Adventures with Heather

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A little Scare, A Little Squirmy kid! 11-24-09

I had a doctor appointment today! It was a mixture of emotions let me tell you what!!

I was REALLY quiet (and a little moody *sorry Brett*) in the car on the way up to the appointment. I was praying and thinking and contemplating a lot of things. It hasn't been an easy road and I was just hoping that I would hear the heart beat of our baby and that everything would be okay.

We got there (my mom came too!) and I was still feeling quiet. Doctor Parker came in the room and commented on my lovely designer medical bag (hehe) and it made me laugh and loosen up a bit. I asked him some questions and he was REALLY helpful!

Then it came to see if there was a heart beat and I started to sweat. He was searching for a heart beat for what seemed like FOREVER. I don't know how long it really was but it seemed like a long time. Everyone was so quiet and I was sweating and holding back tears. He pulled me up and said "I think I heard the heart beat a couple times, but lets do a quick ultra sound just to make sure." With a deer in the headlights kind of look on my face, we proceeded to the ultra sound room. Brett and mom at the perfect moment told me "everything is going to be okay, don't worry"

Tears in my eyes, Dr. Parker did the Ultra sound and I didn't see anything at first, and the the most spectacular thing happened! We saw the shape of a little baby "dancing" and swimming and squirming all around! I started to laugh/cry when I saw it! (I wish I had a video! It was amazing!) Dr. Parker said, "Welp, looks like the heart beat is just fine! Your baby is moving around like crazy!" I laughed again and thanked God. PHEW.

Me and my mom cried and laughed in the car and i felt so much relief that everything was okay! Seeing that baby today, makes everything I've been through SO worth it! :)

Oh ya! I am 10 weeks pregnant! My next appointment is in 2 weeks! yay! :)

Monday, November 16, 2009

11-16-09 Fighting for Love-Life with an IV

Its been a few days since I've written any updates so I thought I would let you know how things are going now that I have an IV giving me meds. And let me tell you... It came in perfect timing.

I had a REALLY bad night about 3 or 4 nights ago (I was still on Reglan) I lost 3 pounds in one day, I was super dehydrated and my Ketones were 2nd to highest on the scale. (Ketones tell you if your body is eating off of its "Reserves"/fats or not) That was WITH the IV med pump! Can you imagine how much worse it could have been without it? (blah! scary thought) We called the on call nurse several times that night.

The nurses at Alere (The at home care providers) have been ANGELS. Every single lady has gone above and beyond to help me and I am just SO grateful for them!! When this gets a little better I am going to send them a BIG FAT thank you note because of all they have done/helped/supported me! Thank you Jesus for such amazing people.

*It is really funny how my family gets all intense about changing the IV syringe and IV! I must say I was nervous at first, but we are naturals now. :) You have to change the injection site every 2 days ON YOUR OWN (yeah freaky right?!) and last time I had Brett poke me and this past time my dad did it and we both got soo red and started swetting! It was so funny! Such adventures.. I can't wait to share it with my kid one day!

The next day we made the decision to try to switch meds since Reglan wasn't doin' the trick.. SO we switched to Zofran. I went to sleep with Zofran in my system and I didn't wake up ONCE in the night! It was a miracle!! Reglan made me restless and jittery so I was hardly sleeping, so to be able to sleep was amazing. It is still kind of tricky sleeping with an IV in your leg, but I am getting better at it!

I am feeling WAY more optimistic. At one point I wasn't sure if I could make it.. But I feel like this new medicine is really giving me some hope. I still feel so sick, but at least now it is bearable. P.s. today I weighed 123!! I was down to 118 so it is a BIG deal for me to be putting weight back on. Horaay!

I've been thinking about my little one a lot more.. (I didn't feel well enough to even THINK about being pregnant before) I feel like this kid has a great purpose! I mean how could they not? :) I've been fighting for this kid from the beginning and I just can't wait to see what God does with this little one's life.

The song "Why does love always feel like a Battlefield" keeps running through my head.. Not that it has anything to do with my situation, but I was just thinking about how I've been FIGHTING and BATTLING for this kid. I've been almost to the end of myself and LOVE has kept me in this battle. I can't explain it.. It runs so deep, even so early. I will fight for this Child! Thanks for fighting along side of me. You have been a light in a DARK time. :)


LOVE!

Heather

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

11-10-09 a tough but necessary decision

Me and Brett had to make a tough but necessary decision yesterday... To receive at home care through IV's to give me medicine (the meds I've been taking just don't work) and fluids.

Dr. Parker HIGHLY suggested the home care to us last week when I went to the hospital, but we were both nervous/skeptical because of the financial costs. Brett finally talked to the financial peeps and then talked to a nurse, and what they offer sounds REALLY good.

Not only will they be giving me medicine and fluids through an IV, they will be consulting me on the foods and calories I should be eating to get me back on track, taking my weight, taking urine samples and other things to make sure I am doing well.

When I heard all of this I cried out of relief. Not the response I was expecting either, but its honestly been misery. I need some sort of relief

They are coming today and I wish they could have come sooner. Last night was ROUGH threw up before bed, and woke up (and still up) at 4 am heaving, and retching for 10 minutes. Exhausted, I am looking forward to meeting the nurse today.

PRAY FOR ME!

Matthew 5
3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
&
6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat. (AMEN!)

Friday, November 6, 2009

Nov 6- Hardest Days yet..

**Faint at heart beware of reading*
Yesterday was the hardest day yet... It began with violently throwing up and ended worse.

I woke up yesterday morning and started getting ready for my doc appointment at 8:45am and somewhere in between putting moose in my hair and washing my hands I started throwing up (mostly those painful dry heaves where nothing comes out but you can't stop). Shaking.. I continued getting ready, rolls of tears coming down my face.

We went to the doc and got to meet DR. Parker! I'd only been talking to his FANTASTIC nurse Kathleen through all of my troubles, but it was nice to meet him in person. He was soo nice. He asked me a bunch of questions about how I was feeling (I was holding tight to my pink puke bucket while we talked! haha) and he asked if the Zofran was working to which I replied "Not at all, I threw up before I got here actually." He told me that he wanted to do some blood tests to see if there were any issues with my thyroid or anything like that. He also said he wanted to send me to St. Ann's right away to get some IV fluids.

Me and Brett headed to St. Ann's at 10am and Mary Beth a sweet, sweet nurse hooked me up to an IV, with a little bit of trouble finding my veins. OUCH. It was a long experience but quite pleasant to my surprise because I had some really nice people looking after me! They also gave me some Zofran through the IV and it helped soo much! I didn't feel sick for the first time in a long time. But after a while it started to wear off so they gave me phenergan. When they gave me Phenergan, I got extremely tired REALLY fast. I could hardly walk out of their and almost fainted on Brett! It was kind of comical..

I got home and slept for a good 3 hours. When i woke up I realized I hadn't eaten all day, so Brett make us some Breakfast/Dinner. I ate it and felt decent. My stomach was kind of turning though with some cramping, but I just figured things were just moving around. I ate some raspberries and sunflower seeds, and shortly after that I ran to the bathroom, stomach wrenching and I went to the bathroom (#2) for the first time in I don't know how long. I felt accomplished, until I felt like throwing up.. I threw up all my dinner and sat there praying in between vomiting "God give me strength!..... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!..... You are my refuge....." Doing this gave me a strange amount of peace in my pain. I continued to do this 6 more times minus the puking, but the pain was horrible. I got a small glimpse of what it might feel like to be a chemo patient. Weak as a rag I went back out to lay on the couch and shortly after go to bed. I felt queasy when i went to bed, but I tried not to think about it..

I woke up at 9am to a phone call from my nurse Kathleen. She asked who I felt yesterday and I told her about my ordeal. She said I am soo sorry and said she would tell Dr. Parker. I got a phone call not too much longer later from her again and she said she talked to Dr. Parker and she told me they want to do some at home medicine treatments through an IV, since it seemed to help at the Hospital. I just spoke with them and they are going to try Reglan this time. I am scared, but kind of glad they are doing it. I just can't keep the pills down.. I can't eat or drink much either.

Pray for me in this time. I feel like I am so weak that my body can't take much more. I just want to be healthy not only for me but for my baby. I feel so helpless. I am praying for protection of my little one.

Nov 1st- Where I am now

What a crazy couple of weeks!! I have been on a roller coaster of emotions.. I have felt the high of finding out we were pregnant, and felt the low of "all day sickness". It hasn't been easy, but anything worth doing never really is!

I started getting sick the day I went to the doctor for my first appointment. I was happy that day, feeling invincible yet again, thinking "I can handle this, no big deal.." I thought it was bad then, but I had NO idea how much worse it was going to get! I spent most of my time on the couch, unable to move or else the horrible inevitability would happen, throwing up all the precious food in my belly, or worse, dry heaving.

Brett was gone at Cloud 9 at the beginning of the worst of it. (It figures! He is almost always gone when I need him!) I didn't have my phone, my parents were on vacation.. I felt completely alone and miserable. I sent a message to my sister on Facebook to reach out to someone. She got back to me and told me she called my AMAZING Grandma Waugh to come get me and take care of me while Brett was gone.

what a God send Grandma Waugh was.. She kept me eating small really good meals, made me tea, and we watched Little Women, Sense and Sensibility and a bunch of LifeTime movies. :) She kept my spirits up for sure!

I went from Grandma's to my parent's house when they got home from vacation. Amy and Chole were up for a week from Nashville, and it was really nice to see them! Chloe is getting so big and is sitting up now! How time flies..

Amy was really awesome taking care of me while mom and dad were at work and she TOTALLY understood because she was horribly sick in her first trimester. It was just really good to be around family in that time because you can just be yourself. Good, bad or ugly. My mom was right there for me when I was throwing up and getting me whatever I needed. Dad made a special trip to McDonalds when I said I wanted chicken nuggets. :) My family is amazing.. I don't know if you can tell that by now!

Needless to say Brett is gone all this weekend as well, but it is okay, because my mom is still taking great care of me! I can hardly eat still.. I've lost 5lbs, but I am feeling better emotionally. I am just SO grateful for my family right now. I don't know what I would have done without them!

Keep praying for me.. My 12 week appointment is November 24th and I feel like I can't make it until then at times, but I know I can do it with people like you encouraging me and my family being here for me like they have!

Oct 22- Update

UPDATE OCT 22!:

My nurse called me yesterday again and had me come in for an Ultra Sound today to see if everything was alright. I saw my tiny babe's heart beat! It is really small, but it is there! Praise the Lord!

The only bummer (but a blessing) is that I am really sick! I woke up last night at 4 am REALLY nauseated, and when I was getting ready (putting moose in my hair) I started throwing up.. It was kind of funny actually!

Anyways.. thanks for your prayers! I feel them! :)

Heather

Oct 21-Levels-Pray!

Hello friends!

Sorry for all of these notes, but I just want to keep everyone up to date on what is happening with my prego self. :)

I got a phone call today from a Nurse at Dr. Parker's office letting me know about all of my levels and it looks like my Prego levels are high at 8,973 (yay) BUT my progesterone levels are actually quite low. Progesterone helps thicken the lining of the uterus creating the amniotic sac giving the baby a safe cushion and helps give them nutrients. Also there is a chance of miscarriage if your levels are too low, SO I am REALLY glad they got back to me right away about it.

They are going to prescribe me some progesterone supplements to take at night and that should get me on track! Plus they are going to have me come in for more blood tests in a few weeks before my next appointment so that is really good. I am soo thrilled to have such awesome doctors who actually CARE! It is a blessing. Thank you Jesus!

I know that a lot of women struggle with low progesterone during pregnancy and have been just fine, so I am trying not to worry about it. I know that I am doing all I can and that's all that matters! God is in control. AMEN!

Please pray that Jesus would help me in this time to trust that everything will be okay and that the progesterone supplements will help everything to continually progress. Thanks for all of your support!

Oct 19-1st baby Apt.

Today was my first Baby doctor appointment, and I must be honest with you, I was a little nervous, but really excited!

I met with the Nurse Practioner and she asked me a bunch of questions about the miscarriage and they were very good at making sure they did specific tests to take sure all my levels were good. They told me it was good I am feeling queazy even though it is not very comfortable, because they know that my hormones are working to keep the baby! Last time I didn't feel sick and that was one of the reasons they knew my levels were getting lower.

Looks like I am 6 weeks pregnant and my possible due date is June 15th! in 5 weeks we will go for our first ultrasound appointment and will find out more about how things are going. The nurse said they will probably do more blood testing too just to make sure my blood levels are still good! I am glad I have great doctors looking out for me and I am really hopeful and getting more excited now.

Praise Jesus for how He redeems.

Keep praying for us!

Heather Evans

Oct 11-Bun in the Oven

Hello Dear friends!

I found out some good/scary/awesome news on Friday that I would like to share with you...

I am Pregnant!

I have been feeling weird, missed a period and wanted pizza really bad, so I went to Kroger and Got Pizza and a pregnancy test, and sure enough, two tests being positive, later I am pregnant.

I know what you are thinking.. some of you are thinking "She is sharing this too soon", but I must tell you I have been stewing on when I would tell everyone, and I want to do it now. Let me explain..

When I went through the miscarriage last year I had SOOO much support and I couldn't imagine not telling anyone this time and something bad happening, and going through it alone. NOT that I think it will, but I am being real about it too.

I guess another reason I want to tell you this is so you can pray for me (and for Brett). We have a lot of fear and anxiety. We are reminded of last time and it is really hard to be super happy you know? We need LOT'S of prayer and love in this time.

So it is out...I am nervous, but I am trusting God that He will take care of everything! Be patient with me if I am not "giddy" at first, I just want to be cautious!

Thanks for reading, and for your love and support!

Heather