05/15/07 11:00 p.m.

Well, it's been a crazy two days around here. Lots of excitement thinking the baby is coming and they'll actually let him arrive, and then... no baby. Pretty disappointing in some ways, but good because he has had a few more days to grow. I went in for an ultrasound today, the doctor was hoping he was over five pounds because my stomach has been measuring small (no, I do not look small). The ultrasound estimated "little" Ephram is 6 lbs. 9 oz.!!! God's been putting our little buddy's growth into overdrive! For that we are thankful.

Josh had therapy and a doctor's appointment yesterday. Therapy was uneventful and then we headed to his appointment. After waiting for almost an hour and 45 minutes to see him, Josh was fit to be tied! He kept threatening to leave, but we had already waited so long at that point, it seemed sort of ridiculous. Our main concern has been the swelling in Josh's feet. He can no longer get into much of any shoes, we are having to watch his heels pretty closely because they get red in his shoes and we do NOT want an open sore, and the Ted hose do not seem to do much of anything. The doctors verdict was that Josh needs to get out of his chair and get his feet above his heart for at least 2 hours a day. Because Josh's feet are hanging down all day, and do not get moved but when someone moves them for him, the circulation in his feet is getting poorer and poorer. This could eventually lead to some pretty serious health conditions and not something we want to mess with. Josh is very unhappy about how to deal with this, feeling like his life is already so restricted and now the doctor wants him back in bed during the day. We compromised at this point and are trying to get his feet up as much as we can on an ottoman, at least 2 hours a day, but not back in bed. If this does not ease the swelling, he will have to do the bed thing.  Please pray that Josh has patience with this situation and does not allow himself to become angry. It is a constant struggle of knowing you have to accept the changes but hating them all the same. It seems like a minute to minute choice to not allow ourselves to become angry or bitter. Thankfully, we both seem to be on opposite schedules when it comes to this so we can encourage the other when needed! God is working, even in the details.

I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to all of you who have been sending gift certificates for us to go out to dinner. This is one of the few things that Josh can do pretty easily and with enjoyment. We so appreciate all the On The Border gift cards, Applebee's and all kinds of others. We were thinking that we have only paid for a meal or two of our own since the accident. We would never be able to enjoy this otherwise. It is also great for Josh to be able to get out and about in these situations and practice getting in and out of places, how to situate himself at different tables (especially when there is no room for his extremely long legs), and working many other life skills we have been encouraged to work on. Without all of you out there, we would be sitting at home where Josh has a tendency to get discouraged and depressed much easier. So, all in all, thank you all so much for allowing us to experience a bit of normalcy in our lives and being able to get out of the house without going broke!!! :-) You guys are great.

Today was a slow day. After spending most of the night at the hospital with my mom and sister, we were all exhausted today and they were the ones here to watch the kids. Josh did not come up to the hospital, we will be waiting to bring him until the birth is getting closer. Not exactly how we imagined we would be delivering the little guy, but I guess things change. Josh got ranged, we ate lunch together, the kids played outside all day, and I had a chance to take a nap. My poor mom and sister were up all night too but they stayed awake while I snoozed. I had a little guilt over that one and then decided to let it go! Isn't family great? Just kidding...

Josh is now enjoying watching reruns of the sitcom "The Office" from last season with some friends and I can hear him laughing. It does my heart good to hear him sound so much like he did 6 months ago. There are times that I can hear that carefree giggle in his voice and I love it, sort of like music to  my ears. We have said about a million times how much harder this would be if we couldn't laugh. There are so many things that have happened that you can either laugh or cry and we choose to laugh if at all possible. Yes, there are times that we both just break down and sob and it feels so good after, but we also want to survive this and still be happy. Before the accident, I always felt like we always had things to talk about, like on our long drive down to Florida this Christmas, we just talked and talked and it was so nice. Now, I feel like if we didn't talk even more, we would drown. There are so many limitations to what we can share together right now, but conversation is not one of them. I'm so happy to be married to someone I actually like, much less love. He's a pretty amazing guy... can you tell I like him? :-)

Well, tomorrow is back to therapy and doctor's appointments and the business of recovery. We enjoy our down days while they last. Nighty-night now.

Prayer Requests:

-TOTAL HEALING

-Our attitudes in regard to this life change

-Ephram to arrive quickly and safely with no complications

0 comments:

Post a Comment