We’ve all been sick in this house.  Some sort of virus/bug got to all of us. Upset tummies, and gastro intestinal tracts, slight fevers.  Vienna recovered rather quickly, Sam did too… the rest of us battled a little bit (my mom and I still have headaches and don’t quiet feel well). But Ziva… well, something hit her hard.

One Thursday night, Sam and I actually got to go out on a date with some friends of ours.  Ziva’d had a bit of a fever, but nothing over 100, so it could easily be explained by that nasty process called teething.  My mother called about half way through dinner… her fever had gone up to 103.  Mimi gave her some baby Tylenol and they were able to get her down to sleep.  By the time we got home that night she’d returned to just around 100.  Friday, she was fine, under 100 and chipper so I didn’t take her into the doctor figuring she was on the mend.  Saturday her fever was up again… Sunday night it dropped to 94.7! She was cold, clammy and it was scary.  She was asleep when it dropped so it was difficult to decide if she was acting abnormally or not.  We called a family friend who is a doctor, woke the poor guy and his wife, also a dr in her residency, up.  He calmed us down a bit and because she’d been awake enough to seem to be acting normally.  Still nervous though Sam slept holding her all night long (poor guy).
So we took her in to the dr on Monday just to see what was up.  Her temp was back to just under 100, but no UTI, no ear infection, her lungs sounded clear… everything seemed normal.  We asked the dr what to do if she dropped that low again (unlike our family friend, this dr just seemed to think I was taking her temp wrong, or hadn’t bundled her or something like that) he told us to take her to the ER…. Monday night, sure enough… 94.7, cold and clammy. So at 10:30 at night we packed her up and headed to Silverton Hospital Emergency Room.  And so began the nightmare!!!!

Once in the ER they immediately put Ziva under a heat lamp.  Sam was holding her under, sitting on the bed, under the lamp.  Then they came in to take her blood! UUHHGG… it was horrible! She was a bit dehydrated, and so when three nurses were holding her down and trying to get the needle into her vein but couldn’t because it was rolling and couldn’t get it in… I wanted to die! The look of terror in Ziva’s eyes was horrible!! and I was standing at her head trying to calm her and she’s looking at me like “what are you letting them do to me!” I was ready to go home right then.  They added a warmed IV to try to help get her temp up… it still didn’t go up much.

At about 2pm after blood work, IV, heat lamp while being held, and chest x-ray the ER dr came back in and said she looked fine, but he was consulting with OHSU/Dornbecker Children’s hospital, an hour north, and it was likely they would want her admitted. He was very ho hum about the whole thing, he said he wouldn’t admit her but just send her home and just keep her warm but we’d see.  Dornbecker’s did say she should be admitted since she wasn’t warming up and her blood count was low… and since babies can turn so fast, we’d have to go by ambulance!  At least they didn’t feel like we had to have the PANDA (Special pediatric ambulance) transport her.  At this point with the ER dr’s attitude we felt fine, like this was just an extra precaution and all…  Sam drove home to pick up a few things and I went with Ziva in the ambulance.   It only took us 45 minutes   it was nice.  The drivers Steve and Chris were both really nice guys and were even smiles at that time in the morning.  That helped too.

About 4 a.m. we reached Dornbecker’s and got Ziva into her room.  Sam arrived about a half hour later (the doors were all locked for the night and one of the nurses ran down to let him in! so nice there).  They continued to give her warming blankets (I held her on my chest the rest of the night) and check her vitals, but she was still low (they kept thinking their equipment was malfunctioning because she kept dropping to 94.3 and never got over 95.8, if memory serves, that night)

The next morning the “troop” came through.  Since it is a teaching hospital there is a group of dr’s that do the rounds in the morning complete with residents and interns and dr’s and fellows and… like 6 people.  They were all very nice and all so concerned it seemed which surprised me.  But they still couldn’t figure out what would cause her temp to go so low. So, figuring it was most likely a virus they put us on a sort of quarantine.  Any medical staff that came in had to put aprons on (mostly to prevent other patients getting the virus if that wound up what was going on).  They did a bunch of tests for virus’ and said that the “blood people” are going to come in to talk to us about further testing they would like to do and that we’d likely spend another night. Here’s where things got interesting.

About 4pm the doctor comes in and introduces herself “hi, I’m so and so from oncology.” ONCOLOGY!?!?!? I thought this was just “blood people!” She starts explaining that Ziva’s marrow doesn’t seem to be doing what it should and her counts are all off  and they would like to do a bone biopsy to investigate further. I immediately freak out about leukemia as this is what my grandmother died of (it was a rare case…. she got some form that usually children get, and she died quickly).  The most dreadful night of our lives ensued!

Our friend Jenny is a Resident there at the hospital, so that night she came by and brought us pizza (Papa Johns, my favorite!) it was just what I needed to lift the spirits! She assured us that the were just being careful and that teaching hospitals “like to do tests.” But still, as a parent, when something like that is on the table, you want it off as soon as possible!!  (It was about this time that I realized that I was loosing the baby too, so it was doubly difficult).

Ziva’s test wasn’t until 12:30 the next day… needless to say it was a LONG morning. My parents an Vienna came back up for a second visit.  About one in the afternoon they took us off quarantine but no one talked to us as to why… As my dad always says “the absence of information leads to the worst case scenario!” That’s how it felt… it was awful waiting… Ziva’s main doctor came in to chat with us just before six that night, she was trying to wrap up and go home, but she stayed and talked with us for a while and was there when the Oncology dr’s came back in about seven that night!! All was well!!!  We were able to go home!!

Almost three weeks later all seems well. Ziva’s blood test came back and her counts are back up to normal.  She’s running around the house like crazy and smiling again (boy did I  miss her smile!!)  She’s still teething though, so we’re still a bit cranky, but she’s sleeping through the night again and her temps have been back in the normal range so PTL all turned out well!!!  PTL we have medical coverage for her and Vienna!  I’m still exhausted most of the time, but I am getting back to normal.

Hopefully this email is understandable… its taken me three days to write it with all the interruptions I’ve been getting   But that’s the jist of it all!

Sadly the Lord had plans for our baby that did not include him or her coming into this world safely.  We had complications early on, but were able to see a strong heart beat. Usually this means there’s 10% or less chance of miscarrying.  But, someone has to be in that 10% and this time it was ours. Its so hard to understand why these things happen… until you remember that this world is not perfect, and this world is just a temporary home. 

We live in a fallen world, which means, we live with imperfect bodies, and imperfect health. It does not mean however that our Lord does not love us or does not care for us or that He is not in control.  As sad as it is for us, who, in 9 short weeks, grew so very excited to meet our little one, we know that baby is now made perfect and has joined the Lord in heaven.  Life is full of loss, and life is full of tragedy. But through it all we hold fast to the truth that the Lord in heaven is in control. That when we have a relationship with him, we know where we are going.  We take heart in knowing that someday we’ll walk the streets in heaven and we’ll meet the little ones we never got to hold here on earth. (And hold tighter to the ones we do get to hold here!)

After a week or more of worrying because I wasn’t puking yet, today I had a nice full day of the pukes. How weird is it that I was looking forward to puking? It’s been a bit nerve wracking this whole not puking thing. I puked from six weeks on with both Vienna and Ziva, so naturally I expected the same from this baby, and when I didn’t start puking (I’m now in my 8th week) I stared to worry something was wrong.

Ziva, my precious little baby, has been so kind as to help as best she can. She’s given me SEVERAL diapers worth puking over! AND she kept me from getting the slightest bit of a nap today. The moment my eyes would close and I’d get that nice floating ahhhhhh feeling… scream! She would wake up. Apparently the poor little dear is having a traumatic day! That’s ok, between the screams (I’m thinking gas and by the smell of her diapers, other gastro-intestinal-disturbances-of-another-kind) she’s been a charming flirty little girl! When she smiles, you can’t help but smile too! No matter if your head is in the toilet or not!

Vienna’s had her share of frustrations today too. She apparently is not happy with the amount of attention she is getting, because while I was on the phone with the hospital (she has some follow up tests to be done) she BIT ME! She bit my arm so hard that three hours later there were still teeth marks on my arm! Yes, she did get sent to her room! No, she did not go peaceably. Yes, in the end, I won. I am mom, hear me roar. She is now happily playing with her sister. Well, sorta, she’s giving her sister a concert! She has this “high school musical’ microphone thing. I’ve never seen the movie/show whatever it is, but I can sing two of the songs from it!! This thing is like a mini kareoke machine and plays two of their songs for you to sing along with. And yes, at two and a half Vienna pretty much can sing both those songs.. and yes, I want to pull my hair out!!! tee hee hee… just wish I could change the songs, I’m not so sure I like her memorizing them!

I think on days like this the kids act up because I really think it freaks them out when I puke. Vienna especially. Thankfully she missed most of it today but I think once was enough for her. She’ll get used to it ha ha ha…

So, thank you Lord for the confirmation pukes I’ll rest assured now everything is alright You can go ahead and revert me back to how I was feeling last week tee hee hee… Hey, even with today’s pukes, I feel much better than I did with the girls. So, I’m really not complaining, just sharing the joys of my day

I’m off to form the experimental turkey burgers that I have attempted to make for this evening. Humm… maybe I shouldn’t experiment while pregnant. They sounded sooo good last night… now I’m not so sure! Here’s hoping (don’t worry, I have Abby’s Pizza’s phone number memorized!)

Yep, come the beginning of January Bibles4 will become Bibles5!  So far this little “surprise” bundle of joy has not kept me puking day and night like the girls did. Perhaps a boy? We’re just praying all is well and that the baby stays safe and healthy.  So far exhaustion has been the number one symptom, but we’re still in the first trimester so this is to be expected. It seems we’re expecting around January 9th, which for us usually means a week later! ha ha ha… so no extra tax deduction for this year ha ha ha… but that’s ok with us.

I’ve been quite delinquent at blogging.  We’ve had a bit of a crazy life this last three months or so with just adjusting to combined household living.  There’s not been a lot of exciting news other than the baby news I just gave.  So my creative juices have not been flowing so well for the blog.  Sam’s done some revamping to make it look more “me” but we still need to get photo sharing back up here too, cause I don’t see that option anymore   The other thing is the enrollment into FaceCrack, I mean, CrackBook, I mean Facebook! MAN talk about sucking up all my time!! It’s a bit addicting keeping up with everyone who’s on there! It’s been fun though.

I’m in the midst too of helping plan my 20th Class Reunion.  I can not believe I am that old!!!!! Goodness Grief!!!  It has been nice though already catching up with some of my classmates at planning meetings. Its amazing to see how different all of our lives have turned out!

I’ve been enjoying taking part in the church Ensemble. Our music pastor has been trying to do a choir/ensemble once a month at church and it’s been great fun for me to be a part of it. I sooooo enjoy corporate worship and there is nothing better than actually singing with people who can sing (thankfully they tolerate my amateur vocal chords!) Easter was incredible! It’s my favorite holiday to reflect on all that the Lord does for us and how He seeks relationship with us, even though we don’t always give Him the time that is due him. It saddens me to see people going through the motions in their faith. Easter and Christmas always make me a bit sad as it is sometimes the only two days out of the year that some people come to church and seek the Lord. They see it as a requirement or a “good thing to do” instead of the joy that it is to know we are free from sin, we are forgiven and we are able to relate with the Lord personally on a daily basis, without pomp and circumstance, without intercession and ritual, without performance or works… just as we are, with needs and all. This Easter was especially poignant for me as we think about time after life on earth. Sam’s cousin Jeremy is very ill. He has an aggressive form of brain cancer, and while we still pray and believe the Lord could give us a miracle at any moment, it of course has us thinking about the end of this life. It’s exciting and scary to think about!!! Even as believers, when we know that we will go to heaven and be in the presence of the Lord and other loved ones who have believed and gone on before us… I guess it makes you think, Do I Measure Up? Will I make it? Scripture is clear that the “road is narrow” and that not everyone who is a “good person” makes it. It’s hard to understand that… thankfully the Lord is a perfect judge, who can judge each of us as individuals, on our hearts, and our faith that He knows even better than we do. I’m so very thankful that He came to earth and died on the Cross to give us forgiveness of ANY sin… that’s sooo amazing to me ANY sin is able to be forgiven, no matter how heinous! Even the Charles Manson’s and Ted Bundies of this world could be forgiven if they just accept the gift of forgiveness and allow the Lord to rule their lives! Not all choose it unfortunately, but it is available to all!!! We just need to be humble and give up our pride enough to say that we are not perfect and we do not always want what’s best for us, and allow ourselves to be guided by what scripture says and what we feel the Lord would do… We are such a selfish people that we can’t give up control of our lives to the “Parent” who really has what’s best for us in mind! Anyway… I’ve got a little sidetracked from my “update”.

We had our first week long vacation ever in May. We once again retuned to the Oregon coast and stayed in our favorite vacation rental. It was a glorious week… but I’ll blog about that next post J

At present we continue to live together with my parents. Seems like things are turning around for them. The real estate market in our area seems to be picking up again and now that they have renters in both of their spaces it seems like they will be able to keep their heads above water. The Lord continues to provide for them with clients and other such things. It’s good to see the relief, but we’re still praying hard as it’s still not easy.

So, that’s really all that’s been going on with us since our last post. Now that I’ve caught up again I’m hoping to keep with it (and off of FaceCrack so much!)

Happy Memorial Day to you all!

I know it’s really on the late side for this, but here’s some election info I came across today and really liked.

Voter guides: Value Voters Guides

Also: