My long absence explained...

Okay, so for most of you, this video won't be a major surprise. It's always hard for me to keep pregnancies a secret because I feel like I have to explain myself for laying on the couch half the day, neglecting my children, running to the restroom, etc...I used to do all my blogging, e-mailing, etc. at night after the kids were in bed and that was always when I felt the worst. I feel like I'm gradually coming out of the nausea fog and hope to resume a "normal" life soon.

Some of you might know that I secretly (well, not that secretly) wish that life was a musical...can you see it? You're taking a walk at night thinking about whatever and all the sudden a symphony starts the accompaniment and you sing about how you feel. Or you're just so excited about something and you begin dancing (along with everyone else in the grocery store or wherever) and everyone sings in perfect harmony...well, here are a few songs that (assuming I had any spare energy) I would have sung over the last couple of months:

Here Comes The Sun (The Beatles)--I was always so happy to wake up in the morning because it meant I usually had a couple of hours without "morning" sickness (an ironic term, for me).

Vanishing (Mariah Carey)--this would describe my waistline. A few people pointed out that they could see I was "showing" and I had to kindly tell them that no, in fact that little bulge they were seeing were "gifts" left by my other three children...you know, to prolong my life should I find myself on a stranded island with no food ;).

Hungry Like A Wolf (Duran Duran)--not much explanation needed here but my voracious appetite was a bit torturous because most food looked and smelled repulsive.

FEED ME! (from Little Shop of Horrors)--if life was a musical, this would be the song my children would have sung to me while I laid on the couch for hours. Is it possible to have latch-key children while the mother is at home? The second verse would have been "BATHE ME" and the third verse would be "NOURISH MY MIND AND SPIRIT!" (okay, so they wouldn't really sing the last two verses but I felt pretty negligent in those areas as well.)

Super Trooper (ABBA)--I would sing this to myself if I wasn't such a wimp about it all...this is actually the song I'd sing to Bjorn for being a great single parent for the last couple of months. One of my favorite memories (now) is when he took the three kids plus our nephew to a sit-down restaurant, then took all of them to a VERY crowded and late Bee's game to watch a little baseball and fireworks after. Only a crazy (but cool) dad would do this, right? The downside was that his cell phone was dead and I had no idea that he was at the game until he got home around 12:30 a.m...I eventually assumed that's where he was after the local police station informed me that there hadn't been any accidents with injuries in the area that night ;).

Adios for now! And thanks for the nagging, Ju!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Anyone know that old Primary song "Oh what do you do in the Summertime?"...Well, if you're my husband or kids, you go snow skiing on the first day of Summer. Who would have thought? This is Bjorn's first year of having a season pass and in my opinion, it gave him that buffet mentality...you know, load as much on your plate as possible to get your money's worth. Needless to say there have been a lot of trips up to the mountain this year, the last being June 21st...we ended the day at a Bee's baseball game which is a little more fitting for the season. Skiing and baseball are two of our family's favorite activities but we doing both on the same day is a first.

Mom's home

Sorry for the delay in an update. My mom came home on Sunday and she will be taking steroids for a couple of weeks. My dad's taking good care of her and she is resting a lot better at home than she was at the hospital. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Leaving Comments for my Mom/Update

If you'd like to leave a comment for my mom but don't have a Google account, you should be able to click on the "anonymous" option after you've clicked on the "# comments" link below each post. Thanks!

I just spoke with her (Thursday night) and she is continuing to make progress. She was taken off oxygen today and is walking around to strengthen her lungs. She has been using what's called an incentive spiromater which looks a bit like an overgrown inhaler. She exhales then puts her mouth on the spiromater and inhales, inflating her lungs like a balloon. She was even "caught" using the gadget today when her pulmonologist walked into the room and said "Hey, that's what I like to see!" Tomorrow they will likely clamp her chest tube that has been draining the fluid off of her lungs to see if her lymph system is able to absorb the fluid on its own. If she continues to progress well, she will likely go home on Saturday :).

Mom in the hospital

I went to see my mom in the hospital last night and she looks and sounds SO much better than she did on Sunday. She's such a trooper and is hopefully on her way to a full recovery. Thank goodness for prayers and modern medicine. By the way, if you'd like to leave a thought or message for my mom, just click below this post where it says "# comments" and it will bring up a window to leave a message. I will pass them on to her. Thanks!

More on Bonnie

I just got off the phone with my Dad and it looks like my mom will be in the hospital for at least 3-4 days. She apparently had an autoimmune reaction to the heart surgery which happens in about five percent of patients (something called Dressler's Syndrome...see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dresslers-syndrome/DS00666/DSECTION=1 for more info--Thanks Adrian! ). Fluid has gradually been building up around her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe well. The fluid was drained last night and she is already feeling a lot better. The next step is to take steroids for two weeks and to do a lot of walking to help her lungs. So if you see her, tell her to pick up her tubes and get marching ;).

Here is one of my favorite videos. For those who know Alexander, he is a little less apt to show affection these days but for the first couple years of his life, he had a bit of a crush on Grandma B. She and my dad have some pretty devoted grandkids/fans. You can pause the music on the right hand side if you want to hear the video.

Mama Mia (Bonnie's update)

Ooh, it's been a while...but considering the fact that I have written in my old-fashioned journal on a semi-annual to annual basis for the past several years, I'm still doing alright.

Although Father's Day just passed, this blog entry is about my mom (a.k.a. St. Bonnie...if you know her you know what I'm talking about). Some family and friends want an update on her without bothering her to find out and I've been wanting to write for family history sake, too.

My mom had open heart surgery on May 22 to replace a leaky valve with the valve of a pig. Ironic, wouldn't you say? The animal that can potentially kill our heart, can also save it? My creative little sis, Liz wrote a poem for my Mom along with a poster full of pig pictures when she went into the hospital:

This little piggy went to market

This little piggy went home

This little piggy had roast beef

This little piggy had none.

And this little piggy helped save Bonnie's heart

And she cried "wee wee wee" all the way home.

Thank you little piggy!

To our relief, the surgery went well. The next step was to see if her heart would start beating on its own or if she would need a pacemaker installed (I'm sure there's a better verb that doesn't make it sound like she's a car...feel free to throw them my way, you English gurus.) Each morning, the medical staff would take her off the machines that were keeping her heart beating to see if her heart would start ticking. I don't know what it feels like to have your heart drop to 20-something beats per minute but my mom does. She had to go through it four days in a row and she said it's horrible (and she's no whiner!). The doctor said that they would try it one more time and if her heart didn't start beating on the fifth day, that she would need a pacemaker to keep her heart pumping. Alas, her heart kicked in on the fifth day and we of course were all relieved and happy.

She was switched out of the I.C.U. and given the option to leave in the next day or two. Thankfully, she chose to stay in the hospital a little longer because her heart stopped while she was there. She blacked out and fell on the floor, breaking her nose. She still had a temporary pacemaker (called a "pacer" I think) which got her heart going again. The little miracle among the chaos was that my dad (who usually went home around 6:00) had stayed late to watch "Moulin Rouge" with my mom (sweet, huh?) so he was there to get the doctor/nurses in there A.S.A.P. Apparently there was a tiny "blip" (for lack of a better medical term) on her heart monitor but the nurse didn't think there was a problem. So had my dad not been there, who knows how long it would have been before someone came to check on her. I don't think it was a coincidence that my mom chose to stay a bit longer in the hospital and that my dad was there during this "incident." Despite the broken nose and scary situation, I feel like God protected her that night. On a side note, my mom DID get a pacemaker and I've since gotten over my thought that they were only for "The Greatest Generation" if you know what I mean.

My mom went home after ten days or so in the hospital. She had a relatively normal recovery up until a week or so ago when she choked on some water. She has been in quite a bit of pain since then. When I went to my parent's house on Sunday (Father's Day) I got really worried about my mom. I kept feeling like she couldn't get a good, deep breath and she winced with pain when she tried. I asked Bjorn and my dad to give her a blessing which seemed to help. I also told her (along with my other two worry-wart sisters) that she needed to go to the doctor. If you know my mom, she's a tough woman, and if you know her primary caregiver (my dad) he's even tougher (when it comes to enduring physical pain) so they were both thinking this is just a low point in the recovery process.

For all you Anne of Green Gables fans (my mom being a big one), taking Elise to her checkup on Monday was simply "providential." My kids' pediatrician, Cynthia (who also happens to be married to my mom's cousin) asked how my mom was. My parents taught me not to lie ;) so I told her my thoughts about the day before and she immediately whipped out her cell phone and sweetly reprimanded my mom, telling her she should go to the doctor. Well, where three nosy daughters were not successful, a physician was (thanks again, Cynthia!) My mom went in today (Tuesday) and she had water on her lungs. They are draining the fluid even as I write this blog...so for those of you who know my mom and for those who don't...I unabashedly ask you to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. The world is a better place with her in it. I'll post updates from here on out until she's back to her old (figuratively speaking, of course) self.