October 4

Today’s appointments ended up lasting a lot longer than I expected! We were at the hospital from 11:30am to 4pm! Grandma accompanied Lorelei and I and even without a nap, Lolo did very well! The first stop was for an ultrasound at fetal assessment. They spent almost an hour looking at the baby and were happy to see that he didn’t have any heart rate accelerations during the exam. He was also moving quite a bit, which is a good indication, since sometimes these babies are so sick and lethargic that they don’t move. The also showed me the placenta, and although it is low lying, they don’t consider it to be a big risk, and it has lots of time to move out of danger zone completely – so that is a relief. I got to see quite a bit of the little guy throughout the day and even got a picture finally! After the ultrasound, they sent me for an EKG and then to see a pediatric cardiologist at the variety children’s heart center. The cardiologist seemed happy to report that she didn’t see any structural defects to the heart and although she wants to keep a close eye on me and baby, she consulted with the doctors at fetal assessment and they decided to keep me on the low dose of this medication and see if they continue to see improvements. The fluid could take weeks to resolve they say, but right now its just a day at a time, with daily ultrasounds and EKGs until at least the end of the week. From there, I don’t even know what’s next! If they can get the heart rate regulated I will likely remain on this medication until the baby is born. I think those are most of the highlights of the day…I’m almost ready to leave for today’s appointment, so its time to get moving again…thanks again for all the support and prayers!

And now for October

It’s October already, and I guess September wasn’t the only month of challenges for our family, because even though its only the 3^rd, its shaping up to be a very interesting month. During my routine prenatal exam in September(yes, I’m pregnant, for those of you that missed the big news…due the first week of February) my doctor noted the fetus was demonstrating an abnormal heart rate, actually the heart was speeding up and slowing down a lot. I talked to her about the possibility of being exposed to Fifth disease (human parvovirus B19) because it can cause anemia in the baby which can lead to other problems. So, she sent me for blood work to establish the status of my immunity to the disease and put in a note to try and get my ultrasound moved up, since it was still 3 weeks away. Immediately following my appointment, I went to the lab, and the next day the ultrasound department called and rescheduled my appointment for 2 weeks earlier. I am so thankful that all these things happened at the time that they did, in light of what we’ve found since then. Fast forward to Thursday, September 30, 2010 – Trevor and Lorelei accompanied me to my ultrasound appointment. It started off well, there was a new tech who was very personable and easy to get along with, much better than my two previous experiences with the ultrasound department! She didn’t even make me change into a terrible hospital gown, she just said, “I’ll make this easy, just lift your shirt and we’ll make it work”. She did the scan, and just as she was finishing, the radiologist stuck his head in the door just to tell her he was going for coffee, and she asked him to come take a look. This is when I started to get a little nervous. He then asked me twice…within a few minutes, if my husband was here with me…which made me a little more nervous… He sent the tech out to get Trevor and proceeded to explain his concerns. The baby has edema on the head and the abdomen, as well as fluid within the abdominal cavity. He also noted that the placenta is attached very low in the uterus, possibly covering the cervix. Both things were rather concerning to him, and he said he would be referring me for further testing to a hospital in Winnipeg. Of course its all rather scary at this point, but its hardly sinking in, and we left with a lot on our minds. The next day I spoke to my doctor, who told me my blood work had come back negative for any fifth disease exposure (meaning I am still susceptible to it, should I come in contact with an infected person…not so good). She also said she had an appointment for me to see a specialist in the Fetal Assessment Unit at Women’s Hospital in Winnipeg on Sunday morning…today…

A major show of support from our family made it possible for Trevor and I to spend the night in Winnipeg rather than leaving early in the morning, and Lorelei stayed in the care of my Brother in law and Sister in law. We were able to enjoy a nice dinner together and try to relax for the evening, although with so many unanswered questions buzzing around in my head and being in a different bed, I sure didn’t sleep well. We left the hotel with plenty of time to spare, and stopped for a quick splurge(but of course unhealthy) breakfast at McDonalds and even after registering, we were still 25 minutes early for the appointment.

Just as I was thinking, we better settle in for a long wait, the doctor walked in and just like that we were in business, there wasn’t as single other soul in that wing of the building since they don’t routinely schedule weekend appointments, however this doctor, as my regular doctor put it, is a bit of a workaholic. I suppose this is the time to be thankful for a workaholic doctor! After about 25 minutes of ultrasound exam on two machines, and a brief wait when he left the room, he sat down to discuss the situation. I was please to hear him say that he knew what was going on with the baby (as sure as anyone can be, aside from God himself!). He said the baby is experiencing paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia – meaning that the heart will randomly experience episodes of extremely fast beating, and then in between these episodes, the heart is tired, and can’t keep up with the demand, which causes fluid to “leak” into the tissues outside the veins which is known as edema (fluid build up in the skin) and ascities(fluid build up in the abdomen). In the specialist’s words, “this baby is very sick at the moment”. He also said, however, they have approximately 70% success rate in treating these cases. The treatment involves medicating me with a drug that decreases/regulates the heart rate, which in turn, crosses the placenta and works on the baby as well. There are risks involved of course, the risk that it could affect me more than it affects the baby, or that the drug they have chosen to try first may not work on the baby in the way it is expected, but for now we’re just taking it one step at a time. I have to go back to Winnipeg for an EKG to make sure my heart can handle this drug, and to monitor the baby further tomorrow morning, and I’ll try to keep this blog updated as we go, rather than having to tell every individual person the updates. Please pray for peace and strength for us as we go through the trials ahead, for healing for the baby and skill for the doctors as they attend to our case.

Thank you so much for the support that each person around us has offered and for your prayers.

Welll...

Well, that last post started off with good intentions of being a bit of a serial story…but as usual in my life, things got in the way. I guess I can tell you more horsey stories, but I’ll also tell you what else has been going on in my life to keep me busy and away from everything else, even horsey things!

The last post was written in mid August, there were many days of riding weather, some of which I took advantage of. Riata and I had some wonderful rides and some that weren’t so wonderful, but I felt like we had come a long way! The last few days of August and first few days of September we were able to have a nice visit with my little brother. He came on his way to Idaho on an extended road trip. He spent 5 days with us. Those five days were busy, Rob helped me make cucumber relish and ginger cookies. He went with me to town and watched Lolo during my eye appointment, helped purchase a mattress for Lolo’s “big girl bed”, kept me company and helped watch Lolo during the farmers market and even made supper for us on the night I was working! We also managed to squeeze in 3 games of scrabble! It was a good visit- hope we don’t have to wait 18 months until the next visit!

The last day that Rob was here, Lorelei started getting sick…turns out we all got sick (even Rob)…Lorelei probably had it the least seriously, but had a rash, fever, etc. I really don’t know what it was, but I’m almost certain it wasn’t Fifth Disease, even though that was going around the daycare – because I was sick right after, and my blood work shows that I have never been exposed to it(keep reading if you want to know WHY I know that).

Lorelei was off for a few days, and then I was feeling poorly as she recovered, and while I was recovering, Trevor got sick. He said he started feeling off on the Friday before the long weekend. By Monday evening he felt pretty good, and planned to go back to work the next day. Tuesday morning however, he woke up vomiting like crazy, it lasted all day, so he didn’t make it to work that day…or the next…but by Thursday morning he thought he was doing better, he was able to eat and besides a bad headache, things weren’t too bad. After lunch on Thursday I put Lolo down for a nap, and had planned to leave her with Trevor while I went to the farmers market later in the afternoon. He came down after having a nap (as I was getting ready to leave) and he was sobbing…I mean really crying and carrying on and completely out of character. It was really scary, and that’s when I knew I needed to take him to the hospital. I called my sister-in-law and made arrangements to drop off Lorelei on our way to the hospital, and away we went.

Long story short, they diagnosed him with meningitis, however, until the 48 hour cultures came back, he was put into strict isolation, in case it was bacterial. Thankfully the tests came back negative and it was diagnosed as being viral (the less serious of the two types of meningitis). They never did put a name to the virus, but it seemed to hit Trevor quite hard, and it has been a long journey of recovery. After 72 hours in the hospital, he came home and recovered for another 10 days at home before returning to work short days. After 3.5 weeks, he still gets worn out quickly and hasn’t been able to work more than a 6 hour day.

Between caring for Trevor and Lorelei, trying to keep on with working 2 days a week and trying to run the household/farm/garden myself, I was very worn out. I’ve been very blessed to have family here to support us and friends and family praying for us continually. We’ve made it through, and hopefully Trevor will be able to work normally this week finally! God has indeed shown that He works in mysterious ways. We’ve both had our faith and patience tested through this trial, and I believe we’ve come out stronger on the other side. I’m very thankful that God saw fit to spare my husband from more serious or longer lasting illness and am more aware of the blessing that each day I spend with him really is, than I had been before! I thought September was a tough month…

Horsey Life

Some of you may have already read this...but I haven't posted on here for a long time, so here's my sorry excuse for a post...no pictures yet....

-Preamble-

My poor neglected mare, Riata, finally got some attention this year. I bought her as a yearling in 2007 and watched her grow with dreams of what I'd do with her someday. In the spring of 2008 I started working with her in the round pen, handling her and teaching her to lunge. I had hoped and planned to put a few rides on her that spring and then turn her out to grow until her 3 year old year. It was about the time I wanted to try riding her when I found out I was pregnant....I decided against pursuing that any further and decided that the next year was plenty soon to ride her. The spring of 2009 found me with a sweet little baby girl in my arms, and big garden dreams, hardly any time to work with a horse and with the new found responsibilities of parenthood, I could hardly bring myself to do something that seemed as risky as riding a young horse. Compounded by my lack of confidence in my abilities to do the job well, I put off starting her again. That fall, my good friend Melinda mentioned that she would be interested in getting back into training horses again and would be interested in starting Riata for me. Fast forward to June of this year, and Riata took the trailer ride North to the White Ranch. Now, just because Riata wasn't worked with much, it doesn't mean there aren't stories to tell of those two intervening years. Things like an argument with the back end of a trailer that resulted in a vet bill and some scars and a tangle with some page wire that resulted in the same.... She had also learned some bad habits and was very stubborn about somethings. It was very much the right choice for me to send my round pen and my mare to Melinda, her confidence and experience made all the difference in the world, and to this day, Riata is a different horse around her, just because she knows how well Melinda knows her! I have to admit, I've had to overcome some fears in this process, and I have learned a lot thanks to Melinda!

Riata started boot camp around the second week of June I believe and by the middle of July, Melinda said it was my turn to come have a few rides on her. I didn't feel too nervous that first day, but I think I must have been, by the way she reacted and the way my muscles all hurt the next day... After Melinda lunged and rode her a bit, she had me mount and lunged her some more just so I could get a feel for her. Then came time for me to go on my own...it sure is a different feeling to have a well tuned but young and inexperienced horse underneath you compared to the rather hastily/sloppily trained horses I have oft ridden in the past. I was rather surprised at how responsive she was, and definitely learned where my riding deficiencies are! After a lesson in the hot sun, both Riata and I were ready for a soak down with cold water and a nice drink....she's the only one who got sprayed down with a hose though...I opted for a few minutes rest in the air conditioned house with a glass of ice water before I drove home. A few days later I was back for a trail ride. We took Riata and another young horse that Melinda was training and went 2 miles down the gravel road before coming back. I was much more relaxed this time and my muscles weren't nearly as sore :) About a week later, we stopped by the White Ranch again and Trevor had a lesson/ride on Riata so that he would understand the way she was being trained as well, since he'd likely need to ride her sometimes too. After I came back from vacation at the beginning of August, we brought her home.

-Part 1- The first solo ride

It was Friday evening, the 13th of August. I put Lorelei to bed and Trevor and I went out to ride the horses. I saddled up Riata using his saddle (since we decided it fit me better than my own saddle did) and he tacked up his black gelding Guthrie in my saddle. We kept it pretty simple, after lunging Riata I mounted and we rode in the small pasture adjoining the barnyard, mostly walking and trotting circles. We did some loping, but the dew had fallen on the grass and it was somewhat slippery, especially since the area we were riding isn't as wide as I'd like it to be and the corners we were turning were fairly sharp. It went fairly well, although I was somewhat nervous. I had almost relaxed when Riata decided during one of our loping circles that she ought to jump over the approaching thistle rather than run through it...that startled me a bit...and...besides, it was getting dark...we didn't ride much longer. The total ride was probably about 25 minutes.

-Part 2- The first trail ride

Sunday afternoon was cool and very windy, but since Trevor was home to keep an eye on the sleeping baby, I decided to take Riata out for a spin. After the usual warm-up procedures (lunging and flexing), we set out to the East down the little used road allowance. Sneef, my good dog, felt it her duty to accompany me on this journey. Riata was on edge, looking at everything and turning from side to side with each step, like a drunken sailor! Guthrie was calling from the corral, and although she didn't answer, I soon discovered that was where she wanted to go. It took some urging and persistence to keep her facing East. I tried to keep her mind off her surroundings by picking up speed, but she was not to be easily fooled. I wasn't sure what played the biggest role in her reluctance, her desire to return home, riding with the wind(an animals instinct is always to go into the wind whenever possible), or just the strange surroundings. It took 3/4 of a mile before she would move straight ahead and keep going at the speed I asked, and she still looked sideways at every little washout in the road and tried to side step into the canola and wheat on each side of the road. Once we got going, it was quite a nice ride. We loped the first half mile towards home and I think I finally figured out the trick to keeping my butt in the saddle during her springy lope...gotta let that pelvis rock :-D The only difficulty we had on the ride home was trying to keep my hat as we rode into the stiff West wind. We loped and trotted and finally walked the last little bit into the yard. Trevor took her out for about another mile and a half after I rode her, so she got well exercised that day!

-Part 3- Ride #3

Tonight I knew I needed to get out and ride Riata, but I got somewhat distracted by my reconnection to the internet after having been disconnected for a week. I finally got outside at 8:45 by the time I got Riata tacked up and sprayed down with fly spray...lunged her...changed the stirrups on the saddle (I finally eliminated the silly monkey toe tapederos that poked her in the ribs every time I got on or off) It was pretty dark. So, instead of going down the road as I had planned, I just locked Guthrie in the back part of the corral and rode Riata in the corral/pasture near the yard light. She was very edgy when I first mounted, and I almost got off right away because I was scared....but I couldn't get her to stand still...so the only way out was to ride out her jitters. Who can blame her, even your own pen looks kinda scary in the shadows of twilight... It turned out pretty well, but it wasn't a long ride because there's only so much you can do in a corral that size that has a manure pile in the middle.... about 20 minutes or so later I was done...a good experience for both of us I think!