Our (Neurodiverse) Family

The Friday before I was induced, I went in for my twice-weekly NST. I had my blood drawn a few days before to check my Bile Acid and Liver Function a few days before and I asked the nurse who did my NST if she could check on that. She found my test results, and my BA level was 45--five points above "severe". This was with me being medicated. I was rushed into an appointment with one of the midwives--she consulted with two of the OBs and it was decided that we would still go forward with the plan to induce the following Wednesday. On Labor Day, I found out that I was #5 on the hospital's induction call list. Somehow the next day, I moved up to the #2 slot so I woke up extra early (not that I slept much the night before anyway, because I had THE WORST itching that night) to wait for the call. At 7:30, my phone rang and the nurse said that my induction was scheduled for 9 a.m. So, we got Kate out of bed, loaded up the car, took her to my mother-in-law's house...

I'm too much of a perfectionist about doing just run of the mill family updates like other blogs, so here's just a general update on family life. Stephan was released as the ward clerk last week after serving in that calling since August. Yeah, it was a short tenure, but honestly it was welcome news. It was great when he was out of work because he didn't feel completely useless, but after he started his new job with longer hours and commute, it was just making everything crazy. He is now the ward technology specialist which is basically perfect for him and we are enjoying having Daddy around more, especially on Sundays! Of course, we had a lot of people asking (before he got his new calling) if we were moving closer to his job because of our ward's transient nature.  Truth be told, we were seriously looking into moving closer to his job because of our one-car situation, but everything we found was either in a great location but had ridiculously high rent or had ...

Honestly, if I had been updating more regularly the last few months, there may have been a lot of gnashing of teeth. While I do like to keep things real, I think that would have been too much. Plus, I was having major writer's block and a serious lack of motivation. Things are finally looking up now--Stephan has a job offer with a company that does government accounting software. The pay is good, as are the benefits. The only downside is that it isn't nearly as close as his old job was, so we're going to be taking turns with the car until we (a) move closer to his job or (b) get a second car. That's the short version of this story. If you want to hear about the roller coaster we were on for the last few months, read on. Stephan started getting ready for the job hunt very soon after he got laid off. We had some friends help him with his resume, and it paid off because he got a lot  of interviews over the next few months. It wasn't until we were nearing the end ...

Thank you everyone for reading and sharing my last post! It means so much to me and our efforts are paying off! I was interviewed to be on Good4Utah and hopefully my segment will air tonight either at six or ten p.m. Check me out then! Well, mostly check out the Kate footage because she's so darn cute. She actually cooperated for the most part during the interview, thank goodness. 

Update: I was contacted by Good4Utah and they interviewed me on 5/27 for their show. Stay tuned for more info :) I am frustrated. So, you know how I'm organizing an event for ICP Awareness Day here in Utah? Well, I have been writing to media outlets (newspapers, news channels, etc.) to tell them about my event and asking if they can do a story on Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (symptoms, risks, treatment, etc.) to help spread awareness. Now, if you don't know what ICP is, it's a liver disorder where bile production is slowed down and stopped, causing bile salts to form, which causes severe itching. Other symptoms include: upper right quadrant pain, fatigue, jaundice, dark urine, pale stools, etc. It can cause premature labor, fetal distress, meconium passage, maternal hemmhoraging, and stillbirth. You would think that the media here in Utah would snatch on to this story, considering how we are pretty much the birthing capitol of the United Stat...

I am not pregnant, but it's related! You know that liver disorder I got when I was pregnant with Kate? The one that my mom, grandma, and aunt had too? It's official name is Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy, but mostly we call it ICP (no, not Insane Clown Posse) or cholestasis. The main symptom is intense itching (believe me, that's an understatement) and can cause things like premature labor, fetal distress, meconium passage, maternal hemorrhaging, and stillbirth. Not much is known about it, other than it runs in families and is bad news, and there are still health care providers who don't know much about it. If you're friends with me on facebook, you have probably seen me post about it constantly and you're tired of me posting it.  But speaking of facebook, there's a group of us--it's called ICP Care/Itchy Moms. ICP Awareness Day is coming up next month (June 10, to be exact) and I have been asked to organize an event for ICP Awareness ...