DEADLINE: Join in Secret Santa, Starts Sunday

Since I am standing in as TCIE's secretary, she had an idea of secret prayer santa! :) hehehehe This is totally her idea, but I will be helping her organize it since she is busy wanding vagina's! :)

Here is the deal: Each blogger will be assigned a blogger (secretly), and pray for them all during Advent (which starts Sunday). (This is only for bloggers with blogs, in the end I think we want to know who we are praying for and not totally passing out our address to a complete stranger, if that makes any sense.)

Then on the 4th Sunday of Advent, send them a little something in the mail, nothing huge, but maybe something we handmade, or a special prayer card to the Saint we took on for them, etc. etc. (The gift doesn't have to be bought if you have something already you would want to send, there are no restrictions but stay within $5-$10 etc...)This prayer will be whatever prayer you want to pray for them....There are no restrictions....

If you want to join in I need your comments by Saturday, to be able to get this organized by Sunday. (I might be a little late, but we can make up for it) :)

I need from you your mailing address. Since this is silent and if we put our prayer requests out there I wouldn't want anyone to figure you out. So hold those prayer intentions silently. :)

Stop staring and start emailing me your address to get you locked in! :) Let me know your questions and I will comment back to you in the comment section. I hope I covered it all. :)

Another Adoption Contact??!

One of my old roommates that I had when I was a flight attendant and a good friend of mine called me out of the blue today.

We don't get a lot of time to talk and we talk about every 6 months or so. She called me today to tell me that her good friend, whose parents owned the restaurant I used to work at, and lived with momentarily back in the day, son is pregnant and she is 5 months along and they are looking to place the baby up for adoption!!!!! She called to ask if we were interested!!!!

I almost crapped my pants! We weren't able to talk long because she was on her break at work so I texted the heck out of her after we got off the phone.

You realize that I would have been 23 weeks pregnant with Hannah Grace right now and my due date was in March and this baby is due in March if I count correctly.

Oh my gosh, this is crazy! Uggg, why couldn't she have talked longer. My stalker side wants to get the phone book and call the lady whose son is pregnant and talk to her! :)

I just told my DH and he said you got a call like that out of the blue. hahahaha Yes, dear and we need to get home study approved now and it will cost a grand or so. :)

This is something that I never thought would happen to us. That is 2 adoption possibilities in 3 weeks. Something is going on and I need to get prepared.

Wow, this is so crazy! My heart is about to pound out of my chest! I can barely concentrate on anything!! I can't even believe this! It's okay whatever the outcome. It is okay.

Lord, I'm at Your mercy but don't play games! It's time to get moving! hahaha

New Transmission???

I just called to check on my car since this is day 2 without a car.

I called today and he said it's still back there, I think we are going to have to put a new transmission in it! I thought really! This would be all covered under warranty!

I ran some errands on Wednesday and it felt like the transmission was slipping. So I had to take it back in. I can't even believe it. It has about 36,200 miles on it. If I get a new transmission we will have that car forever!!! Paid off in a few years forever! I would love to not have a car payment and have a reliable car.

I drive a "big" car for a barren woman. Only because I wanted to make sure I was prepared in the event I started popping out kids. Well, now I know that I'm secure for the next several years, in case God wants to grow my family anytime soon. Like triplets and stuff! :) I could rack em and stack em'!! Maybe this is a sign! hahahaha Just kidding!

So Day 3 on the diet and things are going great. I stopped taking my fiber supplements yesterday to see how things shake loose and there is no pain! I did eat eggs and felt some mild cramping so I wonder if that is not good for me. Since the cramping is gone I'm gonna try again. They are deviled eggs and I love them!

This crazy lady whom I haven't met yet, but we have talked on the phone is on her way to pick me up and we are going to hang out at Sam's club!!! :) How exciting!!! This is why I love my blog!!!! Just another one of Beautiful Day's friends that I'm stealing! I already love this one to pieces and I have a few more under my belt! ;)

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Salt Free, Preservative Free, Fat Free

Uggg! I started my what sounds to be disgusting diet yesterday! It wasn't too bad, though I kind of had a mild headache and brain fog. I did loose 1.5 pounds which is yummy! You don't really eat anything that packs fat, it is more fuel for the body, or at least that is how it feels. I drop the pounds quick on this diet. Which is good but I loose all of the swelling and bloat which is my main goal. Instead of saying "diet" I just say GF, DF, SF, PF, FF and if you can think of anything else to add go for it. That is how it feels!

I should be 5-6 pounds down by next Wednesday! hahaha! Woo-Hoo!! Don't worry I have gained 10 pounds over my hover weight. I'm on my way to NO swelling, bloat and possibly no abdominal pain! I might be a skeleton soon! Just kidding, I'm not doing all fat free because I love fat and think it is super important. But I am cutting it out in the intro. Hopefully bowel healing is on its way.

The most wonderful thing and I know this is TMI, but I was relieved after I went to the bathroom this morning. My bowels are working so well right now and that is only after one full day. I can't remember the last time I felt "relief" so much that I was surprised by the feeling. I like immediate results so we shall see.....And I don't have any cramping which is odd, but I'm not going to get super excited! But my intestines are not cramping. !!!!!!!

While I was making my DH lunch today I packed him some frit.os. You would have thought I was binging!! I chewed them in my mouth and then spit them out! hahahaha I just didn't want to feel pain, so I figured I still got the taste without the digestion. I'm the worst at diets. But this time around I need the healing.

I just know this is going to work out, leading me to believe that I have food sensitivities. And that I might need to look more into anti-inflammatory type of foods etc... Hopefully, I will get tested for food sensitivities in Januaryish. :) Thanks for listening to me as I try to sort all of this out. If you have given me advice, I promise it doesn't fall on deaf ear. It just takes me awhile to get all of it together. :) JB a NP looks better and better everyday. :)

Now the hard part is trying to work around Christmas! ;) I told my "other" mother in law that I had some food restrictions and I would love to make some side dishes. She immediately said you don't need to loose weight. I thought no my intestines just try to cramp out of my belly button. That's all, nothing major. Trying to explain bowel issues to someone who doesn't have them is like explaining infertility to fertiles. :) It will be interesting to see what happens when I roll up with a cooler of food. Lord help me as I try to live a pain free life.

I have never cooked a holiday meal. :( I know, so sad! Not really, but I really want to cook one. I think it would be so much fun. The only family we have local is our Priest and since I know he likes to eat, I will test out my skills on him! Pray for me! I hope I don't poison him and my husband!

I will leave you with one of the recipes that are in the 6 Da.y Bo.dy Ma.ke Ove.r By Mich.eal. Thur.mond. (Yes, it's an infomercial diet, but I'm using it as a guide.) :)

Colorful Ca.bba.ge Slaw

4 c shredded green cabbage
3 c shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup of apple cider
5 packages of splen.da (I used organic sugar since I'm trying to stay away from artificial sweetners. I read it can cause bowel issues.)
1 t freshly ground black pepper

Mix cider, sugar and pepper. Toss with other ingredients. Stays in the fridge for about 3 days! It's better when it has time to sit for a few hours.

If you use the full heads of cabbage it will double this recipe. It makes ALOT!

Spastic Colon!

It has been 6 weeks since I saw my GI doctor which was a godsend. He originally gave me a drug that slows down the intestine and that takes away the abdominal pain. Which is fantastic! Oh I love it, but I don't use it unless necessary, which is maybe 4 times in the past 6 weeks, but probably could have benefitted form it every day. I don't want to become addicted and he told me I wouldn't, I don't believe him. :) I might not get addicted but my bowel will. ??

So today my main complaint is abdominal pain and bloating. I'm so tired of being bloated. He prescribed a low dose medicine that treated depression. He said I don't think you are depressed but this drug helps with bloating. It is such a low dose that it wouldn't help even if I was depressed! hahaha! I'm not going to fill it at this time. Apparently the side effects are dry mouth and if woken too early hangover type feeling. Thanks, but no thanks!

I'm thinking why does he keep throwing drugs at me. ??? Why can't we figure out why my colon wigs out and fix it. It was either from my surgery or an infection that never healed. The bowel sees food as something that isn't normal, even though it is normal. I feel that because every time after I eat I have cramping and when I'm not eating I'm still cramping. :) So damned if I do damned if I don't. I just want the bloating and pain to go away.

I have to heal this freaking bowel and I might not be able too, especially if it was a reaction to my surgery. But then who knows how long I have had it. ???

I'm going to try to eat 5 small meals, lots of veggies & protein. That seemed to do the trick the last time, just hard to follow. Fat kills my stomach. When I fried chicken wings in lard and had coconut oil on my carrots, I thought my intestines were going to cramp out of me, it was painful. I know it will be worth it, I just have to get in the swing of things and get moving. Relief should be coming in the next few days. I'm going to sit down and watch some tv while I plan my meals.

I'm thinking my waist line could handle some restrictions since I just downed 3 oatmeal cream pies. They didn't even taste all that great, but I decided to starve myself this morning and binged on the quickest thing that would fill me up. ;) Don't worry, I'm paying for it already! :(

Today is CD 18 and FINALLY I PEAKED. It felt like forever! Splotchy mucus, but oh well. At least I'm thinking this was peak day but from the small amount of non existent mucus, it changed. We were way to lazy to do our thing yesterday. Not really upset by it either. Going to take the HCG 2,4,6,8 so I don't have to worry about it over Thanksgiving.

Me and my spastic colon thank you for reading this boring post.

9 Martinis!!

That pretty much sums up my night! We drank our dinner and blew through $200! WTH? This is why we don't go out, it's so expensive. At least going out "Sew" style is expensive! :) I think it was the short dress!

We got lucky and the church was right across the street from our hotel room. We could see it from our window! The church was gorgeous, the Priest was theatrical. hahaha! He came from behind the podium to give his sermon and though it felt wierd, it was a very Catholic sermon! It was really, really good. He spoke highly of confession and I thought that was awesome because we just don't hear how important it is for our spiritual life. Loved it! He also spoke about fear and how we are not to be fearful or worry about anything. The only thing to fear is fear itself! He even said can I get an Amen Father! We were all like AMEN FATHER!!! :)

I lit a candle for all of us and I thought that the picture without the flash turned out perfectly. I like how symbolic it is to our situation. :)

We got off to a slow start, hung out at a bar where the martinis were horrible, I chugged two! :) Then we hit Be.ale St. and danced with some Elvis impersonators and ate bar food because we weren't starving for dinner. (DH nicknamed Elvis ballsackamus! hahaha, crude I know, but so funny)

I'm paying for it today. I'm in so much pain it isn't even funny. But before we left the bar I had to go to the bathroom to check my mucus!! :) I was surprised to see a small amount of 10KL!!!!! Imagine drunk little me squealing in the bar stall because I saw fertile CM!!! I walked out of there on cloud 9!

Then we head back to the P.eabody for a "night" cap (we saw baby.face!!). The martinis there were out of this world! So I decided to have 3 more! This was the go.diva chocolate one! It was so yummy!



Then we headed back to the hotel and I was LIVE! I was ready to party and I walked into that bar like I owned it and we had ANOTHER night cap! What a freaking mess. My husband talking to some guy from England and he was raving about alligator tale and I thought you don't eat green beans! Then somehow we found our room! What are we 20! It felt like it and it was a TON of fun! We had a great time celebrating 4 years! I would do it again but I have to recover from this night. :)

I can't believe I'm alive and well right now! I for sure thought I was going to be dead to the world today. But after Mrs.Wi.nners, Starbu.cks and BBQ today, I'm alive! No wonder why I'm in so much pain in my poor intestines!!! It hurts so badly! Wearing pants is killing me and we have a church function to go to in an hour and all I want to do is lay on the couch! I don't care if I never eat again.

Endo Surgery Anniversary!

Really, I'm just doing this because I want you to say Happy Anniversary again! :) But HERE I was this day today and even though it is 3 days past the actual date, it's more specific. It wasn't a 12 hour surgery, but I was gone from my DH from 830 in the morning until 830pm. Yes, he waited in the waiting room for 12 hours and didn't leave. Poor guy, 5 hours away from home.

I was in so much pain I wouldn't let him leave my side either. He had to leave to get more clothes and I called every 5 minutes. :) I made him search the end of Atlanta, Ga for diet sprite and I don't even think they have diet sprite. I was so drugged up and to think I was still able to feel pain with the dilaudid pump. Pain I don't ever want to feel again. :) Okay enough about pain, but damn it hurt! But a day or two later, I felt so free on the inside, I remember telling the surgeon I feel like I could run a marathon. It was the greatest most freeing feeling!

Okay, so last night DH got home and I was in the tub (thanks venty for the suggestion) trying to ease my headache. ARGH! I have a problem remember to take things for my headaches because only up until recently I have been able to take meds to get them to go away. They never used to go away with meds before with endo. I kid you not, I think it was mainly due to hormones because I don't get nearly as many as I used to. So it finally went away and today we are good to go! So he made me grilled cheese and we watched tv. Perfect! :)

Tomorrow we are head downtown to act 20 again! I'm so excited for our anniversary celebration! I wasn't able to get my hair done, but oh well it will be dark. Who cares! :) I doubt the focus will be on my face anyway considering the dress I got is sinfully short! :) But it's for my DH and I don't care, I'm working it! :) These baby bearing hips have to be good for something!! hahahaha

So here is my mucus pattern if you are ever so interested. It's odd and I shouldn't have taken a break from the amoxicillian, but I just didn't want to be a slave to it. I ordered my HCG today, I think I'm going to wait a few days to take it though.

CD09: Dry
CD10: Dry
CD11: 10KL x 2 BD
CD12: Dry
CD13: Dry (Left abdominal pain) BD
CD14: 10KL this morning (not seminal fluid)

Whatever is all I have to say! :)

Have a great day! I'm sure I will post again soon! :) hahahah!