It's That Time Again...

I waver between telling people the truth when asked how I'm doing or just smiling and saying, "GREAT"! The truth is, I'm not great...but who really wants to hear me channeling my grandma (the lovely lady who raised complaining about ailments and illnesses to an art form)? But.. the sorry truth is I'm still sick and SICK OF IT! I have officially hit the six month mark and STILL no answers. I'm beginning to wonder if my husband, children, and friends are starting to dream of trading me in for a newer model. I know I am. The sleep study was grand-I barely slept. Hard to drift off to dreamland when you're hooked up to 20+ electrodes and have 2 large bands around your abdomen and chest. I did, however, manage to conk out long enough (not till 5 am) for them to discover I have "moderately-severe" sleep apnea. What this means is that I'm looking at a nose job to correct my deviated septum. I meet with a surgeon tomorrow to discuss my "options"-hopefully this means I can do a little perfection along with the correction. After that, my options are a cpap (the lovely Darth Vader like mask) or inserting metal rods in my soft palette. Still deciding. The doctors believe the sleep apnea is contributing to my problems, but not causing them. Today, I met with a nephrologist; nephrologists are "kidney specialists"-I'm so glad to know that. Guess what? More tests...surprising, I know. Along with blood and urine labs, I get to have an MRI. Lucky me. Tomorrow, I have another appointment with my endocrinologist to discuss testing for lupus and metabolic syndrome. So...there you have it folks. Don't feel too sorry for me though because last Wednesday my super sexy husband called me from Vegas and told me he'd arranged for the kids to go to friend's houses and had just bought me a ticket to meet him there. I had two hours to pick kids up from school and pack us all! We had a relaxing (he worked; I slept) couple of days together. There it is...the good, the bad, and the ugly. Enjoy.

Eight is Great...Happy Birthday Samantha Kate!

Happy Birthday my sweet Sammy girl. I can't believe you are already eight years old. Your life has been pure joy for your Dad and I and we love watching you grow up. Eight years ago, we were so excited to welcome a new little spirit into our home. Daddy never wanted to find out if you kids were a boy or a girl before you were born, so since you were our "last" baby-I let him finally have his way. I was so mad at him the day of the ultrasound that I couldn't even speak to him...I wanted to know! My pregnancy with you was a little rough since you were so anxious to join our family, and I was on bedrest for a couple of months before you were born. You arrived 2 1/2 weeks early (like your sister and brothers). After lots of false starts to labor and lots of painful contractions, Dr. Winter finally sent me over to Labor and Delivery when I showed up at his office at a "5". Grandma and Daddy met me there and we were so excited to meet you. The doctors and nurses kept asking me what we were having and we'd reply, "We don't really care...we love our boys and our girl and are just happy to have a new baby!" A couple of hours after checking in, they started the epidural and it didn't work (electric shocks kept shooting down my right leg). Because I wasn't very far along and was handling the pain okay, the anesthesiologist said he would come back in a little bit to try again. Right after, things started moving quickly. I remember turning to Grandma and saying, "I'm really starting to feel this." She grabbed the nurse and the nurse checked me and I was already an eight (she had just checked me minutes before and I was still a 5 1/2). The nurse paged the dr. and the anesthesiologist and meanwhile, I looked at Grandma again and said, "I'm REALLY feeling this!" By the time the dr. came in the room minutes later, I was fully dilated and ready to push. I couldn't believe it...a "5" to a "10" in five minutes...CRAZY! They told me to try not to push right away because they were trying to give me my epidural for the "repair". You were my hardest baby to push out because you were "sunny-side" up. I remember hearing these weird animal-like noises and I turned and asked Daddy between contractions what that sound was. He looked at me like I was a little crazy and said, "Honey, that's you!" After some mighty pushes on my part, and lots of cheering on from the dr.'s and nurses, your sweet little body came into the world. Dr. Winter lifted you right up so we could see if you were a boy or a girl. Daddy and I both started crying and said, "It's a girl!" All the dr.'s and nurses were laughing and teasing saying, "We thought you didn't care!" I guess in our hearts we truly wanted another sweet, precious baby girl in our family. I remember telling the doctor, "she's so pretty!" when he handed you to me. Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Marty showed up soon afterwards and got to hold you. The nurse noticed you were having difficulty breathing and making "grunting" noises. After a quick hug, they whisked you off to the nursery. Daddy left to take care of the other kids and shorlty after, the neonatologist came into my room and said, "You have a very sick baby". I was devastated and went right down the hall to see you. You were having lots of trouble breathing and one of your lungs would not inflate. The most part was not being able to hold you again for five days. Walking out of the hospital without you in my arms was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I knew you were my last baby and I wanted to enjoy every moment of your precious babyness. We were able to bring you home after ten days in the NICU. Since then, you have brought so much light and love into our home. You are always happy and smiling...Grandma says you're just "happy to be Sammy!" We are looking forward to your baptism in a couple of months. We love you more than we can say and you continue to delight us everyday.

Family Ski Trip 09

Ski Memories...Sledding...Building Igloos and Snowmen...Grandma's Cooking...Watching Movies on the Ipod While Driving...Raisin Filled Cookies...Shopping...Mom Not Skiing This Year, but Having Fun Anyway 'Cause She Got To Hang Out With Grandma!..Sammy and Gracie Ski School Buddies...Frelly's Emergency Room Trip...Snake Creek Grill...Skiing with Grandpa and Aunt MoMo...Babysitting Hankalicous...Confessions of a Shopaholic...Baggetts and Forsythes...Seeing our New Baby Cousin for The First Time...BYU Bookstore...Adopting a new Family Member!

Meet Molly!

Meet Molly, the newest member of the Weenig Family. Yes, we are trying the "dog thing" again. The kids are loving her (and so am I). The allergies have been manageable this time-I just can't touch my eyes. On our drive home from Utah, I insisted Matt stop at The Quilted Bear (a craft store) while he went and got gas. When I got back into the car, my whole family was grinning at me...and wouldn't tell me why. Matt stopped the car right in front of the most adorable Yorkshire Terriers and the whole family fell in love. The clincher for me was when Jake said to his siblings, "You guys...this is one of the most memorable days of our lives...like getting baptized or going to the temple." Enough said for me! We picked the larger of the two females with promises from the breeder that she was the calmest dog in the litter. She was an absolute angel on the drive home...not ONE accident! She is the sweetest little puppy girl and we have had so much fun with her. She may just be my favorite souvenier EVER!

How ARE You?

So far today, I've had seven people ask me that question-I guess it's time for an update. The reason I haven't updated on my health in awhile is because there isn't much to tell. No news is good news...right? In the case of an undiagnosed medical condition-not so much. My primary care doctor calls me his mystery patient. By the way...have I ever mentioned his name? No? It's Dr. Payne...isn't that classic? He is actually a fabulous dr. and I like him very much. He has promised me that we will figure this thing out! The good news is that in all my scans (one which rang in at a whopping 13,000-geesh!) showed no signs of tumors. So...if you have positive lab tests for cancer, and symptoms for cancer, but can't find tumors...do you have cancer? My guess would be no, but they won't "officially" let me off the hook yet. Apparently, we have to "remain vigilant"---whatever the hee-haw that means...I'm choosing to put the possibility of cancer behind me. Do you think it will work? Let's hope so. Last week, I met with a sleep specialist. She shoved a scope up my nose all the way down my throat and noticed 3 problems...a severely deviated septum (can I get a free nose job?), almost completely blocked upper nasal passages, and extra tissue in the base of my throat. All of which could contribute to sleep apnea. Next week I have the joy of staying at a dr.'s office overnight hooked up to numerous electrodes while people watch me sleep. Now, I don't know about you, but sleeping is a very private thing in my book. I have trouble sleeping anywhere but my bed (including the car)...and will only share a hotel room with very good friends...if you've seen me sleep, it means I love you-very much. Anyway, if it means I may have some answers or at least start feeling better it will definitely be worth it. They showed me the room I'll be sleeping in and it actually looks like a pretty nice hotel room, so it shouldn't be so bad. So, I am waiting and hoping that my team of doctors (I'm now up to 5!) will figure me out soon! As for now, I'm learning to deal with my new normal. I try to take it easy and build a nap into each day (I know, poor me) and not push myself too much. I actually exercised this morning for the first time in 5 months...granted my "exercise" consisted of two laps around the lake below my house, rather than my previous one hour spin class...oh how I miss you! So...that's me in a nutshell. I promise my next posts will be much more delightful...we just got home from a ski trip and brought back a delightful souveneir...it's a good one!