Just after C's first (and worst round of sickness) at the beginning of October, I caught it (the worst head cold/cough we've had in years) about the exact same time we realized I was pregnant. We've made no secret of the fact we've been trying to add to the family all year, but it just hasn't worked out yet. So we were cautiously optimistic, but given our history (only a 1 in 4 chance of success at this point), we weren't counting on anything. So I went through the usual routine of early bloodwork, then an early ultrasound to only find that something didn't look right. They weren't sure, but it looked like I had another ectopic pregnancy in the exact same place as 2012... which set off my quiet panic. Last time, when I woke up from surgery they told me they had to take a fallopian tube, so what would happen this time - what would I lose? Would my recovery take longer? How was I going to explain this to a toddler who wanted to be carried everywhere? What if we can't have a normal pregnancy again? It was a lot to process in very little time. Within 24 hours I was scheduled for emergency surgery and we scrambled to find a way to get C to and from school and get me picked up from surgery (a good friend waited at the hospital while I was under, which was during school pick up time). I ended up having laparoscopic surgery again and the doctor used the same 3 incisions as last time (um, gee, thanks?) to discover that the pregnancy was abnormal and had recently terminated on its own - instead the mass they saw was actually a huge ovarian cyst... and just in time for Halloween, it was the weird kind that people joke about that grow hair or teeth or eyeballs. Yeah, I'll let that sink in... so thankfully no eyeballs, but it looked like it was filled with shredded fingernails... (I'll give you a minute to choke back your gags). After the worst week of disappointment I did find a silver lining - had we not had the miscarriage the cyst would have gone undiscovered and I likely would have lost the ovary - as it is, they were able to salvage it! Hooray! (We've had friends who were not so lucky.)
The recovery was not so awesome... I couldn't lift anything or bend over for 3 weeks, that horrible cough I had was murder on the stitches, and I was already pretty sleep deprived going into it from taking care of C and myself while sick. And Wade was also sick, so thankfully a dear friend came up to play with C and take care of us the day after my surgery. C and the cats were almost magnetically drawn to my belly and it was difficult to sleep without someone stomping on my fresh stitches (I sincerely wished I had body armor to sleep in). I woke up a few times from nightmares of intense pain to find C asleep with her head on my belly, so the fervent wish for protection was a valid one. We already had a camping trip planned and just a week after my surgery Wade asked if I still wanted to go. He said he would do all the lifting and I planned easy meals so we decided to go - I figured it had to be better than sitting on the couch protecting my stitches from an antsy toddler and needy cats.
We had a wonderful camping trip at Ft. Desoto and if I could recommend it to everyone convalescing as a prescription, I would. It helped C work off her nervous energy, we all unplugged for 3 days, and we enjoyed the beautiful outdoors and perfect weather. We were treated to an incredible bird show so we ate all our meals watching the water and enjoying the slow pace. I couldn't walk for long so it was great that the area behind our campsite is a big field and beach, perfect for an energetic C to burn off the crazies.
One thing we were not expecting was how much more expensive the surgery was this time around. We lost the gamble of taking a very high deductible insurance plan and the doctor and hospital bill ate through all the money we had set aside for paying off one of our credit card bills from the move. Apparently the real kicker will be when we get the anesthesiologist bill this month... in light of that, we're back to the simple, no gifts but handmade gifts, policy for Christmas this year since we have zero room in the budget. We're looking forward to a simple holiday this year and even using our fireplace to celebrate the winter solstice. Now we just need some fireplace tools!
Halloween was a lot of fun and I had just healed enough to at least walk some of the way. We had friends visiting from out of town so we had a fun weekend with them and their son and other friends and their kids (who live near our old house in town). It was funny watching C get used to so many kids together and by the end seemed to be enjoying herself. She actually trick or treated this year and loved it. She wanted to be a pumpkin so Wade carved her a jack-o-lantern helmet from a fake pumpkin and we put it with an orange dress and presto - she was a happy kid. She was well for pretty much just that weekend then got sick again, and again, and yesterday came down with another cold. The first year of school is brutal while their systems adjust!
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| The Cooper family of jack-o-lanterns! |
November was about the same... trying to get C healthy and get the house ready to host Thanksgiving. We were able to squeak in a visit to see my Grandma (she lives an hour away and just sold her house) so we went to visit, see if she needed help packing, and take home some momentos with us. It was a fun visit with her and I was glad Clementine was able to spend some time with her.
We were really excited to host this year and even better, the pool lanai was finished (FINALLY) just before Halloween so we were able to have our feast outside which was really fun. We've been living with the doors and windows open since the pool cage was done (hello sea breezes!) and it's like having another huge living room because the cats and be out there with us and we have our hammock up that's getting daily use now (we even get wifi there!). We've been so happy with everyone being able to hang outside, not having to worry about the mosquitos, and no more unwanted visitors in the pool (frogs, bugs, raccoons, snakes, rats...). Wade also fixed up the dock a bit so we can see the water better from the dining room and patio and we can actually go sit on our dock to watch fish and birds (this weekend a red fish buzzed us!). We also managed to get in a quick paddle this weekend and since we're weaning C off pull-ups and into undies, she got her first successful pee break being dangled over the side of the boat. lol
Thanksgiving was lovely having family here and we were so thankful for everyone coming over, sharing what they were thankful for, and cooking up so much wonderful food. We were pleasantly surprised to find we could make our little "vintage" kitchen work for a big holiday. It helped having all the doors and windows open so the kitchen never got too hot like it did in the last house. I started a new tradition this year (that I've been trying to do since we were pregnant!) - we'll use the same while table cloth every year and each person writes what they are thankful for on the cloth, with their name an date so it will grow over time. It also felt like the perfect way to break in the new house and really make it feel like ours (as well as filling the house with love to drive off any lingering bad ju-ju!).
I hope everyone had an equally wonderful Thanksgiving and that you're able to enjoy the holiday season at a restful pace. We already have two camping trips planned for this month (back to Ft Desoto), so we're excited. With all the sickness and healing we haven't had time to get current pictures of the house yet. I am hoping soon, before we put up the Christmas decor.... in the mean time I did upload some photos from this fall, so enjoy!
