Birthday party and Baby shower

This is a picture from our nephew Sam's 2nd birthday party. Notice the pregnant woman with a giant splint on her leg in the back ground--that's me!! When we got to the party, I sat down in the very comfortable love seat only to realize that it was almost impossible for me to get out of it without help.

We had a busy weekend including the birthday party, and a baby shower given by several of my friends from church. The baby shower was beautiful. It was a tea, and we were very blessed with lots of wonderful baby things. Marc was blessed with a big piece of cake to take home.

Marc has been very busy this weekend too. He hung some new shades, and a new light fixture in the baby's room. He also fixed the door to the baby's room so that it opens and closes more smoothly now, and he cleaned out the garage so the dogs can once again go in there if necessary.

My knee is healing great. Thanks for everyone's prayers!! I can put quite a bit of weight on it and keep it bent more comfortably now. When I'm at home, I've been walking around without my crutches a lot; I just can't use it to go up and down stairs, or bear weight on it when it's bent. The hardest thing is standing up when I sit down, but I think a lot of that is due to the enlarging belly that I have as well. Mom is here helping through the end of the week. I haven't attempted to drive myself yet, so I'm being driven around and pampered a lot by her and Marc.

This week, I am 35 weeks pregnant!! My next OB appointment is Wednesday, and I'll give another update then.

Here are a few pictures from the shower. Notice I didn't wear my splint in my party dress!!

Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am doing well; a little frustrated about relying on everyone else, but overall I am doing well. Mom is so wonderful!! She has driven me all over, and helped me all around the house. We have worked in the baby's room, and I've had some down time to work on my pregnancy scrap book.

Marc has also been great, and he really appreciates my mom's help too.

The swelling in my knee has improved. I can put some weight on my knee without the splint, and I can even take a few steps on it without the crutches. It only hurts if I try to bend it while putting weight on it, or if I try to pivot on it. It feels really strange if I bend it at more than a 90 degree angle too; I guess that's still the swelling in the joint. I have to rest a lot, but I guess part of that is the pregnancy as well as my knee.

My friends, Joy, Mary Rita, and Chris are throwing me a baby shower tea this Sunday for people from church. I'm very excited about that. On Saturday, we are going to a 2nd birthday party for our nephew, Sam (Gino and Amanda's little boy). It should be a fun weekend.

Doctor's appointment--good news

I went to the doctor this afternoon, and I got a favorable report!!
I tore the tendons on the inside of my left knee that hold the knee cap in place. It's good that it happened as a trauma because the liklihood of it happening again once it's healed is low (unless I had another similar trauma). Right now, I'm supposed to take it easy until the swelling and pain go down. Then, I can gradually put more and more weight on it with the immobilizer and crutches and then without the immobilizer and crutches until it feels stable again. He told me to go at my own pace and listen to how stable my knee feels. It may take a few weeks. I will just need to be careful about twisting my knee or pivoting on that leg for awhile.

He gave me some exercises to keep my quadriceps strong. Building up my quadricep muscles will help keep my patella in place in the future. He wants me to really start exercising that leg once the baby is born. I guess that's another good reason to hit the gym as soon as possible.

Please pray that my knee as strong before I go into labor, and that it heals quickly.
Marc will be taking a picture of me with the splint and crutches and posting it soon I'm sure!!

My mom is coming into town today and planning on staying for about 10 days until my knee is stronger. That will help a lot because there are a lot of every day things that I can't do with the crutches.

Wendi

My what a difference a day makes!!

Today has been one of those crazy days!! Last night, I gave Olivia (one of my labs) a prednisone tablet because her allergies were flaring up. I know better than to do that at night because it makes her have to go to the bathroom, but I did it anyway. Of course we woke up to a puddle on the floor in front of the back door. So, I was cleaning everything this morning including the large dog bed that we have in our den. The dog bed is really big so I stuffed it into the washer; I'd done it before and it was fine.

While the washer was going I had my ipod on, so I didn't hear that it was having any problems. Our washer and dryer are in our garage. I vacuumed and mopped, and then went out to check the washer. The washer hose had come loose, and water was all over the garage floor. I went to pull the dog bed out of the washing machine, and I had to pull pretty hard. I already had the dryer door open behind me. Somehow, when I pulled I lost my balance on the wet cement and fell backwards. I guess I fell at a weird angle, and my left knee cap popped out of place and then back in place. ( A traumatic lateral patella luxation is what we call it in vet med). I continued to fall backwards and landed on my right hip on the concrete. It all happened very quickly.

Marc was at church helping with the kids, so I was home by myself laying on the floor of the garage with my head almost under my car crying and wondering how in the world I would make it to my cell phone in our kitchen. (Do you feel sorry for me yet?) I pulled myself together, somehow stood up on my good leg and hopped into the house. Then, my phone started to ring. I didn't make it in time to grab the home phone, but I did grab my cell when it rang next. It was my mom!!!

Perfect timing for mom to call so I could cry and tell her what happened and she could tell me what to do!! Marc came home from church and took me to the emergency room. Of course things like this happen on the weekends. The ER sent me to the labor and delivery department where they hooked me up to a monitor and did a non stress test. Everything looked great with the baby which was the main thing I was worried about.

Then, I went back to the ER to have my knee checked. They did x-rays and nothing was broken. I've sprained ligaments in my left knee, and I can't put any weight on it right now. They put it in an immobilizing bandage and gave me crutches. I have to make an appointment with an orthopedist this week--just to make sure I didn't tear my ACL or something crazy like that. I'm not sure how long I have to wear the splint or keep weight off of my leg. Right now, I have to ice it, keep it elevated, and stay off of it as much as possible. You can imagine the sight of an 8 month pregnant woman on crutches!! My arm muscles and my right leg are going to be really strong when all of this is over.

Marc is taking such great care of me. He is at the grocery store right now, and he has made the sofa in the den into a hospital bed for me. We live in a 2 story house, so we are going to have to get into a routine for all of this. The animals were terrified of my splint and the crutches when I first came home.

I will let you guys know what the orthopedist says. Hopefully, I will not be on the crutches for very long. Please send me an email if you have time; I'll have a lot of down time over the next couple of weeks I'm sure.

Wendi*/

September 13, 2008

Today I had a wonderful baby shower given by my coworkers. It was actually a double baby shower for myself and one of our internists, Dr. Jessica. Dr. Jessica is due 3 days before me. Our vet clinic is definitely a fertility hotspot. At this very moment there are 4 women pregnant who work there. That is pretty typical for us.

The baby shower was awesome. I'm posting some pictures.

Notice the really awesome cake that Dr. Laura made. She is so talented, and she is an ER doctor with me. The head board, foot board, rails, baby bottle and pillow are all rice crispy treats covered in icing. The cake itself is white with a lemon filling and a very cool "bed spread" icing. It was so cool.

One of our other ER doctors, Donna made us each a diaper cake and crocheted a blanket for each of us. I work with such multitalented women!! We played a lot of games which were fun because we all know each other so well. They also decorated onesies with fabric paint for us. I am including pictures of all the fun.

Wendi

Beach pictures

Here are some pictues from our beach trip in August. The picture on the right has Kelli's boyfriend Ben in it for those of you who haven't met him yet. He's a great guy!!

Wendi

Sorry it's been so long since I've written an update. Time has just flown by in the past week as our lives have settled back into a routine.

We got back in town last Thursday evening, and we did have power when we arrived!! I almost cried when I hit the garage door opener, and it worked that night when we drove into the driveway. Everyone was happy to be home. We worked hard that night getting our patio furniture, etc. out of the den so we could actually live in it. Amazingly, our cable was working too.

Marc went back to work last Friday and I worked a shift last Saturday. By the time we were back in town, a lot of the restaurants were open limited hours a day at least, with minimal menus. The only things that were noticeably different were all the trees / debris in the roads, and some power lines obviously down. The grocery stores were only open for limited hours each day, and only had limited supplies. We went to Wal Mart on Sunday, and it was weird. Only one set of doors were open, and there wasn't very much produce, bread, meat, or dairy. You kind of had to get whatever brand they had of things.

I did have a doctor's appointment this week. Everything is good, and the baby's head is down. Beginning next appointment, I will go weekly. I can't believe I'm 33 weeks!! It seems like time is going fast now. Because of my diet change, I had actually lost a couple of pounds since my last appointment. I am pretty sure I gained it all back yesterday though, because I was so hungry all day!! I guess the baby was growing, because I was hungry all day and very tired. Marc and I went to our first child birth class at the hospital on Tuesday evening. Marc is really stepping out of his comfort zone, and he is doing a great job.

My work is throwing a double baby shower for me and for another doctor who's pregnant and due 3 days ahead of me. That shower is scheduled for Saturday. It will be lots of fun, and I do plan on eating some cake. One of our ER doctors has gotten really great at cake decorating, and she is making a really elaborate cake. I will post some pictures from that soon.

Wendi

Our Plans

Marc and I will be travelling back to Covington on Thursday. Please pray that our travel is smooth and doesn't take very long! We will have the animals with us, and the quicker the trip the better. From what we can tell, travel down I-59 through Mississippi hasn't been too backed up. We are glad we're not going down I-55 which seems to be very backed up!!

As of now, we don't seem to have power at our house, but we have been told that most homes should have power in our Parish by Friday night. We have several friends that do have power at their house, so we know have a place to stay if we get down there and don't have power. We've been told that our house did not sustain any damage!!

The vet clinic did have a pine tree fall on part of it, and our surgery suite took in some water. The damage seems to be minor, and the clinic now has power and has been seeing emergencies all day. This is great news for all of our employees that need or want to work!! I hope to get back to the clinic on Friday to see how things are going, and to work some shifts myself. It's easy to get stir crazy when you're off your routine.

Marc has been working from Huntsville and Birmingham all week. His office building did not sustain any damage from the storm, and he will be back in his office in downtown New Orleans on Friday. That is also great news!!

We have heard that some grocery stores and pharmacies in our area are opening back up, and that schools will be starting back on Monday. People are coming back quick this time. We went to Wal Mart tonight and stocked up on gallons of water, ice, and a few perishables (we've heard that dairy and meat aren't available right now). We will also need to fuel up somewhere in Mississippi on our way down in case we run into fuel shortages.

Marc's family that stayed in Mississippi now have power, and Mr. Frank and Angela are staying there until they get power back to their house in Chalmette. It is so great that their houses are alright as well!!

We are thankful to God to have all been very blessed and kept safe through everything. We are thankful to my family for allowing all of us (all 7.75) to stay in Huntsville for the past 5 days. We are excited to get back, and to get going with "normal" life again. I'm not sure how much internet availability we'll have when we get back (it depends on our cable). I will post another blog when we can.

Thanks for your prayers,
Marc and Wendi

Gustav

Marc and I left Covington on Saturday afternoon and headed North to Huntsville. We left on Saturday to avoid the contraflow traffic, and after hearing reports from friends we're glad we left when we did. We have our 3 dogs and 2 cats at mom and dad's house. Everyone seems to be settling in okay. Mainly I've been glued to the television and the internet today to get updates on our Parish. We live in St. Tammany Parish which is across Lake Pontchatrain from New Orleans. So far I know we have lost power (no big suprise there), but that's about all I know about our specific neighborhood. It looks like we're getting bands of tropical storm strength winds, and rain as well as threats of tornados.

Marc went to Birmingham for the day where his company has an office. He is in charge of payroll for everyone in his company which is a large environmental clean up company and has branches in about 5 states. Mondays are payroll days--holidays or not and hurricanes or not, so he's trying to get everyone paid. Some of the other accounting department employees are working out of their Jackson, MS office, so he is trying to coordinate with them. He says it's going to be a long day.

We have several employees that stayed in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parishes that I hope to get some updates from in the next 24 hours, but power is out across most of the region and cell phone service is bad. We are having some trouble making phone calls to other evacuees; I really don't understand how all of that cell coverage works, but we can send text messages.

Marc's dad and sister are in Carriere, MS where Marc's brother Gino and his family just moved. We hope to hear from them sometime soon as well.

I will send another message out soon to keep everyone posted on our whereabouts. I know we'll try to head back as soon as it's safe and we have power.

Wendi