My year in review
January - Moved from our house in Ten Mile to a house in the city that the boys went to school. The joy of packing/ unpacking taking over our household. Our household adjusted nicely to having full custody and not having to deal with the boy's mother too often even though my nice genes invited her over a little more than I would have liked normally.
February - Found out that I was pregnant Feb 2nd. Panic and Elation set in and I called the doctor's right away. The first ultrasound seemed unusual and I was told that I would need to be watched closely because whatever was growing inside the sac didn't look like a baby but something that might be cancer and could or could not be attached to the baby. So start the tests. Every three days testing my HCG level and whatnot. Ultrasounds ever week until we got a heart beat and could see the baby and whatever was in there was deemed a clot. Something they said not to worry about. Our lives relaxed a little bit about the pregnancy.
March - We're finally settled into the new house. Pregnancy is going well. Morning sickness and exhaustion suck. The boys are doing well in school and getting excellent grades. Tax return came back and we did some decorating for the kids rooms. Started my new job with Child Support the end of Feb and I was settling into my position.
April - Nothing remarkable happened. We are working on getting the house exactly the way we want it.
May - Middle of May contractions start. I freak out and call my doctor who says that he thinks they might be Braxton hicks and if they get worse to call. The end of the month we have the court date to finalize the custody orders and make sure they are solid and set up child support. May 27th - Wake up with contractions so bad that I wake up Daddy. We go to the hospital where they pick up on irregular contracts, test me for all sorts of stuff then decide that it’s a Urinary Tract Infection. Put me on a time release med (which by the way does jack sh*t for those of us that have had gastric bypass) and send me how with orders to stay calm and rest a lot. Two days later back at work I realize I'm leaking a rather gross looking... there is no other way to put it... slime. I call the doctor panicked who tells me that I have an ultrasound tomorrow and not to worry about it. Ultrasound May 30th. Gather up all the kids so they can get their first look at their little brother or sister. We find a strong heart beat and a wiggling little Ziggy. We ask if it’s a boy or a girl and the next thing on the screen is my little one spread to show the world HIS goods. Some jokes about how Daddy can only make boys and nothing else then the Ultrasound Tech gets a little quiet and asks if we can have the boys stand in the hall. I'm funneling, which is a fancy term for going into labor. I'm sent directly to the hospital. After a day I ask to be transferred to University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
June - I spend the first two days of June laying with my head 25 degrees below the rest of my body and with a catheter so I don't even have to get up to pee. 1st - spent the whole Sunday borrowing nurses to talk to, praying to God for the health of my baby and wishing to Heavens that there wasn't something wrong with me. The 2nd - Around 10am we go to the ultrasound and they tell me what I already knew. That Ziggy's feet were in my cervix and I was too dilated to do a cerclage. They tried to get some of the amniotic fluid out of me in the hopes that he would move up enough that we could keep me from delivering at 21 weeks. Two hours later they tell me that there is nothing they can do; my contractions are increasing and getting more intense. Determined not to cry I spend my time praying, not that they can save Ziggy because my meeting with the head of Neonatology confirmed that if he had been just 100 grams heavier they ****might**** be able to intabate(sp?) but that he's just too small for that. While talking to the doctor he told me that even if we could it would be painful for Ziggy. He wouldn't be able to see or hear. He would be mentally retarded and the thing that made me decide to induce - all of his skin would peel off and he would have to regrow it. I couldn't see putting my child through that. I spend the rest of the month learning the true meaning of broken hearted.
July - I remember the 4th. We spent the day with the boy’s uncle and his two year old. Watching the littlest of the kiddos run and scream every time a fire work went off. Laughing at how silly they all look. July 15th we went to court and they finally finalize the order for support and custody. The kids are technically in our care for good.
August - The results of the autopsy come back that nothing was wrong with our little guy and that he was a prefect little angel in every way. We get the pictures back from Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. A wonderful organization that
came out and took pictures of our little guy for us to have to remember.
September - My eldest's birthday, my birthday and the purchase of our new home. We bought a three bedroom house with a den and a HUGE master bath. Moving in is a hassle but the space is nice and it’s ours. All three acres.
October - went way too fast. Daddy and I go the University of Tennessee for genetic testing to find out if it was something within us that caused the preterm labor. Came back with a finding of two different blood disorders. Both of which put me in the high risk category. I have something called PAI4G4G and something called MTHRF - Both make you clot too much but one of them makes it extremely difficult for you to absorb b12 and folic acid. Something critical to having a healthy baby. More vitamins are added into my mix of vitamins but are taken willingly. I'm also told that from now on I have to watch my bruises because it could become dangerous. Other than that we are told we are healthy and can start trying again.
November - Child support starts!! Thanksgiving at Daddy's brother's house. Family and fun. More unpacking and deciding we want new flooring. YAY!!
December - The Christmas chaos starts. Decorating, baking, and shopping. Sleeping...... ehhh I think not. My biggest Christmas gift was the conversation Daddy and I had about trying again to have a baby - Christmas vacation the trying starts.... :-) December 24th - Daddy's Birthday, Dec 25th Christmas of course and dinner again at the brother in law's house. Dec 27th my middle child and my brother's birthday's. Cake all around. Dec 29th Daddy and I have been married 3 years. Today - I wrote down just two things I’d like to accomplish this year.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful New Year and that all your wishes for the New Year come true.