Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The End of Life As I've Known It

Greetings Everyone!

Well, this is it. The countdown is on until we hear the pitter-patter of little feet running around. Actually, it will probably be the rushing of a men's size 11 feet running around as I yell to Danny for another diaper. We are in the last days of our peaceful, quiet, marital bliss and then WHAM! Our family increases by one!

Now for those of you who have already gone through the labour experience, you're probably saying to yourselves, "Wham? Is that what she thinks labour is going to be like? Boy, is she in for a surprize! It's more like an 8 to 16 hour WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!"

Which brings me to the first item on the update list: My labour day. For me, it's going to be a lot sooner than September this year. In fact it's going to be a lot sooner than the original due date the doctors gave me of March 23rd. I'm now scheduled to have a C-section on March 11th. Now, there's no need to panic, everything is fine. The baby's perfectly healthy, a good size and in the right direction for a natural labour. And I'm perfectly health, a pretty big size, and in the right direction of the fridge most of the time. The doctors (bless their little chicken-souled, yellow-bellied, lily-livered hearts) are just a bit nervous about past tumor and radiation issues. I have had a few problems with my eyes over the past couple of months, a bit blurry here and there, and they think that some blood vessels in my brain are having a hard time keeping up with extra blood and fluids that are coursing through my pregnant body. I like to think what their really afraid of is my head exploding and my eyes popping out during the labour process. In any case, we're all getting off the hook here. I'm actually quite fine with the whole thing, even excited! I know the day the baby's coming and it will only be about a 30 minutes! Okay, there are a few yucky things about the procedure and I will have to stay in the hospital for a few days, but let's stay on the sunny side of the road on this one. That's what I say. Of course with me, the line between optimism and delusion is a thin one.

Second item on the update list is Danny. He started having some dizzy spells a few months back that lead to him having a number of tests on his heart. One of these tests is called "the table tilt test." Basically what happens is that the doctors strap you to a table and then tilt it 60 degrees. Through this procedure the doctors watch to see how your heart operates by itself without the help of the rest of your muscles in the body. Well, Danny's heart stopped! Don't worry, it didn't stop for long and it started up again by itself, but still, not the best of results. At the follow-up appointment with the doctor, he told us about the test results and recommended that Danny be a candidate for a PACE MAKER! Well, that should have been another test because both our hearts stopped at that one! However, that doctor sent us to another doctor to get another opinion. The second doctor said that he didn't want to rush into any pace maker deals until they really knew what was going on. After all, up until the tilt test, Danny's symptoms had been very minor. And exactly what is this "table tilt test" jazz about anyhoo? All it really proved was that Danny shouldn't be strapped to a table, tilted to 60 degrees and left there for 25 minutes. So doctor number two recommended that Danny have a tiny device he called a "revealer" put in so they can get more specific data on what is going on. Basically, a revealer is a small little device that is implanted just under the skin in the chest. It's not even major surgery, they do localized freezing (gross). Then this little thing records your heart's contractions much like a mini-electrocardiograph machine (big word of the day). Then, if Danny starts to have one of his little dizzy episodes, he can pull out the little black box thing that is included in the set and it will record all the data the revealer has been taking for the last 5-10 minutes. The bonusses are that it's a temperary thing, it will give the doctor's a better idea of what the problem is (if any), it's wireless (as all cool things are nowadays), and we can still use the microwave around him! He might be left with a small scar on his chest, but as Danny put it, "Chicks dig scars." Always an optimist.

Now for items 3 through 6 on the update list. Three: We've moved into a house now in preparation for the baby's arrival. It's been very exciting to have a place with 3 bedrooms, carpet, and heat. It's a nice quite neighbourhood and we live close to a number of our good friends from church. Four: The LifeFORCE team that's touring the UK is doing well. We had three missions in a row back out on us (bless their little schedule-cancelling, dream-disappointing, promise-breaking hearts) but we've been able to fill their time with other stuff (ie. vacuuming of my carpet ministry). Five: Danny took a group of 21 students and staff from a local secondary school to the Gambia for another round of Project Gambia. They were a younger group of students, aged 15 and 16, but it was just as fabulous as an experience. We've already had cards, letters, and emails from students, teachers, and parents expressing their amazement and excitment seeing the changes it has made in this group of students. I wasn't able to go because I'm too fat to travel. Not bitter. Six: Danny's parents are coming over to stay with us and help with the baby when it gets here! Danny's mom will be coming earlier as I will really need her around after the surgery! I'm so excited they are coming and I have to say, it is a lot of fun watching people's reaction to my sincere excitment about my inlaws visit. But they'll all understand how a girl can be so genuinely happy about her mother and father-inlaw once they meet them for themselves! (Everyone in unison: "Awwwwww! What a Hallmark card thing to say!" Brownie points for the daughter-inlaw: At least 100.))

And now for item seven: My dad has published his own blog that he will be updating regularly (a lot more regularly than I update my blog) and it's basically about Danny and I but through the perspective of a parent. I call him a couple of times a week to unload on, uh, I mean, update him. So who better to give out an update while I'm on maternity leave (at least I have a valid excuse now) than the man who gets the information straight from the horse's mouth (I'm certainly the size of a horse)! So add his website to your favourite links and check it out for the latest news from our not-on-location-but-has-a-trustworthy-source reporter!

The link is: http://www.liam-james.blogspot.com/

With that then, I shall bid you all farewell for now, but not forever! I cannot say exactly when the next update from me will be published, but the headline will be one of two possibilities:

"It's a Boy!" or "It's a Girl!"

God bless you all and thank you for your continued prayer, encouragement, and support!

Until next time,

~Alycia DeLong (& Co.)