Posts
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Geography Lesson
Today I mentioned something about Los Angeles to our 6-year-old, Miss R. She informed me, "Speaking of Los Angeles, we haven't seen Jacqueline's family in a while and we really need to get together with them soon!" I agreed that yes, we did need to get together, but wanted to know what that had to do with LA. She replied, "You know, Jacqueline's mommy, Miss Angela, like Los Angeles!"
Dollar Doll Clothes
Is there a little girl in your life (niece, friend's daughter, student) who loves American Girl size (18 inch) dolls and you want to make really happy? This is an adorable and very inexpensive idea that is sure to delight!
Dollar Doll Clothes from Underware! You have to take a moment and check out this amazing, frugal and adorable idea!!!
More info and links about doll resources can be found on my Teens/Tween blog.
Dollar Doll Clothes from Underware! You have to take a moment and check out this amazing, frugal and adorable idea!!!
More info and links about doll resources can be found on my Teens/Tween blog.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Jesus Clause?
We have always been quite upfront with our kids, trying to tell them the truth in all areas and honestly answer any questions they have as clearly as we can, on topics ranging from sex to Santa Clause and everything in between. But this year Little J, at not quite 4, is blurring the lines between fiction and reality. While he will tell you that Jesus is real and Santa is just pretend, he doesn't fully "get it" yet.
Add to that a 6-year-old sister's passionate efforts to evangalize him by force (we keep explaining to her that we can't make him trust Jesus and that if God is calling his heart, he will respond in his own right timing, but she is desperate to see him make this choice), and here's the prayer we heard from him this week. "Dear Jesus. Please take me off the naughty list..."
It was a precious moment, but I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud!
Add to that a 6-year-old sister's passionate efforts to evangalize him by force (we keep explaining to her that we can't make him trust Jesus and that if God is calling his heart, he will respond in his own right timing, but she is desperate to see him make this choice), and here's the prayer we heard from him this week. "Dear Jesus. Please take me off the naughty list..."
It was a precious moment, but I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud!
Win a Kindle
I just discovered The Great Kindle Giveaway and am excited for a chance to win one of these great tools. He's giving away up to 15 free Kindles (the more business he earns through his free promotion, but more Kindles he'll end up giving away) and I would love it if I won one of them and so did you! To enter, just sign up for his email list (that's easy!) and if you want more entries, he gives you several more ways to earn them (posting a quick blog entry like this one for example). Won't you join me in giving it a try?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Joy & IVIG 18
I just posted about Joy over at InnerBeautyGirlz. Would love to have you swing by and read a bit more about our infertility joureny, a personal Christmas tradition, a give-away drawing, and a new shade of Affordable Mineral Makeup™. :)
IVIG #18 started off a little rough, but about 4 hours in I took an amazing turn and actually felt pretty decent for the end of the infusion and ever since! I am still incredibly tired, but I did not come home and crash and actually functioned reasonably well all day yesterday even after getting up with a sick child in the night and doing lots of extra loads of laundry thanks to her tummy bug. I still don't feel "good" but surprisingly "better" than my normal post-infusion days. Six more weeks to go.
I convinced the nurse to leave off the PICC line security tape "butterfly" this week. I'm at pretty high risk for loosing my PICC line without it, BUT I have very few new hives from this last dressing change and the old hives are starting to heal dramatically! I did try a vitamin supplement again last night (that I had started shortly before the hives first began, but stopped about a week ago in case there was any connection) and the existing hives did flair up noticably within half an hour of taking those, so I think I will continue avoiding them until we are fully finished with the IG. But the biggest culprit really does seem to be that PICC line butterfly and both the immediate and ongoing improvement in my pain and frantic itching levels without using it at the last banddage change is DRAMATIC improvement!
IVIG #18 started off a little rough, but about 4 hours in I took an amazing turn and actually felt pretty decent for the end of the infusion and ever since! I am still incredibly tired, but I did not come home and crash and actually functioned reasonably well all day yesterday even after getting up with a sick child in the night and doing lots of extra loads of laundry thanks to her tummy bug. I still don't feel "good" but surprisingly "better" than my normal post-infusion days. Six more weeks to go.
I convinced the nurse to leave off the PICC line security tape "butterfly" this week. I'm at pretty high risk for loosing my PICC line without it, BUT I have very few new hives from this last dressing change and the old hives are starting to heal dramatically! I did try a vitamin supplement again last night (that I had started shortly before the hives first began, but stopped about a week ago in case there was any connection) and the existing hives did flair up noticably within half an hour of taking those, so I think I will continue avoiding them until we are fully finished with the IG. But the biggest culprit really does seem to be that PICC line butterfly and both the immediate and ongoing improvement in my pain and frantic itching levels without using it at the last banddage change is DRAMATIC improvement!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Insomnia Ramblings
Again...
I've been doing better, overall, with sleep lately. But tonight I woke up a little after 2, hives got stirred up again (been battling deep, raw, oozy, nasty ones for about 3 weeks, initially triggered by my PICC line dressing), took more Benadryl. Here I am, more than an hour later, desperately wanting to be back to sleep, but finally giving up and climbing out of bed for a few minutes to see if staring at a computer screen might induce the sleep-bringing numbing of my mind. My legs are alternatively numb and prickling with pain.
Today's infusion day again. They are pretty much blurring together now, but I think I have just six left now, either including today or at least after today. Not going to bother checking the calendar at the moment. We seem to have a pretty good system going - pretreat with Benadryl 50, half a bag of normal saline to make sure I'm well hydrated, the one actual bed in the infusion center so I don't fatigue myself from the effort of having to stay semi-upright in a recliner, turn on the oxygen tank, start the IVIG at an agonizingly slow rate of 5, then monitor for the next 4-6 hours to see how I do. When my chest starts getting tight or my throat starts to burn, the second dose of Benadryl is called for and the oxygen gets turned up a bit higher.
We coax the IG drip up 2-3 points at a time, hoping to get to an infusion rate of somewhere between 12-18 before the day is over. The higher we can go, the sooner I can go home - but it's a delicate ballance, because if we go to fast, I face harder reactions as the benadryl wears off, like the day we nearly called 911 when I got home and couldn't breath. Somewhere along the line, we change my dressing and pray that the domino effect of fresh hive break outs won't drive me too far over the edge. Once the beeper tells us that I'm finished for another week, the second half of my saline bag pumps on, bringing refreshment and the ability to walk out of the infusion room on my own power. (OK, let's be honest here and admit I can never do anything on my "own power," only through God's life-breathing strength, but I think you get the point - I'm thankful to be able to make it to the elevator without a wheelchair by this point.) I come home tired and clawing at my PICC line hives (and other random outbreaks), glug more benadryl, attempt some semblance of dinner with my family, then crawl in bed for the night.
I'm thankful that before all this awaits me for yet another day, that first I will be able to sit at Jesus' feet this morning, be refreshed and challenged by the insights into His Word shared by our pastor, and lay all the burden down through praise and worship. I'm not doing such a great job at daily digging into my Bible on my own through this season, so I'm utterly hungry for "spoon-feeding" from others while I'm too overwhlemed to do much "meat cutting" on my own. Thank you, Lord, for my family including an amazing husbnad, kids, parents and extended family, a lovingly supportive church, and especially for Your Spirit to walk with me each step, through places and experiences I otherwise would go alone.
I've been doing better, overall, with sleep lately. But tonight I woke up a little after 2, hives got stirred up again (been battling deep, raw, oozy, nasty ones for about 3 weeks, initially triggered by my PICC line dressing), took more Benadryl. Here I am, more than an hour later, desperately wanting to be back to sleep, but finally giving up and climbing out of bed for a few minutes to see if staring at a computer screen might induce the sleep-bringing numbing of my mind. My legs are alternatively numb and prickling with pain.
Today's infusion day again. They are pretty much blurring together now, but I think I have just six left now, either including today or at least after today. Not going to bother checking the calendar at the moment. We seem to have a pretty good system going - pretreat with Benadryl 50, half a bag of normal saline to make sure I'm well hydrated, the one actual bed in the infusion center so I don't fatigue myself from the effort of having to stay semi-upright in a recliner, turn on the oxygen tank, start the IVIG at an agonizingly slow rate of 5, then monitor for the next 4-6 hours to see how I do. When my chest starts getting tight or my throat starts to burn, the second dose of Benadryl is called for and the oxygen gets turned up a bit higher.
We coax the IG drip up 2-3 points at a time, hoping to get to an infusion rate of somewhere between 12-18 before the day is over. The higher we can go, the sooner I can go home - but it's a delicate ballance, because if we go to fast, I face harder reactions as the benadryl wears off, like the day we nearly called 911 when I got home and couldn't breath. Somewhere along the line, we change my dressing and pray that the domino effect of fresh hive break outs won't drive me too far over the edge. Once the beeper tells us that I'm finished for another week, the second half of my saline bag pumps on, bringing refreshment and the ability to walk out of the infusion room on my own power. (OK, let's be honest here and admit I can never do anything on my "own power," only through God's life-breathing strength, but I think you get the point - I'm thankful to be able to make it to the elevator without a wheelchair by this point.) I come home tired and clawing at my PICC line hives (and other random outbreaks), glug more benadryl, attempt some semblance of dinner with my family, then crawl in bed for the night.
I'm thankful that before all this awaits me for yet another day, that first I will be able to sit at Jesus' feet this morning, be refreshed and challenged by the insights into His Word shared by our pastor, and lay all the burden down through praise and worship. I'm not doing such a great job at daily digging into my Bible on my own through this season, so I'm utterly hungry for "spoon-feeding" from others while I'm too overwhlemed to do much "meat cutting" on my own. Thank you, Lord, for my family including an amazing husbnad, kids, parents and extended family, a lovingly supportive church, and especially for Your Spirit to walk with me each step, through places and experiences I otherwise would go alone.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Better to Give...But You Might Also Receive!
I love the loving hearts of my miracle kids. They have been saving all year in great anticipation of the gift-giving catalogs coming in the mail at year's end. They just purchased a hive of bees, a dozzen chicks, and a "Jesus Loves Me" lamb for needy kids/families overseas. (Mom did a little gift-matching to get them all the way there, but they hit the goals almost totally on their own!)
Editing to add another story with a lump in my throat! Oldest son (not quite 10) just handed me $100 of his own money saved up over the past couple of years and asked me to write a check on his behalf for Bible translation for those who do not have Scriptures in their own language. I would like to invite you to visit God's Word for the Nations to see what's inspiring our sweet boy!
Want to join in the blessing? Here's where giving may "pay off" for you! Visit Samaritan's Purse (the Christmas Shoebox people) and shop/donate from your computer - couldn't be easier! And after you have opened your purse a bit, head on over to Sarah Mae's Like A Warm Cup of Coffee blog and enter to win a Sondra Roberts purse valued at over $100!
Editing to add another story with a lump in my throat! Oldest son (not quite 10) just handed me $100 of his own money saved up over the past couple of years and asked me to write a check on his behalf for Bible translation for those who do not have Scriptures in their own language. I would like to invite you to visit God's Word for the Nations to see what's inspiring our sweet boy!
Want to join in the blessing? Here's where giving may "pay off" for you! Visit Samaritan's Purse (the Christmas Shoebox people) and shop/donate from your computer - couldn't be easier! And after you have opened your purse a bit, head on over to Sarah Mae's Like A Warm Cup of Coffee blog and enter to win a Sondra Roberts purse valued at over $100!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)