My Crappy Morning (so far!) (concidered Oversharing and TMI)

I gave you a warning in the title, but so you know, this talks about lots of poop or different consistencies and textures, about organs not being in the right place, and about female post birth complications that sometimes occur. No whining!

Let me begin that I am dealing with a very recently prolapsed rectum (called a rectocele) and possibly a prolapsed uterus that I have told very few people about so far (sorry mom). It began on Monday (?) or Sunday, when I was constipated (again), and I realized that the only way for the poop to come out was to apply pressure to the bulge in my vagina and then bear down to remove my hard turd.

Most people get pretty upset when they discover this sort of thing (the prolapse, not the constipation... although I do get upset when I'm constipated). At first I was pretty bummed, but I am feeling positive (because it's not too severe), hopeful (because I know what to do to help it) and frustrated (why did it have to happen the week AFTER I had my pelvic exam to check for it?!). Luckly two step kegels and walking (and soft poop! More on this in a moment!) are the best remedies. and time.

OK. So on Monday this issue and constipation occurred. I feel a very intense urgency (psychologically) to get it out because NO ONE wants a compacted bowel or conventional laxatives to be needed, but this poop was slow to go. It was coming in chunks or four inches at a time and I was all like that kid after the dentist (Is this going to be FOREVER??). So I increased my probiotics (which are heavy duty anyway) and I increased my coconut oil chocolate consumption (it's always helped before! And what a great appetite/sweet craving quencher it is! try it, it's not just for pooping! 1 T. coconut oil, 2 T. cocoa powder, 1/4-1/2 t. honey)

So as we are packing and emptying our apartment (but not my bowel, boo hoohoo) I am dealing with this, but also drinking less water, which exasperates the issue at hand (I've been chuggin' the last few days). We drove to PA on Tuesday afternoon (and I slacked on my veggie and water consumption) and was still having issues (both bulgey and hard poopy, but I was getting lots of nice sounding and smelling farts) on Wednesday. At this point I'm thinking that I'll hard poop and farts the rest of my life, when this (Thursday) morning, at 7, I have a soft log poop. This is ideal! Yay! I had no need to "assist" myself. I had been drinking coffee and had another piece of coconut oil chocolate around this time, though not thinking much of it.

And then I feel another urge to purge coming along. I'm nursing Yonah, so I wait patiently, then put the baby down and go upstairs with Naisa (yes, she accompanied me to the loo) and water poop in the pot. For awhile. I'm thinking I've thoroughly emptied the plumbing, and I continue with my morning. I'm nursing the hunka chunka cuteness (Yonah) when I unconsciously start to fart... and then I remember the liquid that was previously removed from my anus and high tail it to the powder room. I have sharted a shit bit in my undies. Crap. so I sit and let loose (not much "letting" at this point), and have officially reached the raw ouchie anus point.

I'm hoping I don't have anymore trips after this.

Moral of the story: Don't overdo your natural stool softeners. They will destroy you.

We made it through moving!

While there may have been some bumps on the road, we survived!

and threeish days (of work--four days total) later, we are in PA, most of our things are in storage in Harrisonburg, and the rest is here with us, to come to Fredricksburg with us.

I am tired--but that is to be expected, driving in a car for five hours with an unhappy toddler and a baby who wants to be nursed (which is always a yay, by the way) is exhausting, especially when you can't move (small car) or make it better (only four more hours to go, sweetie, [sigh] please stop screaming). (and three hours later, 'shut up! go to sleep! Do you want to eat? Yes? (no) URG. stop throwing nana (blanket) if you want it! Stop throwing teddy on your brother! (then being silly with stuffed animals to get silly giggles will be the only thing to make the crying/screaming stop).

So I am taking some quiet time, while Yonah is napping beside me and Ben is napping upstairs and Naisa is at the park with Oma.

Thats me! sitting on the couch!

That's Yonah, taking a snooze!

Things are falling into place for important things that we need in Fredricksburg so I am looking forward to it even more (I was slightly anxious we wouldn't find a milk farm, but we did.)

I am feeling blessed as the storm (for now) has passed over, and we are at a relaxed state. Maybe Ben will finally catch up on sleep. (and don't worry about me. I'll catch up when these babies are older. :))

two months old now!

Yonah is/will be two months old soon!

We have been enjoying his smiles and coos,
spit up and poopy diapers,
rocking him to sleep in the Ergo after nursing,
Naisa's exploding vocabulary, saying things like, "I want to see horsies" and other full sentences.

We've been packing up our apartment, which has made me very busy, not just packing, but getting together with people and getting to church (finally), and trying to clean out our freezer (by eating), and packing.

Ben and I have been enjoying having a new member of the family, and also enjoying the time he has at home before he starts his new job. Ben is going to start training at the beginning of September as a store manager for LifeWay Christian bookstores. It looks like we are leaving Harrisonburg for a long while.

 We will find out our location for our store a couple weeks into training. We will be in Fredricksburg, VA for the training. We found a very cute carriage house via AirBNB.com to stay in while we are there. We will be back in Harrisonburg for two sets of weddings, and I will be in Harrisonburg for a week while Ben has to do some of his training in Lynchburg.

I am the Privileged Poor

You certainly would think of me and my family as poor, judging from our bank account, apartment, the things we own, the car we drive, or the food we buy.

But we qualify for WIC and we use it every month. Both of our children are covered by Virginia Medicaid to lower the cost of healthcare. i used pregnancy Medicaid for both pregnancies We don't make enough to cover what we have budgeted for our needs, though we are lucky we haven't needed to spend huge amounts of money on things like health needs-- we have both been incredibly healthy. 

I call us privileged poor because we are poor only because we went to college, and our monthly loan payment equates to more than a third of our income.

 But we are poor because if one thing changed: our car broke down and we had to purchase another, if when we move we have to pay $300 more for rent, if Ben or I has a major health accident, we get very close to the danger zone. Many of the nice things we own were given to us, or purchased at a great deal, or thrift store steals. 

But we are privileged: we have parents who, if in a tough spot, would help cover us, whether it be with housing, or with money. Our support groups are there and they provide a safety net of sorts. 

But we are so blessed! I can stay at home with our beautiful children and save us money on other things.

I cannot complain, nor will I, but there is always the possibility of financial surprise. But we are blessed with a working car, healthy children and seemingly healthy immune systems. 

For these I am thankful.