Welcome to our world!

What an AMAZING week! Tuesday morning my friend Amy came and picked me up to take me to the doctor for my post surgical check up. Then at 12:30 she picked me up to take me to Lori's house for a play date. All the mom's with kids and then there's me! lol While we were there we were joking about the fact that Tuesday was a full moon and we've always heard that pregnant women go into labor on the night of the full moon. Amy being 38 weeks and 2 days seemed to be the perfect candidate! Of course we laughed it off because she was feeling pretty good and wasn't due until June 1st. At 2 o'clock Amy went into her check up and to her surprise, she was in LABOR!!! As good as she felt she was 4cm dilated and by the time she left up to 5! I got a call from Derek around 3:30 and although I shouldn't have been driving, I sucked it up and headed to the hospital. That night, along with Amy, I experienced the most amazing thing in my life! I was able to stand next to her with 3 other girls and the doctor and help her as she delivered a beautiful baby boy! I guess I should explain now why there were 4 of her friends in the delivery room instead of her husband. Being a part of the Navy sometimes your husband is out to sea for important milestones and unfortunately for Mike and Amy, that's where he is. He left the day before his baby boy was born. But what a privilege to stand next to her and witness not only the miracle of life, but the strength of a friend. She was amazing!! So, welcome to the world James Walter "Walt" Carter!!

Stats: 7lbs. 9 ounces 20 and 3/4 inches long. Not that I can tell, but all of the girls are saying he looks just like his daddy. He's such a pleasant baby. The first night he barely cried and when he did all it took was a touch from his mommy to make him settle down.

I'm so excited for Amy and Mike and so privileged as well. All of the girls that were in the room with Amy have been dubbed "Aunt"! What an awesome feeling to be a part of a life from the very beginning! Welcome to our world Walt! It's going to be a great life you lead! I hope that you grow to understand just how wonderful and strong you mommy truly is!!

Thrilled about life (again)

It's been a little while since my last post, but today is an appropriate day for my latest.

I can't tell you how excited I am about everything that is going on in my life right now. Today has been a good day full of steps forward. First step forward, achieving another dream. My first big dream that was fulfilled was in 2005 when I was able to tour around the world with a singing group. Now the dream that I'm pursuing is recording! I'm a little overwhelmed with it all because I never realized how expensive it would be. But I'm excited because I've come in contact with an awesome christian man that's going to talk me through it all. My friend Amanda and I have decided that this is what's next for us since we're unable to sing together anymore. We're trying to get my brother-in-law (the most amazing drummer I know) to get involved. He'll be an awesome asset because of his music experience and his artsy awesomeness! :) Hopefully he'll jump aboard too. Anyhow, I can't wait to really get into this process, its thrilling really!

Second step forward, our small group. We just started a new study tonight and I'm so excited about it. We're reading the book by Elizabeth George called A Woman After God's Own Heart and tonight, our first discussion, went great! We have issued a challenge to each other to memorize scripture, and also increase our prayer life. I, like many people, love a good challenge, so I'm more likely to hold to these things as a challenge from my friends. Anyhow, I just thought you should all know that God is moving and I can't wait to see where He's going!!

almost over

My new blog layout is AMAZING! Thank you Rita! I do love it indeed! :)

Sometimes Rita gets bored at work so if you want her to pimp your blog just let her know! haha

Anyhow, I'm feeling pretty good tonight. Derek and I went to church and it was a good break from the couch. Like I said, I love our Wednesday night class. We're doing a study called Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti and it's really bringing the 2 of us closer together. I'm not saying that everyone should do a study with a group with their husband, but I definitely think that it would be awesome to at least read something and discuss it together. Its been such a blessing to our marriage, early as it is, new as it is, I feel like we're doing awesome things.

My mom will be here to continue helping Derek take care of me until Friday. I talked to my therapist yesterday and she said it would be good to have someone continue to stay with me into next week so Derek's mom is going to take the opportunity to come out for a visit next week. I'm nervous, but also excited about the chance to continue bonding with her. Things are definitely getting better with my leg, but I still hurt and haven't been able to put weight on it yet. I'm nervous but also looking forward to getting into my physical therapy. I know that this is the end of this, going on 6 month, fiasco and that makes me anxious for the end!

My Bad.

This is Rita, who is customizing Mendy's blog. I accidentally deleted all of her links from the "blog roll" on the side. My bad.

Leave a comment with your blog address or something so we can add it back on.

Kodak Moment

So this is me wishing that I had taken a picture of my knee to post here! Ha ha! I mean, I still could but it's definitely not as gross as it was 2 days ago!

I'm feeling better today, not perfect, but better. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that my amazing friends came over and had dinner with us last night! My mom has been absolutely incredible since she's been here (not that she isn't always). Last night she made dinner for Derek and I and about 12 of our friends and their children. Not only was the food delicious, but it was awesome to have company along with it. We played a bit of guitar hero where I watched Jill's husband Jon in amazement...it's ridiculous how good that guy is! Eventually everyone went home and our night went back to normal with watching American Idol and Dancing with the stars. It was kind of perfect timing because my pain killers were really making me tired. It was such a fun night though, especially since I've been in the house since Friday and the only places I've gone are the Dr. and PT.

Anyhow, tonight we're going to try to make it to church. Derek and I are really enjoying our Wednesday night class and we LOVE our leaders there, so it's important to us to not miss tonight! Hopefully I'll be okay, and I don't have too much pain, but we'll see!

Sorry, I'm losing focus so I'll update more later!

Oh yeah

and I forgot to mention the fact that my nose ring hole closed up today! I had to take the ring out for surgery and by the time I tried to put it back in, there was no hole...


I'm getting it redone as long as I can...and I'll do it on the other side if I have to!! I really liked that thing!!

Recovering

So today has been the absolute most intense day I may have ever had. So much emotion, fear, and exhaustion. After I finally went to sleep at about 3 am, I got back up at 6 to be at the hospital by 7. My surgery was supposed to start at 8:10 but I didn't get to the OR until about 9:45. That wasn't that big of a deal though because it gave me a chance to really lean on Derek for comfort and learn once again just how much he loves me! (Sidenote, I have the most amazing husband in the WORLD!) They gave me about 4 different medications in my IV (which hurt so bad going in!) that were supposed to relax me. Unfortunately they had the opposite effect on me. Right after they gave me the meds I told Derek he could head on to the waiting room, assuming I was going back soon, I was wrong. As soon as he left I started feeling overwhelmed and completely depressed. The nurse called Derek back for me and when he came back I eventually settled down. I cuddled with his hand on my shoulder and napped a bit until it was time to go. The most fuzzy part of the day was just before going into the OR, but one thing I remember very vividly was one of the nurses referring to me to everyone as a "nervous nelly". lol The anesthesiologist said it was because I didn't get enough of the "don't care" meds, and gave me more. Shortly thereafter I breathed in gas 1.5 times and I was OUT! It was the best sleep I think I've had in my life. Post OP was a blur, but surprisingly enough I was completely aware of everything going on once I was awake. Yeah, I was still tired as all get out, but I was aware and I'm pretty sure I'll remember it all tomorrow.

All in all the operation went well. They found out that my meniscus wasn't torn, but my knee cap was out of place. So they cut a ligament and put my knee cap where it should be, and now recovery is the mountain I'm climbing. It's 9:30 at night and I'm officially hurting more than I have all day. It sucks, but I know it will be worth it.

Derek is taking amazingly good care of me, and my mom will be here tomorrow to help him so he can study for his test on Monday and not worry about leaving me. I just can't wait for the pain to let up some and I know that things will be fine. Keep praying for my recovery process! That would be awesome!

sleepless night

So here it is, going on 2 in the morning, Friday morning, and I haven't slept yet. I'm figuring its not that big of a deal because they're just going to want me back asleep when I get to the hospital, right? Oh man, I really wish I was asleep though, I'm not diggin' this unrest at all. then again, from what I've heard sleep is all I'm going to do after I get home tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll be okay.

Okay, that's all, I just wanted to share the fact that I quite obviously can't sleep. So yeah, talk to you later!!