Starting a New Year with Sicknesses

Well, we have had a pretty crazy start to 2010! Hopefully the rest of the year doesn't proceed this way, or it could be a stressful year. So for those that haven't heard the full story, here is the details. Last week Sunday, I started not feeling very well. I had stomach cramps, but chalked it up to just some normal monthly pains. I felt better throughout the week, although I still wasn't 100%. Then on Thursday, the painful cramps started again during the night. They progressively worsened throughout the day and became quite awful during the afternoon. I called Derek to have him come home from work, and my mom volunteered to come over and help with Bella. My doctor is not in the office on Thursdays, so we decided to go to the emergency room to see what was up. I knew something had to be going on because I was laying on the floor crying because I was in so much pain- and yes, it was worse than labor!
So we got to the emergency room and ran some tests and bloodwork to figure out what was going on. One of the tests was an ultrasound to get a better look at what was going on in my stomach. Right after the tech got the picture up, she called in the radiologist, which was definitely not a good sign. The doctor then told us what they thought was going on: 1) I was pregnant (big shocker #1) and 2) it was an ectopic pregnancy, meaning the egg had implanted inside a fallopian tube rather than the uterus. He also said that it looked like my fallopian tube had ruptured since there isn't enough room for an egg to grow in a tube. This was causing a lot of bleeding inside, which was why I was in so much pain. I needed immediate surgery to remove all of the blood and tissue inside my fallopian tube. It was a relief to find out what was going on, but definitely quite scary as I was not exactly prepared to have an emergency surgery. I was familiar with ectopic pregnancies too, so I knew there was a risk of losing one or both my fallopian tubes or ovaries. Needless to say, we were freaking out! However, God was watching over us, and the surgery went very smoothly. They were able to get out all of the blood and tissue and didn't have to remove anything else. I was stuck in the hospital until Saturday because I lost quite a bit of blood in the surgery and needed to get transfusions throughout the day on Friday. But I have been home since then, and am feeling better every day.
This was obviously a very scary few days for us, but everything worked out according to God's plan, and I am now home and healthy. It still hasn't quite sunk in for either of us that we lost a baby in this as we had absolutely NO CLUE that we were pregnant. We were both focused on making sure that the surgery went well that we didn't really think about that aspect. I was also so scared on Thursday night that they would have to remove my ovaries, so that was a huge blessing to hear they didn't have to do so. There is an increased chance in the future that I may have another ectopic pregnancy, but chances are just as good that I will have more healthy ones. We are so thankful that God kept me safe throughout all of this as it could have been much much worse. This also made us so appreciative of living in a small town as we had such an amazing experience in the ER. Our nurses and doctors were sooo caring and sensitive to us. Our surgeon even prayed for us before I went to the OR. What a blessing to live in such a wonderful community!
So that was our crazy week! And of course, in the midst of that week, Bella developed her 2nd ear infection- poor baby girl! Thankfully she likes her medicine much better this time around and started feeling better instantly. That was also one of the worst parts of my hospitalization- I haven't been away from my baby for such a long time period! My doctor and nurses did let us sneak her in for a little bit on Friday night, even though right now the hospital isn't allowing any visitors under the age of 18. But I would have been crushed without seeing Bella for a day and a half! So now that I wrote an entire book, here are some new pictures of the little cutie. :)
Sucking on her bottom lip, as always!Seven months old already! On her 7 month "birthday," Bella started to really master the art of crawling. She is now plowing around the living room with ease and getting into all of Mommy's things. :) This is how I found her one morning- all tangled up in her kitty's ballet slippers!This is her pooping face- I was taking some pictures of her, and she apparently decided she had to go. She is concentrating very hard!
And here is a big smile! That smile definitely carried Derek and I through those tough days.