not in the plans.

gallstones. they were most definitely not in our plans for this pregnancy and are some pretty unwanted guests. the past two weeks have been SO long; full of lots of pain, crying, frustration, praying, and begging. what a whirlwind!

at the beginning of this pregnancy i was having some weird chest pains, the dr's all attributed it to indigestion and i half heartily agreed b/c yes, i do get major heart burn. it wasn't until more recently that the "indigestion" started to get out of control that i basically freaked out at my dr saying "i'm NOT ok!"

sure enough, after ultrasounds & specialists...gallstones it is. i feel like an 80 year old man saying that, in my head i thought only elderly people got them. (sorry mom, you were the one exception in my mind.) supposedly increased estrogen in pregnancy can bring them on...sigh.

for some reason i can "do" childbirth but these gallbladder attacks have just been a mind game. so much pain with no reward. for now the plan is being stuck in the middle...at least thats how i feel. if it was earlier on in my pregnancy they'd be able to do surgery but i'm much too big (the dr kindly said, "you're just SO big") that they wouldn't be able to do it laparoscopically which would throw me into premature labor or i wouldn't be healed enough in weeks to physically have a baby. sometime after baby is born we'll do surgery...that will be something to look forward to, not! (and yep, i just pulled the 1990's not!)

so....we're praying HARD for decreased gallbladder attacks. praying that this isn't an issue during labor. makes my heart so heavy....i don't want this to sound as a pitiful me post b/c its not...right now its about having a healthy baby. (with being comfortable till then) and, we are SO thankful...if gallstones are our biggest worry then life must not be too bad, there is so much heartache in the world, this is just one of those "things!"

in one way this has been (seriously!) one of the hardest weeks but i've also been humbled and brought to tears multiple times with people lifting me/us up in prayer. friends near & far, family, my mom's bible study gals, so many people. vance has been my knight in shining armour, saving the day countless times...he's basically done every chore, taken care of the boys, & taken care of me for the past week!

31 weeks. we can do it! my arms can't wait to hold the sweet baby we've seen on ultrasounds and really, it wasn't until this week that i've actually realized i'm pregnant. we can't wait, we're so ready (well, nothing has been done) to meet you little baby!

...keep the prayers coming!!

xoxo