The Mystery of the Mysterious Pain that Hurts... Mysteriously

I had my ultrasound this morning. They looked at my liver, kidneys, and gall bladder. All fine. It may sound strange that I am incredibly disappointed. I just want to know what's wrong and get it fixed. More and more it's starting to seem like I am going to have to make a major life change as far as diet goes. But this "bland diet" stuff is really depressing. It gets to the point that you just think "why bother?" Nothing tastes like anything and so eating is no fun--purely mechanical. It stinks. I would kill to be able to go to Olive Garden.

A Crazy Week

This past week has been a really great/horrible one. I haven't really had the chance to make individual posts, so I'll just do one long one.

Low Point- Spending Friday evening in the ER

High Point- A very special blessing

Begin at the beginning--

Last Saturday, we had a birthday party for Petra. Three of her friends from nursery came (I didn't invite them all, because there are apparently about 14), and we had a lot of fun. Their favorite activity was, I think, playing with the bubble cow that Aunt Natalie gave Petra for her birthday. They all loved it and all of the mom's wanted to know where to buy one of their own. Also, I made a pinata (with a little help from Dusty), they rode bikes in the driveway, and ate cupcakes. It only lasted an hour, but it was Petra's first friend birthday party, and I think she really enjoyed it (at least until the other kids tried to play with her new presents--how to teach a three year old to share?)

Petra got sick the next day and had to stay home from school all week. It was particularly bad timing, as you will see.

Now, I know you are all just holding your breaths to know why I went to the ER, so before you turn purple, here goes. Ever since Talia was born, I haven't been feeling very well. I am tired all of the time, and I often get headaches. I thought at first that it was just having the baby and lack of sleep, but as time went on and Talia was sleeping though the night, I wasn't getting better. Also, the stomach cramps I've had all my life are getting more frequent. Anyway, I've been to the doctor a couple of times the past week, but then my stomach just started hurting worse and worse. I completely lost my appetite for several days and lost ten pounds. The stomach aches seem to be connected to food, so I decided to stop eating greasy or oily foods for a little while and see what happened. On Friday, I ate a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo (but with honey mustard) from Wendy's, and I got SO sick. My stomach and my back hurt so badly, that I finally asked Dusty to take me to the hospital. The long and the short of it is that I am going to have a gall bladder ultrasound next week. They are also thinking that I might have ulcers. Also, I can't eat any oils or meat which basically means I can't eat much of anything. The good news is, that as long as I don't eat anything I shouldn't, I feel fine.

The blessing was connected to my sickness. I don't really want to go into a lot of detail, but one evening when I was feeling really sick and the thought of trying to take care of both of the girls while I was so sick all by myself the next day was more than I could handle, I asked Dusty to give me a blessing. It was unlike any blessing that I have ever had. It was truly a wonderful experience.

So, my current motto is, take one day at a time, and if you can't get everything done... well, there is always another day. I guess it might not be the best way to be, but there you are.

Fencing off my Childhood

I had the saddest realization today. I am grown-up. I mean, you think that the seven kids and husband and my own home and all of that would have tipped me off, but no. Apparently not. Today, I went to my mom's house and saw that the neighbors have built a fence between Mom and Dad's house and the house that my best friend growing up lived in. Actually, her family doesn't even live there anymore, but still... There are moments when it feels like I am just playing house or babysitting and I will go home, and run through the backyard to Amanda's and play. No more. I guess I really is over.