WARNING! LONG POST

A lot has happened over the last month so instead of trying to back post and write everything on the correct dates I am just going to do a long and detailed one.

After we got back from Nauvoo Felicia and Tom called literally a few days later and asked if we could make it to their wedding if they changed it to Nauvoo in August instead of it being in November and here in Colorado.  I told them that I would be there but probably not the kids or Mike because we had just done the trip and Ruby didn't travel well, not to mention that Mike was out of vacation between our family reunion and his family reunion and that he needed to earn/save time for our baby girl coming in November.  So on August 14th, which was a Tuesday, I flew out to St. Louis, Missouri and rented a car to make the 3 hour drive to Nauvoo in hopes to make Felicia's endowment session. I barely missed it by 5 minutes.  I was sad to not have been there, but I did inititories and then one of the sisters that helped Felicia earlier in the day gave me a personal tour of the Temple and then I met my family in the Celestial room when the session was over.  After the Temple Felicia and I headed back to the Wal-Mart in Keokuk to buy drinks and the like and then met up with our side and Tom's side for pizza dinner at a park. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and Brittany and I played around with ways to do Felicia's hair for the wedding while it seemed like everyone was in our room chatting, which was way fun.

Wednesday, the 15th, was their big day!  Brittany and Julia and I got the remaining things needed for the wedding dinner afterwards while the other girls went and did mani's and pedi's.  Then we all headed over to the Temple for their sealing at 1:00 pm.  It was nice to be in a sealing room with my family again...I just really missed Mike being there with me.  After their ceremony we did pictures and then Mom and I headed over to the Hotel Nauvoo where we set up the tables and decorations for the wedding dinner at 4 pm. After dinner we again headed back to our hotel and visited with each other until about 2:00 in the morning.  The next morning I got up, ate breakfast, said good-bye's and then headed back to the St. Louis airport to catch my flight home.  It was a fun quick trip, but missed Mike and the kids terribly.

Once home we spent the time doing Emily's room in preparation for having it done before school was to start on the 20th of August.  Tuesday August 21st I got a text message in the early morning that Grandpa Pehrson had passed away from Alzheimer's.  We knew it was coming and were glad that it happened fairly quickly.  Emily didn't have school Thursday or Friday because of assessments so we headed out for a quick trip to Utah on Friday afternoon.  We didn't make the viewing Friday night, but enjoyed spending time with Mike's parents before we put kids to bed.  Saturday morning we were at the church at 9:30 so the women could practice singing together and for the family viewing and prayer.  Kristilyn and Mark and their family showed up, which was nice to see them and to visit.  Seeing Grandpa was hard.  I didn't think I would have such a hard time saying good-bye, but I did and I blame it on the pregnancy :).  After the funeral we met at the cemetery where he was laid to rest. Then from there it was a luncheon and then my immediate family went back to change and hang out at Grandpa's and Grandma's.  It didn't really hit me that they were gone until Mom and I got back from Iceberg and I looked over at Daddy sitting in Grandpa's chair and really thought, "Grandpa's not just in the bathroom or in the kitchen.  He isn't going to be sitting in that chair ever again."  Anyway, after their house we headed over to Chad and Ronnie's for a family BBQ and celebration of Grandpa. 

We got back to Mike's parents house about 9:00 and put our 2 older kids to bed fairly quick.  Ruby was the stinker, because she fell asleep on the way to the BBQ,  and we couldn't get her to go to bed until 10:00 pm.  Soon after I started having pain in my lower abdomen. I first thought it was contractions because I thought I was dehydrated but then I thought back to the day and realized I had had enough water and it wasn't that. Plus I knew this pain was constant and contractions are not constant.  Mike woke his Mom when we decided that we were going to go to the ER.  We got to Intermountain Health and were sent straight to the maternity ward because I was almost 30 weeks.  It took them a while to get me an I.V. because of my wonderful veins, thanks Dad, and then I saw the on call doctor.  He checked me over and then the nurse did a urine catch which showed a lot of blood. I then took a trip down to radiology for ultrasounds when I shared about my experience of Mordecai's pregnancy and having stones that were too big to pass. I have kidney stones, 2 of them! A 6mm on the right side and a 5mm on the left side. They gave me morphine, that didn't help with the pain so they ended up giving me dilaudid.  I was admitted  and waited for the on call urologist to decide what to do. I finally heard from the urologist late afternoon Sunday.  He said because I wasn't having anymore pain that I could go home and they discharged me with oral pain meds and anti-nausea meds for the "just in case" moment on the way home back to Colorado the next day.  Once back at Mike's parents house Keith, Kim, their girls, and Julie and Jason came over to visit. 

Early Monday morning we packed up, picked up Wanda since she was coming home with us to get home earlier and to help if needed, and headed out.  We got home without any problems and spent the whole week together without any major problems.  Friday I met with Dr. Anderson, my urologist, and wasn't so happy.  I knew he was the best doctor, but not the greatest bedside manner doc.  He just told me that he wasn't going to do surgery because it is too risky for the baby and preterm labor since they are bilateral and told me to follow up with Dr. Huynh.  I was pretty confused because they did surgery when I had them with Mordecai, but left knowing I had an OB appointment on Tuesday and hoped she could help me out.  Saturday I woke up feeling signs of a UTI.  I called the on call OB and she phoned in macrobid for me.  I was feeling okay until about 7:30 that night. I was so uncomfortable with feeling the urgency and need to go to the bathroom that I called Mom and talked to Wanda.  They both told me that it just sounded like a classic UTI, but if I was feeling that bad to at least call the on call OB.  I did and she told me about an over the counter pill that would help with symptoms. Mike went and bought it for me and we waited the 30 minutes it was supposed to take to help with the uncomfortableness.  It didn't work, so Mike took me to the ER.  Again, I was taken up to labor and delivery and again I had trouble getting an I.V. placed.  After 4 pokes, and a pediatric needle I finally had an I.V.  They gave me a hospital grade version of the pill I took at home and that didn't work either.  All of a sudden I started feeling my kidney and that's when they admitted me and finally gave me some dilaudid.  Early Sunday morning when I was finally able to sleep, around 2:00 am, Mike headed home to get some sleep and then to take Wanda to the airport.  I had ultrasounds again and found that my right kidney had a partial obstruction.  Once the on call urologist finally came in (around 4:00 pm) he basically said the same thing Dr. Anderson said.  They weren't going to do surgery because of the risks, and that if I had more pain that couldn't be remedied at home with oral dilaudid I would probably have to get another nephrostomy tube.  We were discharged and left feeling frustrated and confused again.

Monday morning we all woke up having slept 12 hours, which Mike and I haven't done in FOREVER, and decided we were going to do something fun.  We took the kids mini golfing and then out to Cici's Pizza, we also picked up some paint to do Mordecai's room.  Tuesday morning I finally had my OB appointment and she explained a lot of things that to urologists didn't.  She said they didn't want to do surgery because the stones are still in the kidneys, whereas with Mordecai they were stuck in the ureter, and that she agrees with their thoughts and decisions. If only the urologists had explained it better to us than just telling us they wanted to wait it out.  Dr. Huynh's hope is to get me to at least 36 weeks because she is for sure I am going to have pain attacks from now until then.  If she induces me at 36 weeks I will have to have an amnio tap to make sure the baby's lungs are okay, so we are trying to make it to 37 weeks so I don't have to have that and that the baby doesn't have to go to the NICU.  She said my chances of ending up with a nephrostomy tube are at about 20%, and to keep drinking water like I do so that the stones will "float" and not try to pass.

Today is Sunday, almost a week since I saw Dr. Huynh and I haven't had any problems.  I am not ready for them (problems), or this baby to come in 6 weeks let alone 9 weeks when I am originally due.  I have started nesting and getting the crafty things I want done but it still doesn't seem real.  Oh-well.  Now I have updated and eventually I will get pictures up.