Christmas Adventure

Let me start out by saying that Christmas was wonderful. It was so much fun to get oodles of stuff for you. My favorite part is bringing it all home and finding the perfect place for every little thing. I love it!

It wasn't all fantastic though. We had a little incident. Thankfully you were not involved in this incident in any way. You remained happy, comfy, safe and warm in my belly. :)

We got to Charlotte on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Morning I realized that I had forgotten my makeup. I panicked a little. I'm not huge on heavy makeup but it makes me feel good to go through my routine and feel good about myself. Jase agreed after much mumbling and grumbling to take me to Walgreen's to get some back up powder, mascara etc. No one else was awake yet and ready so it wasn't a big deal to slip out for a few. I got ready and started following Jason down the stairs. The stairs are wood and are very dark with no lights on. I missed a step and fell on the landing where the stairs turn. Apparently it was loud and the only thing I said was, "Oh no." I heard the most awful tear going down. It sounded like flesh ripping. Terrible sound. I thought I had broken it. Everyone came out of their rooms to see what was wrong because my fall was so loud. Jason carried me down the rest of the stairs and I laid on the couch the rest of the day unable to put any weight on my foot. I devised a very intricate scooting method to get around the house and up and down the stairs. Your dad was fantastic helping me through all this. He never once left my side from the moment I fell until I could walk again on my own.

Fast forward to Sunday, the very next day. I had decided that I should go to Urgent Care in Charlotte. We had already met our deductible (thank you Ella!) so I figured it couldn't hurt. We woke up super early and got there right when they opened. It actually snowed about 2 inches in Charlotte so we were practically the only ones on the road. Crazy Indiana drivers. :) We only had to wait about 15 minutes before they wheeled me back in a wheelchair. They did some x-rays and came to the conclusion that I had torn fibers in my ligaments. No broken bones thankfully. They equipped me with a boot and crutches and I hobbled me way back out to the car. Everyone there was super nice and made sure I was taken care of.

A busted foot was NOT going to stop me from shopping the day after Christmas. Jill called the mall and figured out how we could go about getting a wheelchair. Jason pushed me around the whole mall in this wheelchair. Everyone was smiling at me out of pity and everyone got out of my way. Kind of nice. :) Your dad was fantastic. He suffered through many baby stores and never lost his patience or got sick of pushing me. I even devised a plan, anytime I wanted to go into a store I would pull the brakes on the wheel that would turn me in there so he had no choice but to go into that particular store. We had fun! (Okay well maybe Jill and I had fun!)

After a few days of not being able to put weight on it I slowly started getting better which is a fantastic sign. I was able to graduate to just once crutch for support. The last two days that we were there, Tuesday and Wednesday, I was able to hobble around without any crutches at all. I just wore the boot.

Now, here comes the real tragedy...I ran out of toilet paper and was digging through the drawers in our bathroom at Jill's to find some more when I came across...you guessed it...my makeup bag...!!!!!!!!! I've officially lost my brain to you, little Ella. I died laughing and Jason just shook his head.

On Wednesday when we left we were able to get a wheelchair at the airport because we figured it wasn't a good idea to hobble all the way through everything. That would be a lot of strain on the poor little foot. It was once again fantastic, people smiling, getting out of the way, got to go in the front of all the lines, a few cute guys asking if I needed help when Jase wasn't there and getting on the plane first! :) I had to play it up a bit and act like I really couldn't walk on the foot at all so we could ensure that I got the wheelchair the whole way and didn't have to worry.

All the fun I had in the wheelchair was a stark reminder that some people never recover and get better day by day. Some people spend their entire lives in wheelchairs and I am sure it is not fun for them at all. Fortunately, I was one that was able to get up and walk out if it a few days later and I am very thankful for that.

When we got home all was well. I am still wearing the boot for support. It hurts a little but nothing bad. I was shaving my legs in the shower and noticed a huge bruise on the bottom right of my right foot. It pretty much freaked me out so I called Jason in to see it. He seemed concerned and suggested that I call our regular doctor and try to get in just to make sure everything was okay. My doctor couldn't get me in until the 4th of January (Hello new deductible!). I tried to call a podiatrist on the off chance that they would be open. No luck. They said everyone is trying to get in before the end of the year for their deductibles. We ended up calling Immediate Care here and they had 0!! wait time!! We zoomed the blueberry over there and the doc was great. He thoroughly examined my foot and said that when the fibers tore it bled and the blood is just pooling in the bottom of my foot. He said it will change every color of the rainbow before it heals and it is nothing at all to worry about. He inspected my leg for blood clots (huge worry of mine during pregnancy) and said he saw no signs of that either. We walked away very happy!

I'm doing much better. My mom and I are going back at it at the mall today and I am going with just my boot.

Here are some pictures of my lovely foot...







You are doing great Ella! I can feel you a lot now. At first I just felt you at night but now I feel you during the day too. I can feel you moving around a lot after I eat. Your kicks went from middle bottom of my stomach to on the left hand side of my stomach now. It's awesome to feel you to know that you are okay. We go in for our next appointment on January 12th. It's nothing big. The next big one is at 28 weeks.

We are almost 99% sure that the baby shower is going to be March 6th. Nothing is 100% sure until the invites go out though. :)

Here is a belly picture at 23 weeks. Getting bigger! I can't really sleep on my back anymore, it's not very comfy. The belly is only slightly getting in the way of doing something. Particularly bending over and reaching for something. It should get more and more interesting as time goes on. :)



I should mention that your future boyfriend Connor Bernhardt is almost ready to be born! Christie is 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She has been my pregnant buddy so it's super exciting!! Keep her in your prayers!