Walking and Crawling

We are now in motion around our house. Jacey can army-crawl anywhere she wants to go and is loving every minute. I made a deal with her when I got hurt. I told her that she could crawl when I could walk. Well, Thursday my PT said that I could walk around the house without crutches. Whoo-hoo!! Needless to say I'm quite sore and tired, but mobile nonetheless! You can see Jacey in action here and here.

Mitch and I hadn't had a free evening together in at least 2 weeks, so yesterday we headed to Amarillo to spend some birthday money. I found a new outfit at the mall and got Mitch's birthday gift as well. Afterwards we tried out a new Japanese restaurant for dinner. Who knew we liked Oriental food so much? Our last stop was Walmart, where we seem to have to visit at least once a week. (And I still forget to get something I needed every time!) I secretly love driving the scooters around Walmart. Jacey enjoys the ride as well. After we walked/scooted around the store 3 times, we decided we had what we came for and went home. Where Jacey and I promptly crashed.

Today is filled with absolutely nothing. Hope everyone can have such a good Saturday!

The lame can walk again...

Well, sort of. I can now put pressure on my knee, and so Wednesday I started to try getting around with just one crutch. Mitch thinks it's the funniest thing he's ever seen, but it works! It's nice to be able to move around the house with Jacey and not have to go through the ordeal of strapping her in the Bjorn. My knee was admittedly sore yesterday, but my physical therapist said that was normal, and as long as I took it easy I wouldn't reinjure anything. Physical therapy is going well. I'm making very slow progress. Very slow. Apparently that is ok, and I will be back to normal eventually.

Jacey woke up Wednesday morning with a slight fever and an upset stomach. I was hoping she was getting her new tooth in, but so far nothing. And since she is feeling better now, I'm guessing it still has a while. Poor thing. She is just about to crawl, and she will imitate you when you say "Da Da." It's very cute. Unfortunately she only says "m" syllables when she's really mad. I'm not sure how to take that...

Mitch and I have a semi-empty weekend, so we're going to enjoy actually seeing each other and just hanging out. Hope everyone has a good weekend as well!

The light at the end...

I had a doctor's visit on Tuesday and I actually heard the words "that looks really good!" Finally! Apparently everything is on track and healing just fine. I got my stitches out (that was not as fun as I'd hoped), got the ok to bend my knee as much as I want, and am now going to physical therapy. Monday I can start putting pressure on my knee as well, and hopefully soon after I can make it around on one crutch. So I am definitely seeing the light at the end of this very long tunnel.

We are also now alone. Mitch's mom headed on home yesterday, and I have to say a big thank-you to her and my mom. We couldn't have managed without either of them. And now I have to stop being lazy and actually do stuff. :) It'll be great though.

Mitch and Jacey are doing well too. He's had a crazy time at work since mid-December, and I really don't expect it to get much better anytime soon. The good thing is that he is still having a blast working with these teens, and I am too. In less than 2 months we'll be headed to Six Flags and Houston to kick off the summer excitements. Jacey has really blossomed in the last few weeks. She is trying so hard to crawl, but hasn't figured out how to get up on her knees yet. It won't be long though. She's eating chicken now, along with Cheerios and just about anything else I will give her. It's truly amazing how much a little person can put down!

Hope everyone else out there is doing well. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Keep 'em coming!

Easter and other things

With all of the other craziness that is going on in our lives, I've forgotten to update everyone on my little girl. She has loved her Grammy being here and spoiling her. She even will reach for her while I'm holding her. Mom just loves it! Jacey has done a ton of new things recently. She's now eating Cheerios and drinking from a sippy cup. She also sits in a high chair at restaurants. She thinks she's pretty cool stuff and has this adorable proud look on her face. Sunday at church she waved bye-bye for the first time. I was the proud one this time! Grammy has been working on "patty-cake" and Jacey now claps all the time trying to do it herself. She has grown so much in a very short time.

Easter was fun, even though Mitch had to be out of town. We dressed Jacey up with a new dress and new shoes, which she loved. After church we were able to go out to eat with Bryan and Susan. That's always a fun adventure, because their son Colton is 1 month older than Jacey. At the end of the meal there were cheerios, toys, crackers, and throw-up all over the floor. Our poor waitress.

I had surgery on Monday, and they were able to save my ACL. I have two wires holding it down on the bone, and my knee is locked in my brace at 30 degrees. Hopefully when I go back in two weeks I'll be able to start moving it, and then putting pressure on it soon after. I will have to go back in to get the wires removed, but that should be no big deal. My doctor said that recovery will be longer this way, but my knee will be stronger after it's healed. I've just decided that God is teaching me patience, because it feels like its taking forever. Luckily I have great family and friends to take care of me!

Here are a few pictures of Easter and Mom's visit:

Jacey's new sun hat

Jacey and Grammy

Her shoes are covered in glitter, and she was enthralled!

Update #2

Sorry it's been awhile. It takes time to make it to the computer, so I often just don't. I had my doctor's visit yesterday, and it turns out that when I do something, I do it well! The diagnosis is that I partially tore my MCL (which will fix itself), have some soft tissue damage, have a bone chip, have a fracture on the outside of my tibia, and my ACL, while still intact, is completely torn off of the bone. The doc said that I almost dislocated my knee. Cool, huh?

Monday at 3 is my surgery. My doc said that he hopes to be able to reattach my ACL to the bone with screws. If he can't, he'll have to reconstruct my ACL with part of my hamstring (from my other leg). Sounds quite scary, but he said he does it every day, and it wasn't a big deal. Obviously I'm just ready for the healing process to begin. I won't be able to walk on my leg for about 2 weeks after the surgery because of the fracture. But after that hopefully I'll be getting back to normal.

The good thing is that I'm not in any pain, other than my arms (from the crutches). My mom is planning to stay until next Thursday or Friday. She's been a big blessing. Mitch is home and has also been really great.

How's everyone else doing?

An Update

Thank you to everyone who has mentioned they're thinking of me. I told Mom a few days ago that you really know if you're liked when you get hurt or sick. So many people have offered help, food, and prayers. It's wonderful.

I went to the doctor on Tuesday. Mitch and I were very impressed with everything they did. We had a ton of questions, and they actually answered them in a kind, understandable way. We felt a lot better. The doc examined my knee, but he couldn't really tell exactly what was messed up. His guess was that I for sure hurt my MCL (on the inside of your leg) my miniscus (the cartilage that cushions your knee), and possibly my ACL. We had the MRI done that evening, but we won't know the results for a few days. He also drained some of the fluid out of my knee (which was totally cool btw), and said that I definitely had more than a sprain. Duh. Worst case scenario is that I fractured my tibia and can't put weight on it for a long time. Best case is that I can put pressure on it (no crutches!) and wear my knee brace around until surgery. Hopefully we'll know something by next Tuesday. They typically don't do surgery for a couple of weeks so that the swelling can go down and they have better visibility while repairing things. I'll keep everyone informed as soon as we know something more.

In the meantime I'm feeling better every day. The crutches have given me some sore muscles, but nothing terrible. I'm ready to be back to normal, but I'm making myself enjoy the down time. And the pampering. Pray for my Mom too, because she's working her tail off. She probably hasn't done this much laundry and cooked this much in a long time. She's wonderful.

Mitch is gearing up to go on the ski retreat this weekend. Hopefully all the kids that are going still want to go, and they will make it safely to Wolf Creek with no problems (like freak blizzards.) Mom and I will probably do a lot of scrapbooking and talking. It'll be fun.

Ski Trip

This weekend Mitch and I went up to Blue Haven to go skiing with his parents. This trip was practice for the ski retreat we have coming up next weekend. We wanted to be sure Jacey would handle everything ok. (She was absolutely wonderful.) The snow was amazing. I have usually had to ski on some ice, but this weekend there was just packed powder. I actually made it the whole morning without falling - a miracle in itself. For the first time I was enjoying myself, not tense or struggling. Then we decided to go to the top of the mountain. On a ski lift.

I hate ski lifts. I always have. It's so hard to get on and off of them. And this lift had my number. As we reached the very top of the mountain, my skis got tangled up somehow and I twisted my knee. As a result I ended up going down the mountain with the ski patrol (it would've been more fun if I weren't hurt) and heading to a local clinic. At the clinic they took X-rays and apparently I pulled my MCL so hard it chipped the bone. They couldn't tell what else had happened, but gave me a semi-cast and told me to call a doctor on Monday.

Results of my injury:
I cannot walk w/o crutches, take a shower without my husband helping, change my clothes, or carry or pick up Jacey (this includes putting her in bed from my rocker, which is maybe 5 feet away from the crib).
My mom came as soon as she could and has now done 3 loads of laundry, washed the dishes, run the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen, changed her sheets, made dinner, and given Jacey a bath. She got here about 6 hours ago.
I have to stay on the couch while everyone gets me anything I want.

Some positives, some negatives. We go to the doctor tomorrow hopefully, and then I'll know for sure what needs to happen. I know I'll need surgery, but I don't know how extensive. I'm concerned about my ability to continue nursing, so prayers for that would be appreciated. I'm in less pain today, which I hope is a good sign. I don't even need m prescripton pain meds, just good ole advil. Your prayers for me this week would be appreciated. :)

And for everyone who is wondering, Mitch is a very excellent nurse.