CRAZY TIMING

Well, we have stuff going on. CRAZY stuff. Stuff that would make weaker women cry.(Oh wait, I did...) Here is the scoop. As most know, I am 38 weeks pregnant. 38 weeks people! It's time to get this party started! Well. This party is off to a wild start, and hopefully, a calm finish. You might be asking what in the heck I am talking about?? It's just having a baby, and it's her third one! No big deal! Right. That's what I was thinking up until a few weeks ago. Let me start from the beginning. 38 weeks ago, I got pregnant. Wait, that's too far back. Let me start on June 17th. On June 17th, Daniel started working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. His left leg also started to cause him a lot of pain, resulting in a serious limp. About 3 weeks after that, He decided that he need to see a doctor, ASAP, because he was afraid he had a stress fracture in his femur (Thigh). This same bone broke when he was in 5th grade, and he already knew the bone was weak due to his Bone disease. He has Fibrous Dysplasia in certain bones, this thigh being one of them. ANYWAY, we went to the urgent care , where we saw a very mean doctor.(but that is beside the point). She sent him for a x-ray. After this mean doctor and the local orthopedic doctor looked at his x-ray, this what we got. "I don't see a break, but the bone doesn't look right, it's probably just inflamed". WHAT?????? How do you get an inflamed femur? Daniel, being much more polite than me, explained that he already knew the bone was messed up and that she (the mean doctor) would not be able to help him, we just need something for pain and a referral to see an orthopedic specialist at OHSU. Thankfully, she obliged. Now, 1 month after the pain started, we are sitting in an orthopedic specialist's office, at a hospital that has a lot of his records and can competently understand his unique situation. The doctor talks with us, gets to know us, examines him, looks at his x-rays, old and new, and says that the bone IS fractured and we have 2 options. 1. Do nothing. Live with the pain, and wait for the bone to break on it's own, which is very likely and very scary and life threatening. Or 2. Have surgery, Put a rod  and screws in his bone and live a normal, pain free life without fear of your bone breaking. HMMMMM. Let me think about this....Surgery it is.

Daniel was prepared for this. I was not. I could not mentally figure out what him having surgery meant for us. I posted on Facebook a while ago that Daniel was accepted in to an electrical apprenticeship training. Pretty awesome news. That's a hard thing to get in to on your own. Yes, he IS the MAN. So, having surgery effects this how? What about his current job? What about our managing job? How are we going to swing this? We have a baby on way!!! My world felt pretty scary as I contemplated all the variables. I knew 2 things. 1. We have to start his apprenticeship, ASAP(which also means moving back to the Portland area). 2. We are having a baby. Basically, my mind was SPINNING. There was to much to think about, like our income. HELLO. He can't work for 6 weeks after the surgery! (We have a small savings, and thank goodness, short term disability insurance.) PHEW. Anyway, there are about a million things going through my mind.

So, here are my main concerns and fears. I don't know the dates for anything! When am I going to have the baby? When should we schedule the surgery? When can we quit his current job and thus give up the insurance that is covering all of this, so that he can start his apprenticeship, and when in the HECK are we going to move? I gave myself 1 day to cry about all of this. Then I moved on and accepted that I would just have to trust Heavenly Father. Then we scheduled the surgery for august 16th. Turns out, I needed one more crying day. My due date is September 21st. AHHH! What if I go in to labor while he is still in the hospital, or the day before he goes in, or or or or or or!!! AHHHHHH! Here I go again with the spinning head.

At my 37 weeks visit with my midwife, I know that I am 50% effaced and dilated to a 2. Hmmm. Let me tell you why you should induce me please! After the explanation, and her seeing how worried, shaken, stressed I was, she talked to the other doctor, and got me scheduled for an induction. Normally, they do not even consider inducing until you are a week late. I will be induced 9 days early. I can hear all the hippies now...."NOOOOOOOO".  Yes. I need to have control over this. I need to know the date I am having him. He will be born on August 12. So here is the schedule.

August 12: Deliver the baby.
August 14: Go home from the hospital.
August 15: Go to Portland
August 16: Surgery
August 18, 19 or 20th: Go home...Again.

Both of us can adjust and start our recoveries...Life will calm down for a bit (as calm as it can be anyway). Then we will have to move.

Now, if you have read this far, thanks! I am so nervous about everything. I will be a tired Mommy with a sore body, and Daniel the same. We have a lot of support from our family. We do not get any time off from our managing job, so it's back to the grindstone as soon as we get back. Our older kids will hopefully adjust well with all of this as well. I am afraid that they are going to get the worst of this. I am praying so hard for them right now. I really hope that we can just buck up and get through this with good attitudes and stronger faith.

I would also like to mention my manly man. He has had 1 day off in the last 2 months, and it was spent at the doctors. He has gone to work on a broken leg, in agonizing pain everyday, and with out complaint. He WALKS all day. He must really love us. I feel so lucky to have him. He is super human. Who can do that?? My husband can. MY MAN. It breaks my heart to see him limping and occasionally cry out in pain. I have tried not complain to him, but I am not as strong as him. I needed to cry, he didn't. I complained, he didn't. I am doing much better now that I have dates, and some control over the situation. but it's still in Heavenly Fathers hands completely. I should really feel special knowing that He wouldn't have tried us in this way if we couldn't handle it. Man, we rock!  ;)

I have arrangements for the kids during all of this, so that is a load off my mind as well.  They will be having fun with Grandma and Grandpa H. during my hospital stay and Daniel's. I'll be staying either with them, or at my sisters house while Daniel is in the hospital. I just have to get my mind to stop worrying and enjoy the blessings in all of this.

1. Apprenticeship
2. Family
3. Short term disability insurance
4. Counsel from our church to live below our means and have at least a small savings
5. Understanding bosses
6. A not perfect, but strong marriage
7. Health insurance, with an out of pocket maximum that will easily be covered with our next tax return.

We are just praying at this point that everything goes according to plan. An easy delivery, and a healthy baby. A text book surgery with a speedy recovery.

Wow, sorry if this is poorly written and chaotic. I can't even keep my thoughts clear long enough to write something that makes sense.

And the winner is.....

And the winner of the baby name poll is............NEITHER! Lane and Reed both fell out of the running. But thanks for voting! We have decided on a name, but I will announce it when he is born. (Unless you are someone I've told already) It just seems like more fun to announce the name at the same time as the birth. But don't worry, you wont have to wait long!

My baby is 5!

Did my daughter really just turn 5? I am still having a hard time believing this. Then again, I feel this way every year on her birthday.

 She really took charge of present time. She was on it like white on rice.

 The birthday cake. I cut the unicorn out of a birthday card that some family friends mailed her, then Grandma H. decorated the cake. See the black and white stripes on the left side of the picture SHANEL DAY? THERE YOU GO. MY BELLY.  ;)

 Biting Grandpa A's finger

 Time to eat! Almost as exciting as opening presents.

After all the festivities, Grandpa H. took everyone for a ride on his boat. ALWAYS a fun treat. Happy birthday Clare! You are soooooo loved!

This is just a cute video of some cute kids...AKA, my kids and my nephew. 

Also, if anyone knows why Blogger wont let me put titles on my posts anymore, please let me know.

We are having a hard time choosing a name for this little guy. It is a toss up between Lane and Reed. The middle name will be Spencer. Clare insists on T-rex. In fact, every time we talk about the 2 names, she interrupts to inform us that his name WILL BE T-rex.

In no way will this poll actually have any bearing on our final decision. I am just looking for some outside perspective. We have had the 2 names picked out for a while so I am pretty sure it will be one of the 2 unless something pops up at the last minute.

So what do you think? Lane Spencer or Reed Spencer???

Ok. I have some blog/journaling catch up to do. A few events and fun things have happened since my last post. In my defense, I have been working on all the major projects that I want to get done before I have the baby. OOh! I think that sounds like a post in itself! Anyway, we've had fun with cousins, a camp out, pre-school graduation, and a "girls only party"....HERE WE GO!

On the night of the father son camp out, Clare was DEVASTATED that she couldn't go.  She kept saying "you're just teasing, I can go!" I ended up having a girls party with her to make it up to her. We started the night with some chocolate sorbet. We could have stopped there, and she would have been thrilled, but next,

 we painted each others nails. She loved painting my fingers and toes for me. She did a pretty good job too! (But I did choose clear with sparkles, just in case)

 After that, I let her choose a movie. At this point it was about 10pm. She didn't last long. The ottoman was just to comfy, and she zonked. I love having a daughter. She is the best. I so loved being able to give her all this attention and just be girly together. She's so sweet.

 The next day we went fishing with Daniels Dad and brother. I have a really funny video of the kids being very excited to see a fish that was caught.

 This, in case you ever wondered, is what 17 kids, ages 17 and below, look like after 4 days of camping. DIRT + CUTE= TIME TO GO HOME! The camp out was really fun. There are so many kids, that they didn't have time to get bored. Play was on the agenda all day every day. Great memories were made. By the end of a day, my kids were so worn out. They got super cranky, and it didn't take long for them to fall asleep. 10 minutes maximum. I loved it.

 My baby graduated from pre-school! What the heck! I don't even know how this is possable. She will be 5 next month. The time really goes by way to fast, and I find myself feeling like I need to be enjoying every minute in case I blink and they are grown up. It seems like I was just pregnant with her, but somehow I am expecting number 3. 

 Clare had 2 teachers. She really loved this teacher in particular. She was really good with Clare. Clare will miss this school, but is very excited for kindergarten. Apparently this little boy had a thing for Clare...I veto.

 The kids were called up one at a time to stand on a little podium and get their medal and certificate. Clare ran up there and gave everyone a HUGE smile, and everyone laughed. We didn't get a good picture of it, she was too fast!

So there you go. Our last months activities. Now I get to check this off my to do list...I LOVE DOING THAT!

I think my baby is Mexican.

Well, not really of course! This baby is as white as they come.

I just can't seem to get mangos out of my mind! Mangos were on sale so I bought 5 of them last week. I have since devoured 5 mangos. I explained my new found mango obsession to Daniel, and  the converstion that followed left us with only one conclusion. It's a mexican fetus.

There are no implications here. Just a joke.  My good name has not been soiled.