making progress....

i'm one week post-op today. today has been my most active day, and by far my most productive as far as blood flow. my drain tubes are working overtime today. all of my pain is associated w/ my tubes now. these suckers are no joke. my appt to get them out isn't until the 11th and there is just no way. giving them another week and then i'm yanking 'em myself!!

the kids are doing well.

we're all adjusting better to josh's milk allergy.

the kids are excited for halloween. not gonna even tell ya how much we spent on costumes, and they were on sale! and the babies are dressing up!

the babies are w/ kalen's mom thru saturday and for that i am so thankful. keeker just doesn't get it and likes to climb and crawl all over me like always.

my mom is sick, going on three weeks now and it's really starting to concern me.

my great grandma is still in cardiac icu. she's not any better, not any worse.

i've managed to update myspace and facebook.

laughing, coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose, crying, deeply breathing, yelling...all hurt like h-e-double hockey sticks!!!

i somehow double posted the video of kamy getting her shot. oops.

kamy getting her 2 mo shot

kamy getting her 2 mo shot

it's sugery day!!!

ok, life took over and i haven't had time to update, and even now, i'm rushing to get last minute things accomplished before heading to the hospital.

so here's the quick version:

andre'a.....is having issues w/ her tummy, still. she's had two within a month. her labwork keeps showing her pancreatic amylase is elevated....what that means, i'm not sure....i googled it, but it was so varied....the drs were trying to call it a "high normal"....but i'm sorry, having my gma pass from pancreatic cancer, that doesn't cut it for me! so she had a ct of her pancreas yesterday...and we're waiting for results. other than that, she's doing well in school. she's really maturing. she's a big help. she's freaking out about today. i'll have to upload videos of a dance performance she was in recently.

alexa......is doing well. she was so excited to get her flu shot. weird. only a child of mine! she's barreling her way thru learning her division facts.

joshua....my joshua....last week he finally had an appt w/ the allergist. wow! long story short, he's allergic to bermuda grass, dust mites, cats, mice, milk and shrimp, which they expanded to include all shellfish. and let me tell you, trying to keep a child on a completely milk-free diet is H-A-R-D!!! i had him eating chicken nuggets all weekend, because he loves them, and will eat 'em all day if i let them...yeh, the rest of the bag is hiding in the deep freezer because i didn't read the label until monday, heck, it's CHICKEN!...but yep, milk! guess it's in the batter. ugh. i've seen great improvement in his daily allergy symptoms since they started him on a new regime of meds.....he's on pulmicort, allegra and flonase by day and allegra, singulair, and pulmicort by nite.

kyndal......what can i say about that one! she's a handful...so hilarious. thinks she's as old as the older girls. and we sometimes forget that she's not because she's so grown up. i have to keep reminding myself and kalen she's only 21mos now.

kamdyn....is 9 weeks today. she had her 2mo well check yesterday. she's up to 11lbs 2.6oz. she's starting to smile and it just melts my heart!!

and then there's me......my surgery is at 10a today....i'm having a full abdominal hsyterectomy w/ the other long medical term they use to say also remove ovaries and tubes..and my mesh is being replaced. we're all nervous wrecks. and of course, i wake up w/ a scratchy throat and stuffy/runny nose. and i'm officially hypertensive and on bp meds and have vertigo...it is awesome to be me!!

kalen is just dealing w/ it all...and i think he's ready to faint.

so that's the quick update. i'll update to say i'm alive when i get home and will eventually get some new pics up!!

o hey...yyyyyaaaaayyy for me......last week was 6yrs kicking cancer butt for me!!

love to all!

reflections on our week....

reflections on vertigo, hbp, bumpy thigh, toddlerhood, and more
ok.

went to the dr about my dizzy spells and after she grabbed me by the head, layed me back, dropped my head, yanked it to the right, turned it back upright, and sat me up all in one dizzying fluid motion, she told me i have vertigo. put me on a med for it that i have to go pick up today. told me if it doesn't make me 100% better by wednesday to come back and she'll teach me an exercise that should help.

my bp was high enough to give the nurse a heart attack! initially it was 190/122. after she calmed HERSELF down, and i assured her i was calm and she took it again it was still super high. so she put me in a room and waited and had me rest and then took it and got 159/92 in the right leg and 151/96 in the left. sooo, i'm also starting a bp med.

i got my tdap and flu shot and my thigh is so swollen and hurts like h-e-double hockey sticks!!

my older children never really took me thru the 'terrible twos' but kyndal! omg! this kid! my bf/her cousin calls her the devil's spawn. she definitley has a forceful personality. i lost count on how many times i said "kyndal no!" this week alone. she managed to play on the house phone and dial someone who called back cussing me out and threatening me. dumped a whole bag of pretzel sticks on the livingroom floor. threw anything she could get her hands on in the trash can. and i can't even remember what else at the moment.

alexa is a future kidnapping victim of america! mike owens, the investigative reporter from channel 5, and his driver followed her bus from her school to here and then searched for her because her bus stop is around the corner. every single lesson i've ever taught them on stranger danger, etc apparently went out the window cuz she told him her name and confirmed her school and her fave subjects and which apt she lives in all before giving him MY NAME AND TELEPHONE NUMBER....and then taking his business card to give to me for me to call him. of course when i did was not all that pleasant and had to check him on stalking my kid and takling to my minor child w/o me present. he's doing a story on the bus company that transports them.

we had dre'a's first parent/teacher conference and it went really well. we're really proud of her. she's doing awesome and her teacher loves her. the lil hellion she turned into last year is gone and we have our girl back.

joshua was cussing on the school bus. funny how the kid w/ the speech delay can manage to very clearly say "ass" and "bitch". and why? because dorian was doing it. bang my head against a wall.

kamy is growing like a weed. she slept for 5hrs last nite!! it was beautiful.

and as we speak kalen is fixing the water pump on the car. at least it was something he can fix.

and now on to my saturday which includes laundry, and relaxing lexi's hair, and all that other mommy stuff

20 days is now 48days......

so i get a phone call today from the plastic surgeon's office and the secretary leaves me a voicemail saying "we've got you scheduled for oct 15th" and then i get another message 5 mins later that says "o, you ob/gyn called back and said you want your surgery AFTER the 15th so we've got you on for the 22nd." what?!?!?

so i call back and explain to her my insurance coverage ends on oct 31st and she assures me that my post-op visits will all be covered. they better be.

so i went to my ob/gyn's office for the rx for xanax and asked him about it and he said he doesn't have to push it back that far. so i called plastics back and asked for an earlier date.

final decision.....is oct 15th, gotta be at the hospital at 630a. so instead of 20d to lose weight, i've got 48, which is better. and the kids have a half day on the 16th and no school on the 17th. AND then the mail runs and i've got a jury duty summons for oct 14th, how perfect is that?!?!?

so, i'm off to go lose weight and get a little healthier.

20d.....152.8

ok, i'm gonna try to keep a pic diary of this, too. just gotta figure out what outfit i have that'll photo best but anyhow, here i am 20d til surgery (although neither dr has called and confirmed it for me so maybe it's 27d.....either way..SOON!)

weight is 152.8 which is awesome cuz over the weekend i was 160.2. so maybe it won't be so hard and already being down to 152 means i can really get away w/ just 20lbs, which is still a lot, like a lb per day, but i have no choice really.

i was 156.6 when i got pregnant w/ kamy, 172.6 at delivery 15 days ago, put on exactly 16lbs....and now i'm 152.8 so i've lost all kamy's weight and i'm working on kyndal's (i was 131 when i got pregnant w/ her, and only lost 3 lbs)

my diet plan?
special k w/ red berries for breakfast
special k bar and protein water for lunch
slimfast or something to that affect for a snack
steamed veggies and fish for dinner

and put to use my pilates and sweatin to the oldies tapes everyday for 30mins. i CAN do this. i think.

KAMDYN ALYSE SIMS

completed our family on wednesday, 20 august 2008 at 309p after just under 2.5hrs of active labor. she was 6lbs 10.3oz and 19.5in long (although at 8 days old the pedi says she's only 18.75in long, maybe she shrunk). she's absolutely perfect and we couldn't be happier. she sleeps all day and parties all nite. hopefully we'll get that reversed sooner rather than later.

here's a link to pics from labor and delivery (and i look like a train wreck! thru kamy's first 4 days)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZtGrZs3YsmLDuA

calm before the storm

i swear this is the calm before the storm. after our moms meeting last nite and this morning.....i'm vewy vewy vewy afraid and i'm not kidding!!

dre'a's bus is due at 740. lexi's is due at 743. no idea which side of the corner. so we were all out in force. kalen and kyndal and josh standing on one corner. me and the girls on the other. and then came my mom going back and forth. last year their busses were over an hour late.

today, lexi boarded at 755 and dre'a at 804. WOOOOOOWWWWWW!!

so then josh's bus that was almost an hour late yesterday, is due at 841. we came back in, finished getting him dressed. let him watch diego. at 833 i went to go potty and then told him grab his bookbag and we'd go on out. i have a chair behind the door so i can sit on the porch since he's a door to door pickup. josh asked me can i open the door, told him yep....and i hear diesel engine.....what in the world!! his bus is sitting outside at 835!!!!

and as i turned to walk back up the stairs, never even went all the way down, just got close enough to yell have a good day and kick the door closed.....the first contraction. and i've been contracting ever since. they're so hard i want to vomit.

kalen and kyndal laid down and took a nap while i've moaned and groaned and rocked. but i'm so used to it. i'm not tripping. kalen has to go transmit and go out the POs for an intake. so now i'm all alone. maybe i'll time 'em just for entertainments sake. i've got 3hrs before kids start pouring in. i already know, tonite is a pizza/canned pasta nite....i can't stand/walk. i'm basically trapped in my recliner right now.

38 weeks!!!!!

i am stepping outside of my perfect lil world in my head where i'm choosing to reside now, ya know, the one where i'm NOT pregnant anymore, to comment on reality. i am now officially 38weeks pregnant!! 38weeks! 9.5 months! that is unheard of in my life! the only one i've carried this long was dre'a, that was 11yrs ago. carried her to 39weeks exactly after laboring for 4 days.

ok, that's all i wanted. i now return to my currently playing fantasy in my head.

37w 3d

it's wednesday. and i just woke up and managed to clear the livingroom of children w/o ever saying a word.

i can't even describe how i'm feeling. let's just leave it at loooong nite.

i'd really opt for a drug induced coma until after delivery at this point.

yesterday was one for the record books. our car stopped on kalen at the post office. and after 4 hrs, changing the spark plugs that his mom had to bring down, and adding gas that his dad had to bring down, and calling AAA for a tow cuz neither of those seemed to work, right as the tow truck pulled up it started.

was forced, yes, i was forced, to call the chick at wic a b***h. long story. don't feel like typing it.

we need a new oven that they'll be bringing in a week.

there were some highlights. after two days of busy signals and waiting on hold. i finally got thru to transportation and THEY ACTUALLY HAVE JOSH'S BUS RIGHT!! door to door pick up, a/c, aide, seatbelt. i can't believe it. it took three weeks, THREE WEEKS, to get it right for the summer session. so now let's just hope he has a good driver and aide and not the one who was cussing kids out over the summer.

and although the paper they sent me was wrong, both of the girls instrument registrations are correct for the fall....lexi doing violin and dre'a doing trumpet. we soooo need a house. i forgot all about them practicing. ugh! and both girls are assigned to the same school for lessons so that worked out perfectly.

i can't sit here. i have to move. trying not to move in front of a speeding bus although that sounds really appealing right now.

pic captions....

are so freaking frustrating and i don't feel like figuring out how to edit them, but you guys are smart.....first three are now and last three are kyndal.

for comparison...

37w1d with kamdyn...aug 11, 2008




37w1d w/ kyndal...jan 9, 2007...one day before she was born

no baby yet

long story short, i'm dilated to 3cm in and out now from 3 out and 1 in. i'm in unbelievable pain. and that's it.

it's 530am!!!!!!!

anyhow, after contracting regularly every 3 mins for over 7hrs. to the point the kids were exceptionally well behaved. showered, dressed, packed their gameboys and leapsters and were ready to go at a moment's notice and decided that they never want to have children naturally, they're both certain they want to adopt..........THEY STOPPED. I MEAN JUST STOPPED. we all looked towards the clock cuz it was about to be 3 mins and nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing......ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

i passed out, exhausted. and actually slept 5hrs straight w/o waking. and now here i sit. crampy. SORE. and i really don't know how this baby is gonna get out. i need to be put to sleep while they do whatever cuz mentally i'm done for. i just can't endure the pain anymore. last nite felt like i felt when i got to the hospital in transition and had kyndal 30mins later. and nothing. thsi is unbelievable.

so i guess i will make my 11am appt today.

procrastination at it's best...

so i felt nothing this morning. all morning.
just tired.
around 1p started cramping.
laid down.
woke up around 3p.
TMI!! diarrhea.
laid back down.
got up around 5p.
TMI!! more diarrhea.
ran a warm bath.
contractions started. 3mins apart but not painful. now three hours later they're consistent. and painful! i can only squeal thru them. can't talk.
called my ob.
he said go if/when i can't take it anymore
til then, warm bath and tylenol.
o yeh, that's gonna help.
so i'm gonna be true to myself.
and wait til the last minute, like i did last time.

37w exactly today....

i don't believe it. and i don't wanna be. ok, so baby is 'full term" what's the hold up now. all of my resolve is GONE. i am not even trying to be nice to anyone anymore.
i don't want to. i don't wanna hold her, see her. wish i could turn back the clock. and that is the honest truth. and now i'm going to my bedroom since this room as been taken over by kids and it's not their fault that i'm miserable and i'm not gonna take it out on them.

hospital stay reveals baby not ready yet.....

so monday i had "leaking" all day....soaked thru 6 pads/pantyliners and three pair of undies in 12 hrs.....thought it had to be water...guess it was combo of urine and sweat. i'm in too much pain to be embarrassed right now. anyhow, late in the afternoon on monday this "stinging" or "burning" sensation started in my lower abdomen. i was feeling overall crappy too. i could tell i was spiking a fever here and there. when you touched my belly at these times it'd be burning hot to the touch. over the next day the stinging/burning sensation, comparable to when you get a vaccination, got progressively worse, and my lower back tightened up, and i developed a headache i couldn't shake, and was continually nauseous. so when kalen got off at 3am wednesday morning he took me on in to the hospital. well, that turned into a day and a half admit.

my bp was elevated upon arrival. so i had to stay and do a 24hr urine to test for protein. my numbers came back at 128. 300+ is pre-eclamptic, so that was ruled out. my bps lowered but stayed a lil high so they attribute them to my pain.

my ob was willing to induce at that point, but we had to know baby was ok, esp since i was in the middle of week 36, not quite term.

i underwent an amnio which apparently bothered my nurses more than it did me. lol the lung development test came back in three parts. the first two were all we got before i was discharged but they were enough. her numbers were borderline, but on the neg side so her lungs are still a lil immature. it's baffling. girls are supposed to develop faster than boys, i had the steroid shots, and i'm just days shy of being "full term". of course, i'm freaking out thinking her immature lungs could be a part of bigger problem, but everyone is assuring me if it had been done just a couple days later she'd be right on. i'm still worried some. but i guess i have a textbook baby. 37 weeks means full term and she's gonna make 37 weeks when she feels like being finished. at least. sooooo.....

here i sit cuz i have to alternate positions frequently. i'm in extreme pain. i hurt worse now than i did when i was recovering from my mastectomies. i'm foregoing pain meds because i'm just too afraid to introduce anything else into her lil system. 37 weeks is sunday. who knows when she'll be here. when she's good and ready i guess. now i'm glad the measures taken to try to speed along my labor were unsuccessful.

i can tell you this, i WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be pregnant again in my life!

o, and yeh, the stinging/burning, nausea, headache, sore back....yep, didn't go away and i have no explanation other than i'm pregnant.

eventful week, but not eventful enough!

let's see, started the week off at 1cm and got my membranes stripped. and nothing. went back on thursday, was 3cm and got stripped again. and so far..nothing. i walked for 7.5 hrs yesterday. wore myself out. sore ankles and calves is all i have to show for it so far.

still don't know what's wrong w/ the car.

the kids threw us a "baby shower" yesterday complete w/ games and microwaved popcorn and koolaid.

skeeter is entering a blind plea and letting the judge sentence him. it should be 4yrs probation w/ a 4yr backup and he'll forever be known as a convicted felon. so much for federal student aid.

the BIG event we've all been waiting for still has not occurred and at this point, i don't think it ever will.

o yeh, twiggi went to the muny w/ her big sister and puddn finally met hers, they're gonna hang out tomorrow afternoon.

i'll be 36w tomorrow. 36 weeks! are you kidding me?! why?!

membranes stripped!!

skeeter, tatertot and i ran up to cardinal glennon to meet up w/ a friend who lives over an hour away. me not moving all that fast, we got there as they were walking to their car. so we sat/stood out in the hot sun talking for a bit and i had to sit. so i sat in the car and the contractions started. painful. but every 3mins and the baby was in a funky position. so we cut the visit short and came home. after a couple of hours i couldn't take it anymore and went in to see my ob. of course, in the car on the way there, my contractions stopped completely. i was sooo ticked. so he did the swab for group b strap although he said i'll probably deliver before the results come back. checked baby, she was head down, not engaged, plenty of fluid. grrrrr. 3cm out and 1cm in. so really no progress. are you kidding me? so i he stripped my membranes. barely anything on the glove and so far nothing to speak of painwise. so here i am. at least i get to wash her clothes and pack my bag and clean the car seat. things i've been putting off. hopefully this will be my lucky week.

35 weeks.......

who'd have thunk it?! i'll be 35w tomorrow. and right now it seems like she has no plans of exiting her comfy lil abode. that's ok. cuz as of tomorrow, i go into 7 days eviction mode. this time next week i better be in or on my way to a hospital!

nothing else exciting going on.

well..........

i'm still pregnant. and i've been up since 3am w/ steady contractions. the pressure is so bad i can barely walk. i'm absolutely miserable. and i do NOT want my child born today. today would've been my "father's" 51st bday. i'll pass.

skeeter's job sux major donkey balls! he's supposed to be back at his own company next week, well he finds out this morning not only are they doing another week at the crappy place, but he doesn't get to work his last shift of the week cuz they're repainting the floors. wth?! so another 8hrs w/ no pay when it's time to be buying school supplies and renting instruments, etc.

IS THIS REALLY IT?!

i hope not!! as much as i've been wanting her out...now i'd rather wait. it's hot. we're under a severe heat advisory. we have no air in our car that is running crappily right now anyhow. i stayed up til 2am. tried to sleep. couldn't. pain. pain. pain. pain. now my contractions are 4 mins apart. and getting stronger. ok. i can't talk/type.

2cm...the waiting game

so i got over my stubbornness and went to see my ob today. and skeeter, the NON expert, was right, i am indeed dilated....to 2cm....on the outside of the cervix....the inside not diddly squat! so that means it could be 2 hrs, 2 days, 2 weeks. who knows. what i do know is i am sooo beyond ready for this to be over. tomorrow is a full moon...bring it on! ok, i'm off to go jog 10miles. yeh right. i'm off to go continue being miserable!

life's short....

remember that. we are not promised tomorrow. so shut the hell up, quit bickering, enjoy your time, get over the stoopid, petty, juvenile crap, unless of course, you're ten! let it go. make the best of what you've got. don't spend your precious moments complaining. DO something. anything. one little thing. make yourself happy. quit waiting on other people to do it for you. make your mistakes, learn from them, and regroup and move on!

RIP to all the relationships i just recently lost over some absolute B/S!!

o yeh, i peed on his feet........

so the other day i was having really really really really really bad contractions. popped two darvocet, walked, rocked, soaked in the tub, didn't even care if it had been cleaned behind the last user or not, yeh, i was hurting bad! so i'm outta the tub, in our room, bad contraction hits....i'm trying to rock thru it and then i feel an amazing amount of pressure and w/o any further warning...peed all over the floor, including his feet since he was standing there to support me. he didn't dare complain though! well, that's one to tell the grandkids.

nothing like insomnia.....

to give you time to update your blog that is seriously lacking. since so much has happened in the three weeks since i've last posted i'm gonna do the quick run down...probably don't remember half of it anyhow.

*the kids have all had physicals
--pudd is healthy, short and stout
--twiggi is healthy, tall and skinny
--bam-bam is overall healthy, now on two diff allergy meds and waiting on referrals to both allergy/immunology to try and figure out the true source of his misery and the psychology dept for a re-reval to determine if it's possible he has some form of autism as opposed to his current diagnosis of mental retardation
--tatertot is healthy, tiny and petite, and only sweet when she wants to be, which right now is about 50% of the time

*the older girls had vision appts
--pudd....needs reading glasses, that we go pick up today
--twiggi is 20/20 and just a little weaker in the left eye
--bam-bam goes on monday

**dental appts
--bam-bam and keek just went and are due back in late november
--the older girls will go on monday eve, esp since twiggi has two that are just refusing to budge on one side but dangling on the other

so overall, healthy kids!! yaaaayyyyyyy!!

pudd goes to the gi specialist today to see if they can figure out the cause of her ever so often unexplained abdominal pain flare ups...by my calculations...we might be about due for one...hope not!

**i did NOT deliver w/in two weeks after the positive ffn....it was actually THREE weeks yesterday, but there is change and progress....which doesn't mean a thing...and that sux.....as of now i'm 33w 4d....minimal goal was 32w...surpassed that....preferable goal is 34w.....coming up on that sunday. as of last thursday at 33w 4d, baby was weighing in at 4lb 5.6oz and all parts were present and accounted for...including the girl parts...still there....i didn't go to my check up this past monday...feeling "ok" and gas costs too much.....BUT i'm hoping to go this afternoon.....skeeter has been checking my cervix for quite a while now and as of two days ago we started to have some change and now i'm having intermittent spotting....however, my contractions which are usually quite vicious have calmed trememdously. maybe she's waiting for us to get past his cousin's wedding on friday and our baby sprinkle on saturday. anyhow, since he's no expert, i'm gonna go in and see my ob and let him do an official check and see how much progress has actually been made.

**our sprinkle is this saturday and i'm not looking forward to it now. i'm tired and don't really feel like being bothered. and as bad as this may sound, hope i go into labor and am in the hospital and have to cancel. it's just frustrating. people don't rsvp. we're not even buying food til after people show up so as not to be wasteful. not a single one of my babyshowers has ever been successful and i see no reason to start believing in them now. the highlight, skeeter ordered me a chocolate on chocolate cake that he says will make you wanna slap your moma....hmmmmm, i'll leave that one alone...and we'll see.....

**pulled the kids outta summer session...it was elective and elected NOT to deal w/ the b/s! they wanted out, and i obliged. but trust me! i am sooo looking forward to regular session starting next month!!

**skeeter's employer sux majorly...first they shut down the week of june 30-july 4th....cool if you've been there long enough to have paid vacation time to use...his one year anni date isn't until sept...so that was a nice financial blow for the month....and then they have no work for their welders.....so they're down the street at the sister company which has piss-poor conditions and a different shift, 11p-7a, as opposed to 430p-3a.....which means when he gets home he wants to sleep until 5 instead of sleeping til 8 or 9a and being able to help me w/ the kids and me, him and tatertot taking a nap during the day...one more week of this crap!

well, i think i'm fairly well caught up......now to catch up w/ pics and i ain't gon lie...not doing it right now

delivery within two weeks?!?!?!

i had a really bad nite tuesday. contractions three minutes apart, baby had dropped, etc. not good. toughed it out. called my ob the first thing yesterday thinking he'd have me come in and instead sent me to the hospital. got there, contractions were basically non existent, urine was good, and cervix was closed although soft and short. they did a swab for a fFn test. i got dressed while we waited on the results because the smell of the gown was so sickening. i laid down on the gurney and dozed off. the midwife came in and told us the test came back positive. wow! i've had the test done several times w/ all the kids and never got a positive. ok. soooo, they hooked me back up, contractions were weak but more frequent. they switched my meds back to procardia every 6 hrs and i'm only allowed up to go to the bathroom. wow. i'm still just about two months away from my due date......i've had the steroids for baby's lung development but s/he would still probably have low birth weight and i don't want to have to visit my baby in the nicu for weeks. so keep us in your good thoughts.


Fetal fibronectin (fFN) is a protein produced by fetal cells and a type of fibronectin. fFN is found at the interface of the chorion and the decidua (between the fetal sack and the uterine lining).

It can be thought of as an adhesive or "biological glue" that binds the fetal sack to the uterine lining.

Diagnosic test

Fetal fibronectin "leaks" into the vagina if a preterm delivery is likely to occur and can be measured in a diagnostic test.[1]

It is an excellent biological marker of premature (preterm) delivery; a delivery before 37 weeks of gestation.

When the fFN test is considered positive, delivery is likely to occur soon. When the fFN test is negative, it means that there is little if any danger of preterm labour for 7-10 days. The test is easily performed. A specimen is collected from the patient using a vaginal swab. The swab is placed in a transport tube and sent to the lab for testing. The lab can easily produce a test result in less than one hour.

A systematic review of the medical literature found that fetal fibronectin is a good predictor of spontaneous preterm birth before cervical dilation.[2] The test may be run on patients between 22 and 35 weeks gestation.

A negative fetal fibronectin test gives a more than 95% likelihood of remaining undelivered for the next 2 weeks. On the other hand, a positive fetal fibronectin test indicates a higher risk of preterm delivery (61% of delivery before 34 weeks)[3]. So, the fetal fibronectin test can't tell you for sure that you are in labor, but it can tell you that you're not.

why is it so hard?

so i've been trying to get josh's bus situation straightened out for three weeks now. phone calls to this person and that person and this other person. transferred here. transferred there. hung up on. they didn't even go this week because they just couldn't get the stop right. i was told on tuesday that it would be fixed, and as of this morning, nope. so i took plenty of pics of where they want him picked up in relation to our house and we went down to the transpo office. less than 15 mins later we walked out w/ it fixed. i asked her if we'd have to go thru this again in august and at least she was honest when she said "yes". aaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!

I WON! I WON! I WON!

i finally gave up on sleeping at 6 this morning after tossing and turning for hours. plunked myself in the recliner, turned on the tv to the channel two news and goofy tim ezell is on the screen. he's the 5th wiggle. lol he was at EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS AT 418 N 10TH ST, 314.241.6565. man that fruit looked so good. anyhow, the drawing was supposed to close at 810. at 750a when they went back to tim and he said they were still waiting for someone to come register i said what the heck. threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth, and hopped in the car. i got there at 810 on the dot. they told me i was one of three people so chances were pretty good. i thanked them and left and they called at 815 before i even made it back home to tell me I WON 4 TICKETS TO THE WIGGLES AND A 50.00 GIFT CARD TO EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS!!!

wooohooo!! joshua is finally gonna get to go!! this is following my 4.37 electric bill i just received last week. wooooohooooo!!

almost 28 weeks....goal 4 weeks left....

so w/ all the problems w/ pre-term labor we've almost made it to 28 weeks. i've had to have my meds changed to terb every 6hrs to control the contractions, hopefully it works better than the procardia did. i got the first shot for baby's lungs yesterday and go back for the second today. so now it's darvocet, terbutaline, zofran since all the pills make me sick, ranitidine, faab tabs, and a random vitamin here and there. goal is 32 weeks. that's a month away. wow. only if she's healthy.

the cost of disobedience.....

the kids love books. they would check out 6-7 chapter books at a time. my concern is they have to be returned, you have that many out, and you can't keep your room clean, and things get lost. so over winter break i told them eff returning to school not to check out a single book w/o permission from me. well, that oldest, miss puddn, checked out one in february on valetines crafts. let some lil girl in her class see it and yep, the book was never returned. so now her report card is being withheld until the book is either returned or they get 19.00 for it! geez! i found it on one website, for 7.66 if i use google checkout. she had 5.00. think i might go that route and then make her work off the rest by scrubbing walls! and she asked for a nintendo ds the other day!

RANDOM PICS..

crazy pregnant dreams!

i dreamed i had a biophysical check up on the baby at 30 weeks and it was a girl measuring about 5 and a half pounds. ok. good. good. and then a little over a week later my water broke at home and we rushed on in because the contractions were strong and i haven't actually pushed a baby out since the oldest, the rest have just slid on out.....and as soon as we got there out comes this 2lb 15oz BOY!! WHAT?!?!? no, that's not mine! do something w/ that and give me a girl! but no, considering the fact the cord still needed to be cut i couldn't deny my tiny son, but i was still in shock! and then it was time to deliver the placenta and instead out comes my 6lb 1oz GIRL!!!

I'M TELLING YOU, IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN THEY MIGHT AS WELL JUST KEEP ME AND LOCK ME AWAY ON THE LOONY FLOOR!!

way to go, tatertot!

i cleaned and put her potty chair in the bathroom yesterday. and a few hours later she told twiggi, "pee pee" and made a dash for the bathroom. she didn't quite make it, she was lifting the lid on her chair when she started to go, but we're still so proud of her!! yaaaaayyy for tatertot!

summertime!!

the girls' last day of school was yesterday.

twiggi had an amazing report card and although she didn't get either of the two teachers she really wanted for next year, she also didn't get the one she did NOT want, so she's content. she's pretty easygoing, doesn't take much to make her happy.

puddn met her teacher earlier this week, and she's fine w/ her. i told her to be watchful of her classmates. she only has an issue w/ one person, but we're already planning to head that one off by asking the teacher to please keep them seated separately to avoid issues. her report card is coming in the mail.

this is what puddn's teacher replied in response to a quick thank you email i sent for a productive year:

You have a beautiful, talented, lovely daughter. Thanks for giving her such a supportive family.

Leslie

and twiggi's teacher:

Alexa was a true pleasure, when I could hear her, to have in class. She did help to make the class better. I'm glad she was with us this year.
Matt

bambam's last day is this coming tues and then they all start summer session at his school the following monday thru july 18th.

i went on a nesting spree here yesterday and if you'd been in my house yesterday morning and then again late last nite you wouldn't think you were in the same place! i'm taking it easy and slowly. i actually feel better when i'm moving. it's when i sit still that i'm in agonizing pain, but maybe just maybe it's because i have time to actually pay attention to what i'm feeling. i did get checked after that bogus trip to l&d, at the office, and wonderfully, my cervix has regained some of it's length. but i'm still on stricter bedrest w/ a new goal of making it 5 more weeks, which would put us at 32weeks. wow.

he's home!!!!!!

so skeeter had to go to cleveland for a three day welding safety/programming training. the older girls just bawled and bawled when he left. caught me way off guard. anyhow, he's finally back home, and i didn't realize how much i actually missed him. his flight out of cleveland was delayed due to weather in chicago where they had a 20 min stop. he was due in stl at 835p, and they didn't land until 1155p. once they left chicago our weather had gotten pretty rotten and stl wouldn't clear them to land and they hadn't fueled up in chicago and didn't have enough fuel to circle stl for an hour so they flew on to kc,ks to fuel and wait. of course, as soon as they landed, stl gave them clearance. they finally got here right before midnite and then had to sit on the plane for another hour because they wouldn't open the ramps during lightening. he got home right before 2am. ugh. i haven't flown since i was 13 and i'm in no rush to do so, esp now!

the month of may.....

has been pretty eventful for our family.....and i don't know that i can remember it all. hmmmm, let's see........

bambam....he received a good citizenship award for the year. he had his fist severe asthma attack while in my care and it scared the heck outta me. one weekend the older girls were both gone and it was then that i really realized he has no friends. so skeeter and tatertot and i took him to ride the metrolink since he loves trains. his last day of regular session is june 3rd and then he'll start summer session june 9th. i soooo love how my special needs child w/ an IEP that designates he receives door to door pick up, an aide, wears a seatbelt, and his bus has air, received his bus card for the summer session and his assigned stop is two and half blocks from the house. um. no. i don't think so.

puddn.....she's had another bought w/ her unexplained/undiagnosed incapacitating abdominal pain. she now has a referral for GI on june 23rd. she decided to forgo her 4th grade fishing trip, knowing she can never get this experience again, to go to lunch w/ skeeter. they had a good afternoon walking around the mall and grabbing lunch. she's met her teacher for next year. they have a small ceremony tomorrow to induct next years members of the civil rights team. they also have an overnight camping trip coming up next week. i'm not all that excited about it, but it's just one nite and she'll be 30 mins away. skeeter and tatertot and i spent the morning of the 23rd w/ her at her school for their annual field day and then celebrated her bday w/ her classmates.

twiggi....we left from an eventful morning w/ puddn to surprise twiggi for lunch on the 23rd. she's a lil monkey! man! she was all over the place on the play ground. she's one agile, flexible little girl. her last day is the 30th like puddn's, and they opted to go to summer school w/ bambam at his school. she has her end of the year picnic friday at noon. o yay. note the sarcasm.

tatertot...she's 16 mos old now. and still the sweetest lil evil thing you'll ever meet. she's still so little. like a walking babydoll. she's got personality for 5 babies! she now points at my belly and says "baby". it's hilarious when she points at daddy's belly and says the same thing. someone might wanna think about do a crunch or two. lol

skeeter...he's out of town right now w/ his job. he's been promoted to a welding position. he's in cleveland learning the safety ins and outs and how to program his machines. his new schedule has him off on fridays unless they have to work o/t, so that's pretty cool.

i am just miserable. two trips to l&d this month. the friday before mother's day i had some sudden gushes of clear fluid followed closely by bad cramping that turned into contractions 2-3 mins apart 45 mins after getting to the hospital. luckily, my water was still in tact. however, my cervix was then "extremely soft" and had shortened two cms in a week's time. so my next appt is monday, june 2nd....but i ended up in l&d today after one of the most terrifying moments of life. started out w/ an asthma attack. then i spent the nite trapped in my bed. couldn't get up to walk off the excrutiating cramps i was having because i was too dizzy. long story short i made a trip into the hospital today for them to do a chest xray and tell me it was normal and i'd had an asthma attack. no crap! although i requested it and gave plenty of just cause to support it, they never checked my cervix. so here i sit again, contracting, having lots of pressure in my under regions and have no idea what is going on in there. lovely.

i think that might catch us up to speed. i'm sure there are so many things i'm missing.

WELL IT JUST SUX!!

that my captions didn't line up w/ my pics, but yall are smart enough to figure it out.

pics from my bday...april 5th, 2008







I FIND THEIR MATCHING EXPRESSIONS...PRICELESS.


BAM-BAM GETTING A FRESH CUT



AHH, TO BE YOUNG AGAIN...


THE MAIN REASON WHY I HAVEN'T VISITED SEARS YET...I'M NOT GONNA SPEND ALL DAY THERE TRYING TO GET A SMILE...


MY GIRLS ARE GROWING UP!


OK, THE REASON I SHOULD GO TO SEARS!


YEH, YOU TRYING TAKING HER POPCORN PUFFS FROM HER, I'M NOT!


ME IN ALL MY 22W GLORY! HUGE FOR ONLY A 4LB GAIN!




UM, WHERE ARE MY TOES?!

the latest.....

skeeter has a business trip coming up next month. he'll be gone for 3 days to detroit, cincinnati, one of the two i don't remember now, for training on the welding machines. it was originally scheduled so he'd be gone and miss puddn's 4th grade fishing trip and he told them he coudn't do it. they actually rescheduled it. awesome.

twiggi was recommended by her music teacher to audition for the kirkwood children's chorale. pretty awesome there too! she's excited and nervous. she auditions on may 14th. whether or not she's invited in, kudos to her for even being recommended!

puddn has her dance this friday, the 70s dance....fun. it's conflicting w/ a slumber party that twiggi has been invited to. i'm letting them work it out. we'll see what they come up with.

bam-bam has a field trip to the zoo coming up and i just hope i'm in good enough condition to go enjoy it with him.

tatertot is learning to call skeeter's parents "gigi" and "pop-paw" and they're loving it!

me and johnny bravo are hanging in there. apparently, i don't sleep well, hence me being up since 3am. actually before then but i gave up and got up at 3am. i'm 22 weeks and a day now...2 more weeks until i enter the "safe" zone. baby is VERY active, esp between 9-10p every nite. so not looking forward to this kid being up al nite. i go see my plastic surgeon on tuesday to get marked so i can report back to the ob exactly where my mesh is located in case of emergency c-section, etc.

nothing else exciting i can think of. my days run into my nites. skeeter combed twiggi's hair on saturday. it was cute and at least he volunteered. didn't turn out too too bad either.

gas is 3.59/gal. there is nothing more to be said after that!

EARTHQUAKE!!!!

in 32 yrs this is my first memorable experience w/ an earthquake. my mom tells me there was one when i was a tot and skeeter says his parents have told him of one in the 70s before he was born, so they may be speaking of one and the same.

all i know is, i don't have to ever experience another one in my lifetime! about an hour before it happened tatertot started whimpering in her sleep and then stood straight up and started screaming, eyes still closed....she immediately fell back to sleep when skeeter picked her up.

then an hour later skeeter and i were shaken awake, sat straight up, eyes wide. i looked out the window it was eerily quiet w/ the exception of the semi going by at the time. i was thinking there is no way that is making the building shake like this. we scrambled for the kids..tatertot asleep next to our bed, didn't budge. bam-bam...didn't budge. the older girls, didn't budge. it was over as soon as it began. the phone started ringing. it took the news over 10mins to give report.

final say at this point is a 5.2 mag quake centered about 150miles east of here. wow. the quake they keep predicting on the new madrid fault is now more real to us and i seriously can take a raincheck!

clostridium tetani.....

ya know, if it wasn't deadly and i wasn't pregnant i would've taken my chances and said forget the tetanus booster! that was a HORRIBLE experience!!

i sliced my finger pretty badly on a rusty table leg trying to get all HGTV in my kitchen on thursday. i just didn't feel like going to the ER. so i called my primary physician and asked for a tetanus booster since my last one was like 12yrs ago. she told me come in the next morning at 11am, and THEN i thought to ask if it was ok for me to get it and be pregnant. NO. great. so i called my OB and left a message and they called back and said i could have tetanus but not the tetanus/pertusssis combo.

so i set about calling every urgent care center it the city to see if anyone had just the tetanus and everyone had the combo. are you kidding me?! i have to go sit in the ER to get my finger glued, which i could do myself, and get a shot?!

so i called labor/delivery at BJS and spoke w/ an OB and she told me i could wait until the following day for the shot. good. right?

so the next morning i get up and start making phone calls to every clinic, city health dept, occupational health center, etc and found it at two places. one, the county health department, well, i'm not a county resident. blah! and walgreens!! yep, walgreens, in their walk-in clinics.

i called my ins to make sure it was covered and walgreen's was covered and told to go right ahead. so i get there after the ultrasound and i'm signing in and it gets to my ins info and stops me and tells me to call their patient assistance line so they could verify my eligibility. i do, and yes, i'm eligible for service but NOT the vaccine. the state of MO would rather have me go to the ER and pay well over 500.00 to get the vaccine instead of paying walgreen's just over 100.00. so we ended up paying cash, 45.00, for the shot.

but it's done now. and it's a good thing. cuz i eat too much here lately to get lockjaw!!

had our "big" ultrasound...

on friday we went for a tour of the maternity facilities at barnes-jewish and i'm just not impressed. i had puddn there almost 11yrs ago but i just am not feeling it now. plus i don't like the fact it's the only delivering hospital in the city, so it can busy enough where we might have to share a room. um, NO. don't think so. i'd rather travel a lil further out and have my own room. besides, they still do the limited choices on meals unlike the other option which is a la carte and like room service.

anyhow, on to the goody news...baby is looking wonderful. measured at about 12 ounces. i looked at tatertot's "big" ultrasound, i was 2 weeks further and she was 1lb 2oz so about the same. kiddo was just a-movin' and a-shakin'. the u/s tech had to keep pausing to try and let him/her settle down. i have a routine OB appt later today.

i'm definitely feeling the kicks now. skeeter was trying to feel and got impatient and put his ear to my belly and johnny(ie) decided to kick him in the ear. pretty funny.

we've decided no matter the gender of the baby, since s/he is the last the baby will carry his name. of course, if it's a girl, he'll have to select a diff middle name since tatertot already has the spin-off of his middle name.

well, that's about it from baby world.

when parental encouragement is just "too" successful!

so yall know josh has his delays and they apply to daily living skills. we've really been working on wiping clean after a BM and blowing his nose when he sneezes instead of just standing there w/ snot hanging down to his stomach or hitting the floor and waiting for someone to clean him/it up.

so yesterday morning i hear him sneeze a big one...we already knew snot was everywhere...so i go to check on him....he's sitting on the toilet........trying to blow his nose w/ THE SAME TISSUE THAT HE'D JUST TRIED TO CLEAN HIS LIL BUTT W/ BECAUSE HE'D JUST HAD A BM.

and he had no clue, he thought he was doing a "great job!'

when "winning" is just inconvenient....

so my mom put my name in a contest to win tickets to see the harlem globetrotters at the new arena on SLU's campus. i got the phone call on monday. i confirmed on tuesday. i went to pick up the tickets yesterday. get home and see that they're not actually tickets...they're passes that have to be redeemed for the tickets NO LATER THAN 72 HRS PRIOR TO THE EVENT. well the event is tomorrow! by the time i saw it the box office was already closed. so what am i to do now? waiting for a phone call from the marketing guy at channel 11 to hear back from the pr people at the arena to deterine what we're to do.

is it bad that i hope they fall thru? i don't feel like going!

well, true to form....

my posts fall off! lol let's see

i've celebrated another birthday so i'm now 26 for the 6th year in a row (you do the math). the day itself was kinda crappy but amazingly i got some encouraging insight from my brother of all people and it really helped to ease my anguish.

the kids are all fine. the older ones are MAP testing these two weeks. i'm kinda ticked at the amount of pressure they put on these kids about these tests and have them freaking out. i had to tell them, these tests would not prevent them from passing on to the next grade. that they're more for statistical purposes to evaluate the educators and the schools. man, you could SEE the tension leave their lil bodies.

bam-bam's appetite is now that of a linebacker! if he's 7 and doing this what the heck do i have to look forward to when he's 17?!

tatertot is a rebel. we made a quick stop at the grocery store the other evening and she was toddling around in there, the tiniest thing, giving people the meanest looks!

i will be 20w on sunday! although i'm in daily pain because of the scar tissue i'm soo happy! in comparison to tatertot's this pregnancy has been a breeze. only two trips to the hospital so far. one for dehydration and one to determine the scar tissue was going to end up being a major thorn in my side for the duration. i PLAN to go natural, but after months and months of constant excrutiating pain, i'm not ruling out pain meds. we have our "big" ultrasound on friday. i don't care about the gender as long as s/he has 10 fingers and toes and they're on his/her hands and feet!

i've officially withdrawn from all my classes, well, as of me making it to campus today. got to procrastinate! tomorrow is the last day to drop. i'll be there before then. lol this week thus far though as been one of the most stress free since skeeter sat me down and told me to stop. i was worried about paying for it when i go back, but he told me let that be his burden. so now i get to focus on baking a healthy baby, cleaning my house and focusing on my kiddos.

i've actually almost caught up on all the laundry this week. now if i can just fold it and put it away...i'll be in business! lol

well, it's about time to see the kiddos off, then i can come back and post pics pics pics cuz i have plenty!

update coming.....

seeeeee! i'm soooo bad with journaling....but update and pics coming later today!

it's monday!!!

and in about three hours i'll be putting bam-bam on his bus and sending him on his way! o thank goodness! one down and two to go, can't wait til NEXT monday and i get to put all three on all three busses!

we had a very uneventful weekend. tatertot left on thursday to go take generational pics w/ skeeters mom and sister and grandma. they kept her until saturday nite so she'd be there to go to the memorial with them since they're Jehovah's witnesses. surprisingly, skeeter joined them.

i slept. and slept. and cramped. and slept.

i managed to accomplish two whole loads of laundry this weekend. woohoo! i'm on a roll!

pics of the fam......

to put a face to the name.....and on these pics i was having a HORRIBLE hair day..most of these were just play around test shots taken by elizabeth (link to her website on right) and her hubby randy.




tatertot, celebrating her first bday in january 08...ummmm-yummy cake! her face enjoyed it too! lol



here's me and the tatertot



me and my bunch



me and my lil man bam-bam



tatertot and skeeter



the whole gang...and yes, lil unknown was already baking away




daddy and his girls




bam-bam, the 7yo little man of the house



and bam-bam again



puddn




puddn...my oldest offspring, ms. bossy and trying to grow up too fast. she'll be 11 in june.








twiggi, the 9yo, my peaceful yet extremely goofy child





skeeter aka mr. koolaid smile himself



thing 1 and thing 2....skeeter and tatertot

SPRING BREAK....

o my gosh! we're already placing bets on which of my kids will actually survive summer break when i'm big, pregnant, hormonal, and HOT. cuz this month they're driving me nuts!

i went back to class today. almost had to mapquest to remember the way.

took the make-up exam for immunology/serology and it was pointless. i'm only CERTAIN that i got two of the questions correct out of about 70! wonder if i'll get points for my spelling my name correctly.

i think i found a pretty good deal on a cpu for my mom. 40.00. i can't wait to go pick it up. i hope it works well.

she's better!!!!

yaaaaayyy! and driving me nuts!!! booooooooo!!! she woke up this morning asking for juice so that was a sign we were headed in the right direction. now she's complaining that her "legs hurt". i told her it's because she's been lying on her butt for days. i've encouraged her to reconnect w/ hot water and soap.

omg, come on monday! bam-bam will go back to school and then i'll just have the girls home the rest of the week. whoever came up w/ spring break?! isn't summer enough?! i'm already looking at summer camps.

i saw my ob today and good news! i have the cervical length of a superhero! it's currently 5.7cm so............NO PAINFUL PROGESTERONE SHOTS FOR ME! so now i've just gotta take it easy, hope the cervix stays in superhero mode thru august and continue to hope that those that know the gender of my baby don't slip up. our "big" ultrasound is scheduled for april 11th.

tatertot is w/ skeeter's parents tonite. i hope they have an easy time w/ her since she's been binkie free for weeks now, but she's always been around us. hmmmmm.

that's about it. nothing exciting. going to drop some of my classes tomorrow. time to lighten the load.

we'RE home.......

and i just noticed that the last title says "we" off to see the wizard instead of "we're" and for some reason that is soo hilarious to me right now.

the staff was very nice, very thorough. she is NOT monofied. they did an ultrasound of her abdomen and everything looked good. they gave her a full bag of iv fluids and zofran thru the iv and she perked up. she ate half a popsicle and ate two bites of a graham cracker. final diagnosis....stomach virus on top of strep. what fun.

she's sleeping now. i'm about to follow suit.

we off to see the wizard....

i wish. more like the ER docs, AGAIN. iv fluids and screen her for mono. what freaking fun.

where did i leave off?

let's just make a long story short.

puddn is still sick. she's severely dehydrated. since we got home from the er at 6am yesterday she's had hardly NOTHING to drink and she's slept almost 24hrs. she's only urinated once. she's looking SLIGHTLY better today, and i do mean slightly, and she's asking for water. i did manage to just get a zofran in her to help w/ her nausea. i've got a call in to the pedi since a friend suggested it could possibly be mono, so we'll see.

twiggi, my trooper, happily trekked off to school today, last day before spring break.

bam-bam is asking me for "quicker wheat".

i'm going to class today, wow! i almost don't remember where campus is!

aw, well, on w/ the day!

has anyone ever......

just dropped dead where they stand from absolute, pure exhaustion?! if not, i may be the first.

the past few days have really been trying my endurance and i think i'm about to reach my limit. that nervous breakdown that one therapist said i was long overdue for, and i decided i'd schedule for my 50th bday, may very well be coming a little sooner than scheduled!!

woke the kids up for school friday morning after getting ZERO sleep the nite before from the normal preggo nuisances, hip pain, cramping, etc. the girls were both complaining. twiggi who seldom ever complains vehemently was doubled over and complaining of a tummy ache. puddn jumped on the bandwagon. hey, having had no sleep, i was not in the mood to argue or prod...FINE, everybody back in bed! bambam wasn't due to leave for an hour and a half so i plopped my bones back in the bed for a bit. fridays are SUCH a pain, it's skeeter's early day, so i have to get up and take him to work by 6am.

15 mins later, puddn comes in my room, dressed for school. i told her she could go back to bed and my heroic child said if you and daddy can tough it out so can i. awwww. so she finished getting ready, not looking the best, couldn't really stand straight up, but she went on. i watched her from the window til i saw her bus go around the corner. then twiggi's bus went by, i felt a LITTLE guilty, because i normally walk them out, so i'm usually out there to say "she's not going today", but i just couldn't do it so i have no idea how long he sat in front of our building waiting on her, by the time i saw him he was 10 mins behind schedule.

ok, the one thing w/ fridays, is bambam doesn't have to wear his uniform. so i rolled on outta bed, threw him in some jeans and a shirt and he was thrilled...brushed teeth, put him in jacket and sent him on his merry way. he always walks down to my mom's to say goodbye to her before he leaves, otherwise she just can NOT function.

ok, so now it's just me and twiggi. figured out very quickly her issue. no BM since march 2nd, ok, did i just doublecheck the calender and does it say today is march 14th!!!! o great! come on now, we've been dealing w/ this off and on since she was 2, hello, she knows after 3 days of no poop we go into crisis mode w/ her. ok, fine, so i made her a big bowl of oatmeal and laced it w/ miralax after having her make her way thru a big bowl of peaches. and now we wait. and 45 mins later she made a mad dash for the bathroom....and after 15 mins of sounding like she was in labor, she came back, hair matted from sweating, looking drained, but gave me the thumbs up sign.

then the phone rang.

it was puddn's school nurse. she said that puddn didn't even know she was calling, that i didn't have to come get her, she just wanted me to be on alert. she said strep was running rampant thru her class and that puddn herself "smelled" streppy, and her throat was red and she had two white spots on her tonsil. swell! she said puddn had already gone back to class because she was going to "tough it out." so i hand up and put in a call to the pedi. normally, they call me back and confirm which lab we can go to and then fax over the req form for a throat culture. the office closes at 11am on fridays so i expected a call back soon enough since it was already after 10a. didn't get the call until after 1p. and instead of sending her for a culture, they went straight to antibiotics. and as soon as i hung up, the school nurse called again, and said it's time, come get her. sooo, i load twiggi and tatertot in the car since tatertot had just shown up w/ my mom, and off we go. skeeter is due off work in 30mins and i'm about to head 20miles in the opposite direction. so he's ticked. omg. get on the freaking bus! it's 230p, daylight, decent weather, busses running frequently..grow up!

so i get there, my kid comes basically crawling to me, she can't stand up straight. i get her in the car, she's doubled over w/ her head in her lap. we swing by the pharmacy and pick up her meds, and head home. pull up the same time as the big brat who just couldn't take the bus, or wait on me to be 20 mins late.

so we get the girls in the house. puddn immdiately sets up camp on the sofa. i pull her pills out the bag and all us adults are like what the hell are those?! so i call the pharmacy and ask if these HUGE horse pills, 875mg amox, are chewable, they tell me no. they can be crushed or cut in half but now chewed. you've got to be kidding me! it's to be taken every 12 hrs anyway, so i decided to start her at 7, so she'd always be at home or at least with me, for her dosing.

we decide to go get take out. i was really craving chicken wings. so off we go to this place that i smelled so many times but never eaten there, and it turned out to be a pizza hut/wingstreet. not even sure what that really means. all i know is one of the employees had her infant there in the back and her dog out in the car. talk about family-friendly. all of a sudden a pain just ripped thru my abdomen. now I'M doubled over. food is ready, i'm twitching and can't breathe, it hurts sooo bad.

we get home. get in the house. i make it to the sofa and take up residence under puddn's feet. my mom decides to help fix the kids plates. bam-bam has to go the bathroom. then i hear him yell... "the toilet is pee-peeing on the floor." now w usually hear him in a 10 sec delay because our brains have to adjust to his speech impediment. o crap!

AND NOW AS OF MONDAY AT 920A, I'M HEADED BACK TO THE ER W/ MY DAUGHTER. WILL FINISH LATER.

back from onco appt....

and everything went well. full speed ahead w/ the hysterectomy after delivery. bloodwork was great. it was pretty funny that the np examined me and didn't notice i was pregnant. love the medical profession! i'll be starting pt for the lymphedema i've had in my upper right arm and flank for hmmm, apparently 5yrs now.

intro.....my perfect blend

guess i could've done this day 1, hahahaha....although, i'm sure anyone reading this probably knows me.....but anyhow,

pnkrbn02.....i'll be 32 on april 5th. i'm currently in school full-time studying to be a clinical laboratory tech, ultimately i'd love to have my master's in pathology, but i may just be happy settling w/ my bachelor's. i was diagnosed w/ breast cancer at age 26, after having found the first lump at age 25 and undergoing my first lumpectomy. i went on to have double mastectomies and radiation therapy and then unsuccessful reconstructive surgery that has left me looking deformed and mutilated, but hey, i'm alive. i'm happily divorced, wow, for over 5yrs!! have 4 goofy, loveable, get on my last damned nerve sometimes kids, and one more coming. i'm engaged to my "winston" (how stella got her groove back)...almost 10yrs my junior, but we work well together.

skeeter is my fiance'....my 22 yr old baby. we've had our hard times. we still have our moments, but they tend to pass quickly. he works hard to provide for us. he's still male, "y" chromosome, genetically screwed from conception! lol

pudd'n...my oldest child. the child that is trying to walk me by the hand into my grave, like next week! she's been thru a lot for her almost 11yrs, but she's a good kid. right now it just seems like that good kid, is being suffocated by some demon spawn creature! she's in 4th grade. the first part of the year was tough but the past couple weeks she's seemed to even out. we just have to keep praising her and rewarding her positive behavior.

twiggi....the 9yo girl...the middle daughter. quite the goofy 3rd grader. she makes HERSELF laugh all the time. she's my "relief" child...she doesn't get into a lot of trouble, no phone calls home, etc. she's the one you grab and hug and hold on to and thank over and over for being so easy! lol now don't get me wrong, she's quite CAPABLE, and probably does more than we know, she's just very very clever and crafty, whereas, her older sister could be featured on "world's dumbest criminals".

bambam....my dear sweet bambam, got that name when he ripped the doorframe of his bedroom down at 13mos old....now true, we live in public housing, need i say more, but still! my 7yo, so far, only male child. he's my "special" kid, in so many ways. he was diagnosed as "mentally retarded" a couple years back. he's made awesome strides though! we're really proud of his accomplishments! it's funny, he's becoming more and more "boy" and not "baby". the kid is about to eat me outta house and home! he walks in the door from school and i swear he eats from the then until he goes to bed.

tatertot....my rambunctious, precocious 14mo old. my miracle baby. the first one after having the cancer and 8 surgeries. the one they had no idea whether or not i'd be able to carry. the one that after months of struggling w/ pre-term labor was born full-term at 37w 2d. yeh, her birth story is quite interesting and i think i have it saved somewhere for a future posting. she's walking and talking and letting the world know she's in charge. looks just like her daddy. i was just an oven, baked her and delivered her when she was ready.

johnny bravo/jj/kermit.....my unborn child w/ many nicknames. due at the end of august, but shanon, my ob, thinks 34 weeks might be our magic # this go round and that puts me at the end of july. i'll take it as long as s/he is healthy. yep, s/he...although i'm 15 weeks pregnant and almost everyone else knows this child's gender, i don't. i want the element of surprise. this is definitely my last child and i want the whole "it's a......." thingy this time. skeeter is dying to know. he says he's gonna jump out of a window if it's another girl. i'd really like another son, of course, i'm gonna be happy w/ a healthy whatever, but i really don't wanna know it's a girl, IF it's a girl, until she's in my arms and i have no choice but to deal w/ it.

and there it is, the base of my family. the extended ones we'll get into later.

onco appt today.....

well, it's that time again. time for the one year checkup. i'm a LITTLE nervous going into this one. yes, it was 5yrs in october, BUT since then i've had an abnormal pap and they've found a "nodule" in my right chest wall, you know, the side that had the cancer. i'm really looking forward to delivering a healthy baby and then having my hysterectomy. i'm actually looking forward to menopause! my biggest fear is dying while the kids are still young. i can't leave my babies. pudd'n already has enough issues she's working thru, i think she'd really snap. twiggi is borderline nutso. bambam is oblivious, and i'm starting to be thankful for it in certain situations. tatertot might recover well since she's so young, but o gosh, i don't want to think about it.

in lighter news....twiggi and bambam were cough-free all nite so i didn't have to take them to the pedi at 8a for asthma checks and orapred.

i really need to be shampooing my hair, but after moving all the furniture the other day, i'm sooo sore and i think my right flank is swollen. not a good feeling.

Finally!

I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon, and for once in my life, I don't have anything to say!

OK, here's the deal, i do not use capitalization, so this is about the only post where it'll be used.

yep, that's about it.

that was interesting.