I'm Going Home

It's sort of official . . . the doctor said that once I met the checklist (and I have) I could go home and that it would be today . . . so now I wait. Dave is stuck at home with Savannah asleep, I'm stuck here at the hospital waiting for my doctor to come back and write discharge orders, Dave's mom is stuck at the airport waiting for her plane, and Heather is stuck at her house waiting to know which direction to go!

All I can say is Praise the Lord that we have so many willing people to help out! The end is in sight!

Still Recovering

Well, I'd love to say that I'm comfortably recovering at home, but that just isn't the case quite yet. There are a few things that my body still hasn't done (those of you who have had abdominal surgery in the past know what these are) and until these things happen I can't leave. Although the nurses keep saying that the normal stay for surgery like mine is 3 nights, Dr. Fletcher assured me that they would do their best to get me out of here by lunch today. YIPPEE!

The pain is much better and I'm learning to love eating plain soup, as it is a step up from the nasty broth they served for the first two days. Savannah seems to be doing well and loved having her granny here for 3 days. Dave even said she requested to have granny do her bath last night. Who knows what kind of things they got into, but I do know that I am super thankful for my mom's help in keeping Savannah busy and taking good care of her.

Off to shower! Thanks again for all of the continued prayers!

Recovery

I just want to send out a huge thank you to all of my friends and family for the constant prayers over the past two days. God has been amazingly good and has provided for even the smallest details. I was quite nervous yesterday, but through some great nurses was able to feel rather calm right up until they said "take two deep breaths" as then I was out!

According to my doctor things went really well, although not quite what we expected. Originally we thought that the huge cyst was on the left ovary and that I could possibly lose the ovary due to the size of the cyst. However, after opening me up, what they found was that the cyst (which ended up being the size of a closed fist) was on the right ovary - the same ovary that had a cyst removed back in 2002. For this reason, my doctor removed the right ovary. She also found a smaller cyst on the left ovary, but was able to drain it and fully remove the entire cyst wall meaning that the left ovary could stay. That was probably way too much information.

For now, the prayer continues to be for a decrease in pain. They are removing the pain pump this morning and will switch me to pain pills that will hopefully work just as well. The biggest pain comes from taking deep breaths, not from the incision. I have to get up in a little bit and start walking around so that may add to the pain. Please just keep praying for me and this precious baby. Hopefully we'll return home tomorrow . . . but recovery is 6-8 weeks as I was told yesterday. :(

Surgery Preparations

Well, I think I'm just about ready to head off to surgery. My bag is packed, I've written 4 legal pages of instructions for the mothers who will be here over the next 5 days to care for Savannah, caught up the laundry and dishes, instructed Dave on dinners for the next few days, Savannah's lunch is ready for WEE school, I've gathered some magazines to keep me busy, charged the laptop and cell phone, said good night to Savannah for a few days, washed in my special body soap from the hospital (boy was that a treat) and have reviewed my list of no's for the morning:

• NO jewelry
• NO hairbands
• NO finger nail polish
• NO makeup
• NO food or drink
• NO contacts (I plan to break this one)
• NO personal items
• YES to clean clothes - it was on the list!!

Although I am still quite anxious about everything, I have already felt the prayers of our many friends and family. Through these prayers I have been able to hold it together today for a really fun day with Savannah. Plus, it helps that my husband doesn't seem worried at all. I think the fact that we have to get up at 4am is the worst part for him. I praise the Lord for a husband who is so strong and so NOT a worrier! Hopefully the next time I update this blog I'll be comfortably recovering from a successful surgery with a baby still healthy as can be. Until then, keep on praying! :)

A Wrap-up on 2008

We finished out the year 2008 with a bang! On the Saturday after Christmas, we celebrated with Dave's family here in Charlotte. It was fun to have everyone together and to have a chance to use our new Christmas china too!


Here we are cooking in our new aprons, getting ready for lunch with the Bachmanns!

In keeping with tradition, Dave made Savannah wear her stocking after opening it. She seems to be saying "Daddy, please, this is so silly."

Alyssa and Savannah. They don't come much cuter!

The Bachmanns and Weningers

After going to church on Sunday, where Savannah threw a complete fit not wanting to stay in her Sunday school class and ended up in big church with us, we decided to go ahead and take the Christmas decorations down. Good thing we did, because Dave was up all night pretty sick with the stomach virus. He stayed home from work on Monday so it was pretty bad! (There is another example of God at work! Surgery was originally scheduled for Monday. It would have been next to impossible to have surgery with Dave so out of commission.) Trying to get Savannah out of the house for awhile, we ventured to Discovery Place on Monday morning. Then it was off to my doctor's appointment. At least now I know that when in a bind, Savannah is a perfect angel in the presence of a doctor!

I also had an anesthesiologist appointment on Tuesday, which I thankfully had a sitter for! It was long and boring, but one more step towards surgery on Tuesday. Speaking of, we're still set to go next week. Hopefully I have all of my ducks in a row and will be ready to be away from home for 3 days. My mom is coming on Monday night and staying through Thursday morning. Then Dave's mom comes Thursday afternoon and stays through Saturday. It will be so nice to have someone to keep my sweet little girl entertained for a few days as I'm not sure how out of commission I will be for awhile. Anxiety is starting to build each time I think about the surgery, but I have to remember that He is in complete control, that He already knows the outcome, and that He has this precious baby in the palm of His hands. As my friend Jenny said this week, it doesn't matter what the doctor says, God is bigger!

Wednesday we finally made it back to Savannah's My Gym class which was perfect timing! During the afternoon after naptime we got out another Christmas gift, the Play doh set. I could hardly believe that it kept her attention for an hour straight! WOW! I don't even mind the mess when it keeps her occupied for that long. :)

Dave and I decided to go to bed early last night (yes, we're old) as the way I reasoned it out, today would still be 2009 whether we stayed up or not. At least with going to be early I could be rested and enjoy today! Honestly that's the first time EVER when I haven't stayed up for the New Year, but it sure was nice to get a good nights sleep. Today we've made a trip to Harris Teeter for triples and plan to watch the Clemson bowl game in a few minutes. Speaking of triples, as we wrap up the year, here are our annual coupon savings: Grocery stores $3276.29 and other stores $2165.45 - for a whopping total of $5441.74 just by clipping coupons!!!

What a year this has been. We have had many exciting times as well as sad times, but have seen first hand God at work. I couldn't be more thankful to have such an incredible husband, daughter, and to be blessed with another baby on the way. So, this year my New Year's Resolutions involve these precious people. I plan to work on being a better wife and mommy. To really seek how to be a Proverbs 31 woman who works diligently WITHOUT COMPLAINING. It's a super big challenge, but I'm up for it.

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve this year was quite different from ones in the past. We found out Wednesday morning that my grandmother was admitted to the hospital for dehydration from the stomach bug that seems to be going around, so our annual gift opening and dinner at her house just wasn't the same without her there. We did decide to go ahead and open gifts since it's so hard to get everyone together and also since the gifts were anxiously awaiting opening by three little kids! Here are a couple of our pictures from Christmas Eve at Grandma Page's house.

Here is Uncle Mark with Maddie, Dillon, and Savannah. He had to leave shortly after dinner to go stay with Grandma at the hospital.

One of my favorite gifts was matching aprons!! Are we cute or what? I can't wait to get started cooking for Dave's family who will arrive today with my helper by my side.

Savannah in her "fur" vest putting baby to bed in her new doll bed.

Then we were off to mom's for the night and to await the delicious Christmas morning breakfast. We opened gifts at mom's Christmas morning and then packed up our car and headed back to Charlotte to do our own Christmas. Plus, Santa gifts were waiting!!

Here is Savannah playing with the houses at mom's

Maddie is having a blast on top of the car at Granny's house!

We finally arrived home and after a good nap we let Savannah open Santa presents. Here she is wearing her new coat and carrying her ladybug umbrella. She played with those two things all night; who would have thought she would like them more than some toys from Santa! You can see part of her loot in the background. Boy did our little girl get WAY TOO much stuff! I have to say that seeing her eyes light up was so worth all of the effort put into Christmas this year.

Now we await the arrival of Dave's family to open yet more presents! This has been an awesome week and I am so thankful that we have family close enough to celebrate with everyone for the holiday.

I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas with your family too! Merry Christmas!!!

The Fun Begins

Today Savannah and I travelled to Cherryville to visit with my sweet friend Marie and her family who had flown in from New Jersey. We always have such a great time just catching up and visiting with Marie, Adam, Brody, and of course Sue!! We missed Marie's dad this year as he was at work, but his house was still very welcoming. Oh how I wish Marie and Adam lived closer . . . I miss them!

Savannah did great in the car, mostly because Brody gave her this cool Leap Frog letter set that she loves! All I have heard all day is "I go get my letters now. I play with letters now. Can you find _ mom?" When we got home we had lunch and apparently Savannah didn't get enough. When I asked her what else she wanted she replied "I have nothing idea."

Tomorrow should be another fun day with the three cousins together again . . . pictures to follow for sure!