House and a Baby, What More Could We Want?

Whelp... below is the house we purchased this week. My co-workers in Yuba County are appalled by Davis real estate prices, but we feel like we got a decent deal. $415k is about as much as we could afford, but it's a single-family home (albeit 960 square feet) on a good-sized lot, in great shape, with a two-car garage, in a great neighborhood near a park, and a few blocks from my parents.


Below is Sam's healing ankle. The cast was removed in favor of a walking cast. The scars are remarkably hard to see, but it's weird to feel a metal plate in her ankle. She is very mobile and motivated to get her right calf back.


This is a shot of the inside scar... this one was made by the bone popping out of her leg (not a scalpel), so it's a little more visible.


Swollen and white, but much happier without a cast...


Sam's starting to show, but I think she's sucking it in a little bit in this picture. She tells me that she has one pair of pants that fit, due to stomach-enlargement.


This is more like it, but she's sticking it out now...


I too am starting to show (not).



Jen Jarvis (housemate) posing with the prego wifey...


Tomorrow is Sam's first Mother's Day as a mother! To celebrate, we are going to tour our new house. I haven't seen it yet, choosing to trust Sam's raving review of the house, but she wants me to go inside "so I can be more excited." Sam's giddiness about the house is balanced by my nervousness about having such a huge financial commitment. We know God will provide, though.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Baby Update!

The latest: Baby Sorbello is happy and healthy and a whopping 7 cm tall! The nurse practitioner let me see the little "it" on another ultrasound on Monday, and it even waved at me! Here are some pictures with captions below:

I emailed this to Shiloh before I called him post-appointment and his first comment was, "It looks even less like a human than the first one." I guess you had to see it wiggling and twisting and turning to really define where the little head ends and belly begins, or which splotch is an arm and what's a jaw. This picture shows baby laying on his/her back with head on the right, one arm raised in the air, and a little belly bulge.

Here baby shows us just how tall he/she has gotten by turning its back to us so we can measure top of the head (right) to tail bone (left). Did you know that if baby is a girl, she already has over two million eggs in her ovaries? At 7 cm! AMAZING.

And finally, my favorite of them all, baby stopped wiggling for a moment to wave at me. If you look close, you can see little fingers. Baby apparently also has finger prints already.

This whole baby-growing process has been pretty wonderful. I scraped by the first trimester without any morning sickness, only a little fatigue, and that minor ankle injury.... The nurse practicioner reported that I am anemic right now (iron deficiency), but it is probably a result of blood loss from the injury. I'm taking an extra iron supplement to combat the problem and have beef and barley stewing in the crock pot for dinner. (red meat = easily absorbed iron)

Coming soon: nasty ankle pictures from last Friday's re-casting. Stay tuned!

All work and no play...

The Monday after Easter, Shiloh arrived at work to find that he had a training on "discovery" in San Francisco from Tuesday night to Friday noon. I almost shed a few tears wondering who would bring me glasses of water or help me climb the stairs until Shiloh suggested I stay with his parents for the week. Yippee! While Shiloh sat through boring (though useful) meetings, I got to spend the week sleeping in, playing boggle, reading, napping, eating, etc. It was lovely.

Shiloh here: Thanks Mom and Dad for taking such good care of Sam while I was gone! Back to Sam...

On Thursday night, our friends Jeremy McChesney and Carie Brueckner drove me to meet Shiloh for a little double-date in the City. We ate at the oldest Italian restaurant in America, Fior d'Italia, and then made our way to Ghiradelli for sundaes, banana splits, and milkshakes. The best part of the whole night, however, was going back to Shiloh's retro hotel room at the Sheraton and watching March Madness (Shiloh)/napping (the rest of us) until the worst of the traffic passed. It was a fun adventure, but maybe not the best remedy for a healing foot...

Outside after dinner

Ghiradelli!

Walking back to the hotel - stuffed and happy

At the doctor Friday morning, I was expecting to find a nicely healed leg under layers and layers of gauze, but instead I uncovered this lovely sight: a dry, red, puffy, hairy ankle with Frankenstein scars on both sides. I thought it was disgusting, but Dr. Gaggero seemed to think it looked really good. However, my foot was still more swollen than he liked, so he had my leg put back into a splint for a week before he puts me into a lightweight, fiberglass hard cast. He also said that I can't go back to work yet, because I haven' t been elevating my leg enough. Phooey.

Here's the inside, looking a lot like it did just after surgery.

Take a good look at this one. The outside scar had not yet been photo-documented, and it's even bigger than the one on the inside! Here is where they put the plate and five screws to hold my precious fibula together.

This one is out of order. It's the shot that Justin went back to get on his cell phone per Shiloh's request, but the paramedics had already started to put my foot back together. (Shiloh's note: This is also right before Justin passed out and fell on his face, giving himself a concussion.)

Finally, we arrive at today, Wednesday, the three month mark! The first trimester is officially over and I escaped with no morning sickness. I'm not "showing" yet, which is a little sad, because I feel like it will validate pregnancy a little more. I was telling this to Jen Rogelstad, who is due in June, and she said to enjoy being comfortable because it won't last long!

My sign reads: 3 months (12 weeks)

• 140 lbs - lost muscle
• big appetite
• broken ankle (4 more weeks in cast)

Here I am trying to show. Does it look real?

And finally, Shiloh. Poor guy doesn't get enough attention.
(Shiloh's note: I was trying to look pregnant and stick my stomach out, which I can do with the best of them, but the profile isn't great. Maybe next time.)

That Norco Is Some Powerful Stuff

Fortunately I do not have a picture to accompany this post, but the story is too good not to tell.

Yesterday I awoke to a beautifully sunny Easter morning, showered, and put on make up for the first time since last Monday. The service at FBC started at 10:30 and I was having some trouble figuring out whether I should take my 10:00 dose of Norco with or without food, since it makes me feel a bit queasy. I opted for eating a banana about 10 minutes before taking the Norco and felt decent on the way to church.

During the service I was able to stand and sing a bit, but I drank a lot of water to quell the feelings of nausea that seemed to be increasing. Afterwards, a friend seated behind us asked to see the gross cellphone picture and hear the story about my ankle. I was getting quite animated in retelling it and had to cut off abruptly to keep from losing my banana. While I was sitting with hand over mouth and eyes glued to the ground, Mark Restrepo and Betty (the sweet greeter)approached me to say hello. I had to wave them both off with an index finger while I composed myself, but seconds later there was no hope... not knowing what to do, I reached quickly for my purse and "let it go."

My friends quickly scooted off while I hobbled to the nearest exit as fast as I could. Mom and Dad #2, Shiloh, and JJ were very helpful in bringing water, paper towels, and plastic bags to help me clean up. I felt much better after relieving myself of all that water and banana; the only casualty of the morning was my poor, hand-me-down (from TJ) camera, which had been in my purse and been fried in banana juice. Oops.

I went home for a nap before Easter dinner, which I was able to keep down with minimal feelings of an upset stomach. Today I called the surgeon, and he is allowing me to start using Vicodin, instead of Norco. It doesn't help the pain quite as well, but my baby needs some nutrients to stay in my body! :) Thanks for all your continued prayers and support - being helpless is both physically and emotionally draining, and I've really appreciated all the offers for assistance. Happy Monday!

From One Thankful Invalid

I'm finally home and I've never felt so thankful in my life. Over the past four days, God has shown me that 1) He wants me to REST, 2) He cares, and 3) I'm loved. From the moment I looked down at my foot hanging off to the side of my leg, and could only rate my pain as a 4-5 out of 10, I knew God was taking care of me. Within seconds, people were at my side bringing ice and prayers, calling 911, taking cell phone photos, and making me smile. I didn't even have time to freak out about what might lie ahead before a familiar face jumped out of the ambulance to remind me that God is good. (All the time.) In the ambulance ride to Kaiser, I was able to talk to Shiloh on the phone ("Babe, what were you thinking?") and then chat with the paramedic about public vs. private education, politics, and quirky stories about Davis.

At the hospital, I had cool nurses and met Dr. Haji, who took great care of me through the whole ordeal. He and the head nurse cleaned my wound, pulled out some grass, put on a soft cast, and sent me off for x-rays. Surgery started around 10 and I was awake the whole time, which I had initially feared but ended up enjoying. I was able to talk to the doctors (though a sheet limited visibility) and see a "play-by-play" as they posted x-ray pictures after each screw went in. The doctors were friendly and did a fantastic job. Here is the finished product:


The biggest post-op relief, however, was when the obstetrician came into my room on Wednesday morning and showed me this:The dotted line goes from baby's tail bone (left) to skull (right) and about half way up you can see two little hands sticking up. They say that the nub on the left is going to be feet or something like that, but I think the little bean managed to get a ball in there and is already practicing his shot. Best of all, the whitish spot near the chin was pulsing rapidly, as if saying, "Hi Mommy! I'm okay!" I was so happy.

The next few days seemed to fly by, filled with text messages, visitors, flowers, phone calls, and lots of morphine. :) Thanks to everyone who came to see me! This is me (looking nasty) next to some girls from my junior class/soccer team who brought an Easter basket filled with candy and really nice notes from students:


My brainiac little nephew, Luke Armstrong, was able to compose this at 14 months. He's a keeper!

At Crepeville with my family for brunch before they headed back to the Bay Area:

I can't say enough how THANKFUL I am for everybody's prayers and support over the last week. And now I'm going to go prop up my foot and take ONE Norco. :)