was at the airport and checking in. I was concerned about the typhoon forecast but kept keeping an eye on the forecast and the lady at the airline check-in counter assured me my flight was still unaffected. Luckily it stayed that way and we boarded on time. We had to wait for three straggling passengers, so we took off 20 minutes late. They must've been special, because I know usually they shut that door at exactly the time they're supposed to. I ended up sitting next to a guy who is Air Force stationed at another base and his daughter. She'd had surgery at Tripler and they were on their way home, too. It was nice to be next to someone who spoke English, but the poor stewardesses all thought we were together (an easy mistake to make!), which was pretty funny. An uneventful flight, and only about 7 1/2 hours (instead of the scheduled 8 1/2). I watched "The Proposal" and "My Sister's Keeper" and read some of my book and slept about an hour.

We landed a little after 3pm on Thursday (Japan time) and I made it through immigration and customs in what felt like record time. It seemed to take forever to get my luggage even though it was one of the first ones off the plane. I booked it to the other terminal where the shuttle buses are and made it to where they park at about 4:02. I wasn't really expecting to make it but I thought I'd give it a shot and also make sure the other buses were where they were supposed to be. I got to their spots and... no buses. Hmmm, that's weird! There should be at least two here. So I went inside and asked the DoD liaison what was up. Turns out because of the "typhoon" they weren't going to do any shuttles that day. But when there ended up not being any bad weather, they decided to go ahead and send them. So they were on their way and scheduled to leave at 6:30 and 8:30 and board 30 minutes beforehand. Okay, no big deal. It sucks to have to wait, but I got something to eat then just sat in the airport and read some more of my book until it was time to get on.

The ride home was excruciating. To be SOOO close, yet still 2 hours away just sucked. I finally got myself to fall asleep and didn't wake up until we were coming through the gate on base. Then when I got to where the bus stops, I went inside and called Mike to come get me. They got there maybe 10 minutes later. Jackson was still awake (but a little sleepy) and already in his pajamas. I cried when I hugged Mike, and I decided to just hug Jackson in his car seat rather than get him out and have to put him back in. We headed home and I was very excited to get Jackson out and carry him inside. He got lots of proper hugs and kisses on the way in.

We let him play for about 10-15 minutes and then put him to bed because he was super tired and we didn't want him to get overly tired and not go to sleep. It was definitely weird having two people trying to parent. But I think we're getting the hang of it now!

And that's the end of my big adventure. I'm VERY glad it's over!!!


Weekly activities
Monday through Thursday was just Mike and Jackson at home. They went to playgroup one day, where Jackson played and Mike didn't talk to any of the moms. He's weird. And Mike bought a jogging stroller and pushed Jackson while he ran 4 miles. Jackson seemed to enjoy it. He wanted to be done after the first mile and a half, but he got over it. They went again on Saturday (while Jackson was still in his jammies) and that went pretty well, too.

Friday I had to go to the clinic and drop of OB records. I also got paperwork to file my travel expenses with the insurance company. And Jackson got his flu shot. Mike sang while he was holding him down, and Jackson didn't cry AT ALL. He barely flinched when they put the needle in. I mean, he's always really great about his shots and never really does more than whimper (which always gets impressed comments), but NO crying at all?! I can't believe how tough he is.

We had dinner with Trysta and David on Friday night. They'd invited some people over and we played poker after dinner. Since Jackson stayed with them for so long, he's used to sleeping on their spare bed. It's a queen mattress and box spring, but no frame, so it just sits on the floor. Perfect for him. After dinner we put him to bed there. We played poker with a bunch of people, but they all left and the four of us played ImagineIff... It was a pretty fun game. Around midnight we were ready to go home, and the plan had been to just wake Jackson up, take him home and put him back in bed. We decided to just leave him there and they called us the next morning when he woke up so we could go get him. He slept until after 9, which would never happen at home.

Saturday there was a birthday party for one of the boys in Jackson's playgroup. We ended up being over 30 minutes late because Jackson was still taking a nap. The party was good, and I got to see what the rec room and bouncy castle I rented for Jackson's party look like. They did theirs in an Elmo theme, and Jackson was very impressed by that. After the party we went to dinner at Chili's.

I went to Trysta's birthday party after that and Mike took Jackson home. No plans for today, but I still have some housework to get caught up on. I also have to get Jackson's party planned some time in the next two weeks. That should be pretty easy since Mike will be home on recon leave for them. We're also considering a day trip to Disney one day this week as long as the OB clears me to go that far from the base.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Jenni's Big Adventure

DAY 1--Saturday 9/26/09
I woke up at 1am because Jackson was fussy. I went in and calmed him down then somehow managed to get back in my bed. I was having really bad back pains and obviously the Tylenol hadn't helped. I took 2 more and tried to find a comfortable position in bed, which was impossible. Finally around 2am, I got up and called the Family Care Unit (kind of like the ER for pregnant women after 20 weeks). I told them I was concerned it might be kidney pain since it was in the middle of my back and only on my left side. I know back pain in pregnancy isn't uncommon, but it tends to be in your lower back and across both sides. The nurse asked if I had a history of kidney problems and even though I had been thinking it might be kidney related, I hadn't thought about the kidney stones I had just after having Jackson in December, 2009. When she asked me about the history, I said yes. She suggested that I try a heating pad on medium for maybe 20-30 minutes but if it didn't improve to come in and get checked out. At this point I was having difficulty talking to her. I hung up the phone and got the heating pad set up in my bed. I don't think I lay there 20 minutes before I decided it wasn't working at all and I'd need to head in to the hospital.

I called Trysta and David to come watch Jackson. I was thinking one of them could stay with him and the other could take me to the hospital. But they'd had a few drinks the night before and that made it not worth the risk to have one of them drive. While they were both perfectly fine, and probably could've driven, there was no reason to take that chance. But they were obviously okay to watch Jackson (especially since he was asleep and wouldn't be up for a few hours). So I called another friend (Laura) and she came and picked me up to take me to the hospital. By the time I had phone calls made, and everyone got dressed, came to the apartment, and Laura got me to the hospital, it was around 4am. I was in enough pain that it was hard to walk or talk at all. When we got to Labor & Delivery they hooked me up to monitors to check Alex's heart rate and make sure I wasn't having contractions. They also took blood and urine samples to send to the lab. Alex was fine, and I wasn't contracting at all. When the labs came back there was blood in my urine which was indicative of a kidney stone. They gave me IV morphine and started me on fluids. Laura went home since it was obvious I wouldn't need a ride home any time soon.

More tests. I got an X-Ray and an ultrasound to see if they could find the kidney stone. They could see the stone on the ultrasound but not for sure on the X-Ray. The only downside is that ultrasounds aren't very good for determining the size of a stone. The best ways to do that are either with an X-Ray with contrast, an MRI, or a CT with contrast. The ones with contrast were out because those tests require a long exposure to radiation. Once they inject the contrast, the procedure itself goes really slow. That much radiation was not good for Alex. And Yokota doesn't have an MRI machine. The ultrasound did show, however, that my bladder was only getting urine from my right kidney, not my left. That meant that the stone had blocked my left uretur, which is not good. At that point, the OB at Yokota decided that the stone probably needed to come out. Normally that would mean a trip to Yokosuka, the naval base in Japan about 3 hours from Yokota. Unfortunately, the urologist from Yokosuka had gone back to the states a year earlier than expected and his replacement wasn't there yet. So instead I went to a Japanese hospital.

Around 9am, they sent me by ambulance with a translator, nurse, and med tech to a local hospital. It was about a 45 minute drive, but the bumps down to the ambulance and on the road were causing some serious pain. At this point I was getting 5mg of IV morphine whenever I needed it, as often as every hour. We eventually got settled in in the Japanese hospital. The translator, nurse, and tech usually just stay until the patient is admitted. Before they would admit me though, they had to do a bunch more tests (many of which had already been done at Yokota). More baby checks (still perfectly fine) and another ultrasound. Unfortunately that meant around a 3 hour wait. And even though the Yokota people had morphine for me, they had transferred me to the Japanese hospital people and couldn't give me any of it. And the Japanese hospital wouldn't give me any pain meds until I saw a doctor. I also hadn't eaten since 7am (and that was just crackers and milk) so I was really glad I had small boxes of raisins in my purse to keep my blood sugar from bottoming out.

I finally got in to see the urologist, who gave me some pain meds. They pretty much didn't help at all, but it was better than nothing at least. He did the ultrasound and couldn't see the stone, just that my kidney was swollen. The basic gist of what I got from him (via the translator) was that any further testing would be unsafe for the baby and that taking the stone out under general anesthesia wasn't a good idea either. So he suggested I just stay on pain meds until the stone passed. Not exactly what the OB at Yokota had planned on, but it's not like I could force him to take the stone out. So we loaded back up in the ambulance and headed back to the base. At this point, my pain had moved from my back down to my bladder and groin area. And it wasn't nearly as intense.

We got back to Yokota around 3pm with basically nothing accomplished. There had been discussion about being in the Japanese hospital and not knowing how long they would keep me. They make you stay for a week after having a vaginal birth, which is MUCH less than the states (usually 24-48 hours). It didn't even cross Yokota's OB's mind that they wouldn't take the stone out.

While I had been gone, the OB had talked to a urologist at Kadena AB (the Japanese base on Okinawa) about my situation. She said that it takes 4-6 weeks with an obstructed kidney to cause damage, so short-term we weren't worried about that. Her suggestion was to get my pain under control and keep and eye on the stone and hope that it would pass. In the mean time, the urologist at Misawa (ANOTHER AB in Japan--since there wasn't a radiologist on call at Yokota for the weekend) who was reading my earlier imaging tests found the stone on the x-ray and thought it was measuring about 6mm. Generally the opinion is that anything 5mm or smaller can be passed, and anything bigger than that has to be surgically removed. But the OB at Yokota thought that maybe due to pregnancy hormones and things being generally more flexible and dilated that I might be able to pass it even though it was 6mm.

The plan was then to control my pain and see if I would pass it on my own. The goal was to get me to be able to control my pain with oral meds and get me off of IV pain meds so I could go home.


DAY 2--Sunday 9/27/09
Throughout the night I still needed IV pain meds. They'd switched from morphine to dilaudid because it seemed to work better and last longer. I was taking Tylenol #3 as my oral meds in between IV doses. The whole day was pretty much just pain meds, some eating, testing blood sugar, and monitoring me. We figured out pretty quickly that the T3 wasn't going to control my pain so we switched to Percocet. The OB had originally offered Percocet but when the discussion was me maybe going home, I didn't want to be on Percocet because I wouldn't be able to take care of Jackson. So I requested the T3. At that point we also thought based on where my pain was that the stone had possibly moved into my bladder. But early into the day on Sunday I was having enough back (ureter) pain that it was obvious that wasn't the case. They had been straining my urine since I got back to the base and there was no sign of a stone having been passed. During the day on Sunday and Sunday night I would go up to 10 or 12 hours without needing IV meds and get excited about maybe going home, but in the end I always ended up with intense pain not controlled by the Percocet and needing IV dilaudid.


DAY 3--Monday 9/28/09
New medication plan. Tylenol every 6 hours scheduled. It may seem retarded to even bother with Tylenol at this point, but it really helped the other meds work longer. That's why vicodin, Percocet, t3, etc. are all combinations of a stronger narcotic and Tylenol together. The other part of Percocet is oxycontin, so they were giving me 15mg of oxycontin every 4 hours with an additional 5mg every 2 hours if I needed it, and IV dilaudid every hour on top of that if I REALLY needed it. Turns out that 15mg of oxycontin wasn't doing anything at all for me, so after 8 hours, they changed it to 20mg, plus still the 5mg every 2 hours and still the dilaudid.

The OB called and talked to the urologist at Kadena again to basically say, "We need a new plan" because it was becoming clearer every day that I wasn't going to get the pain under control with oral meds. That meant I was going to stay in the hospital until I passed the stone, which also wasn't looking like a very likely scenario. Kadena has two urologists, and they were sending one to Yokosuka for 2 weeks to fill in until a permanent replacement could get there. He was supposed to get there the next day, and she planned on sending me to see him then. In the mean time, maintain pain management.

The urologist did give her an idea of some possible solutions. Option A--put a stint in to allow the urine to drain from my kidney to my bladder. It would have to stay in until the baby is born because the stint would actually be smaller than my ureter, so there's no way I would pass the stone on my own. Option B--put in some kind of external tube out my back to allow my kidney to drain that way, while still giving the stone a chance to pass through my ureter on its own. Option C--surgically remove the stone, put in a stint to hold open my ureter while it healed from the surgery, then after 2 weeks remove the stint. Option C requires general anesthesia which could cause complications for the baby, but still seems like it might be the best option. None of these could be done at Yokota, though, since we don't have a urologist there.


DAY 4--Tuesday 9/29/09
The urologist from Kadena spent the morning getting checked in at Yokosuka, so the OB didn't get to talk to him until the afternoon. When she did talk to him, they decided sending me there would be a bad idea since he'd only be there for 2 weeks. Any procedure he did may require a recovery time of longer than 2 weeks and if they put a stint or a drain in, there wouldn't be anyone at Yokota to take it out and he wouldn't be back at Yokosuka until Feb. I asked about sending me to Kadena instead of Yokosuka but I guess they don't have the equipment that would be necessary to do any of the suggested procedures at Kadena. The decision was made to instead send me to Tripler in Hawaii. I think it's an Army base, but it has a good medical reputation, and that's where pretty much any complicated medical situation gets sent from anywhere in the pacific.

I had been doing really well with pain management and just playing the wait and see game. Then on Tuesday, things started going downhill. I'd been constipated for days, but there wasn't much I could do about it since the narcotics I was taking for pain were contributing factors to that and I couldn't stop taking them. At lunch I couldn't eat very much, and a few hours later, I threw up what little I had eaten. I was having what I thought were stomach cramps from the constipation, but they turned out to be contractions. They switched me into another room where they could monitor Alex and the contractions. I threw up some more before they transferred me and started feeling really really crappy. The monitors showed Alex's heart rate was fine, still as perfect as usual, but that I was having contractions. They weren't regular at all, and I wasn't dilating or effacing at al, so they weren't causing progress towards delivery either. Pretty much they were just a side effect from all the GI issues I was having. Any time there is "irritation" in your gut it can cause irritation in your uterus and therefore contractions. They were painful, but nothing crazy.

At that point my temperature was creeping up, too. It wasn't a "fever" so they weren't concerned, yet. But they were definitely keeping an eye on it and they also sent blood to the lab to check my white blood cell count to make sure it wasn't elevated (indicating an infection)--it was fine. They mostly just kept pumping me full of fluids and watching me, plus IV phenergan to help with the nausea. I started feeling better and they gave me a bisacodyl suppository to help with the constipation. I also got my scheduled dose of Tylenol via suppository since I'd been puking earlier. A few hours of rest and I was feeling much better. They're not really sure what brought it on, but my temp regulated and I stopped throwing up, so they weren't as concerned.


DAY 4--Wednesday 9/30/09
The morning was normal, and around 1pm the medical evacuation team came to the OB floor and got me and my stuff. We headed out to the plane and after sitting on the ambulance for an hour waiting for the crew to get the plane ready to go and the plane to take on fuel, we boarded. At this point there was one patient from Korea headed to a hospital in California somewhere for metal health issues. There was another guy from Yokosuka that had to ride up to Yokota (3 hours) in an ambulance. He was on a litter the whole time and he had an escort with him. Then there was another guy who had some kind of GI issues that was on the same floor as me at Yokota. In the Family Care Unit, one side is Labor & Delivery and the other side is medical surgery. He was on the med surg side. His wife came with us, too. So it was 4 patients plus 2 escorts from Yokota to Kadena. Plus of course flight nurses and med techs to take care of us on the way.

The flight was pretty uneventful. As soon as we got to cruising altitude, I decided I was ready to lie down. They had me as category 2B which is "litter for comfort," meaning they had a litter available for me to lie on but I didn't have to stay on it the whole time like the other guy. I was in a lot of pain at that point, mostly from the jostling of the ambulance ride and the plane taking off. I got some pain meds and lay down and started feeling a little better. The meds they were giving me weren't enough to get on top of the pain, but took the edge off at least. When we landed they decided I was better off staying on the litter and being carried off the plan rather than trying to walk down the steps.

Once we arrived at Kadena and got everyone loaded onto the buses, we headed to Camp Lester, which is a nearby Army base where the hospital is located. Each time we changed crews, there was a process of transferring meds and giving reports on all of our conditions, etc. The transfers from the OB staff to the transport staff at Yokota, then to the flight staff, then to the transport staff at Kadena all seemed pretty seamless. But the transfer from the transport staff to the hospital staff at Camp Lester was a problem. It took over 2 hours for them to get everything figured out and to get me meds. I ended up being in a LOT of pain before they finally got to me. Plus the guy they sent in to check me in was a complete idiot. He was obviously in training and had no clue what he was doing. He asked half of the questions wrong or took the answers down wrong and had to come re-do my pregnancy history. Then he needed help figuring out how to strain my urine. By the time he came in to draw blood for labs, I was done. He had to go ask another tech how to work a butterfly needle, and I started crying. When she came in and saw how upset I was she knew right away why. She sent him out of the room to go get something and asked if it was bothering me that he was training. I told her that normally I'm a patient person with trainees because I know everyone has to learn sometime, but with the pain and the situation, I was just not in the mood to be used as a training tool right then. She said she would take care of it and incompetent boy never showed back up. After labs, they finally got me some pain meds and I was able to sleep. Although for some reason the 3rd shift doctor decided I needed to be hooked up to a fetal heart rate and contraction monitor so I was strapped to the bed all night.


DAY 5--Thursday 10/1/09
Day 5 actually lasted 41 hours instead of just 24 since Japan is 17 hours ahead of Hawaii.

Since I couldn't get up or walk at all like I had been, my feet and ankles were the size of melons when I woke up. Luckily the day time doctor said I didn't need to be constantly monitored (which is what the Yokota OB said, too) so I was able to walk around and get the swelling down considerably. On my hospital walks, I even got to take some pictures of the view from the hospital of the ocean and such. They were taken from the "typhoon ramp" which is I guess just the escape route they use if there’s a typhoon and a bunch of people need to evacuate in a hurry.

Throughout the morning people from the transport team were in and out getting paperwork and taking my suitcase down to the buses. We picked up 2 more patients and 3 escorts for the trip to Hawaii so we needed 2 buses for all of the people and bags. They came to get me around 3pm to head to the flight line. I rode in a seat on the bus until we got to the plane, but they put me on the litter once we got there so I could just start there and not have to move after take off. It was a good thing because once again the pain meds were on a delay so I was in quite a bit of pain by the time I even got loaded onto the plane.

The plane left Japan around 6pm and landed in Hawaii at around 9am on the same day. Gotta love that International Date Line! The flight was interesting to say the least. I spent pretty much the entire time on the litter. I did try to eat something and they tried to prop me up as best they could into a sitting position, but it didn't really work and I ended up choking. The problem was I couldn't sit up because I was strapped to the litter. After some flailing they figured out there was a problem and unstrapped me. I was fine right away, but they went ahead and got me down to sit in a seat to finish my food. Once I was done eating, I walked a little, went to the bathroom, and back to the litter. I had oxygen on the whole time. My level had been down to 86 when I first got on the plane, which I think was due to being too far down on the litter, and therefore really flat instead of at an incline. Once I scooted back and had my back more on the back rest, I felt okay. But for the time I was sitting in the chair and not on oxygen, I did start to feel kind of bad. With just a little oxygen I was fine, but they kept me on it for the whole flight. Plus I was getting IV fluids for the whole flight and pain meds throughout as well. It was a rough flight, and super long (10 hours total) but I was glad to have it over with.

We all got off the plane and loaded onto ambulances for the ride from Hickam AFB (where we landed) to Tripler (where the hospital is). Somewhat bumpy (and therefore painful) but also a short ride. I was checked into the hospital and in my room by 10am, and I was exhausted! I called everyone to let them know I'd made it and then tried to sleep between vitals checks and doctor visits, etc.

Thursday afternoon the OB visited and basically said that they were keeping me in the OB ward so they could monitor my baby, but that I was urology's patient and they'd be calling the shots. Then she took me off all of my pain meds and started me back on just morphine plus oral Tylenol every 6 hours. Since getting off IV pain meds wasn't really a goal anymore, she decided the simpler the better. I got what's technically called a PCA but what I refer to as "my magic morphine button." I got 1mg of morphine every time I pushed the button and they set it to only let me get any every 10 minutes. It wasn't nearly what I'd been on but it seemed to do the trick throughout the evening.

The urologist visited later that evening and he said the plan was to watch things until Monday and see if I passed the stone on my own. After reviewing the CT they'd done earlier (almost as soon as I got there) they could tell the stone was now down by my bladder. On the previous ultrasound and x-ray from Yokota it'd been up by my kidney. So it already moved down through my whole ureter, and it only looked to be 3mm-5mm in size, so he thought I might be able to pass it on my own. If I didn't pass it by Monday, he'd put a stint in to help the flow of urine from my kidney to my bladder, making the ureter unobstructed and therefore less painful. The plan also included staying on the IV pain meds as long as I needed them.


DAY 6--Friday 10/2/09
I woke up at 6am to go through rounds with both doctors. I told the OB I was in lots of pain from being asleep all night and therefore not pushing the button and getting pain meds. So she changed the interval to 8 minutes instead of 10. Within a few hours I was caught up to the pain and the morphine was enough for the rest of the day. The urologist visited and said basically the same thing he'd said the night before.

Around 0730 they brought me my breakfast tray, and within 5 minutes the urologist came in. He said they'd examined my case as a board and felt they should present me with one other option. Go in today and take the stone out, put in a stint for a few days, then take it out within a week and send me back to Japan. Yes, please! I pick that option! My number one question was anesthesia. I'd been told at Yokota that if they wanted to take the stone out, it'd require general anesthesia, which was true at the time because the stone was so high up. But now the stone was much lower, so they could do it with just a spinal. Once I found that out, I was all about getting it out, and getting it out NOW! He mentioned that, "another surgeon was willing to do the surgery" which made me wonder why he wasn't, but whatever. He took my breakfast away and said nothing by mouth (not even water) until after the surgery. Bummer.

Shortly after they came and got me for an ultrasound. The first cool thing was, hey, extra pictures of Alex are always nice. The second thing was they had a monitor mounted on the screen so you could see what they were seeing without having to crane your neck and she didn't have to lean either. That was pretty cool. She measured all the stuff and I got to see everything again (but much clearer this time since he's bigger now). She printed out some good pictures which I will eventually scan and post. She also said he's measuring just a little big, which is fine since he measured a bit big at the last ultrasound, too. Then back to my room to wait for surgery.

All they told me was that it would be sometime in the afternoon, but they didn't have a time. I was just waiting around until they came to get me. They finally did around 1pm and wheeled me down to the surgery area. Everything went pretty quick once I got down there. New IV site, fluids, antibiotics, forms to fill out, etc. Then they took me into the OR and I was on the table. They did the spinal which I held surprisingly still for. Then they laid me down and things obviously started going numb from my feet up. That's when I started getting nervous. They put a sheet up to form a curtain by my head so I couldn't see what they were doing and put an oxygen mask on me, too. There were all kinds of people and all kinds of movement going on around me. I couldn't get myself to relax. I told the nurse anesthetists that I was nervous and couldn't calm down and she told me, "There's no reason for me to give you any drugs for it so you'll have to relax on your own." It sounds mean now that I type it but the way she said it wasn't mean at all. She was really nice, actually. I asked her when they were going to start and she said they already had, so then I calmed down quite a bit. I think since I wasn't asleep and I still had feeling from my belly button up that I was worried I'd be able to feel what they were doing. Plus it was the same anesthesia that I had for my c-section and I could definitely feel the moving around and pulling they did to get Jackson out. I managed to tune everything out and keep myself relatively calm for the rest of the procedure, which was about an hour and 15 minutes. Towards the end I could feel the spinal starting to wear off a little and that freaked me out. I felt Alex move and I told the nurse it was wearing off, and she told me it wasn't and I was fine. Then I felt someone leaning on my foot and I told her again that I could feel stuff and it was wearing off. Again she assured me that it wasn't wearing off and that she would see signs of that before I had any way to communicate to her that I thought it was. Okay, I relaxed again. But then I felt them touching me again, and I lost it. "Are you SURE it's not wearing off?!" "I'm sure, I promise I won't let it wear off and they're almost done." I wasn't satisfied but managed to stay relatively calm until they finished. They had been using a laser to break up the stones, so we all had on some special goggles. When she came and took those off and put my glasses back on, I knew we were really close to being done and that made me feel much better.

Once we were all done we moved to recovery. Other than being freezing and needing lots of heated sheets, blankets, and even a warmer thing that I think they mostly use for babies, I was good. They took me to labor and delivery for 4 hours to recover and monitor everything. I was supposed to be on a clear liquid diet but they took my sugar and it was down to 75 so they let me eat real food. I think that's the only time I've been glad to have gestational diabetes. I hadn't eaten in 21 hours so I was STARVING. Everything looked good in recovery (labor & delivery) except for a few contractions, which were mild and pretty much expected. Anytime the mess with things in your abdomen, it can cause uterus irritability which can cause contractions. Like all those before they didn't actually do anything or cause any progress so they were of little concern.

The urologist came to visit me in recovery. I've had a bunch of doctors and I can't keep them all straight. But the one who did the surgery (who was VERY nice!) was not the same one who'd been following me throughout my stay (not quite as nice). He told me that they would want to keep my stint in even if I passed the main stone. He said there were lots of smaller stones that the surgeon saw, plus the fragments that were broken off during surgery. So leaving the stint in would allow those to help pass, too. Also, the stint would need changed after 4-8 weeks. Then, it can't be removed until we can do a CT scan to verify that all the stones are out. But I can't have a CT while pregnant, so basically the stint has to stay in (after being changed) until after Alex is born. That means staying in Hawaii until I have him. I managed to wait until he left the room to start crying. It was pretty upsetting to think about being stuck in Hawaii without Mike and Jackson (at least not for the whole time) plus having Alex here with (Army) doctors I don't know, and not having any friends or anything here.

Shortly after I returned to my regular room, I passed the stone. I had some serious stomach pain and cramping which I thought was a contraction. I even thought, "If I have another one that strong, I'll have to call the nurse in here to monitor me." I had to stop what I was doing and breathe through the pain. But it was short-lived, which is part of what made me think it was a contraction. The next time I peed, there was the stone. YAY! It's out! It looks huge to me. They kept saying 6mm after the surgery, but 6mm looks a lot bigger than I anticipated. It looks like a kernel of unpopped pop corn but it's a little bigger than that. They'll collect it and any smaller stones I pass and send them to the lab for analysis. Hopefully once they know what it's made of, they may be able to give me good advice on how to avoid them in the future.


DAY 7--Saturday 10/3/09
During rounds the OB said I was good to go and he was ready to discharge me whenever urology was ready to release me. The urologist said I could be discharged whenever I want, but I asked to stay until Monday. We also discussed me going back to Japan. He said he's fine with me going back and then either getting a urologist there or coming back to Hawaii in 4 weeks to have someone here change the stint. Japan could be an off-base doctor or one at another base in Japan. Then after Alex is born, I can have a CT done on-base at Yokota and a urologist anywhere can take the stint out. We had a problem getting a civilian Japanese doctor to remove the stone while I'm pregnant, but may not have a problem finding one to change out the stint while pregnant, and should definitely not have a problem getting one to take it out once Alex is born.

Around 9pm I started leaking fluid, but no one seemed concerned except me. The OB said to just keep an eye on it.


DAY 8--Sunday 10/4/09
I woke up at 6am to a huge increase in leaking fluid. I immediately called the nurse and this time they started taking me seriously. They sent me up to labor and delivery to test the fluid to see if it was amniotic fluid or urine. When I got out of the bed, there was a huge spot where I'd leaked throughout the night. I was really scared that if it WAS amniotic fluid, I'd leaked a lot of it over 12 hours, which is not good. But once I got up to L&D they did a few tests and it turned out to not be amniotic fluid. Just urine. Gross, but a huge relief. Then they called in urology. It turned out that the stint, which was supposed to end in my bladder, had actually come out the other end of my bladder, and was basically draining my bladder constantly. Again, gross. So they shoved it back into place. Not a comfortable procedure obviously. All is well now, just have to take antibiotics since the stint was on the outside of my bladder but is now back in. They don't know why or how it happened and had no advice on preventing it from happening again.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Just chillin in my hospital room, watching TV and reading. I'm being discharged tomorrow after I talk to the social worker to figure out when/how I'm going home and where I'm staying until then. And of course I'll have to be released by OB and urology, so who knows what time I'll get out of here.


DAY 9--Monday 10/5/09
In the morning I had an ultrasound to make sure the stint is in the right place. It's the only time I think an ultrasound has ever been a painful experience for me. She was really digging that want into my ribs and side to get a good picture of my kidneys. Then I came back to my room and had breakfast, followed by a non-stress test. A non-stress test is where they hook me up to monitors to see if I'm having contractions and also to measure Alex's heart rate. I'd had two at Yokota, but since I arrived at Tripler (Day 5) I'd had them twice a day. They only last 20 minutes, but I was pretty sick of them. You can't really talk during it or it messes up the contraction monitor and they seemed pretty pointless since everything was always totally fine. I'm hoping that was the last nst for a while!

Then I got to take a shower. One of the best showers of my life. I'd had the chance on a fairly regular basis throughout the whole ordeal to shower, kind of. But one of the first things that happened at Yokota early on Day 1 was that they put in a hep lock. And when one went bad, they'd just take it out and find a different spot. You should see how many bruises are on my forearms from all the different ones. But that also means that showers came with a plastic baggie over my arm to keep them from getting wet. Finally on Day 7 they decided that since I'd passed my stone I could be off of IV fluids and just drink my water by mouth now. So the shower that day didn't involve a plastic baggie, but was one of the coldest showers I'd ever taken. I suffered through it because I felt gross, but it was definitely not enjoyable. Today's was MUCH better and actually hot. It's probably the longest I've gone without a satisfying shower. Plus when I got out, I put on CLOTHES instead of pajamas in anticipation of my pending discharge from the hospital.

Finally around 5pm I had arrangements for my hotel stay done and the discharge paperwork was done and I was set FREE!! I took a picture of my first views of freedom, although it wasn't very exciting. I'll upload when I get back to Japan. Still no word on flights yet, but that should hopefully come together tomorrow. The Air Force Liason at the hospital told me to make reservations for 4 nights, but that I probably wouldn't be staying that long. I'm anxious to get back, but right now just relieved to be free from the hospital. More info to follow as I get it!

Weekly Update 10/4/09

Mom did her big adventure blog separate, so this one will be an update on me and Daddy throughout the week while Mom’s been out of commission.

When Mom went to the hospital on Saturday, Trysta and David came over at 3:30 am to watch me. They had me through the weekend, but Trysta got sick on Sunday. She went to urgent care where they did a rapid flu test that came back negative. So basically just rest and fluids and let it run its course. David kept me entertained throughout the day while she rested, but he had to go back to work on Monday. So during the day on Monday, Laura (the same one who took Mom to the hospital on Saturday) watched me at our house until David got off work and picked me up. She took me with her to take her dog to the groomer and some other errands, which I really enjoyed!

Then on Tuesday Laura watched me in the morning, then another spouse from Daddy’s squadron kept me in the afternoon when Laura went to work. Mom got a call at the hospital in the afternoon from the sitter saying I had a fever and asking if she could give me Tylenol. So Mom told her yes of course. When David picked me and got me home, Trysta found a lump on the back of my neck that I wouldn’t let her touch and I was saying my head hurt (well, signing hurt and pointing to my head, but same thing). I also still had a fever. So they took me to urgent care, where they did a rapid flu test that came back negative. They said the same thing for me that they’d told her: drink lots of fluids, give me watered down Gatorade instead of plain water, and let me rest as much as possible.

Also on Tuesday the decision was made to bring Daddy home from Kuwait. Since they were sending Mom to Hawaii, he needed to come home to take care of me. Trysta and David were doing a great job but that wasn’t a good permanent solution. Especially since we had no idea how long Mom would be in Hawaii. So Daddy’s commander and first shirt contacted his leadership in Kuwait and got the ball rolling with getting him home ASAP. Since he was supposed to be leaving in the next few weeks anyways and his replacement would be there soon, they consider his time in Kuwait as “mission complete”. He’ll still get credit for the whole deployment and anything else that he would’ve gotten (medals, etc) he’ll still get, too.

Wednesday Trysta was still feeling pretty crappy so Daddy’s first sergeant’s wife and daughter watched me. They brought me by the hospital to see Mom one last time before she left for Hawaii. I looked like crap still since I was feeling bad, and wasn’t in a very good mood, but Mom still got to see me which was nice.

Mom had also contacted the legal office on base and they had someone bring by paperwork granting Trysta and David temporary custody of me until Daddy got home. It was a good thing Mom did that since they ended up taking me back to urgent care on Wednesday night. My temperature got up to 102 and that worried Trysta. Mom laughed when Trysta told her that she’d taken me back for that, but she’s not a mom and obviously safe is way better than sorry. The doctor at urgent care kind of laughed at her, too. They told her I was fine, just still sick and continue the fluids, Motrin and Tylenol. Also, she’d been putting me in my regular sleepers and they told her to just let me sleep in a onesie. Oh, and no need to bring me back unless my temp gets to 104 and doesn’t come down with Motrin and Tylenol. Which, of course, Mom already knew, but the high temp freaked Trysta out and Mom didn’t blame her at all for taking me in. I'm usually healthy and really haven't been sick before. Mom felt kind of bad that she wasn’t there for my first real bout with illness. But at least I wasn’t puking or anything.

Thursday was uneventful for everyone except Mom until Daddy got home. He got home late at night and went to Trysta and David’s house. I was already asleep but Daddy didn’t have a key to our apartment, or even know where it was since we moved. He stayed over there for a few hours before heading home. He decided to just let me sleep and he’d get me the next day.

Friday Daddy went back to David and Trysta’s and gave David the camera to record the reunion. It was pretty anticlimactic. I recognized Daddy and walked over to him, but wasn’t just totally ecstatic to see me like Mom anticipated. Mom hasn’t seen the video yet, but she can’t wait to see it. I was still sick, so Mom thinks that may have had something to do with my lack of reaction.

Since Friday everything has been pretty normal. Daddy and I are re-bonding and getting a good routine down. Mom’s disappointed that she can’t be here to help things along, but we’re doing fine. I'm getting better each day but still have a sore throat and a slight temperature. Plus I haven’t shown Daddy my world class eating skills yet either. I’m sure I’ll get my appetite back in no time.

And of course, Sunday was my birthday. Happy 2nd birthday to Mom’s sweet baby boy who is no longer a baby. Such a big boy! In a big boy bed, and ready to start potty training. The other day I told Daddy BEFORE I pooped in my diaper so it’s definitely time!

This may be the last of the weekly updates for a while. Mom will still post something whenever we do something interesting, but now that Daddy’s home we probably don’t need weekly play by plays anymore.

Weekly Update 9/25/09

This one will be short. It’s hard for me to remember everything that far back, and I’m creating a separate entry for all of my medical shenanigans.

Monday—Speech therapy at 0830 with Holly. The fishing game made a repeat appearance and Jackson was THRILLED about that! Nothing new to report on the speech front. He is enjoying his sessions and making progress as expected.

Tuesday I went to the housing office and reserved a rec room for the party on October 25th. I also rented a bouncy castle that fits inside the rec room for all the kids to jump in. We had considered having the party at Sand Park, but I talked Mike out of it since it's not fenced and everyone would have to be constantly chasing their kiddos around.

Wednesday was the day we went to the playground. There's one on the West Side that we hadn't been to yet so I thought we'd check it out. Jackson had a blast. It was just a small one on black rubbery ground cover, but he had so much fun. He likes to run in the grass, so he got to do that some. And it's more age-appropriate for him than the one at Sand Park. When we go to Sand Park, I have to kind of stay right near him all the time to make sure he doesn't try to do something that's too big for him (like go down the pole). But at this park, I could just sit on the bench and let him go. I think it was fun for him to explore and stuff without me having to hover over him the whole time. They also had a flower-like thing that came out of the ground in two spots. You could put your ear to one end and someone talks in the other end ad it magnifies the sound. He wasn't quite tall enough to reach it very well, but he got the concept pretty quickly and we counted back and forth to each other until I couldn't stay bent down to talk into my end any longer. Eventually he was ready for a nap and we headed home, but not because I made him. He requested to go home and then lay happily in his stroller with puppy the whole way there. Such a big boy

On Friday, Jackson and I dropped Daddy's car off at the BX Garage so they could do the safety inspection. Every 2 years, cars in Japan have to be inspected by the government and once they pass the inspection, they get a certification thing called a JCI (Japanese Compulsory Insurance). The one on Mike's car expires in November so we went ahead and got the inspection done so we'd know what needed fixed on it. Then once everything is fixed we'll take it to our insurance company and they’ll arrange to get it certified. But we left the car at the garage and walked home =e (it's really close to our apartment). Friday afternoon we went to the Farmers' Market with some friends. It's in Mizuho which is the next town over. I got directions from the person who told me about it, and was actually brave enough to take two other friends with me. Somehow we made it there and back without getting totally lost. I did miss the entrance on the way there but I knew pretty quickly I'd missed it and turned around. We found it without any problems on the second pass. Once again, I got a ton of produce for cheap, cheap, cheap. I was mostly buying veggies to cut up for the veggie tray for the baby shower the next day. This was a major success for me since I was able to drive off base with written directions but no map, and actually manage to not get lost at all. After Jackson was in bed Friday night I made sure I had pretty much everything ready for the shower the next day. I printed out the game sheets for the games we were playing, and made sure the apartment was pretty picked up. I planned on vacuuming and making the deviled eggs the next morning before Trysta came over at 9 to decorate. The last thing I did was wash and cut the veggies from the farmers' market that I'd gotten earlier that day. I noticed while I was chopping that my back was kind of hurting and I wondered vaguely what I had done earlier that day to it. Like maybe I'd twisted it funny or something. I finished up in the kitchen, took 2 Tylenol and headed to bed. Then things got really interesting..... to be continued in next blog.
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