Missed Sports

The kids this fall were busy with sports and were pretty excited about it too. 

NO ONE was more excited then ol' Royce-man who FINALLY got to play his first season of t-ball!

He would walk up to the plate just a-smilin' at me. Then after he hit it he would turn back, smile and wave while he was running to first.

Then a thumbs up from first base. My heart melted EVERY TIME.

And the best part was, he didn't even KNOW he would get snacks after each game. It's like he hit the jackpot!!!!

Emerson played baseball as well, and sadly this is the only picture I got of him up to bat. He played pitcher some, but catcher was where he was at most of the time. We loved hearing his high-pitched "WHOO" when the pitcher would throw a good one. It was his first time playing catcher so when other coaches came up to his coach saying that Emerson was the best catcher in Fall Ball (less-competitve league then spring ball), it was a surprise to US!!! Emerson just said, "Yea, I know"

The girls played on the same soccer team. Aleeya, ever the coordinated and competitve thing scored about 80% of their goals this year.

Another coach said to Aleeya's coach, "I can tell that blonde girl has older brothers, because when she gets hurt, she just gets up and gets angry enough to score a goal." Ummmm, thanks?

This was a BIG year for Iris. Her first time at anything really. She's so kind, petite and a peace-maker in nature that I was wondering how she would do.

I snapped these at her first game when she asked to play goalie......oh boy.

Her body language says it all.

Aaaaaaand this one.

But as the season went on, she actually REALLY got into it. She came off with a smile one time saying, "I just kicked that boy in the knees." Again, not sure how to react.

But she was a KILLER defender (where she always asked to play) and when the coach asked her to throw the ball in (almost every time) right down the sideline it stayed literally inches from the sideline. #alwaysobedient 

It was fun.

My FAVORITE games to watch actually are Brooks' though. I watch them in a drooling-wife way and it's so fun.

His softball church league ended up having a PERFECT record of 0-16.

"Perfect" in losing.

But heck, they had fun.

And so did the kids each time in the spare baseball field with their friends.

(the shower/bath was orange after every time)

However all of the above pictures were from the middle of September. 

The sports continued on through October with me not being able to attend any of them. I probably missed about 25 games and my Mommy heart was broken and my cheeks were tear-stained a lot. Especially the times I had to drop Bronson off to cheer Royce on at his game so someone would be there (while Brooks was either at another game or working).

And finally (now that I've been feeling so much better recently), I'm ready to "go there" and record  how hard this pregnancy has been.

I've had "HG" this time around that has been pretty severe.

"Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a complication of pregnancycharacterized by intractable nausea, vomiting, and dehydration and is estimated to affect 0.5–2.0% of pregnant women. Malnutrition and other serious complications, such as fluid or electrolyte imbalances, may result."

(my usual position)

It's different then the 1 morning puke or laying in bed until you can move and nausea/low-appetite/weakness of my most recent pregnancies. Infact, I think I only puked 10 times total in Everly's pregnancy. That was a regular DAY for me on this one!

(sneaky pictures by Brooks when I couldn't do a THING about it)

 This is where I spent most of my day. Everly would help make the spitting noises and keep flushing while Kellyn would run grab me some "ice-agua" after (which usually would come up soon anyway)

My regular nausea medicine wouldn't even touch it. So Brooks double the dosage and occasionally and only after 2pm would it start helping. Then he got me another medication to switch off with.

I was STILL losing weight like crazy (12 pounds total), so feeble and weak and my body was too dehydrated to really even try to function.

I don't explain this to complain (trust me, I saved my tearful complaints to my sisters), just to document and explain my horrible mom-ness, friend-ness and everything functioning-ness.

Brooks said the usual way to treat and help a mother with HG is IV fluids. I couldn't GO anywhere so Brooks brought some home for me. He started hooking me up with blood going everywhere "because they were different then the ones he was used to". It looked like a murder scene. Then we saw a car pull up so I threw a blue rag over most of the blood.

An older couple from our ward was returning Brooks' car that he had helped Brooks fix. The wife and husband came in and I'm dying with nausea (he put it on too fast of a flow) and the shivers (fluid temperature cooler then my body). Later the husband told Brooks that he thought we were just doing a Halloween prank on them with all the blood. #prankmyHINEY

AFTER the two hours with the iv that night was when Brooks decided to tell me that was his very first time every administering one!!!!!! AHHH!!! He kills me. 

Now that I think about it, the nurses do it at the hospital! Stinker. But he got good at it with the following times I needed the fluids.

Anyway, I guess after the wife saw me word got out through our church that I was pretty sick. (Something Brooks and I hadn't told really anyone except my closest friend) She shows up the next day with chicken soup (the broth was all I ate for DAYS. It was HEAVEN). I told her not to bother since I had freezer cooked dinners for October so my family was covered and Brooks 100% covered the mornings with making breakfasts, packing lunches and getting the kids off to school. But her kind gesture was so sweet....and the few other meals people brought. 

My close friend here has been a life-savor coming and picking up my kids and not returning them until nap time. 

But Everly HAS been so sweet. Never leaving my side and being awfully snuggly!

The older kids would come home from school and each take a room to clean up (the three kids during the day can make QUITE the disasters if you can imagine). Brooks would come home from work, get the dinner on the table, finish the never-ending laundry and get kids to sports/church and then everyone in bed...only to fall in his exhausted every night. Never complaining and with a good attitude. I really have been so lucky to have him with a more open schedule with TIME to do this. This wouldn't have been able to happen any other pregnancy with him in residency before.

Even realizing the blessings of timing and my uber helpful family, it was so hard emotionally, mentally and obviously physically for me. I had to hormonally talk myself into not throwing myself a pity-party and that I WILL survive this and everyone will come out un-scathed and my kids will remember who I was!... and that I won't make a permanent indent in the couch forever. My sweet neighbors (all elderly) had me on the prayer rolls at their churches and my 85 year old neighbor came over one day to help get the babies out of the car for me. He gave me a big hug, said he's been praying which then opened the flood gates. I'm sure this bawling lady in his arms worried him even more. I'm sure Heavenly Father was tired of hearing from me, but I WAS reminded how comforting it is to know my Savior HAS been through all of this for me before and He COULD comfort me.

I realize people have gone through harder things, but this has been the hardest thing for me to personally go through.

So understanding this, you can see why I feel like shouting from the rooftops with happiness now. 

For the past 3 or 4 days I have felt so wonderful. Not 100% by ANY means but a functioning, happy, errand-running person with strength to hold her baby!!!! The past 2 weeks I have haven't even puked (I think my family visiting started the good luck streak)!!! I bet the parking lots are grateful I will no longer be using them for relief anymore! I've gained back 3 of the 12 pounds lost and now only deal with occassional nausea throughout the day. BRING THAT ON!!!!! I will take it! I don't even care that I can't eat dinner still, but I PIG out at lunch now because I CAN!!!! And food TASTES good! And I can EAT whatever I feel like eating instead of only eating stuff if it would taste good coming back up. My teeth are no longer stained with bile-yellow coloring (TMI?), I feel like walking around and clicking my heels in the air and I feel like finally shouting,

"I'M SO SO SO SO EXCITED TO HAVE A 9TH BABY!!!!!"

What a place to have arrived to!! I'm SO grateful for health. I'm SO grateful for my family and I'm SO incredibly grateful to still be carrying this baby that the family has worked so hard for. 

What a feeling of gratitude I have going into Thanksgiving week 

(AND I EVEN PLAN ON EATING THE FOOD!!!!! I can't wait!)