The reason why...

2011 tried to be a good year, it really did. With the family and friends and our daughter growing like a weed, 2011 had its best intentions.


The year started out cold and chilly in New York. I was losing the best friend I thought I had and my husband was having bad anxiety issues. We spent the holidays back in Washington with out family, only to come home to a cold and lonely house, all to our own. My husband talked to his command at work about his anxiety issues and they decided that not being in the Navy anymore would be the best thing for him.

Merry FIRST Christmas! 

April 2011 we packed everything we owned into a u-haul. The day before we were due to leave, I noticed blood in my daughters diaper. I took her to the urgent care while my husband and dad packed the moving truck. After several negative labs and an ultrasound, plus more than 5 hours in the urgent care, it was discovers that our 11 month old daughter had a very large kidney stone. With no further answers than that, we loaded into our moving van and headed to Washington with no idea what the future held for us. A job? A place to live? Medical? All tossed into the air to land where ever they wanted.

DH (Dear husband) was able to get his old job back at USPS and we moved back in with my dad until we were able to get on our feet. We had no answers about medical, but the Navy supplied us with 6 months of post discharge medical.


We arrived in WA on Thursday or Friday, and had a urologist appointment first thing Monday morning. We chatted with the urologist while he looked at the images from the ultrasound done just a week before. His plan? Several surgeries to remove the large stone, starting with a surgery just after her first birthday. On May 7th, 2011, we celebrated my daughters first birthday, surrounded by family. She has a great day and thoroughly enjoyed her cake and presents.

Not long after that, our daughter endured her first surgery to place a stent to dilate her ureter to make removing the stone easier. DH, his mom, our daughter and I stayed over in Seattle the night before to make the commute easier. Surgery was over in less than an hour, but is unnerving none-the-less.



The second surgery was only a few weeks after the first. Mommy instinct told me to pack for an overnight stay at the hospital- just in case. Boy am I glad I did. They was a complication with her surgery and a hole was poked in her ureter and surgery had to be halted, with the stone still in place. After a short overnight stay at the hospital, we went back home to resume daily life.

We enjoyed the summer on DH's time off. About two months after surgery #2, our daughter underwent another ultrasound to see how her kidney was doing. They noticed some damage and decided to remove the stent. Surgery #3. She has had more ultrasounds than I have, all in such a short amount of time. She has also gone through a kidney scan to see how her kidneys were actually functioning. Both are functioning normally, although the one with the stone is much larger than the other.

Kidney scan

Things calmed down for us near the end of the summer. Our daughter stated to walk in July, we moved our of my dads into an apartment in the end of August, we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in August also.


My grandpa was also diagnosed with cancer. This is the man who, besides my dad, has raised me. He is very near and dear to my heart and I have learned so much from him, in many ways.

My grandpa and my daughter

My husband celebrated his birthday at the beginning of September. Nothing very eventful, just a party surrounded by friends and family.


In October, my grandparents asked us about the house that was being built next door. Not being in any position to buy a home, they said they would help us with the down payment and as long as everything worked out, then we were meant to get it. We started paperwork in the middle of October.

Happy Halloween!
On November 30th, we moved out of our apartment, with no home yet to move into. We had not signed papers on the house. We camped in my dads living room for about 2 weeks until we FINALLY signed papers.

Just after we moved it, our daughter started running a fever. One morning, she woke up and immediately started puking. I took her to her room to get her changed and noticed she was very warm. I took her temp. 104.6. I called her dr and they told us to bring her in. They said her temp and puking was a result of the stomach flu and to take her home, give her pain meds and push fluids. The next day, there was no impovement and her temp was 103.6. We took her to the urgent care. They did a urine test and determined that it was a UTI and sent us home. Overnight, she was still not doing well so we took her to the ER. They determined that the UTI had spread to her kidneys. They admitted her to do IV antibiotics and to keep her fever under control. By this time, my daughter was terrified of every single person that came into her room. On the first day, she just slept while spiking a fever over night. The next day, she was still running a fever but she had lots company that day. Her great grandparents and my daughter's cousin came to visit, one of my preemie moms that I met online came and her grandma all came. She got to get up and play with her cousin in the play room. She still was not eating but seemed like she was feeling better. We were also moved to another floor that afternoon. That night she was screaming in pain for more than an hour. They finally brought her some pain medicine and we were both able to get some sleep around 4 AM. The third day brought some more company and she was feeling better and wanting to get up and play more and more. That night, my wonderful husband let me come home to get some much needed rest, while he stayed at the hospital with her. I came home and slept like a rock and he and our daughter also slept really well. our daughter got to come home on the fourth day. That was Saturday. 


On Monday, we needed to be in Seattle to review the ultrasound done in the hospital with her urologist. He said her kidney stone was gone (Yay!) but wanted to check for something called kidney reflux, which would cause urine to back up into her kidneys instead of being completely expelled when she pees. It's another test for another day, but she will be on antibiotics until they find out what the issue is and to prevent another infection.


We finished out the year by celebrating Christmas with family and getting to host our first Christmas dinner in our house! And then celebrating and ringing in the new year at the casino with my husband, my friend, my husband and I. 


Among all that happened in 2011, I have been suffering from depression since the beginning of the year and also have been battling my weight. I weigh more than I ever have, and I need to change it. 


This will be my year to shine. I will lose the weight, I will become happy and enjoy life more and this year, I will become amazing!