Ariel Jemima
But now let me address why I was absent for such a long time. Obviously I've never been good at posting weekly, life happens you know. But I do realize I've never been MIA for THIS LONG! I had all the intentions to keep you updated on our adventures in Germany, what I did to the house we're renting to make it a home, the sewing projects, the crafts, Isaiah's progress with treatments, etc. But then it all came differently than I expected. Well, for one my pregnancy was pretty hard on me. I started with mini stroke like migraines that often left me unable to do anything. And with my husband gone TDY quite often, this became harder and harder. I was tired 95% of the time, throughout the entire pregnancy, physically in pain every single day. The one thing that helped a little was Isaiah starting preschool. At least a few hours in the morning I was able to rest if I needed to. But his behavior started to become an issue and dealing with meltdowns while pregnant can be a challenge. Physically and emotionally.
However, not only the pregnancy was rough. Joseph was pulled from one TDY because it collided with my due date so he could be there for the birth. I was considered high risk because of Isaiah so I went for checks bi-weekly. At 39 weeks Joseph and I went for my last check. Since I had lots of amniotic fluid and high blood pressure I was scheduled to be induced the next morning and supposed to get admitted the same night. Everything went well, "beautiful" contractions. Is there such a thing? I was sure it would go just as quickly as Isaiah, if not even quicker. Oh how wrong I was!!! With every push she went up instead of down, she kept turning herself to the side, much like Isaiah but somehow wouldn't go through the birth canal. After several attempts it became clear we had to do an urgent C-section. She was born 21 April, weighing 6.5 pounds. She was healthy and beautiful with a head full of dark hair, just like her siblings. But I had lost quite a bit of blood, which made my hemoglobin drop to 5. They said it was truly a miracle I had not passed out. I needed two blood transfusions to get some color back in me and my hemoglobin up. After 4 days we were sent home and I was put on an iron supplement and told not to lift a finger. Y'all know me, that's pretty hard for me. A few weeks after I had recovered Joseph was sent TDY again. All while Isaiah had a 3 month summer break!!! I think I gained another 50 gray hairs. Without his class routine the meltdowns were back and in full swing. With a newborn and Isaiah I had little time for anything. Isaiah went back to school this month so I have 2 1/2 hours to get stuff done, if Ariel works with me that is. So get ready for more posts from now on.
Love,
Mimi
