What do you do to relieve stress? When I had kidney stones, I thought I did a great job of handling it, but a week later my physical body screamed at me that it had had enough stress. I was shaking, tired and just shot! My chiropractor told me my adrenals were spent and I needed to take extra vitamins and try to help my body heal from the physical trauma. I cut out coffee and sugar for a few days (about all I could handle without coffee). But I can't figure out what to do to help me "burn off" my stress.
When I was younger (high school? junior high?), I played the piano to get rid of my stress. Whatever my mood of the day, that was the music I played. If a funeral march was playing, you better watch out! :-) I don't play much anymore and it usually just puts me in a bad mood when I do play. (Nothing like recognizing that your piano skills topped out at about the age of 15.)
I took up running at some point as a young adult. I know, gag, for most of you. But I loved it. 30 minutes of running could fix any mood for me. It gave me time to think about stuff, or to just focus on breathing and NOT think about stuff. Sometimes I would put music on and let that adjust my mood. BUT, after 5 kids, running isn't an option right now. Nothing like peeing your pants while running to put you in a BAD mood quickly. Lately I dream about running. Not asleep dreaming, but day dreaming. I'll imagine how good it would feel to get on my running shoes (which Dawn now wears, need a new pair) and just go for a hard run. The disappointment I feel when I let reality speak to me.
So what am I to do? Walking might be ok. I don't love just walking. Too slow for me. :-) I always feel a little frustrated with it. I suppose I could put good praise music or listen to a sermon or something to help me deal with stress. Help me out here? Any good suggestions?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Some GOOD News ... for a change
Since my blog has been full of bad stuff, I'm thrilled to have something wonderful to share with you!
I have always been very impressed with my husband. For many reasons. Today, I get to brag on him a little! :-)
Eric got in the military with the "plan" to stay in for 4 years. 20 years later he's still in! He has never done the "right" thing to get promoted. He didn't go to the right schools, didn't take the right jobs, has actually had to convince people to let him take 2 jobs because he "wouldn't get promoted out of them." Taking his current assignment was very frowned on. He was told by 2 bosses and Air Force Personnel that he should NOT take this job. He will NEVER get promoted. His response? That's ok, I'm happy to retire after this assignment. Well, the big news is that Eric is now a Colonel Select. For all you non-military, that means he will be promoted to Colonel in a few months. Wow. Now I can really call him Old Man. :-)
I think the amazing thing to me is that this truly defies all human logic. He should not be making Colonel. He really shouldn't be. He hasn't put in the hours (he has put in long hours, but compared to many others!! NO), hasn't been deployed, hasn't gone to certain schools in residence, hasn't had the jobs you have to have to get deployed ... The list goes on. What he HAS done is been faithful to God and faithful to his "job" as a husband and father first. I just see God's hand in this so much. I'm humbled, amazed and thrilled. Thanks to God for blessing Eric.
I have always been very impressed with my husband. For many reasons. Today, I get to brag on him a little! :-)
Eric got in the military with the "plan" to stay in for 4 years. 20 years later he's still in! He has never done the "right" thing to get promoted. He didn't go to the right schools, didn't take the right jobs, has actually had to convince people to let him take 2 jobs because he "wouldn't get promoted out of them." Taking his current assignment was very frowned on. He was told by 2 bosses and Air Force Personnel that he should NOT take this job. He will NEVER get promoted. His response? That's ok, I'm happy to retire after this assignment. Well, the big news is that Eric is now a Colonel Select. For all you non-military, that means he will be promoted to Colonel in a few months. Wow. Now I can really call him Old Man. :-)
I think the amazing thing to me is that this truly defies all human logic. He should not be making Colonel. He really shouldn't be. He hasn't put in the hours (he has put in long hours, but compared to many others!! NO), hasn't been deployed, hasn't gone to certain schools in residence, hasn't had the jobs you have to have to get deployed ... The list goes on. What he HAS done is been faithful to God and faithful to his "job" as a husband and father first. I just see God's hand in this so much. I'm humbled, amazed and thrilled. Thanks to God for blessing Eric.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sick Again
I am so tired of sickness being the "norm" in our house! Has anything else happened here in the last few months? Little Bit spiked a fever yesterday. She's still feverish this morning and has thrown up a couple times. Yippee. Fun. Not. Of course, Eric and I are supposed to go to the homeschool convention on Thursday, leaving the 4 older kids with my sister and taking Little Bit. Oh, we're also supposed to have family pictures taken this afternoon. We've been trying to get that accomplished for months (we canceled the last time due to her being sick!). I think I'm going to drug her, pray she doesn't puke and go for it. It's outdoors, so she shouldn't infect people. Ugh.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Funny Sayings
David has been making me laugh the last few days like crazy! This is in between the times he is driving me crazy! :-) Tonight, he was supposed to be praying. For months he's been praying "Dear Jesus, help Dawn and Anne to get better. Amen." We've been coaching him a bit to get him out of his "rut". :-) Since he's struggling soooo much with disobedience I said, "Help me to be obedient." (He's supposed to quote me.) His prayer? "Help her to be obedient." I said, "No, help ME to be obedient." He points to me and says, "I said that!" He had a very impish grin on his face, so he knew exactly what he was saying. We were all laughing so hard it pretty much ended prayer time.
The other funny that's happened reveals quite a bit about his personality. It was a couple days after surgery, so I was still trying to do very little. He went to the bathroom. When he was done, he yelled for me to come wipe him. I asked the young lady helping me to please go to him and if he refused her help, she was to tell him he could sit there for a while. Which, of course, he refused her help. He started yelling and screaming at me to come wipe him. This went on for 5 minutes before I got tired of him yelling. I walked in to the bathroom and said, "OK David. If Mommy wipes your bottom, you get a spanking. If Miss Rachel wipes your bottom, you don't." I'm thinking this should fix the problem. I mean, what kid WANTS a spanking? (I was probably drugged at this point too, so my ability to creatively discipline was seriously limited.) As you've guessed by now, yep, he chose MOMMY to wipe his bum. While I'm wiping him he says, "Mommy, please don't hurt me." I was laughing so hard at this point! We have a saying in our house. I am the PBW - Preferred Butt Wiper. Think I can stick that on a resume?
As for the stent removal. Went well, I feel better. TMI - I can pee normally for the first time in over a week. Ahhh, the joys of peeing! :-) I've also been asked the question a few times about which hurts worse, childbirth or kidney stones? Well, 5 natural births - no drugs at all ever. One episode of kidney stones. I'd take natural childbirth over and over again. Kidney stones are horrible!!!
Eric is out of town. We're doing pretty well right now. (That could change at any second.) Dawn made pizza for dinner. It was great! She also cleaned up the kitchen - love that!! Oh, and Anne lost a tooth during the meal. Dawn pulled it out for her - the second tooth she's pulled out for Anne! Mom's a wimp in this area. Loose teeth give me the creeps.
The other funny that's happened reveals quite a bit about his personality. It was a couple days after surgery, so I was still trying to do very little. He went to the bathroom. When he was done, he yelled for me to come wipe him. I asked the young lady helping me to please go to him and if he refused her help, she was to tell him he could sit there for a while. Which, of course, he refused her help. He started yelling and screaming at me to come wipe him. This went on for 5 minutes before I got tired of him yelling. I walked in to the bathroom and said, "OK David. If Mommy wipes your bottom, you get a spanking. If Miss Rachel wipes your bottom, you don't." I'm thinking this should fix the problem. I mean, what kid WANTS a spanking? (I was probably drugged at this point too, so my ability to creatively discipline was seriously limited.) As you've guessed by now, yep, he chose MOMMY to wipe his bum. While I'm wiping him he says, "Mommy, please don't hurt me." I was laughing so hard at this point! We have a saying in our house. I am the PBW - Preferred Butt Wiper. Think I can stick that on a resume?
As for the stent removal. Went well, I feel better. TMI - I can pee normally for the first time in over a week. Ahhh, the joys of peeing! :-) I've also been asked the question a few times about which hurts worse, childbirth or kidney stones? Well, 5 natural births - no drugs at all ever. One episode of kidney stones. I'd take natural childbirth over and over again. Kidney stones are horrible!!!
Eric is out of town. We're doing pretty well right now. (That could change at any second.) Dawn made pizza for dinner. It was great! She also cleaned up the kitchen - love that!! Oh, and Anne lost a tooth during the meal. Dawn pulled it out for her - the second tooth she's pulled out for Anne! Mom's a wimp in this area. Loose teeth give me the creeps.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Recovery
I don't think I was super coherent when I posted about my kidney stones. Gotta love the narcotics. :-) One thing I failed to mention is that they put a stent in. A stent is a flexible tube. In my case it goes from my kidney to my bladder, to make sure my kidneys could still drain. They were worried I would have a bit of swelling in my ureter since they looked around in there for a while. I go in tomorrow to have the stent removed. Apparently a stent can be pretty painful, but it's been ok for me. I know it's there (weird, huh), and it's uncomfortable when I pee (graphic), but I'm not in pain.
It's Sunday morning, so day 4 after surgery. No more pain meds at this point. I'm super weak. I'm actually shaking as I type this (time for nap #1 and I've been up for 2-1/2 hours). Other than that, I'm doing ok. Oh, and if you want to lose weight, get super sick, don't eat for 24 hours and continue nursing an 8-1/2 month old.
You would think that after this week, I'd be a basket case. I mean, Eric's at a funeral (I know, I hate calling him Old Man) in Pennsylvania, I'm in the hospital here, my sister is in Texas... By all that is logical I should be a mess. But I'm not. Why? God. He provided for us in every way. Eric e-mailed the pastor at our church and I was not alone for one second. My friend, Heather took the kids on Wednesday and then spent the night Wednesday night (my own private nurse - did I mention she works on the floor of the hospital I was admitted to?). She even got Little Bit to bed without me!!! I had 2 friends from church at the hospital during surgery. Another dear friend I've known for years, showed up after surgery. She drove me home, got my prescription picked up and didn't leave until I was in bed. Thursday morning, a lady from church arrived and I had 3 different women take "shifts" to help me. Let me tell you, my house was clean, we ate good food, my kids were well taken care of and I rested. I may have to get sick every time Eric leaves town! :-)
Little Bit has been nursing tons the last couple days. I think my milk supply has dropped. One of my friends (all right, her name is Tonya - just to confuse you all) has goats. She gave us goat milk (the closest thing to human milk) for Little Bit. This morning, Little Bit took a bottle for the first time in her life. Her tummy is full and she's not fussing at me for more. :-)
Isn't God GREAT!!!
Oh, continue praying for us. Eric leaves in the morning for 3 days. Don't worry though, God will be with us.
It's Sunday morning, so day 4 after surgery. No more pain meds at this point. I'm super weak. I'm actually shaking as I type this (time for nap #1 and I've been up for 2-1/2 hours). Other than that, I'm doing ok. Oh, and if you want to lose weight, get super sick, don't eat for 24 hours and continue nursing an 8-1/2 month old.
You would think that after this week, I'd be a basket case. I mean, Eric's at a funeral (I know, I hate calling him Old Man) in Pennsylvania, I'm in the hospital here, my sister is in Texas... By all that is logical I should be a mess. But I'm not. Why? God. He provided for us in every way. Eric e-mailed the pastor at our church and I was not alone for one second. My friend, Heather took the kids on Wednesday and then spent the night Wednesday night (my own private nurse - did I mention she works on the floor of the hospital I was admitted to?). She even got Little Bit to bed without me!!! I had 2 friends from church at the hospital during surgery. Another dear friend I've known for years, showed up after surgery. She drove me home, got my prescription picked up and didn't leave until I was in bed. Thursday morning, a lady from church arrived and I had 3 different women take "shifts" to help me. Let me tell you, my house was clean, we ate good food, my kids were well taken care of and I rested. I may have to get sick every time Eric leaves town! :-)
Little Bit has been nursing tons the last couple days. I think my milk supply has dropped. One of my friends (all right, her name is Tonya - just to confuse you all) has goats. She gave us goat milk (the closest thing to human milk) for Little Bit. This morning, Little Bit took a bottle for the first time in her life. Her tummy is full and she's not fussing at me for more. :-)
Isn't God GREAT!!!
Oh, continue praying for us. Eric leaves in the morning for 3 days. Don't worry though, God will be with us.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Not a UTI...Again
Well, let's just say I've had a most interesting week. I'm not even sure where to start with this story. I'll skip some and start with saying I had a high fever and UTI symptoms on Monday. Went to the doctor and got antibiotics (they "dipped" my urine and it was positive for a UTI). Tuesday I had quite a bit of pain in my abdomen. I figured it was from the UTI, took lots of ibuprofen and continued with life. If I didn't take the medicine every 4-6 hours, I was in a lot of severe, debilitating pain until the medicine kicked in. Whatever, Old Man is out of town for a funeral. I have 5 kids. No time to think about it.
3:00 a.m. I wake up in lots of pain, get the ibuprofen, heat up a rice bag, lay down and wait for the pain to subside. It's severe. Pain in th lower, right side of my abdomen. Sometime during that hour of nausea induced pain I thought. Duh, appendix. Idiot. Around 4 the ibuprofen kicks in enough I could go to sleep. At 6:00 a.m. the kids wake up, and I get on the computer to check. Yep, lower, right side of abdomen - appendix. Crap. At 7:30 the pain was so severe again I knew I couldn't wait to go to a clinic. I call my friend, Heather (who just happens to be a nurse and lives 2 miles away) and ask her if she can take me to the ER. Her 14 year old son comes to babysit and we go. Trust me, if I've had 5 natural births and I'm in enough pain to go to the ER I am in PAIN. Heather says I was gray when she arrived.
At the ER, the doctor immediately suspected kidney issues rather than appendix. Mainly because I'd had the UTI. I had 2 CT scans and he was right. Kidney stones, not appendix. The big problem was that it wasn't just normal kidney stones. Apparently one had lodged in the lower part of my ureter, just above my bladder. They said it was a rather large stone - 6 to 6-1/2 mm (if it's 3 mm you can pass it, 6 - no).
Surgery was scheduled for 5:30. The plan was to go in, blast the stone with a laser, use a "basket" to get it out and put a stent in from my kidney to my bladder to let the infection in my kidneys drain. Nice. Fun. Just the way I imagined spending my day (did I mention we were supposed to go to the zoo?).
I'm sure you know my state of mind at this point. Heather is with me at the hospital with the baby. A 14 year boy/man is taking care of my other 4 kids and his sister at my house (disaster in the making - junk food, tv, mass chaos!). Don't get me wrong, he's good with the kids, but still... I send Heather home with Little Bit and ask her to return in time for me to nurse Little Bit before surgery. I've been in touch with Old Man all morning. He's a little stressed. Nothing like being across the country for a funeral and having your wife get hospitalized. I was worried about the meds and nursing. I don't know how many times I said, "I'm nursing. Make sure the meds I'm taking are ok. Or tell me!" The other thing I said was that I had 3 priorities - obviously getting me healthy, the nursing issue and I did NOT want to be hospitalized over night. Let me outta here! Oh, in all of this, I hadn't eaten since dinner the previous evening. I was starved!
Old Man started sending e-mails. Pretty quickly he had alerted the church and was talking to my parents. I didn't feel like talking much at all, so am thankful he managed it. Heather was the other contact for people.
Surgery outcome? Well, they went in and did not find any stones. At all. None. The supposed 6 mm one was a calcification that is normal. I had a couple others they thought and they weren't there either. I was home last night around 9 in severe pain again. Different this time though. Heather, my friend and nurse stayed the night. She suggested I should take ibuprofen in addition to the narcotics. Ahh, good old ibuprofen - it helped.
Oh, and the UTI I had? The ER doc seems to think I never had a UTI. It was all just kidney stones and my kidney was infected.
I do have help until Old Man gets home. I've had wonderful friends here to take care of the kids, clean up the house, someones bringing meals. I slept like a rock this afternoon.
Now I want NO MORE STRESS for the next year. OK, God?
3:00 a.m. I wake up in lots of pain, get the ibuprofen, heat up a rice bag, lay down and wait for the pain to subside. It's severe. Pain in th lower, right side of my abdomen. Sometime during that hour of nausea induced pain I thought. Duh, appendix. Idiot. Around 4 the ibuprofen kicks in enough I could go to sleep. At 6:00 a.m. the kids wake up, and I get on the computer to check. Yep, lower, right side of abdomen - appendix. Crap. At 7:30 the pain was so severe again I knew I couldn't wait to go to a clinic. I call my friend, Heather (who just happens to be a nurse and lives 2 miles away) and ask her if she can take me to the ER. Her 14 year old son comes to babysit and we go. Trust me, if I've had 5 natural births and I'm in enough pain to go to the ER I am in PAIN. Heather says I was gray when she arrived.
At the ER, the doctor immediately suspected kidney issues rather than appendix. Mainly because I'd had the UTI. I had 2 CT scans and he was right. Kidney stones, not appendix. The big problem was that it wasn't just normal kidney stones. Apparently one had lodged in the lower part of my ureter, just above my bladder. They said it was a rather large stone - 6 to 6-1/2 mm (if it's 3 mm you can pass it, 6 - no).
Surgery was scheduled for 5:30. The plan was to go in, blast the stone with a laser, use a "basket" to get it out and put a stent in from my kidney to my bladder to let the infection in my kidneys drain. Nice. Fun. Just the way I imagined spending my day (did I mention we were supposed to go to the zoo?).
I'm sure you know my state of mind at this point. Heather is with me at the hospital with the baby. A 14 year boy/man is taking care of my other 4 kids and his sister at my house (disaster in the making - junk food, tv, mass chaos!). Don't get me wrong, he's good with the kids, but still... I send Heather home with Little Bit and ask her to return in time for me to nurse Little Bit before surgery. I've been in touch with Old Man all morning. He's a little stressed. Nothing like being across the country for a funeral and having your wife get hospitalized. I was worried about the meds and nursing. I don't know how many times I said, "I'm nursing. Make sure the meds I'm taking are ok. Or tell me!" The other thing I said was that I had 3 priorities - obviously getting me healthy, the nursing issue and I did NOT want to be hospitalized over night. Let me outta here! Oh, in all of this, I hadn't eaten since dinner the previous evening. I was starved!
Old Man started sending e-mails. Pretty quickly he had alerted the church and was talking to my parents. I didn't feel like talking much at all, so am thankful he managed it. Heather was the other contact for people.
Surgery outcome? Well, they went in and did not find any stones. At all. None. The supposed 6 mm one was a calcification that is normal. I had a couple others they thought and they weren't there either. I was home last night around 9 in severe pain again. Different this time though. Heather, my friend and nurse stayed the night. She suggested I should take ibuprofen in addition to the narcotics. Ahh, good old ibuprofen - it helped.
Oh, and the UTI I had? The ER doc seems to think I never had a UTI. It was all just kidney stones and my kidney was infected.
I do have help until Old Man gets home. I've had wonderful friends here to take care of the kids, clean up the house, someones bringing meals. I slept like a rock this afternoon.
Now I want NO MORE STRESS for the next year. OK, God?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
I'm Still Alive
Yes, yes, I know I'm writing very little lately. Life just seems to get busier, and not more interesting lately! :-) I have a couple "interesting" things to tell you and then I'll just post pictures.
First, we have another UTI here. Not Little Bit this time - ME. Whatever. Horrible, annoying, frustrating. I'm on antibiotics and hoping to feel perfect tomorrow.
Second, Old Man is out of town. He was supposed to go to Key West for work this week (poor sap), but instead is in Maryland and Pennsylvania this week for his grandmother's funeral. She passed away Sunday evening, unexpectedly. Please pray for him and his family. And, yes, I would rather he had gone to Key West than to deal with all this!
Third, you should see this "baby" of mine. She's 8-1/2 months. Standing alone. Dawn said she even saw her take a step today. She's so eager to keep up with the big kids! This morning, she kept crawling over to an outlet and touching it. Even if they are covered, we still teach our kids to not touch them. So I told her "NO". She wailed. Touched it again. "NO." Wailed. This went on for a bit. Then she would just sit there, fine, until she saw me. Then she'd start crying again. The best part was when she was laying, face down on the floor, bawling her eyes out. The good part is that this afternoon, she crawled past the outlet, looked at for a while, looked at me and crawled away. Then she went over to another one and touched it! :-) Looks like I'll be busy with her for a while.
Today, standing by herself!
First, we have another UTI here. Not Little Bit this time - ME. Whatever. Horrible, annoying, frustrating. I'm on antibiotics and hoping to feel perfect tomorrow.
Second, Old Man is out of town. He was supposed to go to Key West for work this week (poor sap), but instead is in Maryland and Pennsylvania this week for his grandmother's funeral. She passed away Sunday evening, unexpectedly. Please pray for him and his family. And, yes, I would rather he had gone to Key West than to deal with all this!
Third, you should see this "baby" of mine. She's 8-1/2 months. Standing alone. Dawn said she even saw her take a step today. She's so eager to keep up with the big kids! This morning, she kept crawling over to an outlet and touching it. Even if they are covered, we still teach our kids to not touch them. So I told her "NO". She wailed. Touched it again. "NO." Wailed. This went on for a bit. Then she would just sit there, fine, until she saw me. Then she'd start crying again. The best part was when she was laying, face down on the floor, bawling her eyes out. The good part is that this afternoon, she crawled past the outlet, looked at for a while, looked at me and crawled away. Then she went over to another one and touched it! :-) Looks like I'll be busy with her for a while.
Today, standing by herself!
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