Thursday, February 26, 2009
Baby Belly at 18 weeks
Well I had to go back into the hospital again last week. I took it pretty hard given I had thought I was done with hospital visits and was feeling better the week before I had to go back in. Oh well. During this time the Lord really spoke to me. He sent someone I would have never imagined to minister to me about her pregnancy experience. It was so nice to know that someone else had been through what I was going through, made it out alive, and had beautiful babies (notice the plural) to show for it all. God also started really showing me the true meaning of the phrase "My grace is sufficient for you". He also really pressed on my heart the truth of His statement "My power is perfected is your weakness". If there was ever a time I was weak physically, mentally, and spiritually, this was it. He is taking this time to perfect His power in and through me and I felt blessed! I left the hospital feeling revived both physically and spiritually! I also left the hospital with a baby bump I did not have upon entering the hospital!!! Here is the picture of my baby bump at 18.5 weeks!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Where Have I Been the Last 5 Months?????
Holy cow.... I can't believe it has been 5 months since I posted anything!!!!! I bet the few people that were checking this blog have probably given up hope by now, but I will post anyway. The last five months have been INSANE for Tim and me!!! Everything was going great until Thanksgiving, and then our lives changed dramatically. Over Thanksgiving we went to Magnolia to visit Tim's family. The first night we were there I fell asleep on the couch around 8pm, then dragged myself upstairs to bathe and go to bed because I woke of feeling sick :( The next day was pretty normal. We did all of the usual Thanksgiving things: eat, sleep, eat, sleep, etc. We got up the next morning and drove to Brenham to spend the rest of the time off with my family. Friday night I started feeling pretty sick again and curled up on the recliner praying for relief. My dad gave me some Tums and I went to sleep...... no big deal.... I woke up feeling fine the next morning so I blew it off.
Monday rolls around and I decide I should call my Dr. because I was 2 weeks late for my period... now to anyone else that would be a big deal.... but my period had been coming late for months so I figured this month was no different. I called and set up an appt to talk with the Dr about fertility options since they thought we would have a difficult time getting pregnant given my history of irregular cycles and not ovulating (sorry if this is TMI!). Our friend Gretchen from our church down south happens to be a nurse practitioner for the OBGYN I see so I called her to set up the appt. She told me to take a pregnancy test the next morning just to confirm what we all thought we knew... which was that I wasn't pregnant and just didn't ovulate again that month.
Tuesday morning......... alarm goes off at 6am, I hit the snooze till 6:30. Tim gets up and jumps in the shower. I drag myself into the bathroom and remember "oh yeah, I guess I should do the darn test". I pee on the stick, put the cap on, and toss it on top of the toilet while I continue to get ready for work. A couple minutes later I return to the bathroom, pick up the stick.............. and almost passed out. There were 2 pink lines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I run to the shower glass door and slap the stick up against the glass and said "we are pregnant"! Tim didn't believe me at first... one line was fainter than the other (it happened to be the control line). I called Gretchen and she made an appt for first thing that morning. We get to the Dr office, go in to the ultrasound room, and for the first time we see our precious little baby.... all .2cm of it! We spent the rest of the day in a state of shock!!!
Fast forward to today........ I am 14.5 weeks pregnant and the random evening sickness I had over Thanksgiving has turned into 24/7 sickness. I have lost 15 lbs since that Tuesday in the Drs office 8 weeks ago, spent two overnight trips to the hospital, took 1 trip to the ER, installed a Zofran pump in my stomach, and spent countless days bedridden. I cried, begged, got angry, got depressed.... you name it and I have felt it. But then last week..... I saw my little baby's face.... I saw its nose, its ten tiny fingers, its little legs kicking on my uterus, its little mouth opening and closing as if to say "mamma". It was a baby!!!! Not just a globular parasite that was sucking the very life out of me, but a baby, MY BABY, TIM's BABY... it was a miracle to say the least! And as I lay here in bed typing this, because I just got out of the hospital and am too weak to go back to work right now, I cling to those images of our baby and hold fast to the idea that eventually I will be able to hold that baby in my arms and tell her that it was worth every bit of what I have gone through!
Thank you everyone who has been keeping me in their thoughts and prayers. I praise the Lord for you!!! Keep it up because I still have a long way to go!
Monday rolls around and I decide I should call my Dr. because I was 2 weeks late for my period... now to anyone else that would be a big deal.... but my period had been coming late for months so I figured this month was no different. I called and set up an appt to talk with the Dr about fertility options since they thought we would have a difficult time getting pregnant given my history of irregular cycles and not ovulating (sorry if this is TMI!). Our friend Gretchen from our church down south happens to be a nurse practitioner for the OBGYN I see so I called her to set up the appt. She told me to take a pregnancy test the next morning just to confirm what we all thought we knew... which was that I wasn't pregnant and just didn't ovulate again that month.
Tuesday morning......... alarm goes off at 6am, I hit the snooze till 6:30. Tim gets up and jumps in the shower. I drag myself into the bathroom and remember "oh yeah, I guess I should do the darn test". I pee on the stick, put the cap on, and toss it on top of the toilet while I continue to get ready for work. A couple minutes later I return to the bathroom, pick up the stick.............. and almost passed out. There were 2 pink lines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I run to the shower glass door and slap the stick up against the glass and said "we are pregnant"! Tim didn't believe me at first... one line was fainter than the other (it happened to be the control line). I called Gretchen and she made an appt for first thing that morning. We get to the Dr office, go in to the ultrasound room, and for the first time we see our precious little baby.... all .2cm of it! We spent the rest of the day in a state of shock!!!
Fast forward to today........ I am 14.5 weeks pregnant and the random evening sickness I had over Thanksgiving has turned into 24/7 sickness. I have lost 15 lbs since that Tuesday in the Drs office 8 weeks ago, spent two overnight trips to the hospital, took 1 trip to the ER, installed a Zofran pump in my stomach, and spent countless days bedridden. I cried, begged, got angry, got depressed.... you name it and I have felt it. But then last week..... I saw my little baby's face.... I saw its nose, its ten tiny fingers, its little legs kicking on my uterus, its little mouth opening and closing as if to say "mamma". It was a baby!!!! Not just a globular parasite that was sucking the very life out of me, but a baby, MY BABY, TIM's BABY... it was a miracle to say the least! And as I lay here in bed typing this, because I just got out of the hospital and am too weak to go back to work right now, I cling to those images of our baby and hold fast to the idea that eventually I will be able to hold that baby in my arms and tell her that it was worth every bit of what I have gone through!
Thank you everyone who has been keeping me in their thoughts and prayers. I praise the Lord for you!!! Keep it up because I still have a long way to go!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Bet You Can't Watch Just One
The Olympics are killing me... well, not quite... but making me lose a ton of sleep! I normally like to be in bed by 10:00-10:30 on work nights. I have a really hard time functioning on less than 8 hours of sleep! Well since my birthday (8/8), which happens to be the day the Olympics started, I have been falling well short of those 8 hours of sleep a night. Tim and I have been staying up until well after midnight almost every night since the games started... and since my alarm goes off at 6am..... you do the math... I'm hoping now that Michael Phelps has won all of his races and gymnastics is over we might be getting to bed a little earlier. You never know though... there could be a really intense equestrian competition or a late night round of badminton we might get sucked into. We keep telling ourselves this sleep deprivation isn't that bad since it will only happen every 2 years, but every morning, as I hit my snooze at least 3 times, I curse my decision to watch "one more race"... which never happens because that "one more race" turns in to 5 more races and no sleep! Oh well..... GO USA!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
No Disassemble!
I've decided to start posting updates as I repair my truck (1997 Chevy S-10 that currently needs the clutch components replaced), so keep checking back and hopefully I'll have frequent updates and photos as I do some major amateur repair work! And if you're wondering why I titled this post "No Disassemble!", then you're probably haven't seen or don't remember the movie Short Circuit. I haven't seen it in a really long time but it's worth a watch if you can get your hands on it...
Anyway, the main goal is for me to replace all of the clutch components and anything else that needs replacing along the way. It had become very difficult for me to shift into any gears towards the end of last year, so I had decided to take it in to a mechanic to see what was wrong. They told me that I probably needed the clutch and slave cylinder replaced, if not all clutch components. Christian Brothers quoted me about $1800. Anyway, I didn't want to or expect to have to spend that much money, especially since we were just settling into our new house and had many other things that we needed. So I looked around and even got an estimate closer to $1100 from a transmission shop, but by this point I had decided it would be nice to repair my truck myself if I could. I've done oil changes before, and I've even replaced brake pads and spart plugs and wires... but those things don't really require much work compared to what I've started now :-)
I haven't driven my truck in several months, and since gas prices have gone up so much it made more sense for Summer and I to carpool to work anyway. A few months ago I bought the first few items that I needed to begin repairs... a floor jack and 4 jack stands to allow me to raise my truck in the garage and work underneath it safely. So my truck has been in the garage on jack stands for a couple months now, and I finally started work this past week! I'm not sure why I waited so long, but I guess I was nervous about undertaking such a large task... and the first steps pretty much commit you to the whole process!
So, in order to replace the clutch components, I have to do the following things just to get to them:
Anyway, the main goal is for me to replace all of the clutch components and anything else that needs replacing along the way. It had become very difficult for me to shift into any gears towards the end of last year, so I had decided to take it in to a mechanic to see what was wrong. They told me that I probably needed the clutch and slave cylinder replaced, if not all clutch components. Christian Brothers quoted me about $1800. Anyway, I didn't want to or expect to have to spend that much money, especially since we were just settling into our new house and had many other things that we needed. So I looked around and even got an estimate closer to $1100 from a transmission shop, but by this point I had decided it would be nice to repair my truck myself if I could. I've done oil changes before, and I've even replaced brake pads and spart plugs and wires... but those things don't really require much work compared to what I've started now :-)
I haven't driven my truck in several months, and since gas prices have gone up so much it made more sense for Summer and I to carpool to work anyway. A few months ago I bought the first few items that I needed to begin repairs... a floor jack and 4 jack stands to allow me to raise my truck in the garage and work underneath it safely. So my truck has been in the garage on jack stands for a couple months now, and I finally started work this past week! I'm not sure why I waited so long, but I guess I was nervous about undertaking such a large task... and the first steps pretty much commit you to the whole process!
So, in order to replace the clutch components, I have to do the following things just to get to them:
- Disconnect and remove the driveshaft
- Remove the shift lever (which by the way either requires you to cut the carpet slightly or remove the seats to be able to lift the carpet over it :-O )
- Remove the section of exhaust pipe that runs from the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converter
- Remove several wiring clips and the transmission crossmember
- Unbolt and remove the transmission, lowering it from underneath the truck
Fun eh? Actually I think I'm going to enjoy it but I'm sure some parts will be frustrating and tough since these bolts haven't been touched in over 10 years now and are probably quite rusted as I've already found!
This week I decided to just go for it and start taking apart stuff... I removed 4 bolts from the driveshaft, and 2 more from a center section of the driveshaft. The repair manual said I should just lower the rear portion of the driveshaft once I removed those bolts. Hmm, after 30 minutes of pulling/yanking/twisting (carefully since I'm underneath several tons of metal) and spraying more WD-40, the driveshaft was still connected and it wouldn't "lower". So I gave up for the night and did the usual the next day: Google. I finally found a video of a guy removing a driveshaft (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWYNfVdAx70), and he had to smack it quite a bit with a hammer since corrosion keeps the pieces together even when they're no longer bolted. So a day or 2 later I had time to try again. I grabbed the hammer and smacked it around quite a bit to try to get it to come free... and finally after 15 minutes of that (I had to hit a certain part I guess) the driveshaft came loose!!! I had said a little prayer after I had been trying for awhile, so thanks for the answered prayer God!
I also removed some bolts from a section of exhaust pipe since I need to replace the muffler as well. When I first got underneath my truck earlier this year I saw a hole in the muffler that had been leaking on our driveway. So, that's what I've done so far. Not much but I already feel better about doing the rest of the work... it's just going to take patience and persistence!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Breath of Fresh Air
Has it really been almost 2 weeks since I posted last? Crazy how time is flying this year!! We haven't really been busy these past 2 week.... just going about our daily routine which includes: going to work, coming home, eating dinner, playing with Cooper, watching TV, going to bed. But, yesterday I did something out of the routine. Yesterday I received an email from the Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Pflugerville. She said some of the girls from the class were going to meet up for coffee in downtown Pflugerville and wanted me to join so I could get to know the ppl in the class. So I went..... and it was awesome! It ended up being just me, the teacher Kelly Reagan, and a girl we had met before, Tiffany. The three of as sat and visited for over an hour about our lives and our desires for the class. It was incredible how Kelly just reaffirmed Tim and my feelings about God calling us to minister to this class. Tim and I joined the Newly/Nearly Married class at BBC about a year and a half ago when there were only a few couples. None of us really talked to each other or did anything together outside of the class. Today however you can't keep that class quiet! We have developed eternal bonds with these people and they have become our closest friends. When Tim and I visited FBP (First Baptist Pflugerville) there were only 4 ppl in the Sunday School class; me, Tim, the teacher Mark (his wife Kelly was sick that day), and Tiffany. As we left the church that day all I could think about was what an awesome ministry opportunity this would be! We have seen a class go from being very similar to this one to growing in size, closeness, and spiritual maturity. What a chance for God to take what we have learned from Pat and Annie and all of our dear friends at BBC, and use us to bring that to FBP!! I wanted to cry as I listened to Kelly talk last night about her desires for the class.... I wanted to cry when Tiffany said she was longing for Christian friendship here in Pflugerville. These two women were echoing the cries of my heart! I felt a peace driving home last night that I hadn't felt in a long time. For several months now I had been wondering if we had made the right decision in moving to Pflugerville, and last night I knew that we had. I knew that God had led us here for a reason, and watching His plan start to unfold is amazing!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Crazy Weekend!
So this past weekend for 4th of July was pretty busy! I'm just now starting to recover! Thursday afternoon Tim and I headed out of Austin to go to Magnolia, TX. Our niece Emily was turning 2 on the 4th and we wanted to make it to her party. We haven't been able to attend very many of our nieces' and nephews' birthday parties since we live in Austin, and they all live in Houston. So, we got to Magnolia around 5pm Thursday and headed over to the lake in Tim's parent's neighborhood. The neighborhood was hosting an fireworks show with free watermelon. As I stood by the lake with watermelon juice running down my chin and arms, looking like a 5 year old, I thought to myself, "So this is what its like to be an American". Kind of random I know...
Anyway, the men got up Friday morning to go golfing while us women fold tended the children... Actually, I just played with Play-Doh with my niece. That afternoon when they guys got home we had a BBQ and small little party for Emily. That night we watched some of Star Wars: Episode V, shot of some fireworks, then finished Star Wars. The next morning we headed over to Sugar Land for Emily's real b-day party where I played with more Play-Doh... wow... between the watermelon and Play-Doh I think I was really reverting back to my childhood! Saturday afternoon we ate at one of my favorite places in Houston called Lupe Tortilla. They have some of the best fajitas I've ever had (sorry dad). That night we stayed up until almost 1am watching the 2nd National Treasure movie. Sunday morning we went to church with Tim's parents then headed home.... FINALLY!!! I was ready to be home! I really enjoy being with Tim's family... but there is something relaxing about being in your own house and your own bed!
So there you have it... I'm tired just writing about our adventure packed weekend! I hope everyone else had a great 4th of July as well!!!
Anyway, the men got up Friday morning to go golfing while us women fold tended the children... Actually, I just played with Play-Doh with my niece. That afternoon when they guys got home we had a BBQ and small little party for Emily. That night we watched some of Star Wars: Episode V, shot of some fireworks, then finished Star Wars. The next morning we headed over to Sugar Land for Emily's real b-day party where I played with more Play-Doh... wow... between the watermelon and Play-Doh I think I was really reverting back to my childhood! Saturday afternoon we ate at one of my favorite places in Houston called Lupe Tortilla. They have some of the best fajitas I've ever had (sorry dad). That night we stayed up until almost 1am watching the 2nd National Treasure movie. Sunday morning we went to church with Tim's parents then headed home.... FINALLY!!! I was ready to be home! I really enjoy being with Tim's family... but there is something relaxing about being in your own house and your own bed!
So there you have it... I'm tired just writing about our adventure packed weekend! I hope everyone else had a great 4th of July as well!!!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Differences
I wanted to write about a topic that has been on my mind off and on over the past few years. I don't really think about it actively, and I imagine most people don't, but everybody experiences it each day. Everybody is different. We all have an idea of what is right or wrong, and we each carry our perception of the world and our ideals. You form your picture of the world based on who raised you, what has happened to you in your lifetime, and what you expose yourself to each day. The amazing thing is that each one of us act upon our picture of the world and how we think the world should be. So when we act, or see others act... we're basing our actions and thoughts on our own individual paradigm.
While most people have an innate feeling for what is wrong and right... we're all amazingly different as we're faced with different issues and experiences. I may love to play golf, but for all I know my next-door neighbor might have had a horrible experience as a child with golf or someone who played golf, causing him to dislike golf or even dislike anyone that plays golf. The first time I truly thought about or even fully realized the reach of this topic was while reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Unfortunately, I have yet to get past the first couple chapters in the book, but I'm glad that I read that one portion, and think that it's caused me to look at people in a whole new way.
Reading the news each day, I usually come across many articles talking about the presidential candidates, the economy, or the wars/conflicts around the world. I don't argue or debate very well. I generally don't like it. Maybe I don't like conflict because I'm not good at it, or maybe I'm not good at it because I don't like it. Either way, when I read articles or hear news about particular issues that I disagree with, it really rubs me the wrong way. Some topics don't annoy me, but certain religious or political issues have really gotten me riled up and amazed that anyone could possibly hold a stance that differs from me. "How stupid can they be?!?! Why in the world would anyone think THAT is a good way to fix the problem?" And if I'm truly honest, I'll end up harboring resentment and anger against people that I don't even know... people that have a different opinion than me, or believe in anyone other than Jesus. I mean, I guess it's not a good idea to completely wipe some people off of the planet or ship others to a remote island to see how natural homosexuality really is (it would only take 1 generation to find out), but isn't it frustrating!?!?!
The one thing that I have to come back to is that my God reigns and I'm fortunate to know him. The only thing that ultimately matters is whether you trust in Jesus or not. Even if it drives me crazy to live in a country that is becoming increasingly tolerant of other people who don't believe what I do... although I still kinda like the idea of using remote islands ;-)
Tim Fish
While most people have an innate feeling for what is wrong and right... we're all amazingly different as we're faced with different issues and experiences. I may love to play golf, but for all I know my next-door neighbor might have had a horrible experience as a child with golf or someone who played golf, causing him to dislike golf or even dislike anyone that plays golf. The first time I truly thought about or even fully realized the reach of this topic was while reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Unfortunately, I have yet to get past the first couple chapters in the book, but I'm glad that I read that one portion, and think that it's caused me to look at people in a whole new way.
Reading the news each day, I usually come across many articles talking about the presidential candidates, the economy, or the wars/conflicts around the world. I don't argue or debate very well. I generally don't like it. Maybe I don't like conflict because I'm not good at it, or maybe I'm not good at it because I don't like it. Either way, when I read articles or hear news about particular issues that I disagree with, it really rubs me the wrong way. Some topics don't annoy me, but certain religious or political issues have really gotten me riled up and amazed that anyone could possibly hold a stance that differs from me. "How stupid can they be?!?! Why in the world would anyone think THAT is a good way to fix the problem?" And if I'm truly honest, I'll end up harboring resentment and anger against people that I don't even know... people that have a different opinion than me, or believe in anyone other than Jesus. I mean, I guess it's not a good idea to completely wipe some people off of the planet or ship others to a remote island to see how natural homosexuality really is (it would only take 1 generation to find out), but isn't it frustrating!?!?!
The one thing that I have to come back to is that my God reigns and I'm fortunate to know him. The only thing that ultimately matters is whether you trust in Jesus or not. Even if it drives me crazy to live in a country that is becoming increasingly tolerant of other people who don't believe what I do... although I still kinda like the idea of using remote islands ;-)
Tim Fish
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