Some Much Needed Fun

If you've been keeping up with our blog, you know that our entire summer has been filled with doctor appointments, much to my chagrin.

Case in point: Yesterday we headed to Eugene for an ultrasound on Jake's hips. Today I headed to Eugene for my pre-op surgery appointment. Tomorrow I have my 6 week follow-up appointment at the OB to check my incision, etc. And that is just and example from this week!

Anyhow, we've needed some fun in our lives. We've been having an unusual heat wave in our town (108 today, an expected 104 tomorrow). On Sunday we took a drive up the N. Umpqua river, had a picnic, dipped our toes in the icy water, and enjoyed a day out together as a family. Jake did great! In fact, he slept most of the time, waking long enough to get a quick glimpse of the river. We found a sandy beach and sat Jake down on the shore in his car seat while Mark and I played a bit in the water and watched dozens of fish jump. It was a much needed outing. We purposely took the long, scenic way home when it was time to go.



On Monday, we headed over to Florence after Jake's ultrasound. Because he was born breech, it is now standard procedure to check for any issues with the hips. We should get the results later this week and are anxiously awaiting them.

We've been wanting to take him to the beach for quite sometime and thought that Monday would be the perfect day. It also gave us a chance to escape the heat for a bit. We enjoyed walking around the town, visiting the shops, and eating a gourmet Greek pizza for lunch. However, we did NOT enjoy the beach. It was about 62 degrees on the coast with 15 mph winds. TOO cold for Jake. All we were able to do was wrap him in several blankets, quickly jump on the sand long enough for pictures, and hurry and strap him back in the car.
All our efforts of diligently packing everything we could possibly think of that would be needed for a beach excursion were for naught! The beach towels, extra blankets, sun dome, sun block, and spare flip-flops were sadly not needed.

Nevertheless we enjoyed our day! We'll make a traveler out of this little boy yet.

Fuh-reak Show

This post is not for the faint or queasy.




I mean it.





Quit reading now if you don't want to see some disturbing pictures.





I really do mean it.









Okay, I warned you.



It's not too late....you can still leave and nobody will call you "chicken".





Here goes...




Welcome to the fuh-reak show (also known as Emily's body) :


No, that is not my pregnant belly. That is my belly with my kidney cyst (pre-drainage). Gross, huh? Now can you see why I've been so desperate to have something done about it? By the way, this monstrosity has been excruciatingly painful...and I had this while being pregnant with my 9 pound baby! See...I'm really not a wimp or a whiner. This cyst has truly been a pain in my side (ha ha ha).

As you know from a previous post I recently had this bad boy drained. Not a fun experience! It was drained last Wednesday. They got 2 liters of fluid out of it. I did not deaden entirely and I could feel the insertion and removal of the tube. I was sore for 2 days. But, on the bright side, after the drainage I lost 4 pounds and 5 inches off my waist!

No wonder people still thought I was pregnant! Anyhow, I went back yesterday for my follow-up cat scan only to discover that it has already filled back up to half the volume that it was prior to drainage. Grrrr.

What does this mean, you ask? Well, this now means surgery! August 3rd is the date. The surgery will involve an overnight stay in the hospital (in Eugene), complete sedation, and the DaVinci Robot.

Though I am panicked and scared for this procedure, it is time to obliterate this cyst and the pain it has caused me over the last several months. Never mind all of my feelings of inadequacy as a new mother because all I've had is continuous doctor appointments since he's been born. Never mind my depression over my now saggy belly and wondering if I'll ever get my body back to normal. Never mind my frustration with why I have to deal with this. Never mind, never mind, never mind.

At least I have a beautiful baby boy who is healthy despite my uterine septum, giant kidney cyst, and inability to move comfortably due to c-section incision, cyst, entrance wound from cyst drainage, and upcoming surgery.

He makes it all worth while....

Ugh...

Can someone please tell me how to lose post-baby fat? I was feeling pretty good about myself yesterday (I was finally able to wear non-maternity shorts) until I saw a picture taken from last night. UGH.... I look huge. Sadly, I can no longer blame it on my giant cyst.

I am not embracing my new body as the magazines say I should be. I now think those writers are full of crap, thank you very much.

Newborn Pictures

When Jake was just over a week old, we took him in for professional newborn pictures. You can view them on the blog at the following site under the heading Baby Jacob:
www.keribluephotography.com

Naturally, we think every picture taken of him was BEAUTIFUL! If you leave a comment under his post on Keri's blog, we get photo credit. (Thank you in advance). :)

Since these photos were taken, Jake has turned one month old. I can't believe my little boy is getting bigger....We'll post some pictures soon, and his announcements are being sent out today!

Dear Kidney Cyst

Dearest Kidney Cyst,

Though I have enjoyed hosting your existence for who knows how long, it is time that we part. The doctor has scheduled your departure for next Wednesday. He agrees that you are much too large and are affecting my quality of life. In fact, according to him, you are the reason that I still have a belly pooch! The doctor predicts that you contain 3-4 liters of fluid and are pushing all of my organs forward. It was funny, dear cyst, he said that while you are being drained on Wednesday, I will literally be able to watch the size of my stomach decrease! No doubt, I am excited for this to happen :)

The doctor also showed me a picture of you. You are 4 times the size of my bladder and are impinging on vital organs! It is most certainly time for you to come out. Don't feel too badly yet, dear cyst, because you are only being drained on Wednesday. The doctor said you will most likely come back. To monitor your re-growth, I have to go back a week after you're drained for yet another CT scan. (I refuse to have this done locally, however, due to my last experience). This scan will tell everyone whether or not you have decided to reappear. If you have decided to take up residence once again on my kidney, then the doctors will be forced to marsupialize you or use the DaVinci robot (both of these options don't thrill me, so it would be great if you could just not reappear)!

I'm sure you have lots of questions, cyst, about what will be happening to you in the near future, however, I can't really explain more to you about the marsupialization or robot until I know if you will require either one of those procedures. I do know that the drainage will require me to get a shot in the belly (local anesthetic), and then have a tube inserted in order to drain you. I have also been told by the hospital that I will not be able to drive myself home after this procedure....you certainly are demanding!

So there you have it, dear cyst. An informative post dedicated solely to you! Don't you feel special??

Sincerely,
Your host

Some Recent Experiences

At the Art Fair in town: (with my mom while she was still here-Jake was at home with Mark. Repeat, no baby with me!)
Woman in booth: Do you know the sex of your baby?
Me: (Cringing...) I just had my baby.
Woman in booth: Oh, well what did you have?
Me: (Trying not to cry) A boy.
Woman in booth: I ask because I have adorable little girl baby headbands for sale.
Me: That's nice. (Thinking to myself, "Like I'm going to make a purchase from you now, lady" and walk out of booth. Self esteem plunging....I hate still looking pregnant after I've just delivered!!!).

At an Oregon State retail store in Salem after dropping Mom off at the Portland airport: (Mark and Jake are with me)
Male employee: Wait, I'm confused...you just had a baby, but you're pregnant again??
Me: (Firmly, verging on anger) Nope, not pregnant. I had a c-section and it takes a while for the body to get back to normal. (Thinking to myself, "This is why you're 50 years old and still working retail, MORON!)
Mark: (Staring incredulously at the idiot, says to me...) You're right. People do make comments to you.
Me: (Less than enthusiastically) Yup. Can we go now?

At the local hospital waiting for my CT scan on my giant kidney cyst: (Jake was at home with Mark. Repeat, no baby with me!)
(I was patiently waiting to officially check-in for my appointment in the waiting area).
Old woman: Oh, aren't you sweet, when is your baby due?
Me: (Smiling through annoyance) I actually just had my baby.
Old woman: Oh, I'm so sorry. When did you have it?
Me: 2 weeks ago, via c-section.
Old woman: Oh, well that's why you have still have a belly pooch. My daughter had 4 c-sections and had that belly every time.
Me: Oh, that's lovely.

(Now I've been called up to check in).
The check-in old woman: Okay, Emily. You're here for a CT scan, correct? When is the baby due?
Me: (Flatly) 2 weeks ago
The check-in old woman: (with a confused look on her face, as obviously I'm not big enough to be 2 weeks overdue) Hmm...oh, you had the baby already? (very much confused).
Me: Yes. Where do I go for my scan, please?

(In the waiting area for my scan)
Idiot in waiting room: (loudly commenting on a T.V. ad. for the new season of Big Brother) Oh look at that little gay boy! Now they have to have a f*gg*t on the show? Get real! Who wants to watch a gay boy on TV? That disgusts me!
Me: (thinking to myself, "Are you freaking kidding me???!!!" Getting out my cell phone to text Mark that I have officially walked through the doors of Hell.)
Idiot in the waiting room: (Talking to no one in particular- there were 6 of us in the waiting room) Kids these days don't have a clue how to do math. They's all allowed to use caculators* on them tests, and cell phones. We're just passing on a generation of dummies!
*He did not pronounce the first l in calculators. Obviously, a very bright man.
Me: (thinking to myself, "Won't be the first generation...look at yours!)

He went on to pontificate more offensive verbiage to no one in particular, but I will spare you those comments as this was the most ignorant, red-necked hillbilly I've had the displeasure of being exposed to in quite a while. I won't even describe him physically, as I'm sure you have your own mental picture drawn.

When my name was finally called by the lab tech guy, I loudly thanked him for getting me out of the waiting room. So, there I was in the room ready to get scanned so I can hopefully get this giant cyst out of me.
Lab tech guy: Okie Dokie, you're gonna need to take your pants off because zippers can't pass through the machine.
Me: Oh, I just had a baby and I'm still wearing maternity pants. No zipper!
Lab tech guy: Okay, go ahead and leave them on. You just had a baby, eh?
Me: (Pleased that he hadn't already asked me when I'm due) Yes, my son was born 2 weeks ago. I'm still very sore from the c-section.
Lab tech guy: Go ahead and lay down on that table for me.
Me: Can you help me? Bending over is still difficult.
Lab tech guy: Sure thing. Now I'm going to start an i.v. on you and run some iodine in your system. It will help us see your organs and get a clearer picture of your cyst. (chuckling....) I can tell you this now that your i.v. is in, but I've been having trouble seeing lately! I'm surprised I was able to insert that!
Me: (thinking to myself, what???) WHAT???? Go get your eyes checked and stop telling people that story!
Lab tech guy: Oh, that surgery is only good for long distance sight, not anything close up.
Me: (Groaning to myself...OMG!)
Lab tech guy: Okay, with this iodine you're going to feel a burning in the back of your throat and it will feel like you're wetting your pants, but you're not.
Me: Uh, is this stuff safe while I'm breast feeding?
Lab tech guy: What? You just had a baby??

****I couldn't breast feed for 48 hours due to this idiot's mistake. Is it any wonder why I'm not really enjoying being "out and about" right now???

Our 4th of July

We had grandiose plans for the 4th...key word, had. Having a baby certainly throws a wrench into some plans (in a good way, don't get me wrong). We live near a little town called Winston and this town throws the BEST 4th of July party. I really believe small towns know how to celebrate! Anyway, there is always a parade, a free BBQ at the fire station with tons of activities and games for kids (plus cute little fire fighter hats), an awesome concert in the early evening, and a spectacular fire works show. Our plan was to attend most of these activities.

Here's how the day actually went:
We completely missed the parade. Between getting up, feeding, pumping, getting everybody ready, and being peed on by my son (which required an entire new outfit because he soaked everything I was wearing) the parade was long over with by the time we got to Winston.

We did enjoy some time at the fire station. We had free hot dogs, drinks, and cookies, and ran into some friends of ours, the Young's, who had their 4 kids with them. We visited with them for quite a while and Lisa and I talked extensively about motherhood.

We then went home (but the long way so we could be out of the house for a bit). We napped. All of us napped. We napped for so long, that by the time we got up we were too tired to go to the concert. We had an awesome dinner for ourselves which included homemade ice cream, bbqed brats, veggies, and fruit salad.

At this point we still were intending to go to the fire works, but we wound up talking ourselves out of it. I think we were just too drained! Instead, the three of us sat out on our back porch and watched what we could see from the street over . Jake actually did okay with the noise and seemed to enjoy the evening. Ironically, he was more awake than his dad or I at this time of evening :)

Sometimes the best intentions remain just that....

(Us at the fire station...sporting my new, shorter "mommy" haircut)