A Long Absence Explained

I've been avoiding you. I'm sorry.

There have been several times over the past month and a half where I have wanted to write a new post - because I really like writing these things, and I love reading them from others too.

But there has been one thing, and one thing only, that I have wanted to talk about, and I haven't been allowed to! So here is my story:

Remember in High School when all I would drink was calcium-enriched orange juice, and my body couldn't process all of that calcium so I got a kidney stone? There isn't really anything that feels like that, so when I woke up on the morning of January 15th and tried to go to breakfast with friends, I knew immediately what that painful stitch in my side was. So we cancelled the rest of our plans (including a tearful call to Stacey at work to get my 10 hour shift covered for the day) and packed a bag of stuff to entertain us during our wait in the ER. Luckily they saw us right away and gave me a strong pain killer, and then we worked on my Permanent Visa application for the rest of our short wait before the Dr. could see us.

I should mention here that Toff HATES hospitals. He had to leave the room when the nurse came to draw blood so he wouldn't faint. He contemplated staying in the room to support me, but the nurse and I both told him to wait outside because we didn't want to have to take care of him too (but thanks for trying to be valiant babe!).

So our next step was to get an x-ray to make sure it was a kidney stone and not just a kidney infection. Now, let me just say that this is about 5 years earlier than Toff and I had planned, so when the Dr. came back in to tell us that I couldn't get an x-ray, and that, "Congratulations! You're pregnant!" there was a lot of screaming and laughing/crying all at the same time.

Toff immediately started packing our bags and getting ready to go, but I had to convince him that yes, there was a baby, but there still might also be a kidney stone too, so we couldn't leave yet.

And that's my story. We're due on September 14th (but Toff's money is on the 11th), so I am currently 10 weeks pregnant. I've been tired (but it's already getting better!) and I can't stand to eat meat (weird right?) and my boobs are HUGE. :) Now, this does change our plans just a tad, so we're coming to the States for 5 weeks in May for Mimi's wedding, and to have a Memorial Day party (maybe baby shower?) and then we're coming back to Australia. With a medicare card (which I can get now that they're processing my application for permanent residency) most - if not all - of my medical costs will be free.

Love to you all!!!! And love from Toff and our little family (which is currently the size of a peanut, last week it was the size of a garden beetle, so Toff called it our "fetal beetle.")

Cara