Tip Tuesday: Listen to your body

I know, I know. This should be a no brainer. But for moms, it's not. We often put ourselves (and our health) on the back burner. And we shouldn't. I have to remind myself of the instructions on a airplane. "In case of a lack of cabin pressure, put on YOUR oxygen mask first, and then help others." But I failed to do that.

As you know, I'm involved in politics. And the Iowa Caucus? That's like the Superbowl for us Iowans...and it only comes once every four years. Between moving in November, hosting my six year old's birthday party and Thanksgiving, a house warming party, preparing for Christmas and the caucus, I've been busy...and been having low back pain. But I put it off. "I'll get it checked out after the caucus" I kept telling myself. And being tough, I refused to take anything for it. That was probably a good call on my behalf.

On New Years Eve, an Uncle of mine unexpectedly passed away. They scheduled the funeral for the day after the caucus. On caucus day, we had the Huffington Post follow us around and get the point of view of caucus attendees. You can watch our caucus experience here.

It was a whirlwind day. Interviews, caucus, victory party...and I was named a Washington Post Reader Favorite Top Iowa Political Tweeter (you can follow me on twitter @bowmama, and our blog is also on twitter @mommysrecess). At our caucus location I spoke on behalf of Rick Santorum...in front of about 1200 people and a slew of reporters. Did I mention I had to follow Rick Perry (himself) and Ann Romney (wife of Mitt)? Yeah, no pressure there. All the while, I had to mentally prep myself as I was doing the readings at my Uncle's funeral mass the next day.

Our boys spent the night at Grandma and Grandpas (thankfully) because we didn't get to bed until after 1AM and had to get up at 6AM in order to make it back to the funeral in time.

I made it through the readings without crying, but after I read, I saw my mom crying and, well, you know how it is when your mom cries...you cry. So I cried. At the luncheon after the cemetary, we learned that my great aunt had been in a car accident and was being life-flighted to Omaha. She had two collapsed lungs, broke her C2 and C3, compressed disks, etc etc. The remainder of the week was spent checking in with mom to see how my Great Aunt was doing, and trying to get back into a normal routine.

And then Saturday night happened. My husband worked on Saturday. When he got home, we had dinner. At dinner, I stood up to get a napkin and started bleeding. Heavy. Fast. I raced to the bathroom and even my medic husband was concerned. I called Mercy Nurse and she told me to come in. I explained the back pain and we both thought an ovarian cyst had ruptured (I have a history of cysts). My husband dressed the boys and called his parents. We rushed them over and went to the ER. The nurse took my vitals, asked for a urine sample and took blood. They hooked me up to an IV because I was dizzy from all of the blood I lost. And then it was time for an ultrasound to see where the cyst had ruptured.

But there was no cyst. There was, however, a strong heart beat. And a 7 week 5 day baby inside. Surprise.

The first thing I said? "Holy CRAP! There's a baby in there!" Not the most eloquent thing I've ever said but I was in shock!

My husband and I were both so surprised. And so was the ultrasound tech. And the nurse. And the Doctor. The amount of blood I lost, we had prepped ourselves for the possibility of a miscarriage. But like his/her mom, "Noodle" (what my oldest has nicknamed the baby) is strong.

They did find a bleed and called it a subchorianic hemorrhage. My instructions were to take it easy and monitor the bleeding. I go to the doctor today for a check up.

Long story short? Listen to your body. Had I gone to the Doctor when I had the pain weeks ago, this probably couldn't have been avoided but at least I would have known.

I've had enough drama in 2012 to write a whole Christmas letter. You hear that 2012? No more drama. And I've learned to listen to my body. Don't put your health off. And be sure to put on the oxygen mask first, and then assist others.

Make Monday: Make Time For Yourself--Or End Up In The Hospital

Hey friends! It's been awhile since I posted! One thing I've learned over these last few weeks is that I need to make time for myself.

I had been experiencing pain for some time, but being the "tough mama" that I am, I ignored it until it was just too much to handle. And that's when I admitted I needed to go to the clinic. But I waited until it worked for my husband and my kids' schedule.

I had right flank pain, which made me think kidney stones. But it was worse than kidney stones. I've had them before. I managed to pass one, while pregnant (which meant I didn't take anything for the pain because I didn't want to harm the baby) at work (because I couldn't afford to take time off because I needed to save all of my PTO for the birth). Yes, while pregnant I passed a stone medication free at work. I know I may sound like your typical mother martyr, and I'm not trying to do that by any means, but I want to give you a point of reference on how bad pain has to be for me to inconvenience my husband/children.

The Doctor did a pregnancy test as well as a test for stones. Both were negative. So she gave me some Vicodin for the pain and sent me on my merry way. A week and a half later, I found myself in the ER. I had started my cycle and it was a lot heavier than normal. And A LOT more painful than normal. Again, for me to inconvenience anyone with my pain--it must be a big deal. So I called Mercy Nurse and they told me to go into the ER ASAP. I waited for my husband to return with the preschooler and finished up some work. I had him take me into the ER. They pumped me FULL of pain meds and the Doctor was amazed I was still awake and talking...and still in pain.

After 2 ultrasounds, 1 x-ray and 1 CAT Scan they found a large cyst on my right ovary. They kept me overnight for pain management. We scheduled surgery for Friday to remove the entire right ovary. Tuesday through Friday was a blur of pain, medication and prayer. I was so nervous about the surgery I even visited our Church and Father gave me the Anointing of the Sick. I was kind of freaking out.

My mom came down on Thursday night and we went in on Friday morning at 6AM. I remember trying to talk in the surgery room about the barn, my work and all of the things I do at home. I was trying to fight the overwhelming relaxing feeling coming over me because I HAD to tell the Doctors and Nurses about what I was involved in and HAD to spread the word. I'm a busy mom...I can't sleep! I know when I woke up, I was talking about the barn and CAPE PAC as well.

And I'm pushing myself too much. I know. The day after the surgery I went to our garage sale and had to have people tell me to sit down and not to lift things.

So between work, my volunteer items, taking care of the boys, trying to buy a house and getting our finances in order, taking care of the home...I spread myself a little thin. Now I'm not saying that the cyst is a result of all I do...but if I took time to listen to my body, maybe I would have heard what my body was trying to say and been able to schedule something, rather than having it all on an emergency status.

I'm not one to take time for myself. Even if it is Doctor ordered. But I have to learn from this. If you don't listen to your body and take time for yourself, you will end up in the ER. And that isn't convenient for anyone.

But I'm glad to be back. And I'm so thankful for Emma taking care of Mommy's Recess last week while I was in the hospital/under the influence of LOTS of pain medications.

Mommy does need a recess. Or she will end up in the nurse's office.

Shuffle Saturday: No Sick Days for Mommy

I've been sick the last couple of days. The trouble is, it's not even something "simple" like a cold or the flu. It's a mystery.

I'm not one to complain about pain. I labored for a total of 53 hours (with all three boys-combined) without pain meds. I'm a tough chick. But when I experienced this pain, I couldn't ignore it.

I've also passed kidney stones (both while pregnant and not pregnant) without meds. Told ya I was tough. But this pain is different. It started out with a sharp pain on my lower right back. I wasn't bending, picking anyone up or anything that would be easy to explain. I was sitting on the couch, working on the computer. That was on Tuesday morning.

Being "mom" I managed to take the preschooler to school which means hauling our 20 lb infant in the carrier and our 25 lb toddler into the van, out of the van and up the flight of stairs. Ow. Ever since then, the pain has been constant. I even took a left over percocet that I had from my last c-section to get some sleep. Yeah, it was that bad.

On Wednesday I convinced my husband to take me to the Doctor. Actually, it was my husband who saw how much pain I was in and MADE me go to the Doctor. The Doc thought maybe it was a kidney stone, maybe appendix...but wrote me a script for Vicodin.

That has allowed me to get some rest and I spent most of Friday in bed asleep. I was bummed because I had a meeting about the barn and three houses lined up to take a look at. And we had to cancel it all because after taking a shower, I was exhausted. Which is not like me at all.

That being said, Mom doesn't get a sick day, ever. The laundry was piling up, the carpet was getting crunchy thanks to the toddler walking around with food, the dishes were starting to stack up, Mommy's Recess was being done by Emma...all of my usual chores were being ignored because I wasn't feeling well.

But I am surrounded by those who love and care for me. Emma took care of the Mommy's Recess posting. My husband folded the laundry, did the dishes and even vacuumed!

When Mommy is down, the world seems to stop...hopefully I start feeling better soon. But until then, I'm thankful for the help and support surrounding me.