Day 6 and I'm STILL HERE...

Ok--I know that I am an active person, and I probably do a lot more running around and "going" than the average person, but I really think the fact that I have not left my house since Friday (6 days!!!) is overkill! I don't think I have stayed home all day long this many days in a row since, well, ever!!!! Yesterday, I did get to walk all the way out the driveway to get the mail, but even this had to be done with the assistance of my 8 year old son who insisted on walking by me the entire way and then checking the mailbox first to make sure there wasn't anything too heavy for me to carry. Luckily, there wasn't, so I did get the awesome independent feeling of carrying in two envelopes and the weekly mailer--woohoo! On Sunday evening, I looked at my husband and said, "Surely, it has been 3 weeks!" "3 days" was his response--oh my. I know I am driving my babysitters (i.e. my sister, Cassie, and my mom) crazy. They are getting to take the kids to their activities and all I have done is become really familiar with old episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond", and "Roseanne". Even the kids are becoming bored--with the very first summer utterings of "There's nothing to do" and "I'm so bored".
As for my physical recovery, it seems to be going well. Mom removed the pain pump on Monday afternoon and that freed up two tubes and a huge bag that hung over my shoulder everywhere I went. I still have two drains hanging out of either hip. I am hoping the doctor will remove at least one of them on Friday when I go in for my first post-op visit. Which also means I GET TO LEAVE THE HOUSE!!!! The second one will probably have to stay in for at least another week. It is very uncomfortable and makes simple things like getting a shower, much more difficult. The incision continues to look like something out of "Silence of the Lambs". It runs from the top of one hipbone, clear down over my old c-section scar, and then back up to the other hipbone. I'm not usually very squeemish about things like that (5 c-sections, and a gall bladder surgery tend to do that to you), but when I take all the dressings off the incision, it does give me chills. I just tell myself that the giant "W" the incision forms stands for "WINNER!" which is exactly the opposite of how I feel right now. I'm sure that I will feel more like myself each day and my stamina will slowly build back up. It is just hard to realize that a week ago today, I ran 2 miles, lifted weights, took the kids to a picnic at the park, and all while I was on a clear liquid diet for the day. I am hoping that removing my "energy" wasn't part of the surgery.

home and recovering

I made it through surgery OK and am home and recovering. I am surprised at how painful it really is. In some ways, it is easier than my c-sections, but in other ways, it is more difficult. I can't walk upright at all, but I am getting to sleep through the night because I am not nursing a newborn. I just want to fastforward through the next week, until I am feeling better and can do more. The kids are glad I am home and keep coming over and hugging me and telling me that they missed me while I was gone. The surgery took about 4 hours, but the doctors say everything went well, so hopefully all of the hernia issues will be resolved. I appreciate all of the prayers and positive thoughts. Drew brought me back to reality when he said he really wanted to come sit in the waiting room while I was in surgery and play the game "Operation". He thought it would be ironic! LOL!

Preparations...

...for surgery are never fun. I am thinking this time, the recovery might be long and drawn out! I found out on Friday that my hernia needs to be repaired and can't wait longer because it is getting larger. Part of me is relieved to finally get it taken care of because it can be painful at times and make is very hard for me to fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. But, a big part of me is dreading ruining what's left of my summer and my ability to run, play, and just generally interact with the kids. I worry about them missing out on things all the time (I think that is working-parent guilt), but in the Summer, I try to make up for it. The doctor told Shawn to expect me to be back in surgery for at least 4 hours! I wouldn't trade him---I would hate to sit in a waiting room and wait that long. I am told the recovery will be much like a c-section, but probably a little harder since I will come home with drains and unable to stand up straight. I am probably being overly positive, but I am thinking I should be able to coach cheerleading on Monday, and get right back into getting the kids to their activities. We'll see. At least after this surgery, I won't be getting up for middle-of-the-night feedings and have the hormonal roller-coaster of just giving birth! Prayers are appreciated--mainly for the kids because I know this is hard for them!

4th of July

It has always seemed to me like the 4th of July marked the half-way point of Summer. This year, that is a very depressing thought to me. I feel like I am finally getting to spend some time with my kids and see how their personalities are growing and changing as they do. For instance, when we were in the car the other day, and Shawn got angry with Dawsyn for being mouthy, he started on this tirade, which was not only very uncharacteristic for my normally easy-going, ignore as much as you can, choose your battles, kind of husband, but left those of us in the car with our mouths hanging open and our eyes bulging. He ended his admonishment of her with, "I don't know who you think you are!" There was a moment of silence when everyone in the car was afraid to breathe. Everyone, that is, except Dax. Who very loudly, very plainly said, "Uh, Dad?--It's Dawsyn", then rolled his eyes, clearly thinking he was the only sane person in the car. At this point, I looked to Shawn to see his reaction, thinking how most fathers, mine and his included, would have only had their anger exasperated by the comment. I was reminded of why I love my husband as I saw him turn his head away from the rest of us to try to hide the fact that he was shaking with laughter at Daxton's comment. He didn't hide it very well, because pretty soon, the entire van was laughing. Leave it to a 3 year old to put everything in perspective.
My cousin, Robert and his wife, Jamie and their 3 boys came to spend a few days. They drove in from Oklahoma where Robert is in the Navy--I know--not sure what the Navy is doing in Oklahoma, but knowing our government, I have NO DOUBT that it is VERY good use of our tax money! My cousin, Lacey, Robert's sister, came as well. It was a wonderful visit and we had a great time. There were 8 kids under the age of 8 running around the house and I was once again reminded of the Saint that my Grandma Carol was. She had 8 kids under the age of 9 every day and never had much help. It was great though--lots of laughter, a ton of fighting, and at the end of the day, all we needed was a few giant greek letters to hang over the front door and we would give any frat house on campus a run for it's money. Oh--we didn't have the alcohol or other unmentionables, but we did have 8 kids passed out in various place around the kitchen and living room. One night, as the adults stayed up talking, we decided to just let the kids wear themselves out. Around midnight, there was a child asleep on the stairs into our sunken living room, one asleep at the kitchen table, one half asleep in the library playing a game on the computer, and 5 asleep on various couches and blankets around the living room--and people say we aren't wild and crazy!
We ended this week with a yard sale at our church. We "rented" two tables and set up stuff to get rid of. I didn't really care about making money, I just wanted to get rid of stuff. The week before the sale, I gave each of the kids a trash bag and said I wanted it full of stuff they didn't want or need anymore. I only gave them two rules: It had to be theirs, and they had to be SURE they didn't want it! After two hours, I was presented with two garbage bags. The boys decided to share a bag because there wasn't that much they wanted to get rid of. This bag was full of lego pieces, broken parts, McDonald's toys, paper, pencils, etc. While there was nothing yard-sale worthy, it did make a nice addition to the trash pile by the road! The next bag was totally awesome--it was from Dawsyn. It was a large trash bag containing exactly one Barbie doll, which consequently belonged to Delaney. Nice! Not only did she break the rule, I'm not quite sure what she did with her two hours except find toys she had forgotten about that she couldn't part with because as she said, "they were very special to her!" So, we lugged all the stuff Mommy had gone through, spent two days sitting in the church basement, and made $60. The bad part of community yard sales is we always come home with more junk that we don't need, because other people feel the need to "give" my kids stuff! YAY! Oh well, maybe I'll just price it for next year to get ahead of the game!