Just keep going

To update:  I have another doctor and I took the glucose test again.  I failed.  A week later I took the three hour glucose test.  I got the results a few days ago.   I passed but just barely.  I do not have gestational diabetes.  I do have a sluggish metabolism.  I have been ordered to stay away from sugar for the time being.  For any of you who knows my husband that is easier said than done.  I have been experiment with ways to consume food without all the sugar or things that break down into those same sugars.  That may be the hardest part.  Almost everything has one sort of carbohydrates or another.  I am relatively safe with proteins and fats.  However, meats aren't all that big on my list when pregnant.  Don't get me started on fats.  I thought I would be safe with vegetables.  Apparently not.  They have substantially less but they still have them.  I can eat three servings of vegetables to every one serving of fruits, dairy, or grains.  The grains are the hardest to stay away from.  Breads, pasta, crackers etc. are some of my main foods while pregnant.  They are simple, fast, and filling.   I have struggled with this and it has only been a few days.   I am trying to learn to substitute crackers and breads as a snack with nuts.  I love nuts but I can see that I could easily overdo it and come to hate the sight of them. 
So that is life for me for now.  I just have to keep telling myself that I will do anything to keep this baby happy and healthy for the next two months.  I know two months is nothing when it comes to the big picture.  Even in pregnancy two months is nothing.  Except for the last two months.  Every pregnancy I've had the last two months seem to drag.  When I got the results and realized I had to slightly modify my eating habits for the next two months I wanted to cry.  Wanted to cry because two months seems like forever away and cry with relief that I do not yet have to do this for the rest of my life.  More incentive to up my exercising (as if I needed more) routine when this baby is here.  Okay, as soon as I can after the baby is here.
I have always been able to feel empathy for situations others have been in.  Here is Heavenly Father giving me one more chance to improve upon it some more.  I know we are each given trials for a reason.  I just pray that I will learn my lesson before this situation becomes something more.

Is life conspiring against me?

I'm not sure where to start.  I just know I need to get things out before I explode.  Since I am pregnant that would not be my preferred result.   Let me see if I can get this all down without it being a rambling mess. 
1 - I thought life would be easier with one dog.  In some ways it is.  We go through less food and there is less number two to clean up in the yard.  Also, the kids have been better about making sure that they give the dog attention.  However, the other dogs helped in the entertainment department a whole lot better.  Within the first week of our becoming a one dog family we learned something rather disturbing about our dog.  She is a klepto.  She will grab onto something and haul it off outside to chew it to death.  How did we find out?  That is a rather interesting story.  We had some friends over for dinner.  Afterward we cleared the table to play games.  At one point the baby woke up and our friend started looking around to find a pacifier.  She couldn't find it.  We helped her look but it was still missing in action.  So rather than delaying for a little while the baby demanded to be fed.  When the feeding was over again the mother was looking around but this time for the burp cloth.  We all looked but could not find it.  So she used the blanket instead.  Then she laid the baby out on the blanket on the table so she could watch over and play with her while we played a game.  At one point she noticed that the baby started to slide off the table.  Our dog had taken hold of the blanket and pulled.  I got her to let go and I ushered her to the dog door.  As I was trying to lock the dog door I noticed a fabric like object on the deck.  I stepped outside and there on the deck was the burp cloth.  I took it in, gave it back, turned on our yard light and headed back our to see if the binky was out there.  I still haven't found it but I did find her nursing cover.  So I have literally become a babysitter to our dog.  If she isn't outside, locked in her kennel, or with someone else I basically have to watch over her to keep her in line.  It is exhausting.  It has helped to have the dog door taken out so she can't just escape into the yard with anything.
2 - March is our big month for birthdays.  Three of our four (and soon to be five) kids have birthdays this month.  Les and I sat down over a month ago and determined which weekend would work best for us to have our annual combined birthday party.  The date was set and the theme determined.  Knowing that our finances are on the tight side I decide I was going to hand make as much of the party stuff as I could.  I immediately went to work making the invitations.  I had to work out a few kinks like how do I print it off so that the inside looks the way it should (you know not upside down).  I made photo frames for each guest to have a picture of them taken with a birthday girl.  Oh and saying that reminds me that I forgot to say that we decided to have two parties.  One friend party where they got to invite four friends each and then a family party.  After all the family drama (that put on more stress for sure) maybe we can stick with just a friends party next year.  On top of all that I planned the menus for both parties and prepared as much of it as I could.  The friend party consisted of games, watching a strawberry shortcake movie, and a tea party with finger sandwiches, fruit, and cherry 7- up.  Oh and let's not forget cupcakes!   The family party was supposed to be simpler.  More fruit, salads, and everything else that goes with BBQ.  I learned how to make Italian Sponge cake to make Strawberry Shortcake. 
3 - I got the flu.  On Sunday my back and bum were starting to hurt.  I had a hard time sitting through church.  Shortly after starting dinner I felt really off.  I leaned over to Les and told him I was either going to throw up or pass out.  He ordered me to lay down.  Within a hour I had full body chills.  That is when I knew I was in trouble.  The body aches got worse.  They were to the point that I was uncomfortable no matter what position I was in.  Les set up a bed for me in front of our fireplace.  All night I moved and moved and moved some more.  I hurt so bad that by 3 in the morning I gave up trying to sleep.  I just tried to endure the night.  I still had to get up in the morning and take Sammi to school.  I was so tired and I hurt so much.  I'm sure my family cringed everyone they had to cross my path.  Finally, Les was able to take over and I soaked in a hot tub.  Oh it felt wonderful to have most of the pain melt away even if temporarily.  The pain was relieved enough that the Tylenol was finally able to do something.  After the soak I laid in bed willing myself to sleep.  If only it had worked.   At that point I was too tired to sleep.  So that instead I tried to rest.  Rest my body, rest my mind, rest my eyes. It would have worked better if not for all the people calling about scouting concerns.  I felt much better by the time I got out of bed.  Tired but not as hurt.  I made it through the day and collapsed into my bed that night.  Sleep finally came.  It wasn't the best quality sleep but it was better than nothing.  Here is to a speedy recovery.
4 - This is the straw that broke the camel's back.  Last week I failed my initial glucose test.  I went in this morning to start the three hour test.  Everything seemed to be going well. I hurried in to have my blood drawn and drink more of the drink an hour later.  They told me I was too late.  Apparently, their clock and my clock are off by ten minutes.  I was told I would have to come back another day and start from scratch.  I had been under so much stress that I walked out of there vowing I would not come back to do the test.  I called Les and cried like a baby.  I told him what had happened and that I wasn't going to do the test at all.  He tried calling the Dr and left messages.  The Dr ended up calling me and told me either I do the test or I find another Dr.  How compassionate!  So now Les and I are comptemplating getting a new doctor.  I think had he been the least bit concerned about my feelings as opposed to his concern over his feeling I might have been persuaded to go back for the test and keep him as a Dr.   For now there is no way on earth I could be persuaded to go back to him.  Les and I are going to find a new Dr for me and the little guy inside.  I feel so bad for my baby.  With everything that has been going on I have put him through too much.  He has been affected by all the stress I've felt.  He has been affected by the flu I have.  I say enough is enough.  I'm not going to do it anymore.
I must say I feel a lot better after getting that off my chest.

My dear, sweet, genius husband

This last week has been a true trial. The first part I already talked about. For an update Emma is doing great. No sign of a fever anymore. She has rebounded nicely. I have to admit brain damage did cross my mind. However, she doesn't seem to have regressed. I am so grateful for that.
As for the rest of the week . . . isn't the saying that when it rains it pours. It has been pouring here. Les' motherboard is going bad, my hard drive (not yet 3 months old) died, and something else is wrong with my computer.
The genius part comes in when Les was able to salvage the majority of my pictures. He was able to take my last hard drive and resurrect almost all the information that was ever on it. He also used Picasa to bring even more pics back. The sad part was that I was slowly fixing imperfections in the pictures so that I could burn them to a DVD. If I had worked harder and faster I wouldn't have lost some of the pictures that I did lose.
As for the other stuff Les has been looking for a new computer. If a new motherboard didn't cost as much as new computer I think he would have gone that route. As it is his laptop keeps shutting down on him. Which is the same thing that mine has started to do. Les thinks my motherboard is going bad as well but he isn't sure yet. It wouldn't be so bad if Les didn't need his computer for work and I didn't need mine for my computer class. We will make do for now. Les' boss let him bring home a desktop to use. I don't think he was counting on my using it too. However, since I need a computer to put my adobe programs on so I can finish my final project it looks like I will be using it more than Les.
So here is to my wonderful husband . . . I love you so much and I want you to know that I think you are the most talented person in the world. Thank you.

Power of the Priesthood

The last few days have been quite the trial. Monday night Emma had a temperature of 104 degrees. We gave her some Tylenol and put her in the bathtub to cool her down. The Tylenol helped for about half an hour and then her temp started climbing again. So we took her into the ER. If it hadn't been midnight we would have called Daniel to help give her a blessing. We should have anyway. Emma screamed the entire time they were trying to get a reading for her O2 level. She was upset because she did not want that horrible thing taped to her toe. She worked so hard to get to it. Then when I din't think she (or I) could take much more they took her to get a chest x-ray. She screamed even harder when they strapped her in with her hands above her head. Les would describe it as Emma in a bottle. I had to wait out in the hall while the did it. I don't know if it was the hormones or that I am her mother but I cried a lot while we were there.
When we got back to the ER the nurses came in with a catheter to get a urine sample. I had this internal battle. I hate to hold my child down for anything (I myself can't stand to be held down against my will) but at the same time knowing that if she isn't held still, more pain could be caused. All the crying wore Emma out and after the nurses left us alone so fell asleep. An hour later the Doctor came in to tell us the results. Everything looked fine. We were told she probably had a virus and that the only thing we could do is give her Tylenol/Motrin to keep the fever down while her body worked things out. Great, we waste a few hours in the ER just to go home and do the same things we had already tried.
We were all exhausted when we got home so we wrapped Emma up and placed her in our bed beween us. Every hour or so she would wake up crying and reach out for me. I comforted her as much as I could until she fell back asleep. Around 5 she woke up and couldn't be comforted. We gave her more Tylenol (her temp was back up to 103) and when it kicked in we could tell a difference. She actually smiled and was more like herself. I went to make some breakfast and while I was cooking she took her Elmo book that makes sounds and would dance around the kitchen. My heart felt so much joy to see her acting better. Les and I decided that she should have a priesthood blessing. Les had used the last of his oil when Kailey was sick so we called around to see who had some. Jana said she would hurry and warm some up so Les could refill his vile. Daniel was already at work so we were going to see if he would come out to the parking lot to help give the blessing. Les didn't want to bother him so when our old home teacher called back to say he had found his oil Les asked him if he would help give Emma the blessing. So we went to their house and a beautiful blessing was given. I can't tell you how Emma felt but I immediately had peace flow into my heart. Les dropped me off at school on his way back home. I was so tired that I didn't get much done at school. Les came to get me and took me home. I emailed the teacher of my afternoon class to let him know why I wasn't coming in. I was so grateful to be home where I could take care of my little girl. Off and on through the day she would run around and be so playful. Then when her energy wore out she would take a little nap.
I can testify that the Priesthood is powerful and that it is a great blessing in my life. I am grateful for a husband who is worthy to have the Priesthood and to use it to bless the lives of our family. Emma's blessing has come to pass. In it she was told that she would know that she is loved and that although she would be uncomfortable for a little while she would get better. She is better. Her temp hasn't completely gone away but it has not spiked back up to those horrible high temperatures. Little by little I see her body healing and getting back to that healthy state.
I would like to send a great big thank you to everyone who prayed on Emma's behalf. It means so much to our little family to know that we have so much support. We love you all.