Apparently I say we have "exciting news" and everyone jumps to conclusions!

Okay, so apparently slipping the phrase "exciting news" into my last mass email raised quite a commotion of speculation amongst all of our friends and family members. I guess it's time to address that "exciting news" with everyone, but before I do, I have to start in the order of how things have happened... so read on if you want to know what the "exciting news" really is...
So last Thursday night I wasn't planning on going anywhere since I was planning to leave early the following morning on a drive up to Rexburg, ID, but at the last minute on Thursday all my plans changed. Spencer had taken our car in earlier that morning to get the oil changed and fix the automatic motor on our passenger window. The mechanics thought it would only take a couple of hours at the most to fix the window and change the oil, but when we hadn't heard back from them by 4pm I started to get a little concerned. Turns out they would have to keep our car overnight cuz they weren't able to get the piece they needed to fix the window in time. They were estimating the car wouldn't be ready until at least 11a.m. Friday morning and this totally threw off all my plans! I was planning on getting to Rexburg by 11a.m. since I only had one day to hang out there with my friend Sheena. Thus said, I had to cancel all my Rexburg plans.
Spencer's mom was going up to Sandy with Megan (my sister in law) to see the Festival of the Trees. She invited me to go earlier with the boys, but I declined her invitation since I thought I was leaving the next morning; but with all my plans suddenly spoiled, I decided to reconstitute the invitation again and go along with them.
I'd never been to the Festival of Trees before- in fact I didn't even know what it was really about. It's a 2 or 3 day event at the end of November/first of December where hundreds of families or organizations donate decorated Christmas trees that are decorated in all sorts of crafty manners. Each tree is auctioned off in a private auction for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars a few days before the exhibition and all the proceeds and money earned from the Festival of Trees goes to Children's Primary Hospital. During the Festival, the public can pay a small entry fee and go look at all the Christmas trees, there's also gingerbread houses on display and there's music and entertainment provided.
Noah liked looking at all the trees as did I. I admit, my eyes started getting a little tired after looking at all the twinkling lights on the Christmas Trees for well over an hour. They were all beautifully decorated though and what is even more touching is that practically every tree that has been donated is donated in somebodies cause. Usually victims of cancer or other terminal illness or accidents- a lot of the victims were children. It was extremely moving to see their pictures besides the trees.
Spencer's sister had a good idea and I really hope that I can see it through for next years Festival of the Tree. She mentioned that our family ought to dedicate and donate a tree on behalf of Holly, Spencer's older sister who passed away when she was 4. She became sick while Spencer's family was serving in Tonga, and overtime, she made it back to Utah where the doctors at Children's Primary Hospital in Salt Lake took care of her. I think it would be a great idea to dedicate a tree in her memory, so if anyone has any clue how to go about donating and participating in this cause would you let me know?
I know that Spencer's family felt blessed for the help doctors at Children's Primary Hospital has given them in the past and I can't even begin to explain the gratitude I have for the facility and the doctors there too. It is such a blessing to live only an hour from the facility, especially in the times where the boys have both had to undergo emergency surgeries or Noah has had to have an MRI or Cat scan done, or meet with the Geneticists or the Neurologist. Each visit we've had there has been pleasant despite the matter of the of the visit and the doctors are fabulous!
I think it was clear which tree was both mine and Noah's favorite. It had to be the giraffe tree. We're a family that loves giraffes!!! This tree was so clever in the way it was decorated! Below is a picture.

Okay, so I didn't get a chance to eat before going to The Festival of Trees, so we all decided to grab something to eat there from the concession stand. After evaluating the menu, I decided probably the safest thing for me to eat was Nachos and Cheese. Yum, Yum. I realized though that Nachos and Cheese isn't at all the safest thing for me to eat concerning my wheat allergy, since sometimes the cheese sauce is made with flour and sometimes it's not; I just have to guess and hope it's not a flour based sauce. Anyhow, I was pretty hungry so I ate my nachos. I always make sure to carry Benadryl and my Epi Pen anywhere I go, so I figured if there was any emergency and a wheat allergy attack I could treat it quickly. Generally if there is any flour in any food I eat, it will make me sick IMMEDIATELY, especially if I'm doing any walking around that could circulate the gluten through my bloodstream faster. I felt fine though after eating my Nachos. Nothing to worry about. Or so I thought.
Later that night, on our way home we stopped at Wendy's to grab a hamburger for Spencer. He ate it on the couch and shared some of it with Noah who thought he needed a bite. Between the two of them, they got little crumbs from the hamburger bun all over the seat cushions of the couch and so I tried my best to wipe them off. I was a little irritated about the crumbs, since I had just finished vacuuming. I joked with Spencer and told him he wasn't doing very well looking out for me- I joked about falling asleep on the couch and accidentally inhaling the bread crumbs. They would certainly lead to my death since I'm severely allergic to wheat. I was really just joking though- like that would ever possibly happen!
After we put the boys to bed that night, I laid down on the couch to see what was on t.v. Like I always do, I fell asleep on the couch and didn't wake up for another 2 hours. Around 11pm, just after waking up, I decided to grab a bowl of vanilla ice cream. I ate what I could, but didn't finish cuz my stomach started to feel cramped and I was getting nauseous.
By about 12:45a.m. I was still feeling sick and my stomach hurt like crazy. I went to bed to try and read a book- reading almost always helps me fall asleep. I didn't even have enough time to find my page I last left off on in my book before I noticed I was suddenly wheezing and breathing was getting more and more difficult. I hurried into our bathroom where I grabbed my Benadryl and I popped a couple of pills. I tried to stay calm, getting excited just worsens my condition, and after about 5 minutes, my airway started to let up some but my stomach was in all sorts of knots. When I have an allergy attack from wheat, it usually results in hives, itching, stomach pains, diarrhea, shaking, head congestion, and my airway starts to close up. I never ever vomit though. This night I started vomiting like crazy. I suppose it could have been a blessing because by vomiting it was keeping my airway open. I should have used my Epi pen, but I didn't think I needed it, and I knew I was having some sort of allergic reaction to something, but what?!!! It had been 6 or 7 hours since I ate my Nachos and Cheese and it couldn't possibly have been caused by inhaling tiny bread crumbs!
After getting a blessing, Spencer took me into the Emergency Room. Lucky for me, we only live a couple of blocks from the hospital. It's a bit frustrating when I'm sick and I barely know what's going on with my body or what's made me sick, and all the nurses and the doctor each ask me to tell them over and over again what is happening. I was loosing my patience in the E.R. trying to explain it to them. What seems like hours later, but really was only maybe 10 minutes later, they had the nurse give me a shot of Epinephrine and another shot of Benadryl and one more shot for the pain. They also hooked me up to an I.V. to hydrate me some since I'd thrown up so much. I was still feeling extremely nauseous and cramping quite a bit, pardon me for adding so much detail, but I was bleeding too. I'd obviously had a wheat allergy attack and I was entering a state of Anaphylactic shock when I was admitted to the E.R. but I was also concerned because I'm expecting, yes that's right, I'm preggers, and I thought with all the cramping, forceful vomiting and bleeding that maybe I was also miscarrying.
My thoughts were in a whirlwind. It took over an hour for my body to recover from the shock it was in. (I actually kinda threw my back out from all the forceful vomiting and major uncontrollable shaking my body had been through). I told the doctor of course that I was concerned about the baby and worried I could be miscarrying. He told me there was nothing they could do for me if I was in fact miscarrying since I was only 11 weeks along. Not very comforting news.
I started to feel better and the benadryl had really made me tired, so when the doctor told me it was my choice to stay any longer or go home, I chose to go home. I preferred the comfort of my bed over the hospital bed.
I woke up the next morning at around 9. Pretty early considering I was in the E.R. until 3:30. I debated over whether or not to call my Obstetrician since the E.R. doctor said there was nothing that could be done for me if I was in fact miscarrying. I decided I should call my doctor and try to get into see him; I felt he needed to know what had happened, especially since I was still bleeding. When I called, my doctors nurses told me to come over to the hospital immediately. I was comforted knowing they seemed a little more concerned about my pregnancy than the E.R. doctor did.
I explained to my doctor what had happened, and afterwards he did an ultrasound to check on the condition of the baby. Fortunately, despite all the trauma my body had been through the night before and even though I was bleeding, the baby was fine. My doctor did order me to stay on bed rest for a few days until and just after the bleeding stopped to make sure nothing worse happened. Bed rest seems like a great excuse to be lazy and get extra sleep in, but I didn't get much of it over the weekend since I have a jumpy 2 year old and a 6 month old who don't understand what "bed rest" means. I did however, refrain from carrying either of the two boys around for the weekend.
My doctor was pretty disappointed with the E.R. doctor since he said he should have preformed an ultrasound there in the E.R. after they took care of my allergy problem. He also said, since my records show my blood type in negative, and since I was bleeding quite a bit that the E.R. doctor should have given me a Rhogam shot. My doctor was pretty relieved I listened to my own instinct and came into see him, otherwise, if I hadn't gotten the Rhogam shot with 72 hours it could have been dangerous to both my health and this babies health and it could also caused long term problems in future pregnancies, possibly resulting in stillbirths. Crazy huh?! Enough said, my doctor told me that he'd report that E.R. doc to the board for failing to treat me correctly. Gotta love the E.R.
Anyhow, so I've gone on and on about this for quite some time now, pretty much I had a terrible night last Thursday night and quite a scare.
I had only told a few people that I was preggers again. I really wanted to keep it a secret until I sent out our Christmas cards. I knew though that I needed to tell my dad about my trip to E.R. since he's worried about my wheat allergy and the severeness of it (he's allergic to wheat flour too). I couldn't tell him just half the story though with out telling him all of it, so on Sunday morning I broke the news to him and my mom. This will be grand kid #18 for them. I asked my parents to keep it a secret for another couple of weeks until I told all the rest of my family and friends, but apparently they didn't hear the part about it being a "secret", cuz the following day my brother called me asking when the baby was due. And now my oldest sister Celeste is asking when I'm expecting too. So much for secrets in my family. So the news is out. Start spreading it!
Back to my hospital trip- my doctor wasn't quite sure why I was bleeding, but he suggested maybe it was just due to the shock and trauma I suffered from my allergy attack- maybe it did affect my pregnancy there for a little bit. I read a couple years ago in Newsweek about how women who have Celiacs Disease or an allergy to wheat somehow inexplicably have more miscarriages and complications in the pregnancy's than normal women do. Celiacs and wheat allergies really are quite complicated and there is quite a bit that doctors and researches don't know about it.