Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!


Lots of things going on, and I know that I haven't been posting much of "real life" lately (my apologies to the non-poetry-lovers among us), so I'll just catch you up a bit, in case you're wondering if I still have friends, family, and the young single adult ward in my life! (Answer: yes, I do.)

My daughter Karin and I spent the morning at Kaiser yesterday, where she underwent an exploration of her reproductive system to see why she and her husband are having trouble conceiving a child. She said she is quite comfortable having me share the rather interesting results with you, so I will take a moment to explain that she has two cervixes and two uteri. Other than that fairly remarkable departure from the norm, everything is fine and dandy, so the docs will probably be helping things along a little with IUI (intra-uterine insemination) in the left uterus, which seems to have a better cervix. The issue, for a person with two smaller uteri rather than one large one, is going to be trying to avoid twins (no room at the womb!) and then keep even the one baby from coming too early. Her situation will be sort of like a person with a regular uterus having twins; she will be prone to deliver ahead of time due to limitations on growing space for the fetus. All in all; the doctors are hopeful...and so are we.

On Friday, our cute grandson (Jeremiah) will be flying to San Francisco on his own for a "baseball trip" given to him by his Uncle Ryan for Christmas. Pretty cool gift, right? Apparently, the J-man is really looking forward to spending some quality time with his uncle, and we intend to horn in on it a bit towards the end. (They will come our way to attend church with us and have Sunday dinner before leaving for the airport near our home.) We were supposed to attend a baseball game with them on Friday, but we aren't sure if we will make that because we are trying to attend a funeral out of town if Dave can arrange his work schedule to be out of the office for that day. Sometimes we wish we could clone ourselves and be in three places at the same time, but so far, we haven't figured that out. My sister and her husband will be staying with us Saturday night on their way home from Sacramento, and we can't wait to spend a little time with them, too.

In other news, we'll be attending the temple tonight with the singles ward, then hitting In-N-Out with the whole gang on the way home, as is our custom. Last weekend, our service-oriented crew participated in Mormon Helping Hands, an annual event where approximately 75,000 church members across California and Hawaii volunteered en masse to benefit their communities. Our young people were assigned to clear brush and trim trees in the area surrounding the local community college, and we had a great turn-out of enthusiastic helpers. By all accounts, local leaders in both states are bowled over by the numbers of people who show up, and they thoroughly enjoy finding ways to put the eager beavers to work. It's a wonderful experience for everyone concerned.

Other than that, we are looking forward to visiting my mom this month and attending a nephew's wedding while we're there. Happily, all of our kids will be with us. Nothing better than getting the whole group together, and we will also be celebrating my birthday. I will be turning 60 on the 31st...a whole new decade for me!

Looks like May is shaping up to be another busy one...

=)

22 comments:

Terra said...

That is fascinating news about your daughter, and very hopeful for her having a baby. That is a great program where you pitch in and help people, across the US. That happened in my town too.

Pondside said...

May will be a wild month for many of us!
I hope that your daughter and her husband are blessed with a car load of children - one at a time!
Now, I have to tell you that I am feeling rather silly because all this time I thought that you lived in the mid-west - and here I find out that you are in California - sort of in a line straight south of me. Time to pay better attention up here!

Caroline said...

Sue, what hopeful news about your daughter!

I know what you mean about wishing you could clone yourselves! We had a wedding a funeral in different states last weekend!

Yay for your 60th birthday coming up! My mother has LOVED her 60s and she makes me look forward to it! :)

jen said...

I have never heard of a double uterus situation. Wow. Glad the drs are on top of things and can help them out a bit.

Whirlwind weekend, but enjoy it!

Brian Miller said...

that is def intersting on the double uterus, that is a new one on me...and i hope that all goes well as they progress forward...


the baseball trip sounds fun...enjoy the game...and the time with the littles...

momto8 said...

oh my gosh! You have so much stuff going on!! I write mostly about my trips to the dentist.

Grandma Honey said...

That is such encouraging news about Karin. Is this the very first she found out about the double uterus? I have a friend who had great success with an IUI. After 8 years of infertility she now has a darling baby girl.

I loved this post. When you write about your life, that is my favorite.

larainydays said...

Reproduction is always a mystery and suddenly it got even more mysterious. Thanks for the news.

Jocelyn Christensen said...

Whew, you have been busy! Good luck to your DIL!

Stacy said...

Happy early birthday. I'm glad you are enjoying the busy spurt in your life.

Donna Tagliaferri said...

Prayers to your sweet daughter, I am so glad they can be parents...isn't modern medicine amazing!!

Joy For Your Journey said...

That is really interesting about your daughter. We will pray for the best. And it was fun to read about everything. Happy Birthday to you at the end of the month!! Hopefully you are planning some very fun way to celebrate.

Darlene said...

Wow! I sure hope Karin will be able to get pregnant. If the baby doesn't get too large, she could probably carry it okay. I know she will do whatever she needs to. What a great blessing that would be.

It does sound like your whole month will be busy. I didn't know you were going to a wedding too while you are here. Do you know yet what day you will arrive? I hope Nik and Per will be able to come too.

I think that is a terrific present that Ryan gave to Jeremiah. I'll bet he is thrilled (and maybe a litle scared too as going on a plane alone for the first time can be a bit worrisome and normally he is such a worrier). What a fun time for him though.

I am getting a little better each day and I'm so glad I didnt' have to have those intravenous injections. They take 90 minutes to do, so it would have been like an infusion, and doing it every day would be a drag.

yaya said...

Good luck to your daughter and her hubby as they start their family. Hope all goes well. Our youth in the Akron Stake did a service project here in our town a few years ago for their youth conference weekend. It was so appreciated by our mayor and it was great to see those bright shirts with the "Mormon Hands" on them! They did a ton of work all over town and for our parks. Happy almost birthday! Let's see, that makes you just arriving at middle age, right?

Stef said...

Wow! Two? I thought I was unique because I have two bladders. But holy cow! Does she get extra PMS? Just wondering.

Janis said...

So glad you shared Karin's situation with us. At 6 weeks along with my first I was told that I had a unicornuate uterus...that's only half a uterus. The other half never developed. I had no idea. I was on strict bed rest from 27 to 37 weeks with all 3 pregnancies. I carried all to term, but did end up with c sections (far better than labor, once was enough)! Praying that all goes well!

LeAnn said...

I enjoyed reading your post. We are so blessed to have wonderful advancements in the medical field that can give such great hope to your daughter and her husband.
You are one busy sister with your calling and family.
I am finding my 60's way to busy for me. I am amazed at all the things that are on my to do list.
Enjoy the moments and I know you do.

anitamombanita said...

Wow, that was super interesting. I'm praying that all goes well for Karin. She'll make a great mom. XOXOX

Gail said...

Seems like a great news all the way around.

You are truly blessed.

Grandma Yellow Hair said...

Isn't it getting hard to do everything these days and blog too. lol
I am glad that they figured out what was wrong with Karin and can help her to have children. Your being there with her I know was very comforting to her. Sue I learn something every time I visit you. Here I am an ole lady and never heard of this that Karin has but glad her doctors know what their doing.
Oh how I wish I were visiting with your mom myself this month. She is a sweetheart.
Well did not mean to write a book.
Just came by to say hello and see how your doing
Love
Maggie

karen said...

I'm glad there is a solution for your daughter - she must be excited as well! I've never heard of that problem, but how wonderful that they have a ready fix for it. Enjoy your upcoming family time and that big birthday of yours!

Jenny said...

Wow. I didn't even know things like this existed for infertility. I'm wondering if my daughter would kill me if I forwarded this to her.

I love the "We Shall Overcome" music playing!