Updates Galore!

Still without pictures, but it's been quite a while since my last post, so I opted to post now and add pictures later. (Later = when Jeremy gets me a netbook.)

I need to post about the Britney Spears concert in Dallas, the UT-Tech game in Austin and eating our way through Austin in a short 24 hours! We've also watched a lot of football (UT win, UH win then lose, and Tim Tebow get concussed); I bought my first pair of maternity jeans and found A Pea in the Pod to be a terrifying place to shop; and I walked for the Cure with my mom and sister last weekend.

I'm still not feeling 100% these days - my anti-nausea meds don't seem to be taking the edge off but when I don't take them, I throw up. So I guess just being nauseous all day is the better alternative! I was sick last week on top of the nausea, but I think we've determined it was gastroenteritis and I'm now taking Nexium as well. Again, I still don't feel perfect, but it's better than the alternative!

When I went to my doctor last week to get the Nexium prescription, I also got to hear the heartbeat! I've seen it on the ultrasound, but this was the first time they've used the doppler thing on me. Very exciting! Baby H is crazy active - she could only catch the heartbeat for a few seconds and then we would hear a lot of rustling, which she said was him/her moving around. I love it! Though it is a little early, I am sure I have felt some of the baby's movements. Every once in a while, if I drink really cold water and usually later in the day, I feel butterfly movements. I am definitely sure it's not gas or hunger, and my nurse said it probably was the baby. She also said if I drink a really sugary drink and laid down I might be able to feel more movement. I plan on downing a Coke or Mountain Dew right before our next ultrasound in hopes of the baby moving a lot so we can determine the gender!

In the same vein of health updates, Caroline is just plugging away trying to heal. I haven't posted any news on her since this post almost a month ago, and lot has happened! She finally got released from TCH to do her chemo at home a few weeks ago, but they had to return the next day as she was complaining of severe abdominal pain. They determined she had appendicitis and did a laproscopic appendectomy. The surgery went well, but she was still complaining of pain. It's been a long road for my dad and Heather to get an answer, but for now they decided she has 2 abscesses in her abdomen and pancreatitis. She's been on antibiotics for the abscesses, as surgery is the best option to remove them but she's not stable enough for another surgery. Apparently the cure for pancreatitis is no food, no drink, time and patience. A lot of people ask if these complications were caused by the chemo or the cancer, and I think they just don't know. Certainly they have seen cancer patients with some of the same complications, but there is no scientific evidence linking them. Additionally, as if this weren't enough, Caroline's younger sister came down with swine flu. I think she's gotten over it now, but TCH would not allow her, her brother or their grandma to be on the oncology floor for 9-10 days after the diagnosis. Now I've heard TCH has changed their rules to no one under 12 is allowed at any time on the floor, due to the rampant outbreaks of swine flu at schools. My sister and mom visited Caroline on Saturday, and she even felt well enough to walk around with Amanda, give her a tour, and even get her nails done! Because of all the other complications, they stopped her chemo treatment for the time being, but that means the leukemia cells are returning. The good news on that is yesterday they gave her a 1/4 dose of her chemo and she was apparently handling that fine, so today they were going to try a 1/2 dose of chemo. Hopefully the whole family can continue being patient while she heals and she'll be able to return home soon. As my dad said, if they could get to the point of just dealing with the cancer, life would be so much easier. Pray for healing!