The last 72 hours have been crazy to say the least. Liz started having abdominal pains last Saturday and because the pain was not subsiding, she went to see her doctor Monday afternoon. When I got home Monday night, there was a gift bag sitting on my side of the bed. The bag was full of baby toys and Liz told me that she was pregnant.
We were both very excited, but the doctor said that Liz should go and get an ultrasound to make sure everything was OK and to see if they could find the source of the pain. So she called the hospital on Tuesday and got an appointment to get the ultrasound on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.
About an hour after I got home from work on Tuesday, Liz said that her abdominal pain was getting worse so she got in the bath. Within an hour, I was driving her to the emergency room.
I have never seen her in that kind of pain before. After four hours in the ER and two different types of ultrasound, the ER doctor informed us that Liz had an ectopic pregnancy (tubal) and that the on-call OB was coming down to perform surgery.
Not more than ten seconds after the doctor left the examination room, Liz started bleeding. The OB showed up and explained the surgery and within ten minutes, Liz was in surgery.
Almost two hours later, the main OB (Dr. W) came to the waiting room to let me know how things went. He told me that the ultrasound showed that the embryo was approximately 8 mm large; however, once they got into Liz's abdomen, he found that it had been encompassed by a blood clot that was approximately the size of a quarter. As a result, Liz's tube burst and she had lost approximately 2/3 to 3/4 of a unit of blood. In addition, she had a cyst on her ovary that also burst. We feel very blessed because Dr. W was able to remove the portion of the tube that burst and save Liz's left tube. He also said that the ovarian cyst was likely caused by the blood clot around the embryo. Despite the cyst, he said that Liz's left ovary looked healthy.
The craziest part is that he characterized this as an experience that made him feel like he was really making a difference. He told me that had we not come into the ER, Liz would have bled to death overnight. To think that she would not have even made it to her ultrasound appointment. I am so lucky to have Liz as my wife and I could not imagine going through life without her.
Liz is doing well and we have already experienced an outpouring of generosity and love. Thank you to everyone who has offered to help.
Thank you to Liz's sister, Auntie, for all of her help including taking care of the boys while Liz and I were at the hospital. I cannot imagine how we could have done this without her.
Greg and Lindsey: Thank you for the beautiful flowers.
It is probably best not to call Liz yet. The doctor said that she needs to rest quite a bit for the next few weeks. I am sure that she would welcome any comments on the blog.
Buddha, Bugga, and I are so happy to have Mommy back home.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Highlights and Not-so-highlights
I am alive...barely. Just kidding. But it is hard to recover from a two week vacation, especially a vacation like the one I just had. It was a bit rough for a while. To save time (mine and yours) and to go easy on my frazzled brain, I will just jot down the most memorable moments.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- I got to see my entire family, all of us together for the first time in years. It was a beautiful thing. I finally got to meet my nephew, Faces, and Buddha had a blast playing with his cousin, Beatbox, whenever he came over. In fact, Buddha attached himself to Beatbox in such a way that when Beatbox had to go home, Buddha would cry and cry and carry on as if the world had ended (his probably had).
- Taking tons of pictures.
- I told Buddha that Ratchet makes legs for people whose legs have been cut off. He asked me, "Does he make them hairy like their other legs?"
- Following Faces around snapping pictures incessantly and finally winning the competition to get "the face" on camera. I WIN! I RULE! I'M AWESOME! Where's my $50, Unkey Dino? :) j/k!
- When leaving to run errands, Buddha said to me, "I just want Uncle Ratchet to come in our car because I love him and his cut off leg."
- Playing games with the family after the kids went to bed at night. Okay, if I'm being honest, this really only happened twice. Most nights we intended to play, but everyone was exhausted by the time all the kids had zonked.
- Receiving a wonderful surprise in the mail from my extremely thoughtful husband. He bought me a new 50mm lens and had it sent to my parents' house. I love it! It is an amazing lens. Check out the crazy depth-of-field capabilities:
- While sitting on Ratchet's shoulders, Auntie asked Buddha if he missed his daddy. He responded while hugging Ratchet's head, "Yes, but I love this daddy, too."
- Sunday dinner. I've missed Sunday dinner at my parents' house. Pot roast, mashed potatoes, strawberry shortcake. Mmmm.... Good food, crazy company, random conversation. It doesn't get any better.
- Watching the popcorn popping on the neighbor's apricot tree...and getting lots of pictures of said popcorn.
- I got to witness my parents' transformations each morning from Utahan to Eskimo as they dressed for their morning walks.
- Taking tons of pictures.
- Visiting Jacqui, Jonathan, and Katelyn. Anytime anyone asks Buddha who we saw in Utah, he says, "Granny and Grandpa...and Jonathan!" I also got some great maternity pictures of Jacqui. She's beautiful!
*Incidentally, Bugga is just one week older than Katelyn here, but he outweighs her by tons and is more than a full head taller than her! She's only 17 lbs. and he weighs 27 lbs. already! Ahhhh! I have brutes for children. :)
- Unkey Dino playing with the boys, taking care of them, changing their diapers, feeding them. It was priceless...truly. He's a gem. There is one lucky girl out there just waiting to find him and when she does, I hope she realizes just how lucky she really is.
- Hanging out with Lisa F., Lisa I., and Kathleen up in Eagle Mountain. Unkey Dino came along and was great at entertaining the kids while I, yep, you guessed it, took pictures and chatted away. Typical me.
- I quizzed Buddha with this random question and was tickled with his spot-on response: "When Mommy says she's hungry, what does Daddy always say?" Answer: "Starving." So true.
- Swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center. That was awesome. I love that place. Bugga has no fear. It was hilarious to watch him flopping all around in the water, coming up spluttering and laughing at the same time. Buddha was cautious, but enjoyed himself. Every time the huge bucket would spill its contents, Buddha would cover his ears and watch, fascinated, until the last of the water trickled out.
Photo courtesy of Ratchet
- Seeing my friends, Lisa, Jacqui, Kari, and Evelyn, even if it was just for a few minutes. Sorry friends!
- Taking Nate and Emily's engagement pictures at the "castle" behind Utah State Hospital. They are a really fun couple and I had a great time. I hope they did, too.
- Picking up The Chief from the airport and watching the boys climb all over him with joy the next morning. They love, love, love their daddy! Bugga couldn't get enough of him and Buddha wanted to go with him wherever he went.
- Did I mention that taking tons of pictures was a MAJOR highlight of this trip?! :)
- Going to the Provo Temple with my mom and sister. It had been a while, a long while, since I had been to the Temple. It was wonderful and emotional. I've been needing that.
- Checking in with Unkey Dino after each of his dates.
- Playing with my cousins Zack and Brooke and Jake and Ember and their kids. They adopted The Chief and me into their family and invited us to all their family get-togethers when we had no family in Utah. We love them! Thanks for a great time you guys!
- Unkey Dino and I spent the entire vacation trying to figure out what a "fox car" is. According to Buddha, it's a car with a black stick in the back (an antennae), but he must discriminate further because sometimes when I see a black stick on the back of a car I'll ask him if it's a "fox car" and he'll say "no."**
*Since first writing this, we have discovered what a "fox car" is. Apparently the "stick" Buddha is talking about is the stripe that runs horizontally across the back of the car underneath the license plate. It can also be found on the front of the car...or so he says. :) Here is a picture for you:
- Getting a family picture with our entire family.
- Unkey Dino making crepes and me eating waaaaaay too many. So good!
- Playing with the neighbor girls, Faith, Charity, Grace, and Hope, and taking their pictures. Very photogenic, very wild, very fun!
NOT-SO-HIGHLIGHTS:
- I drove into Utah County only to be greeted by a raging blizzard. I left my sunny, 70 degree weather for this???
- Getting a family picture with our entire family. Yep, that's right, all Hell breaks loose when we try to work toward a common goal and cooperate with each other. Don't think I'll try that again any time soon. :)
- Cafe Rio. After discovering Cotijas here in San Diego, Cafe Rio just doesn't stack up anymore.
- Cleaning up vomit. Changing runny diapers. Waking up all hours of the night with sad, sick little men. Infecting the entire household with the 24-hour flu and having to cancel play dates.
- Getting stuck in massive traffic once through Vegas on our way home. Let's just say that it tacked another two, maybe three hours onto our already insanely long drive! Note to self, do not drive back from Utah on a Sunday again.
**For those of you who don't know, Buddha has this little quirk about him that has been around for a while now. As we drive along having conversations with him, Buddha will often be interrupting his own train of thought with a muttered, "Down car, I'm just kidding," or "Down truck, I'm just kidding," or "Fox car, I'm just kidding." I have no idea how it started or where it came from, but he does it all the time. I've worked out what a "down car" is as well as the "down truck," but I'm still working on the "fox car." He's very good at slipping it into the normal flow of a conversation without even breaking stride. He can pick up right where he left off talking. It's hilarious!
HIGHLIGHTS:
- I got to see my entire family, all of us together for the first time in years. It was a beautiful thing. I finally got to meet my nephew, Faces, and Buddha had a blast playing with his cousin, Beatbox, whenever he came over. In fact, Buddha attached himself to Beatbox in such a way that when Beatbox had to go home, Buddha would cry and cry and carry on as if the world had ended (his probably had).
- Taking tons of pictures.
- I told Buddha that Ratchet makes legs for people whose legs have been cut off. He asked me, "Does he make them hairy like their other legs?"
- Following Faces around snapping pictures incessantly and finally winning the competition to get "the face" on camera. I WIN! I RULE! I'M AWESOME! Where's my $50, Unkey Dino? :) j/k!
- When leaving to run errands, Buddha said to me, "I just want Uncle Ratchet to come in our car because I love him and his cut off leg."
- Playing games with the family after the kids went to bed at night. Okay, if I'm being honest, this really only happened twice. Most nights we intended to play, but everyone was exhausted by the time all the kids had zonked.
- Receiving a wonderful surprise in the mail from my extremely thoughtful husband. He bought me a new 50mm lens and had it sent to my parents' house. I love it! It is an amazing lens. Check out the crazy depth-of-field capabilities:
- While sitting on Ratchet's shoulders, Auntie asked Buddha if he missed his daddy. He responded while hugging Ratchet's head, "Yes, but I love this daddy, too."
- Sunday dinner. I've missed Sunday dinner at my parents' house. Pot roast, mashed potatoes, strawberry shortcake. Mmmm.... Good food, crazy company, random conversation. It doesn't get any better.
- Watching the popcorn popping on the neighbor's apricot tree...and getting lots of pictures of said popcorn.
- I got to witness my parents' transformations each morning from Utahan to Eskimo as they dressed for their morning walks.
- Taking tons of pictures.
- Visiting Jacqui, Jonathan, and Katelyn. Anytime anyone asks Buddha who we saw in Utah, he says, "Granny and Grandpa...and Jonathan!" I also got some great maternity pictures of Jacqui. She's beautiful!
*Incidentally, Bugga is just one week older than Katelyn here, but he outweighs her by tons and is more than a full head taller than her! She's only 17 lbs. and he weighs 27 lbs. already! Ahhhh! I have brutes for children. :)
- Unkey Dino playing with the boys, taking care of them, changing their diapers, feeding them. It was priceless...truly. He's a gem. There is one lucky girl out there just waiting to find him and when she does, I hope she realizes just how lucky she really is.
- Hanging out with Lisa F., Lisa I., and Kathleen up in Eagle Mountain. Unkey Dino came along and was great at entertaining the kids while I, yep, you guessed it, took pictures and chatted away. Typical me.
- I quizzed Buddha with this random question and was tickled with his spot-on response: "When Mommy says she's hungry, what does Daddy always say?" Answer: "Starving." So true.
- Swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center. That was awesome. I love that place. Bugga has no fear. It was hilarious to watch him flopping all around in the water, coming up spluttering and laughing at the same time. Buddha was cautious, but enjoyed himself. Every time the huge bucket would spill its contents, Buddha would cover his ears and watch, fascinated, until the last of the water trickled out.
Photo courtesy of Ratchet
- Seeing my friends, Lisa, Jacqui, Kari, and Evelyn, even if it was just for a few minutes. Sorry friends!
- Taking Nate and Emily's engagement pictures at the "castle" behind Utah State Hospital. They are a really fun couple and I had a great time. I hope they did, too.
- Picking up The Chief from the airport and watching the boys climb all over him with joy the next morning. They love, love, love their daddy! Bugga couldn't get enough of him and Buddha wanted to go with him wherever he went.
- Did I mention that taking tons of pictures was a MAJOR highlight of this trip?! :)
- Going to the Provo Temple with my mom and sister. It had been a while, a long while, since I had been to the Temple. It was wonderful and emotional. I've been needing that.
- Checking in with Unkey Dino after each of his dates.
- Playing with my cousins Zack and Brooke and Jake and Ember and their kids. They adopted The Chief and me into their family and invited us to all their family get-togethers when we had no family in Utah. We love them! Thanks for a great time you guys!
- Unkey Dino and I spent the entire vacation trying to figure out what a "fox car" is. According to Buddha, it's a car with a black stick in the back (an antennae), but he must discriminate further because sometimes when I see a black stick on the back of a car I'll ask him if it's a "fox car" and he'll say "no."**
*Since first writing this, we have discovered what a "fox car" is. Apparently the "stick" Buddha is talking about is the stripe that runs horizontally across the back of the car underneath the license plate. It can also be found on the front of the car...or so he says. :) Here is a picture for you:
- Getting a family picture with our entire family.
- Unkey Dino making crepes and me eating waaaaaay too many. So good!
- Playing with the neighbor girls, Faith, Charity, Grace, and Hope, and taking their pictures. Very photogenic, very wild, very fun!
NOT-SO-HIGHLIGHTS:
- I drove into Utah County only to be greeted by a raging blizzard. I left my sunny, 70 degree weather for this???
- Getting a family picture with our entire family. Yep, that's right, all Hell breaks loose when we try to work toward a common goal and cooperate with each other. Don't think I'll try that again any time soon. :)
- Cafe Rio. After discovering Cotijas here in San Diego, Cafe Rio just doesn't stack up anymore.
- Cleaning up vomit. Changing runny diapers. Waking up all hours of the night with sad, sick little men. Infecting the entire household with the 24-hour flu and having to cancel play dates.
- Getting stuck in massive traffic once through Vegas on our way home. Let's just say that it tacked another two, maybe three hours onto our already insanely long drive! Note to self, do not drive back from Utah on a Sunday again.
**For those of you who don't know, Buddha has this little quirk about him that has been around for a while now. As we drive along having conversations with him, Buddha will often be interrupting his own train of thought with a muttered, "Down car, I'm just kidding," or "Down truck, I'm just kidding," or "Fox car, I'm just kidding." I have no idea how it started or where it came from, but he does it all the time. I've worked out what a "down car" is as well as the "down truck," but I'm still working on the "fox car." He's very good at slipping it into the normal flow of a conversation without even breaking stride. He can pick up right where he left off talking. It's hilarious!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
In Spite of the Toilet Seat...
...we managed to make it to five years. And I must say they've been five happy years. Today The Chief and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary...in style. Thanks to my sister, Auntie, being willing to watch our boys all day long, and thanks to The Chief's fabulous planning, we were able to have a wonderful day full of relaxation and together time. We started off the day with an amazing couples massage at Spa Tiki in downtown San Diego. It was amazing. I felt like a wet noodle afterward. I hadn't realized how much tension I was carrying around in my body until it was gone. After the massage we spent 1/2 an hour in the steam room sweating and detoxing. That was a beautiful thing, too. After the spa we headed to lunch at a small French bistro called St. Tropez that The Chief frequents at lunch time during the work week. We got to sit outside and the weather was perfect for it with the warm breeze carrying the smell of the ocean. After lunch we headed home to rest and give Auntie a bit of a break from the boys. In the evening we set out for dinner at The Marine Room at La Jolla Shores. While the food was beautiful and tasty, it wasn't spectacular and it was definitely outshined by the ocean views and sunset that we were fortunate enough to witness. All in all, for people who haven't yet really celebrated an anniversary, I think we did pretty good for our fifth. What do you think? I love you soooooooo much, Chief...a lot! :) Thank you for the perfect day and a wonderful five years. I hope to have at least 60 more with you. :)
Pictures at The Marine Room
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!
(Thanks again, Auntie!)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Utah
I have not managed to post any updates or pictures about our trip here to Utah, mainly because I'm busy cleaning up vomit and diarrhea blowouts. We are home to the flu right now...big time. And worst of all, my little family started it. I'm not sure if we brought it with us from California or if we caught it here. Aside from this little hiccup, we're still managing to have fun visiting with family and playing games. Oh, and Unkey Dino has updated his blog for the first time since he started it a year ago. It has lots of pictures and funny videos from our time here. If you are a mother, you'll appreciate his appreciation. Check it out here.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Predictable
I knew this is who I would be even before I started the quiz. I'm just not passionate like Marianne Dashwood or hot-headed and opinionated like Lizzie. I don't like to meddle the way Emma Woodhouse does and I'm definitely not the prig that Fanny Price is. Anyway, I like Elinor. I think she's the most level-headed of the lot. Maybe not the most exciting, but practical nonetheless. I hope it works for me in my life. Take the quiz. It was fun. Thanks Laurie!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Goodreads
I keep sending emails to random people about this website. So, in an effort to save time, I'm just going to write my laud and praise for the website here on our blog and hope that you are all reading diligently. :)
Goodreads is a website where you can add, rate, review, and store books online. Let me see if I can clarify that. I signed up, then I added any books I could remember I'd read, I rated them, and I wrote reviews for some of them. Then I added friends and I got to see their books: what they'd read, what they were reading, what they wanted to read. I can add whatever books from their lists I want to my own lists. This ensures that I never again will forget which books I've heard great things about and want to read.
Now, if that paragraph with multiple "reads" in it didn't sink in, go back and read it again. :) At first I was not here or there about the website. I got invited and I signed up thinking it would be another website that had my information but that I didn't use. Not so. I'm addicted. I'll never run out of good titles to read thanks to my friends who've already joined. So, please join up so that I can see what you're reading and what books you've loved!
www.goodreads.com
Happy Reading!
Goodreads is a website where you can add, rate, review, and store books online. Let me see if I can clarify that. I signed up, then I added any books I could remember I'd read, I rated them, and I wrote reviews for some of them. Then I added friends and I got to see their books: what they'd read, what they were reading, what they wanted to read. I can add whatever books from their lists I want to my own lists. This ensures that I never again will forget which books I've heard great things about and want to read.
Now, if that paragraph with multiple "reads" in it didn't sink in, go back and read it again. :) At first I was not here or there about the website. I got invited and I signed up thinking it would be another website that had my information but that I didn't use. Not so. I'm addicted. I'll never run out of good titles to read thanks to my friends who've already joined. So, please join up so that I can see what you're reading and what books you've loved!
www.goodreads.com
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Oh Duh
Well, in an effort to be honest, I am not going to just delete my shamefully embarrassing post about the fake "gmail custom time." The Chief was quick to remind me today that it was April Fool's Day. He asked me if I had even read what they wrote. I said yes. He asked me if I'd read the equation they used. I said yes. But if you know me, you know that math is not just not my forte, it's my hell. He told me that he was tipped off by their explanation for how they managed to "fix" this time issue: "Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality." Apparently the flux capacitor is from the Back to the Future car. So sue me for not being a huge Back to the Future fan. Oh well, they got me. They got me good. I'm embarrassed at how incensed I sounded. You hear that, G-mail? Good one! I've been had. Now you all know who you can play April Fool's Day tricks on. I can't remember for two consecutive minutes what day it is. Blah!
Sad
Does anyone else find this to be extremely sad? Google is promoting blantant dishonesty and calling it funny, productive, and brilliant. And listen to one of their testimonials which, though I think they are trying to be funny, is quite depressing:
"I used to be an honest person; but now I don't have to be. It's just so much easier this way. I've gained a lot of productivity by not having to think about doing the 'right' thing."
Todd J., Investment Banker
Ummmm..............................
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