PAIN

Well, yesterday was a fun day..........NOT. I spent 5 hours in the ER at Mercy on Sherman. I had a horrible, painful gall bladder attack. Yes, I have gall stones and will need my gall bladder out in the not too distant future.
It started on Thursday.........I went to a dr. appt. in Muskegon and then had to have blood work. All this time I had not eaten as it was fasting blood work. So when I got done about 11:30 (been up since 7) I was hungry. All alone too. I stopped at Subway for a small sub. Tasted great. Went over to Target for a few things; took my car through the car wash and then went through McD's for a small ice cream cone to eat on the way home. Well I got on the expressway and my gut right in the middle started to hurt. Soon it was really hurting and then it radiated through my breast bone into my back. I got home and curled up on the couch in misery. then I paced; then I cried; then I curled up in my bed and fell asleep. When I woke up it was gone.
Bad case of indigestion, I guess.
Well, Friday around the same time of day it started to hurt again. Soon it hurt twice as bad as the day before. I was supposed to go out to dinner and shopping with two of my best friends. Instead I went to the hospital. I suffered in the waiting room for a while and then finally they took me in and put in an IV and gave me some very lovely pain medication. Soon I felt fine. They took me for an ultrasound of my gall bladder and found many stones. I have to have it out in the not too distant future. For now, I am supposed to follow a low fat diet. Today I feel ok with the help of some vicodin and not eating anything. I am hoping to hold off til the kids are back in school. We'll see..................
So that is my fun end of the week.

Vacation shots...................

Our brush with celebrity! The Roloff family from "Little People, Big World" were on Mackinac Island the same day as Jake, Ross and me.














Some pictures from PIRATE'S COVE. Dylan is in his glory there. And some various other shots. I would like to say our vacation was absolutely wonderful, but the weather wasn't great and the kids fought alot and well, my husband was a grouch, but we did have some good times. The house we stayed in in Harbor Springs was pretty cool.

Vacation p.s.

Please pray too, that everyone is GOOD and GETS ALONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks!!!! :)

GEtTinG ReaDy fOr VAcAtiOn!!!!!!!!!!!!

Packing for six people, I have figured out the easy way..............buy all new clothes for the trip!!! LOL! Just kidding. Although I did have to buy all of us some new clothes. Now I am sorting laundry and washing whatever else we need to take (Doug actually does most of the laundry).
Ian is driving me nuts with "Is it vacation today? "Is it time to go?" "I HATE WAITING" etc. etc. etc.
I hope the weather is nice up north. Cool is fine............no Wet, please??
God is so good. I am so thankful for this vacation. Please pray for a good trip, good health, and good weather. Oh, and good bargains.
Thanks !!!!!
Miss me while I am gone! K?

Where did those 15 years go???????

Well, today my Jacob Douglas is 15 years old. I cannot believe it.
15 years ago today was the happiest and most terrifying day of my life.
Jacob took all day to come. I was in labor for about 8 hours and then ended up with a C- section because Jacob's cord was around his neck.
So off to the ER and the surprise......."It's a boy.....It's a BIG boy!" said Dr. Karnes. They brought him around to our side of the drape and we saw our long awaited son. He was of course, Beautiful!
We had no idea that just a few moments later, on his way up to OB he turned blue and had to be resuscitated. And then in the recovery room Doug and I, so excited about our new baby saw Dr. Karnes walk in and he tells us that Jacob is having trouble breathing. What did that mean? Would he be ok? Dr. Karnes honestly did not know.
I told Doug to please go up and be with him. He didn 't want to leave me, but I didn't want our baby to die without one of us with him. So he went. And I laid there shivering and afraid, begging God to let him be ok. And then I got hysterical and the intern, Dr. C came in and I heard him run out in the hall and grab a dr to order a sedative because "her son was just born with a congenital heart defect." WHAT???
What did that mean? I imagined him dying or living but needing a heart transplant. I imagined alot of things. I was so scared. Would I ever get to hold him? Would I ever get to tell him "Hi, I'm your mommy."?
Soon, my mom and two of my sisters were there. They didn't say much, just held my hand as we waited. Soon a pediatrician came in and tried to explain what was going on but I was so drugged up I didn't understand much of it. I cannot remember what he said, other than those words again...."congenital heart defect". Finally they took me upstairs and I saw him through the glass. He was 9#, 12 oz of ticked off baby. There was nothing wrong with his lungs....well there was but apparently he didn't know it. I wanted him so bad. Everyone could go in, but me. I was helpless on that bed on wheels. Finally in my room, they wheeled him in. He was still screaming. I couldn't hold him, just put my hand in and touch his fingers. I said to him "Baby, it's me, momma." in the sing song voice I had used all through my pregnancy. He immediately turned his head towards me and stopped screaming. And then they took him in an ambulance to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids. And left me in Muskegon. Doug was so torn. He was so lost. I will never forget the look on his face. Thank God for good friends and a good pastor. Jon Rager and Pastor McNeil and Mark took Doug down to Butterworth. They sat in a little room for a very long time before a heart specialist came in. He told Doug that he had checked Jacob over completely. Whatever they had seen in Muskegon was gone now. All they found was a small neumothorax in one lung. They were dumbfounded. At Muskegon they scrambled to explain what had happened. We knew...........God had healed our son in the ambulance on the way to Butterworth. HE is the reason Jacob is 15 today! What a celebration in my hospital room in Muskegon when they called and told me JACOB IS OK!!!!!!
The next few days were rough, being seperated from him. The picture of me and him is the first time I held him. He was born on Wed. evening and I held him on Saturday afternoon.
FAST FORWARD to today. He is a great kid. Yes, he has that teenager attitude sometimes. He is such an encouragement to me. He is funny. He is a good brother (most of the time :) He loves video games and movies. His best friend is Ross. His buddy Chris comes to the door and says "Can Jake hang out?" instead of "Can Jacob play?" He is having a boy/girl birthday party this Friday night!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACOB DOUGLAS!!!! I will never forget what a miracle you are!!!!