Lost the Baby

Hello Everyone,

Unfortunately I have some sad news to share. I ended up miscarrying our baby. Two days after I took the positive pregnancy test I started spotting. I called my Dr. and he said that sometimes when the placenta stregnthens it's attachement in the uterus there can be a light spotting. When it became a little more period like, he told me that given my history of 3 miscarriages before James, I was probably going to miscarry again. Also, he said if the bleeding continued for more than 4 days without passing the fetus, or if I had sever cramping I needed to go to the ER for an ultrasound and possibly a D&C. Otherwise he'd just see me at my appointment on the 7th and do a pelvic exam and give me a RhoGam shot. (I'm Rh negative.)

My best friend, Cara arrived Sunday night to visit for the week and help me out. She was out here a few weeks ago, and had problems with the airlines so they gave her vouchers. When we talked that afternoon she told me she was loading the kids up and heading to the airport to come out. I ended up passing the fetus during that night. Since then my bleeding and cramping have stopped, and I'm just trying to get back to normal.

I know that God had a hand in everything. I figure that there must of be a reason we had a miscarrage; and he knew Jake would be gone so he arranged for Cara to be able to be here with me.

Anyway, I'm doing okay and it is wonderful to have my best friend here with me. I had a priesthood blessing given during all of this and felt there was a special spirit waiting for us, but that my body needed to go through this process before I could be ready. So I know all will be okay and that it won't be long before we can annouce baby news again. We're going to give my body a few months rest before we start trying though.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support. I know many of you have been praying for us, and it is greatly appreciated. The kids are doing well, and we will have Jake here with us for good in 2 weeks. May God Bless You All!

Love,
Elizabeth (Jake, James, Mikey, & Evey)

Baby Blessings

Good Morning Everyone,

That's right I took a test this morning because I was feeling off and things were running late. Surprise we're pregnant. My due date will be May 2, 2007; and my first Dr. Appointment is scheduled for Sept. 7th. The twins will be just shy of 2 1/2 yrs. old and James will be 4 when our new one arrives. Also Jake and I have decided that after we deliver a healthy baby I'll have my tubes tied.

Elizabeth

Typhoid McDonald takes down Evey

Hey Everyone,

So Typhoid McDonald gave us a visit today. Evey has had a runny nose for a few days now, and today she started messing with her ears. I took her in to the ER and waited 3 hours to be seen. As I knew she would, she had a double ear infection. The part that gets me is that it was only 15 minutes from when we were escorted back to the room to when we walked out the door. A quick chat, look in the ears, nose, and throat and listen to her chest... here's tylenol, motrin, and your antibiotics, have a nice night. I'm greatful the exam and diagnosis was so quick, but really why did we have to wait 3 hours before hand? The only reason I went in the first place was to get the antibiotics, I already knew what the problem was.

I guess I really shouldn't complain. There were a lot of other people there who had more serious things than us. I'm also greatful the army gives us such great health insurance that I can take my daughter into the ER for an ear infection and know I'm not going to end up paying a dime. I'm sure there are plenty of people who's kids have to wait out the weekend for this kind of thing, until they can be seen by their regular physician. Anyway, Evey is doing fine and feeling better.

I'm also greatful that Jake was here this weekend. It was nice not to have Mikey & James in tow at the ER. But even more important, it was nice to have him here with the family. This morning we had a great breakfast, wrestled and played together, then took morning naps. After lunch we went to the children's museum and then walked around the historic downtown of Fayetteville and went to the Chocolate Lady's shoppe for some yummy treats. After the scenic route home the kids all took naps and I got to cuddle up to my hubby and watch a movie. (If anyone likes witty comedy/chickflick you should rent "A Good Woman" with Scarlette Johannsen and Helen Hunt).

My point? Well, even though Typhoid McDonald has struck Evey there wasn't much damage and we're greatful for the many blessings in our lives. I hope ya'll are as blessed.

Elizabeth

Love our neighbors

Okay, so I know in the bible we are taught to love our neighbors as ourselves. Well, up until now I haven't exactly struggled with that, but then again there was no love lost between us when we moved. I probably sound like a snob saying this, but in our previous neighborhoods we've always been from very different backgrounds, and really had nothing in common with our neighbors.

Anyway, that has now changed. I love our new home, our neighborhood, and our wonderful neighbors. We've joined a playgroup with several of the women who live very near us and it's fabulous. The other ladies and I have similar standards, our children have manners and are disciplined, and we're from similar socio-economical backgrounds. All our kids play well together. I just really couldn't have asked for a better group of women/families.

I know that our move here has been blessed by the Lord. We have so much to be greatful for, and I find myself wanting to shout from the roof tops- HURRAY! My only wish is that Jake will be able to join us here soon. He now has his personel orders and should be arriving around the end of August, or begining of September. Until then we'll enjoy our few weekends together and be greatful for the many blessings in our lives.

-Elizabeth

Happy Lady

Hi Everyone,

So I'm a happy lady today. First and foremost because my husband was able to come home for the weekend. For all of you who don't know he's still working at Ft. Stewart, GA and the kid's and I are up in Fayetteville, NC which is about 4 1/2 hours away. He arrived last night and will be with us until late Monday afternoon as they have a long weekend.

The other good news is that they finally have their personel orders and Jake should start out-processing from Ft. Stewart on August 13th which means he could be permanently here with the kids and I as soon as August 20th. I'm really looking forward to having him here with us again.

I'm also thankful that his back seems to be mending. He's pretty much back to normal as long as he remembers to take his muscle relaxant. Hopefully he won't even need that soon. Last night I gave him a good back massage and he forgot to take his meds, but managed to sleep pretty well. He didn't take another dose until this morning.

The other good news is that the kids and I went to a neighborhood playgroup on Thursday and got to know some of our neighbors. We've been invited to a cookout this evening and I'm looking forward to it. Prior to this home we've never lived in a neighborhood that I felt comfortable associating with the people around us. Not that they were "bad" neighborhoods, just that I didn't have anything in common with most of the people who lived around us. Anyway, it's a nice change.

Fayetteville has really been good to us. I love our home, our neighborhood, and how close everything is. It's nice to live in a real city again, but it's also nice that it's not overwhelmingly huge. There's also so much available for the kids to do. I was looking at the youth center on post and they have classes for the kids - like dance, gymnastics, karate, swimming lessons, ect. - even for the little ones.

I also really like the children's museum here. We bought a family pass for the year because the kids like it so much. Also the museum brings in people on Saturdays to do special activities for the kids, and it's all included in our family pass.

So basically, I'm a happy lady. I'm enjoying our new home and am just plan greatful to my Heavenly Father for pooring out his blessings upon us. May He bless you too.

Elizabeth

The Typhoid McDonald wasn't as bad as originally thought

So I was pretty upset when I posted last night's blog. Today, I've simmered down. Jake went into the PA again this morning and was doing much better. He's still on the muscle relaxant and 800 mg IB-profin, but is back to work as normal. The PA told him it'd take a week to feel back to 100% and to come in if it gets worse or doesn't go away. I'm still not happy about the medical treatment there, but I'm greatful my husband is doing better.

More good news is that the twins had their 18 month check up and are doing well. Evey's still a little fussy from the 2 shots they got. All traces of Mikey's pnemonia are completely gone. Mike has a little weight to gain back since his incident at the begining of July. Before he was 30 lbs. Today he weighed in at 28 lbs, which puts him just a little above the 50%. Evey was 24 lbs, which put her just below the 50% - a jump from before when she was at 25%.

Since they had their Dr. appointment this afternoon, I decided to make the morning extra fun. We ran by the bank and then spent 2 hours at the Facisnate U Children's Museum here in Fayetteville. They love running around in the mini-town and roll playing. Today James' specialty was grocery shopping & checkout. Evey liked driving the Newspaper truck, and Mikey just loved running around with the other kids. (Or running off in the totally opposite direction; leaving me to chase him down and bring him back to the other two.)

Anyway, the Lord has blessed us yet again. I'm so grateful that Jake is doing better and Mikey as well. I need to learn to relax a little and let the Lord guide me. Well, have a great day!

- Elizabeth