Christmas and The Hospital

We had a great Christmas Week! At least I did! It was relaxing and Ryan waited on me hand and foot and cleaned my house. I was able to just rest. Christmas Eve we spent with Ryan's parents. Well...first we had to go to a doctor's appointment and non stress test. That was a bit stressful for me because Penny moves around so much, it is hard to register her heart beat and the nurses get attitudes. And we were late getting there because of a traffic jam....blah. I was eager to get out of there and to the Rowan's so we could just have some fun. And that we did. We all worked together.....well Parker and Grandma worked while we watched and supervised on building a ginger bread house. Parker enjoyed it very much. It took over an hour! And he loved every minute.
There was lots of good food that we munched on all day. We then opened presents. Parker got a couple of lego sets and a digital camera. The digital camera was a huge hit. He already has the memory full of pictures. And he's mastered all the games. He can do pics, games, videos....he loves it. I'm not so much of a fan as he loves to take my picture and well...I'm Mrs. Puff face right now and he gets really close up pics...blah. Good thing I have control over what gets downloaded and printed.



Then we did a Nativity Play. Parker and I were being poor sports and wouldn't dress up, but Ryan did. Here he is being Samuel The Lamanite prophesying the birth of Jesus. He really got into the part.


Christmas morning, my parents came down. I had to wake the boys up....it was after 9:00 am and they weren't up. Ryan was trying to get Parker up, I came in. I told him that Santa had come. He said, "Just ten more minutes." What kid asks to sleep for 10 more minutes on Christmas morning? Usually kids are up at the crack of dawn running for dear life to check out all the gifts under the tree. Not my child. Then when he woke up a bit more he was more worried about the ginger bread house from the night before and wanted to make sure daddy brought it in from the car. What a maroon. Finally he agreed to come out and check stuff out. Santa had brought all the things he asked for....simply because it was only 4 things and inexpensive things....I love this kid! I know the time is coming soon that more expensive things will be on his list. So he got his 2-wheeler bike. All of his friends have one on the street and it is the big thing he asked for from Santa. He loves it!
He also got the sled he has been asking for for a year now. Now we just need to figure out where there is a good hill close by. Anyone know where there is a good sled hill locally? He was in bad need of a Winter Coat too. My parents got him this awesome coat. It's so thick and warm. He is very happy with it. He was spoiled of course by grandparents. He got a game from my parents as well that he has seen on commercials and asked for. After opening it, he jumped to his feet and ran to hug his granny and papa. Santa also brought him some legos. After opening the Sponge Bob lego set plus lego bin, he said, "Oh i love a good lego." We laughed all Christmas morning...he's so funny with his expressions.

And of course, Patches was close by Christmas morning to be a part of the fun. The empty boxes and bows are her favorite thing. She was having a blast. Bibs perched herself under the tree and we just had a great family day. Ryan cooked breakfast. Then we just played with legos and played with all the fun toys with Parker. Then we had a big yummy dinner with my folks and my uncle that night.
Friday, we had a little party/reunion of Ryan's high school friends. One was visiting from out of State, so we got everyone together that was close. These guys have been a gang of friends....some from elementary and then Junior High through High School. We had 7 kids under the age of 6. Parker was beside himself with joy to have so many friends to play with. It was nice to visit and catch up with everyone and watch our kids play so nicely together.
Saturday, Ryan's parents came down to check out Parker's loot and just hang out. Ryan put together a beef stew and we baked some bread. I wasn't feeling good all day. I was very weak and tired. I had taken a pain pill to help with pain and it made me a little loopy and dizzy, but it passed. We ate dinner and then sat at the table to learn our new expansion game to Settlers of Cataan called Cities and Knights. Ryan was explaining the rules. I was totally feeling fine and paying attention. I was having pain in my stomach....but being pregnant and just eating....totally normal....not lady like....but normal. All of the sudden...without any warning....I felt the need to throw up. The room got dark and started to spin. I told Ryan that I needed to throw up or pass out. He just stared at me....waiting for me to take off to the bathroom. But I couldn't move. An intense heat came over me and I felt myself fall forward. My mother-in-law said.....catch her....which Ryan did. I knew my eyes were still open but I couldn't lift my head or respond to them....I could hear them calling my name. Then it went black and all I remember is facing Ryan as he called my name.....then I fell forward again....and he grabbed my face and told me to stay with him.....I finally was able to focus enough to come out of it. I had checked out for about 30 seconds Ryan said...but it felt longer. Sweat was pouring down my face and I felt so dizzy and weak. Everyone felt it was a good idea to take me to the hospital. We wanted to make sure my blood pressure wasn't too high. And since I have never ever passed out in my life, we wanted to make sure everything was ok. So we headed to the ER. My in-laws stayed with Parker and eventually took him home with them. I am grateful they were there to take care of Parker. At the hospital, they sent me straight to labor and delivery. They hooked me up to the monitors where....big surprise....she was moving so much...hard to get the heart beat. But everything looked fine. they were just about to send me down to ER to check me out when her heart rate took a big dip. So ....I had to stay longer to monitor just in case. Everything turned out to be fine. She is fine and healthy. Just a trouble maker.
So we headed to the ER. We got into a room pretty quickly, but then we just waited and waited and waited. It was cold and I was tired and hungry and thirsty.
Doctor came in and said that with what I explained to him...it sounded like a vasovagal episode. There is a nerve in your abdomen that sends the signal to your brain to send blood to the digestive system after eating. Somehow, this nerve got blocked or pinched, most likely from the chubby baby in my tummy, and it surged the signal to my brain and blood just rushed out of the brain to the stomach and down I went. They did an EKG and that looked fine. They took blood and that looked good. They did a blood sugar test and it was extremely low, but I had been in that hosptial for 6 hours without food or water...hello! They gave me a liter of fluid through and IV and sent me home. We got home around 2:00 am. Poor Ryan was so tired. We didn't go to church. Ryan didn't want me to push myself to get there. I was supposed to sing a duet with a friend and I'm so bummed because it's my favorite Christmas song and it sounded so beautiful. I just feel awful that I missed it. But I stayed in bed most of the day and got some good rest. My mom made our dinner which was so very helpful to both of us. I'm glad she lives close to help out. I wish I wasn't so needy and weak. But I'm so excited to have this baby and to know that she is healthy and strong. 4 more weeks!!!!! Well...hopefully if my body cooperates. I see Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors tomorrow and my OB Wednesday. I'm also doing a 24 urine test because they found some protein and want to make sure my kidneys are functioning properly. Man....I just sound like a hot mess don't I? Parker takes good care of me. He showered me with hugs when he got home from Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday. He wanted to make sure I was feeling better. He looks out for me.
He has a new love in his life. There is a little girl in my in-law's ward. He talks about her all the time and how beautiful she is and the pretty necklace she wears and her blonde hair. It's hilarious to hear how he talks. And he expressed to me yesterday that he loves the name Annie. And since we can't change Penny's name, I told him that some day he can get married and have a baby and call her Annie. He said, "well, I'm going to need a black shirt and the bow tie from my sock drawer if I'm ever going to go on a date." Oh it took all of my strength to keep a straight face....he was so serious about it.
It has been a blast reading about everyone's Christmas. Glad you all had a great day. We love you all!