Chloe has Hereditary Spherocytosis she inherited from me. My family has a long history of this blood disorder. My grandmother, mother, aunt, myself, my sister, my 2 cousins and now mine and my sister’s children. The 50/50 chance of inheriting the gene doesn’t seem to apply to us. The main problem with this disorder is the enlargement of the spleen due to increased activity. In the past, we have had our spleens removed around the age of 5. These days they like to put the surgery off as long as possible to keep the spleen functioning to help you fight off childhood infections.

Chloe (and now Carlee) are seen at St. Jude’s every 6 months. They monitor the anemia and size of the spleen. During Chloe’s latest visit at the beginning of the month, the doctor noticed a drastic increase in the size of her spleen. We went for an ultrasound of her spleen and gallbladder. A few weeks ago I received a phone call with the results of the ultrasound. They want to go ahead and meet with Mitchell and I to discuss removing her gallbladder and doing a partial splenectomy.  I was not expecting this news.

Chloe’s spleen is swollen to 500mL. Regardless if you know how big a spleen is supposed to be, picture half a one liter coke bottle. That is how big her spleen is inside her little 32lb 2 year old body. She also has gallbladder sludge. The sludge hasn’t turned into gallstones yet, but they know it’s coming and would like to remove the gallbladder before she starts hurting.

Today Mitchell and I met with the surgeon and the hematologist and discussed options, risks, benefits and general information about the surgery.  We have decided to go forward with the surgery. They will be laparoscopicly removing her spleen and gallbladder on March 1st. We will go in on the 28th of February for Pre-op where she will receive a blood transfusion that night to prep her for surgery. On the 28th, they will not only “physically” prep her for surgery, but emotionally also. They are going to roll play with dolls, said something about Mitchell wearing a bunny suit (not kidding, can’t wait to see this!) and basically walking her baby doll through her surgery to help her understand.  She should be able to go home that Thursday or Friday. She will then have an ultrasound follow up around a week after her surgery and will be dismissed to go back to the sitter. Amazing how short the recovery is!

This is probably going to be way scarier for me than it will be for her. There  are two things that comfort me the most, one is that she is under the care of the chief of surgery of St. Jude hospital and the head of Hematology at St. Jude hospital. I couldn’t think of better hands to be working on my daughter. The other is when I had my surgery at the age of 5, I have nothing but fond memories of it. They are so wonderful with the kids and turn what could be a scary situation into an actual happy experience.

So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers while we go through the next few weeks.

I had a very easy first two trimesters of my pregnancy, probably too easy. Other than being tired due to my thyroid being out of whack, I was fine. And then Mr. Third Trimester came along and I’ve been miserable ever since.

Since then I’ve been constipated every day. I feel like a 80 year old woman having to mix medicine in my drinks so I can poop. I throw up everything I eat.  Certain smells make me barf instantly. I have false labor contractions for hours every night. My crotch hurts so bad I can barely walk. I can’t breathe half the time. I haven’t slept in probably a month. And all this is normal. Seriously! Normal you say. At what point is this not normal anymore, at what point should I worry, at what point is someone going to do something about this?

I do understand that every symptom I describe above is a normal side effect of pregnancy. What I don’t understand is how they can all go on at the same time every day and still be just normal. It is so bad at night that I make plans around when I’m going to have my nightly contractions. I can’t hold my 2 year old in my lap because sometimes she puts an elbow into my stomach and starts the contractions. When I lay down, no one can even sit on the side of the bed because if it moves, I’m going to hurl.

So, I’m completely miserable pretty much 24/7. And I have no idea what to do about it.

Please do not think the citizens of the school, community, or state are all bigots.  Please do not think we are bullies. Please do not think we don’t care. And, most of all, please do not think we are not doing anything about this.

#weloveyou2010

There are those of us who look beyond the color of ones skin or their sexual preference. We don’t care where you came from, how much money you have, or who your family is. There are those of us who do not judge a person without knowing them. And there are those of us who will stand together tomorrow and wear purple to support our loved ones, friends, family and fellow citizens who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Those of us who will stand up against hate. Stand up against intolerance.

This year was a little different that most.  First,  I put back Chloe’s clothes to have for hand-me-downs for Carlee. The other is I went strictly looking for items for Carlee. Gage had a ton of stuff that still fit him from last year and Chloe got a LOT of hand-me-downs from my niece, Logan.

I must brag on the deals I got this year.  Mom and I shopped early on Wednesday and got a high chair, bumbo chair and mattress for $50 (retail value would have been $150).  Tonight I went and early shopped the half price items and got the following:

• 20 Sleepers/gowns for Carlee
• 1 pair of Jeans for Carlee
• 10 dresses/outfits for Carlee
• 2 pairs of shoes for Carlee
• 3 sweaters for Carlee
• 3 pairs of cotton pants for Carlee
• sweater for Chloe
• PJs for Chloe with Snow White on them (she’s been asking for some for weeks)
• A shirt and jacket for Chloe
• Elmo shirt and pants for Chloe
• 2 pair of pants for Gage
• Sweater for Gage
• Shirt for Gage

All of this for $68.

I’ve decided to try to give the place a second chance. I had never really given the town a fair chance. There are a ton of upsides to living here. If I need a prescription filled during the week I just walk across the street. It is a nice quiet town to raise the kids in and I now own a business in the town.

The one thing I don’t think I’ll ever get used to is the damn dogs. Everyone around here owns a dog that stays in the back yard and either barks constantly or whines. What is the point of having a pet if you keep them outside constantly? And, do you not realize that there are people who may not like to hear your dog whine for hours that live down the road and have their windows raised.

Oh, there is another thing. The damn country music blaring. If you do not turn your shit down I’m coming outside with Death Metal full blast. If that doesn’t work, we are having a bonfire in the back yard and inviting Brandon Johnson and Ryan over and let them and Mitchell sing for you.

No, I was not at all happy with my life situation.

First, I was not being the mother I wanted to be. In my opinion, spending 2 hours a day or less with your child is not enough. Especially when those 2 hours are spent fighting with them to eat dinner, take a bath, get dressed for bed and go to sleep. I was not able to take off work to stay home with her if she was sick. I was not able to be late to work if she simply needed a little extra mommy time in the morning. Then we found out I was going to be a mother to more than just Chloe. We were expecting again. I didn’t have time for one child with my current situation, I would not have time for two! Something had to change.

The next thing was I had lost the passion I once had in my job. I love what I did, still do, but I worked myself into a routine that stole my creativity and sucked my productivity. This was not a good situation for me, nor my employer.

So during my week vacation I realized there was a simple solution to all of this… resign from my job. The stress from my job and the hours driving back and forth were affecting not only my health, but my family.

What am I doing now? I am doing freelance design and social media work out of Mitchell’s store using the name Spring Designs.  I’m not out to do 100 projects or take over the design world, just enough to get by financially and spend more time with Mitchell and the girls.

I have been doing this for a month now and so far it is working GREAT for us. Luckily Mitchell and I actually get along better the more time we spend together, so working together and living together hasn’t been an issue. I’m able to actually be at the store while he is doing an on-site job so he doesn’t have to close down. I’m able to work around mine and Chloe’s needs, no strict 8-5. And, we found a babysitter that costs less than the gas money I was spending that is 2 blocks from the store!

I’ve also been able to keep a great relationship with my former employer and am still working closely with them along with networking with former co-workers and other local freelancers.

Possibly the best part of all of this is I’ve started to become “me” again. I did so much soul searching a time ago to find the true me.  The past few years I’ve lost myself again and turned into a complete robot. Little by little I’m making time for me.

I’ve missed networking with fellow geeks. Mitchell and I attended Barcamp Jonesboro last weekend. Besides spraining my foot, spending a few hours in the ER and the rest of Barcamp stoned from the pain shot I received, I had a wonderful time just being around adult socially.

I’ve missed blogging. 3 years ago I was the #2 Jennifer on Google. Now, I’m on the second page. I’m turning GeeksMakeMeHot into a fun new blog (hopefully starting next month!) and this will be my personal blog.

Wish me luck on what I’m calling the 4th stage of my life, building my foundation, (growing up, finding myself, settling down were the first three).

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a discoloration of parts of my face.  I’ve been freaking out and about to go all Michael Jackson and start bleaching my face.

I have a little pregnancy app on my phone that gives me week by week advice.  This week it mentioned the “Pregnancy Mask” or melasma.  After googling this, it is exactly what I have going on. Apparently this is caused from my hormones and will go away after I have the baby.  It made me feel better to know that I’m not going to be spotty forever.  But, can pregnancy leave at least one part of my body alone?  Please?

1. 10 Chloe socks.  Notice I didn’t say 10 pair, just 10 socks.  She takes one shoe and one sock off every night on the drive home.  Leaves the other one alone.
2. 3 pair of Chloe’s shoes.
3. 2 books
4. 1 truck
5. 1 sippy cup (Yes, just 1)
6. 1 elmo
7. 1 pair of elmo slippers
8. 4 hair bows
9. 2 old cellphones
10. Goggles.  The mad scientist kind, not the swimming ones.
11. 1 passy

Girl: “Oh, that’s not my dog.  That dog ate my dog and I’m helping someone try to find it.”

Me: “Well, that’s disturbing.” Seriously, what do you say to something like this?

Mitchell and Gage had a “boys night” of root beer, pizza and staying up past Gage’s bedtime. Gage has shown interest in the planets and astrology, so Mitchell found Gage some Solar System posters for his bedroom at the dollar store. I do wonder if Mitchell and I are the only parents who get extra excited over finding toys the kids can learn from, not just tear up and throw in a toy box. But, that’s another post. So they came home and Gage learned about the different planets. Gotta love geeky dads and their ideas for a boy’s night!

Mom took Chloe Friday for me and kept her until Gage and I went to get her last night. My favorite Gage quote of the night: “That (patience) sure takes a lot of work, GG.” (when I told him he had to be patient and wait to get his paints out.

So now that I have energy, I guess we are going to spend family day cleaning house since mommy was out of pocket most of the week.