Sleeping Beauty

Gavin found a tiny corner to hide in today. It doesn't look comfortable but somehow he got snuggled up into this spot and decided to fall asleep there. I don't have the heart to move him so I'm going to leave him and hope he gets a nice nap.

Last night I ended up going to the 3D-4D ultrasound office with my Grandmother. It was great to see the tiny little baby and watch as he/she kicked his arms around. The heartbeat was a nice 150bps. The only problem was that he refused to un-cross his legs! She poked and pushed but he wouldn't budge from his comfortable spot. In the end I didn't get to see what the sex of the baby was. :( Luckily they will have one more go at it next Wednesday night. If he still refuses to open his legs than I'll have to wait until 20 weeks to find out. I really hope this second time he will be more active for us. I did get some good ultrasound photos and a VHS of him moving around, but at only 15 weeks he doesn't look very human yet. It is still amazing to think that I am creating this little person and yet on a daily basis I forget that it's even there. It's about the size of an apple right now so I don't feel any movement yet. I'll keep you all informed as to what I find out next week.

My impatience got the best of me. :P

Much Better

Well today things are going much better. Gavin ate his first real meal last night!! It has been so long since he ate more than one bite of food that I was in heaven watching him stuff his face with veggies and mashed potatoes. He is finally over whatever bug he had so now it's catch up time on all the calories he lost. Today I spent the morning washing the bathroom floor, sink, and toilet, then washed the kitchen floor, and cleaned out the nasty motor home. It took 4 loads of trash bags to get all the dirty clothes and supplies out of it. Then came the emptying of the fridge (Yukky!). Now I have about 5 loads of laundry to do but besides that I am very pleased with most of the cleaning that was done. Gavin is napping so I know I should be laying down and getting a few Zzz myself but I always find things to do rather than resting.

I am debating about getting the 4D ultrasound. I did it with Gavin when he was 16 weeks and found out he was a boy! It was so exciting and the pictures are amazing compared to regular ultrasound pics... but it's 100 bucks. My other option is wait until August and find out at my OB appointment with a regular crummy ultrasound machine. They say they can tell the sex as early as 15 weeks, which is basically what I am now and a few days. My excitement and lack of reasoning says to go now NOW NOW! But then I think about how I should be logical and just wait another month to find out when the cost is covered by my insurance. What to do what to do? Damn, I just hate waiting. They also promise if they can't tell they will do another free visit the next time, so I know I won't be out the money even if it is a little too early to say for sure.

I hate to admit it but I really want a girl. I love Gavin and I would love another boy just as much as a girl.. but I want to buy dresses and do braids and see what it's like to take care of a little girl. I know it would be cheaper to re-use the boy clothes I already have, and it would be easier for the two of them to share a room, but I still kind of wish that it's a girl. Honestly I feel deep in my gut that it's a boy. Jon is one of 6 boys, his brothers had 2 sons, and of course I had a son, so it seems I have the cards against me. I don't know what it is about having boys in his family but it seems that I have a much higher chance of it being male than female. I will update as soon as I know for sure. I believe the Chinese calendar said it was a boy too. (Just my luck) :D

Well that's all for today. Nothing exciting, just recovering and relaxing. Hopefully we can get the strength to go to the park and do something fun later this week. I hate hiding out indoors for too long.

We're Back!!

How do I explain a trip that feels weeks long, but was actually only 4 days? Let's first start with the morning we leave. We left much later than planned and hit the road around 10am. We ended up stopping for a late lunch in Barstow CA at a small 50s style diner. Gavin having been in the motor home for a few hours was not ready to sit down for lunch. I ended up chasing him around for an hour while the rest of the family had a nice sit down meal... I had thought after my husband or MIL had finished eating they would switch off and let me eat, but for some reason no one thought to come help me. In the end they got my burger and Gavin's nuggets to go and we ate on the road.

The heat as we got near Las Vegas was unbearable. The motor home has AC as long as we turn the generator on for the extra power. Well after about 20 minutes of nice AC the generator started failing and shutting off. So while driving through death valley it got to a nice roasting 120 degrees in the motor home. We all layed around half comatose and poured cold water on ourselves to survive. The heat finally let up around 9:30pm at night. Another issue we hadn't realized was that in the motor home going up the grapevine as well as other steep mountainous areas we had to go as slow as 30 miles an hour. Even going on straight aways and down hill we can't get much faster than 55mph, SOO this added an extra few hours on our trip. Instead of 4-5 hours to Las Vegas it took us almost 8 hours. By 10 or 11pm we were just hitting Utah and all very sick and tired of being stuck in the overheated boat. We all just wanted to get to Provo and get a break from the motion sickness. Finally we arrived at Jon's Aunt's home around 2am Thursday morning. Gavin who had slept most of the trip due to the constant shaking and motion of the motor home woke up bright and early at 6am so I may have gotten around 3 hours of sleep that night. Everyone else slept right on through the morning.

Thursday around 2pm we meet up the whole Degn clan. Let me explain just a little about my husband's family. We had driven to visit Susan, his father's sister (Jon's Aunt). She had 12 kids, but 2 passed away so Jon has 10 cousins, just from that one aunt! His family IS HUGE! Probably due to the fact that they are Mormon, but who knows for sure. Anyway out of those 10 cousins they have 34 kids. Sooo Gavin got to meet tons of his 3rd cousins? However they are all related there were a lot of kids to play with. We met up with about half of the clan at a Provo Waterpark and spent the afternoon there. I would like to say it was a blast but with all of us tired and Gavin being too young to enjoy the water slides it wasn't as fun as it could have been. We went inner tubing a few times and got to chat with the family so all in all it went well.

I should probably do a better job at making this story shorter so I'll try and jump through the details. Gavin starting getting a fever and didn't eat much at all on the drive up (we assumed because of motion sickness on the drive). By Friday night we had a very very high temperature and now had not eaten for almost 3 days. We took him to the ER. This was at midnight from a campground site in the mountains on the 4th of July. We had no idea where the nearest ER was located and had to deal with thousands of people leaving after the fireworks and a Hannah Montana concert were over. After stopping at two gas stations to ask for directions and driving about 45 minutes we found an ER and Gavin got seen right away. He was given medicine for strep throat since his throat was red and swollen and his fever was so high. We went home around 3am and Gavin started vomiting. Again everyone went to sleep and Mommy was left to stay up with her sick son all morning. His fever was down due to the Tylenol and Motrin but the vomiting was non-stop for 4 hours. By 7am I woke up my In-Laws and decided to take Gavin back to the ER for fluids and the reaction he had to the antibiotic they had given him. They gave him some anti-vomiting medicine and told us to stop the amoxiclian. In the end they decided it was not strep throat but a flu virus that needed to run its course. So Friday night I may have gotten about an hour of sleep, and was covered in vomit. Gavin spent another day not eating and even now that we are home has only had one bite of an apple. He is drinking fluids but I hate that he hasn't eaten for so many days. I see his ribs and pale face and it really worries me. Anyway he does seem to be slightly better today (Sunday) so I hope he is on the mend.

Saturday due to his sickness and our lack of sleep we decide to leave town early. Susan's 70th Birthday party was that night but there was no way we could enjoy a huge reunion type party with a sick baby and ourselves being so sleep deprived. We hit the road at 11am Sat. and ended up back in San Diego by 3am Sun. This time the ride was much worse since we were all tired before we left and the generator again wasn't working. I started getting sick and throwing up (which is not fun in a tiny port-a-potty style bathroom). The water pump wasn't working either so I had to pour bottled water down the toilet to try and flush things down. Gavin again slept most of the way and his fever was slightly lower than before. Thank God he didn't continue throwing up so at least he drank water and juice periodically on the trip home.

I loved meeting the cousins and family. They are all such nice friendly people and their children were so great with Gavin. The childrens ages ranged from as young as a 7 week old newborn to the oldest , 16, I think. Jon's cousins were older than us (30s and 40s) but we all got along very well. I loved the mountains and the peaceful beauty of Utah. I just wish Gavin hadn't gotten sick and we had not gone in the motor home. Next time we fly and get a nice hotel room to stay at. I have never had so little sleep (besides when Gavin was first born). Hopefully the next few days we can all feel better and get some rest from our Vacation from Hell.

Trip to Utah

So tomorrow, Gavin, my FIL, MIL, Jon, and myself leave for a road trip in our motorhome to Provo, Utah. The majority of Jon's family lives in Utah so it's going to be a huge Mormon family reunion (they are all Mormon). I think it will be fun to meet his cousins and for Gavin to meet his second and third cousins. Thursday is a day at the water park, and Friday is a huge Fourth of July celebration with catered food and fun activities for the kids. My husband is not too excited since he usually sits back at the beach and watches the traffic go by our house, while drinking a couple of 6 packs. I agree it sucks to be driving 14 hours each way, leaving our place which is really the best place to be on the 4th of July... BUT it's for family. We have never visited Utah before and can afford to give up one holiday to have a reunion. I'm sure there won't be alcohol but fireworks are legal so we will have fun lighting off our own display. I think the weekend plan is to drive up to a campsite with the extended family and do day hikes and other outdoor activities. I think we will have a good time.

My only dread is having to sleep in a small RV for 4-5 days. We are all very large people and the space is VERY TIGHT. I would much rather fly up and stay in a nice hotel room, but I can't always get what I want. By the end of the road trip we may all want to strangle each other. :) It will be a trip to remember. I'll update Sunday when we get back.

Everyone have a Happy 4th of July!!

Hotmail

Gavin has his own e-mail now. I don't know why exactly but I got the idea that I should get him an e-mail account with hotmail before someone else might use his name. My first option was not available but my second choice was so I decided to go for it. The neat part was it asked for his Birthday and being that he is only 2 years-old it asked for adult consent, so I had to give a credit card number and sign in under my account to prove that I am over 18. Nothing was charged as hotmail is free to its users, but they check to make sure I am who I say I am.

So hopefully in another couple of years when Gavin starts to make friends (and learn to type), we will remember his account information and be able to talk to family and friends through e-mail.

Those of you who would like his private e-mail address just send me an e-mail. I don't want to post it since you never know who will be reading this blog. Hopefully he won't be bombarded with junk mail in the next few months. Hmmm... I guess I'll have to sign in periodically to make sure they don't close the account? Not sure...

Saturday

Well today I finally got myself into a cleaning mode. I still managed to waste away a few hours on a computer game, but all in all I'm happy with the little I got done. I did about 3 loads of laundry (still in the process of folding and putting it all away), washed both cars, did a sink full of dishes, and picked up the living room a bit. I still haven't gotten around to cleaning the bathroom

but I can dream, lol. Jon says he will help me out with that but I honestly doubt it. Right now Gavin is on his way back from Great-Grandma's house so I'm trying to run around and get last minute things in order. I LOVE having Saturday afternoons to myself. I think it's good for Gavin to get out and be around his Grandpa and Great-Grandma for a few hours, and of course I get some time to run errands and do housework. Yay! There are a few times I actually go and get my nails done or shop at the mall... but not as often as I would like.

Anyway I should wrap this up since he will come running through the door any minute, wanting dinner and some love. This morning he decided he wanted to wear sunglasses in the house.

GOOD NEWS!

I found out that my breast tumor is benign!! Now I have no more worried nights or treatments to drive to. I am still sore and healing but I am so thankful to not have a serious issue. The Dr. said I probably won't be able to breastfeed from my left breast due to the removal of some of the ducts, but I won't know for sure until the time comes. I hate the idea of not having a breast to use but things could be so much worse. I am confident I can breastfeed just fine with one breast if I have to.

Thank you all for your prayers and/or support.

Hot Pink Nails

Gavin and I went a little wild today and woke up with our toe nails painted... hmmmm... I wonder who would have done such a thing??

Just kidding of course. I decided to paint my toes and Gavin got very excited about it and pointed to his toes so I figured why not? Now he's dancing around the house and pointing them out to everyone he sees, very cute indeed. There are lots of Metro sexual men and I would be proud regardless. Jon is pretty Metro himself (gel products, aftershaves,aromatherapy, mint scrubs, etc). Jim (FIL) wasn't too happy about it though....

No news

I still haven't heard anything about my test results and I have a feeling I may have to wait until my appointment on Friday with my Doctor before I find anything out. I hate waiting. I want to move on and find out that everything is fine or the slim chance that something is not fine... I just want to know now! My recovery has been going well but I still find I feel nauseated and some breast pain every now and then. I'm almost 14 weeks along so I don't know why I still feel like I have morning sickness all of the time. I know I wasn't this sick with Gavin.

Yesterday our family had a great day. Jon had the day off from work so he stayed home with Gavin and let me run over to UTC Mall. I got a new maternity bathing suit and a few other odds and ends and finally replaced our cell phone that Gavin had broken weeks ago. Once I got back home Jon made burgers and fries and we had a nice summer day picnic at the beach. We piled all our towels, a cooler,umbrella, and beach toys into Gavin's red wagon and spent a couple of hours spashing in the waves and laying around. The water has been warming up (65ish) so it's not terribly cold but not the warmest either. Gavin really enjoyed jumping into the water hole that Jon dug out for him.

Just as I was typing the phone rang and it was the Nurse letting me know results are not in yet for my biopsy. It looks like I may have to wait until my Post- Op appointment on Friday before finding out the news. Did I mention how much I hate waiting?! Lol. I keep telling myself it will be fine but I wish I could know sooner. Oh well...

So after our day at the beach Gavin and I took a nice warm bubble bath and got ready to go to Michelle's house. We had a great time cooking and eating with friends, and it was really nice to see how well Ari and Gavin played together. I ended up staying until 8pm, which is late for us! Gavin did not want to leave but as soon as we started driving he fell fast asleep and I got him into bed with just a few whimpers. (Oh he also slept in until 7am!! A very rare occurance).

I loved being busy and having so much to do yesterday but today I don't feel like doing anything. I wish I didn't feel so tired and nauseated all of the time. I really feel badly when Gavin watches TV and doesn't get to go out and play with other kids. I know I can't constantly entertain him but sometimes I wish I had someone I could call and just take him out for a bit so I could stay at home and relax. Hopefully I can get Jon to take him to the park this evening or even just play a new game with him. Gavin gets tired of seeing mommy's face all day everyday. :)

Sorry no pictures. I haven't been good about carrying the camera around.

Post-OP

I can barely remember yesterday since I was coming off of drugs and sedatives. My surgery was done by 10:30 and I was home by 12. As the medicine wore off I started throwing up and feeling very sick and shaky. Luckily by evening time I was able to eat some soup and ended up sleeping the rest of the day and night. The Dr. said I should get a phone call Wednesday with results so I am just going to have to wait to find out the news. Gavin has been with my In-Laws so it's been nice not having to tend to him or worry about how I can handle carrying him around. Hopefully in a few days the pain will be better and the cut will be healed more. I am taking some strong Tylenol and using ice packs and that seems to be enough. I will let you know more as I find out. Today I will probably sleep more and Jon is going to rent a movie or two for us to watch. I feel tired and groggy but much better than yesterday.

It's going to be very hot today and tomorrow (in the 90s) so the beach is going to be packed. I'll just be laying around enjoying the cool air from our AC.