Kemah by mahself

Today I decided we were well enough to go out somewhere and have fun. The weather is scary back in VA; my mom is giving me updates on their constant tornado warnings there..we hope the storms die down soon. There were a few tornados in Texas, but none close to us. But we are in a danger zone as far as hurricanes are concerned...

The weather was beautiful today though so I got us all ready and took the babies to Kemah boardwalk to walk around. I forgot about all the fun things there are to do and see for free there. The babies behaved well, but there were a few seconds where I panicked and couldn't see Lucas behind a slide or something...it's hard not to assume the worst case scenario when you lose sight of your kid for even one second. I was getting whiplash from looking back and forth, since the babies naturally gravitate to the opposite direction. But they behaved well and had fun. No whining. Next time i'll bring swim diapers and towels !

 
 

 

 

Olivia making her "keep-the-snot-out-of-mouth" face...we have gone through so many boxes of tissues!

 

We will probably go back this weekend. John gets his 3 day weekend again. He came back from New Orleans last night and brought us a few gifts. We will probably go there ourselves someday (we drove by it on the way here). He ate a lot of good food and met the LA plant operators he will be working in coordination with while in TX. He seems to be pretty happy with his job, but with all the time off, (and the GI bill) he will most likely go to school and get a degree in something...not sure yet.

Grandpa & Twitter :)

I forgot I had this video from a few months ago. It's one of the most adorable videos! He was reading the paper and this is when he asked me,

"Samantha, what in the devil is twitter?"

And that was hilarious. I honestly have never used twitter so I had to make up what I think it was...I don't think he understood either lol. I said it was a social networking site where people constantly update their status so people know how important they are.

So here's why he asked--enjoy!:

I love you grandpa!

Can your 2 yr old do this?

Lucas Entertains Olivia

Just Babies

John went on a business trip to NOLA for the past few days (will be back tonight). The babies and I are still sick...really hoping we don't get any sinus/ear infections since we still don't have insurance yet. No fevers, just loads of snot and coughing. Thankfully John didn't catch it--we took them to the local park before he left.

They have herons here too, but the great white ones!

They also have alligators, haven't seen any yet, but there are "BE GATOR SAFE"  signs everywhere lol.

And here are some cute pics of the babies bonding this week. :)

Lucas looks like he's so sweet to her huh? Well, he's not most of the time. Very possessive, but he's learning.

Holy Week

We have been celebrating Holy Week, and attending the evening masses, yes, with the babies. It has been difficult, but they did as well as could be expected considering the masses went over 2 hrs long, and they both have a cold. We were going to be going to the Easter vigil tonight, but decided to just go tomorrow during the day, because the babies always get too tired; and therefore, our arms get tired!
    I have their cold now, which they caught from another little girl at church last Sunday...and John leaves on monday for a few days in New Orleans for training. I hope we all get over this cold quickly. They seemed like they needed to get out and do something, and the weather was perfect so we took them swimming for a little while. Yeah, I know not the best idea when they're sick, but they needed and wanted some outdoor activity after their nap.

I really like our new church, St. Bernadette's. When I am able to hear the homily, it's even better :) And the choir is really good, so many pretty harmonies.

~ Happy Easter ~ 

 

Playing Doctor

For the past few months I have been researching info on kidney stones. From time to time I get that flank pain, and it has finally made me involuntarily chug water all day like I should've been. Knowing that I still have stones in both kidneys that threaten to lodge in my ureters at any moment, frustrates me and I want to find an explaination and hopefully, a way to prevent them from forming. I even went to a "nutritionist" last year...who, while she was extremely sweet and knowledgeable about the 'blood type diet', was a waste of my money. I tried to talk to her about a diet specifically to prevent stones and she proceeded to close her eyes, her hands hovering over my back, to tell me my adrenal glands are stressed, as if she were reading my tarot cards or something lol..

Anyway, I happened upon a page about parathyroid dysfunction, http://www.parathyroid.com/ and am curious as to whether or not I could have an overactive parathyroid. Before my military insurance ran out, I requested a dr out here run these blood tests associated with PTH...not thinking he would actually do it. It was pretty uncomfortable when he asked why I wanted these tests, and I had to sound like a crazy annoying patient : "I read this site, and have these symptoms.." But considering my numerous stones, he conceded. He also did a lipid panel and checked my cholesterol...which I knew would be high, but won't go on medication for since it's dangerous during pregnancy and I might get pregnant. I will have to change my diet again. Cut eggs out, use smart balance substitutes etc..

You have 4 parathyroid glands (different from thyroid) in your neck.

I haven't been able to see my results yet, but they did call saying he wanted to discuss them with me in person...which I can't do until John's new job's insurance is active. (Probably another few weeks). But they did tell me over the phone, a few figures. Predictably, my cholesterol is high. I have known this for the past 6 years, and even with exercise, diet and smart balance stuff, my good cholesterol was always too low. Genetics.

Anyway, more importantly my PTH (parathryroid hormone) was a little high--at 76, when the normal range is 10-65. But my blood calcium was normal, which makes it a little more difficult to diagnose. It could be early Hyperparathyroidism, or secondary hyperparathyroidism, or just a fluke. I haven't been able to talk to the doctor, and would prefer seeing a doctor that is familiar with HPTH because not many are. The PTH regulates your calcium so they are directly related.

Anyway, until I get insurance next month, here are some interesting notes that might possibly be connected to HPTH (according to various sites):
*multiple kidney stones (bilateral ranging from 2mm-7mm)
*high urine calcium (311mg/day) (not as useful as blood calcium test)
*high urine CaOx (calcium oxalate 10.55--makes stones...)
*HPTH raises chance of miscarriage by 85%...
*PTH elevated- 76.
*can be associated with spotting/painful periods
*osteoperosis (??who knows)

*high blood pressure (i'm only borderline)

The behavioral factors are arguable..I don't like to rely on feelings to determine illness...unless that feeling is the intense pain of a stone of course :

*loss of energy (doesn't everyone feel that way?)

*can't concentrate (I am a mom though..)

*depression..

*joints hurt (yeah..)

*forgetful

*decrease in sex drive...

*recurrent headaches

*3x more likely in women, but typically >40 yrs old.

*THIS ONE'S WHAT CONVINCED JOHN: "Spouse claims you are more irritable and harder to get along with (cranky, bitchy)." :) True...

Some people don't realize they have the symptoms until after the removal of a tumor when they feel so much better in comparison.
The site was created by Dr.Norman in Tampa and his colleagues. They have only recently found so much new and helpful information regarding PTH. They have become so good at diagnosing it that all they do is operate on people who fly in from all around the country with high calcium or PTH levels. Every patient they have operated on, did in fact have a tumor on their parathyroid gland(s). There is a lot of information on there and they present it in a way that is easy for us non-doctors to comprehend.

I don't know if I even have this, but it would be so nice to have a reason for these stones, and a way to fix it. I will probably be sent to an endocrinologist when I have insurance. Anyone who has any info on this please comment :)

Olivia & I like this

~Seven Years~

Our wedding 4-14-2004

Yesterday was our 7 yr anniversary. This week was also John's first week at his new job. The schedule seems pretty awesome, although they are long shifts. He gets a couple FIVE-day weekends each month. John is going to New Orleans for a few days to train with his coworkers, and then he should be put into shiftwork. We are anxious to see his first paycheck, although we also just got our last Navy check---bittersweet! Anyway, we went to Red Lobster for dinner and all four of us ate well. The babies ate shrimp, fruit, mashed potatoes--and Olivia liked John's crab legs! Then we came home and had the strawberry cake I made.


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