1. I suppose I could have stayed up late last night and gotten my post done, but considering I had just been discharged from the hospital a few hours earlier, I decided sleep was a slightly more pressing matter and opted against non-essential journaling. Yes, I got to spend Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon at the local hospital with a bad case of gallstones. Leave it to me, I tell ya. Actually, Mark and I were totally thrilled that it was just gallstones and not something else. Because as Wednesday morning wore into the afternoon I really wasn't feeling well. It had gone from uh, I think I have a really upset stomach to oh dear Lord, this is starting to feel just like what it felt like before Kolbe was born. I developed really sharp sustained pain across the entire top of my abdomen that would not pass and only got worse. Needless to say, I started panicking. Surely this wasn't HELLP syndrome happening all over again...and this early in the pregnancy! Mark came home from work and rushed me to the hospital where I was "that patient" who was dry heaving in a trash can making horribly disturbing noises and begging for someone to help me. After getting an IV started with pain medicine and something to stop the violent act of barfing up nothing, they were able to check my blood pressure. Totally normal. And rush my blood off to the lab. Liver enzymes came back normal too. Actually slightly low! With the threat of HELLP seeming to be out of the way, they did an ultrasound on my abdomen and found a happy baby boy squirming around and balloon that was supposed to be solid black on the screen that was instead decorated with lots and lots of polka dots. A lovely "hot gallbladder" as they called it. Luckily, this was not an obstetric emergency at all. Just something that could have happened at any time to anyone and just chose to happen to me at not exactly the best time. 'Cause normally they would just do a simple laproscopic surgery to remove the gallbladder and I'd be on my way. But at this far into my pregnancy, they wouldn't be able to do it laproscopically and would have to make a major incision to get to it. Plus, the anesthesia and swelling would put the baby under a lot of pressure and could induce preterm labor. No thanks on either of those. So instead, I'm left to eat a low-fat, low-spice, bland diet until after the baby arrives and I can safely have the surgery. Though lent just ended, it looks like I'm now giving up fried foods and all things yummy for the next eight weeks or so. Boo. But I'll gladly do it to not have to endure that sharp pain again and keep our little guy safe for a few more weeks. Just another medical dilemma to add to my repertoire. I jokingly told Mark that I ought to have them go ahead and take out my appendix while they're in there. I've already had the tonsils and adenoids removed. Now the gallbladder. Surely the appendix is the next useless organ to try to do me in!
2. By moving to a community like The Woodlands, we knew there'd be the temptation to "keep up with the Joneses" from time to time. But we had no idea that it would kick in before we even got settled into our own house. About sixty dollars, one helmet and a twelve inch bike later, we've already fallen victim to the curse at least once. My parents' street is packed with little boys. Really. There's Joey, Timmy, Lucas, Noah, Liam, Collin, Kolbe, and Rudy...all under the age of five. And that's just on my parents' end of the street! The boys have loved having other little boys to play with but we quickly discovered that all the other three-year-olds already have real bikes with training wheels. Not measly tricycles like Kolbe. They would all go racing down the street and Kolbe would be left in the dust, peddling his heart out and getting nowhere. Feeling the pressure for a "real little boy bike" from Kolbe, we broke down and headed to Academy for the grand purchase. After an hour or so of assembly, he finally had his bike. And within a day or two could give Lance Armstrong a run for his money. The daily routine has now become at least two to three bike rides per day. And we're not talking just down the street and back. Pa takes him on these roughly two mile treks, broken up by time at the park, of course. And Rudy does his best to keep up on the little bike Kolbe got when he turned two that's more of a tricycle but appears to also have training wheels so he always chooses it over the faster, standard tricycle. Has to be as much like big brother as possible! So while yes, it makes me cringe to think that the only reason we felt so inspired to buy the bike was because "the other kids his age had one," I must say it's been a more-than-worth-it purchase. Provides endless hours of entertainment. And might I mention, children who ride bikes for long periods of time take fantastic naps!
3. Did you have a good Easter? We sure did. Heck, the overload of chocolate is probably what led to the aforementioned gallbladder attack! Nevertheless, it sure was fun to see the boys get into the holiday and start to understand the meaning behind why we celebrate it. We spent lots of time reading Easter books. The inquisitive Kolbe loved to ask the same questions every time: Why did they do that? Why didn't they like him? How did he come back to life? Where does Jesus live now? While Rudy would just frown and say, "awwww..." on pages when Jesus died and then cheer wildly when he was raised from the dead. And repeat over and over "Jesus. Cross. Jesus. Cross." Simple and innocent, yet somehow, they get the point. They were at about the same level with the whole Easter egg hunt idea. Kolbe was all over it. Rudy was thinking You want me to do what? Why? It's so fun watching these guys grow up. And exciting to see them learn and celebrate all the traditions that are so dear to us.
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