Jenna's Cardiologist Appointment

I know I've tweeted & put this on Facebook, but in case there is someone who reads my blog but not the other two, I decided I should probably update about Jenna's appointment with the cardiologist!

The whole time they don't give you any indication of what is happening.  She had an echocardiogram done, then was weighed & measured.  The cardiologist came in and asked a ton of questions, asked if she had an EKG done.  She hadn't, so she had the nurse bring the machine in and hook her up.  She did pretty good till the very end and kept ripping all the leads off!!  Then the doctor said the words that we so desperately wanted to hear:

HER HEART IS PERFECT!!!!!  She has no missing pathways, no extra pathways, each chamber is functioning just like it should.  We both breathed a sigh of relief.  And I was immediately hungry.  My stomach was in knots the entire morning and I had eaten maybe 2 bites of food and it was nearly 2:00 at this point.  Her heart rate is still high, but not high enough for the cardiologist to be concerned since her heart is functioning just like it should!  For whatever reason she just beats at the very high end, even a bit over, the "normal" range.

Thank you all for your prayers, we truly appreciate them!

Day 5 of 30!

Day 5 - Your Siblings!

I have lots of them!!!  A brother and a sister on my mom's side.  A brother and a sister on my dad's side.  Plus 2 step brothers and a step sister.  Plus all the sibling-in-laws!

I'm going to focus on my 2 brothers and 2 sisters in this post!!

Growing up I lived with my mom & my brother, Josh.  Here he is with his wife & 2 girls.  (Super dad!!)

Then when I was 12 and Josh was 15, Melissa came along.  She pretty much grew up as an only child.  She has grown up to be an amazing girl.  I'm really proud of her!  She moved out a couple months ago, she's a manager at McDonalds and she's in the National Guard.  Oh yeah...and she's still in High School!!  We have become really good friends and my kids love her dearly!

When I was 12, I met my dad.  Along with meeting him, I met my brother Nolan and my sister Randee.
I recently uploaded all the pics on my camera and came across this one of my sister Randee and my stepbrother Kevin.  Little did she know it would end up on my blog!!!!

I can't find any pictures of my brother Nolan, so he gets a free pass this time around!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Day 4 of 30!

Day 4 - Your parents!

My dad & step-mom (this was from Christmas)

My mom & Matt (this picture is really old....but it's the only one I could find!)

Here is a picture of my in-laws!  Can't hardly see my father in-law!

The only ones I don't have a picture of would be my "other" parents, Kris & Sally.  They were the pastors of the church I grew up at and I became very close to them, really I feel like part of their family.  They were definitely instrumental in shaping who I am today!

We love all our parents!!!!  We are blessed to have them all in our lives!

Day 3 of 30!

Day 3 - Your first love!

That would definitely be David.  Of course I had the normal teen years of "loving" every boy I had a crush on.  But back then I didn't truly know what love was.  I didn't have a ton of boyfriends in high school or after, which always bugged me then.  Now I am thankful for that.  I met David a few days before my 19th birthday and we started "officially" dating about 8 months after that.  Ever since then David has loved me for me.  I am so thankful that God has blessed me with him.

Day 2 of 30!

Day 2!  Meaning behind your blog name.

Well it really isn't all that creative.  Just our name.  The Ruch Family.

Considering this is mostly a mommy blog about my family, it is appropriately named!!

I was going to post a recent picture of our family, but the most recent ones I have are from Jenna's dedication which I already posted!  We'll get some new pictures on Easter, I am sure!

A mama and her girls

I don't think I have shared this picture before. I just love it. This is a month or 2 ago. I was feeding Jenna right before bed and my other baby wanted to be snuggled too. David came in and saw us and went straight for the camera! I'm glad he did! Precious memories!!!

Day 1 of 30

I have decided to do a 30 day blogging adventure with outlined topics for each day!  Not sure if I will actually complete it in 30 days or not, but I will complete it!!!


Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts


My name is Sarah!  Which you likely know unless this is your first time reading my blog!


Here is a recent picture of me and Jenna!  Hanging out in the garage!  

Now to think of 15 interesting facts.  Not sure they are all interesting, but here are 15 facts!


1. David and I have been married for almost 9 years!
2. In 20 days we will be in California!!!!
3. I LOVE me some teeny bopper Disney movies.
4. Other than our 10 months in Texas I have always lived in MN and have mostly been in a 10 mile radius from where I grew up!
5. I love country music.
6. I have a major sweet tooth.
7. I worked at Target for 4 years.
8. I worked at a law firm in Accounting for almost 6 years.
9. I ran an in home daycare for almost 2 years.
10. I LOVE being home with my kids.
11. I wouldn't mind going back to school once Jenna is in Kindergarten
12. All my babies were born via c-section
13. I need to loose 100 lbs.
14. I love the number 7.
15. When I grow up I want to be a nurse.

It's the small things

Last week I was really wanting to get a rake so we could start working on our yard.  Our pitiful yard that has not been taken care of for the past couple of years.  Hoping that we can turn it around this year.
Anyways....I stopped at Walmart to buy a rake.  The store we happened to be by is under construction.  Which meant they pretty much had no lawn & garden department this year.  That was the section of the store that they are adding on to.  So no rake.  I was tempted to drive to another store, but we had been out for a couple hours and Jenna was nearing the end of tolerating her carseat so we headed home.
The next day David was outside with the older 2.  I looked out the kitchen window and saw David RAKING!  What in the world?  We don't own a rake!  So I asked where he got it.  "Oh I found it in the playhouse in the backyard!"  WOW!!!
I love how God cares even about the small things.  It's not a large amount of money we would've spent on a rake, but still.  God knew that there was one in our back yard!

Erika's ENT update

Yesterday was Erika's appointment with the ENT.  He told us exactly what we were expecting to hear: her tonsils & adenoids need to come out!  Along with that she has a lot of fluid build up in her ears and due to all that fluid she has 30% hearing loss in both her ears.  THANKFULLY she can hear without that fluid!!! (the audiologist did a test to find out for sure)  

We are going to get Caleb in to have his ears tested before we schedule Erika's surgery.  If he ends up needing tubes we will just have a big ol party at the hospital and get them both taken care of in one day!!!

Thank you all for your prayers for our family, we really appreciate it!  

Dr. Appts, Health Issues & Bears, oh my!

Just wanted to update everyone on what is happening in our family and this seems to be the best way.  Please don't be offended if you are finding this stuff out through my blog and not a personal phone call.  I just don't have it in me to call 20 different people with an update.

I took Jenna in for her 6 month check up last week.  Instead of leaving with a clean bill of health I left with a referral to a pediatric cardiologist.  Her heart has been beating too fast.  It's not outrageously fast, but just above the normal range.  Next week she will have an echocardiogram done and then we'll meet with the cardiologist.  To say we are nervous is an understatement.  It's hard not to worry and let our minds go "there".

This afternoon we are taking Erika to an ENT to see if she will need to have her tonsils removed.  I don't know how long her tonsils have been big simply because I don't typically say "hey kid let me see your tonsils"  However about a month or so ago she was sick and asked if I could make her mouth stop hurting. My 1st thought was strep throat so I looked in her mouth and her tonsils were literally the size of ping pong balls!  HUGE!  I took her in and she indeed had strep.  Now that she is over the strep I've been checking on her throat and her tonsils have gone down, but they are still pretty big.  I asked my doctor if that was something I should bring in for.  She asked me a few questions (all to which I replied yes) and said she didn't even want to see her and referred us straight to the ENT.  Erika really has no idea that surgery could potentially be in her future.  All she knows is that a doctor is going to look at her tonsils today.

And then there's Caleb.  Not to be left in dust by his sisters, we have discovered that he has some color blindness so we need to  bring him to the eye doctor to find out just how bad it is.  We think it's just certain colors and shades that he has trouble seeing.  He has also been telling me that his ears are foggy.  Foggy?  Yes, foggy.  He came up with this description all on his own.  "Mom, you know when it's foggy outside and you can kind of see but you can't see everything?  That's how my ears are.  I can hear, but I can't hear everything.  It's like my ears are foggy"  Pretty impressive for a 7 1/2 year old if you ask me!!

Thankfully David and I are healthy right now and we are praying it stays that way!!!!

We would appreciate your prayers!!!  (and I will keep you all updated)

Jenna's Dedication!!

This morning we had Jenna dedicated at church by her Uncle Nate!

My poor girl has not slept the last two nights so I took her to urgent care this afternoon and my suspicions were correct....she has an ear infection.  She was fairly happy this morning and did good considering she was not feeling well at all!

(I'm trying to get a video uploaded from this morning but so far it's not working!)

Five Question Friday!!!!

It's Friday!!! Already??? Wowza! We have a busy weekend & week ahead of us, but it's a fun busy. My in-laws are coming into town! All of them! And I love them dearly so we are looking forward to it. Saturday is a 60th birthday party for my dad and an 8th birthday party for our nephew! It will be a busy, but good day! Sunday we are having Jenna dedicated at church and then having everyone over for lunch. Monday I bring Jenna in for her 6 month check up! We're a little late, but we needed her to be healthy before she could get the shots that she needs! The parent-in-laws are here till Tuesday (I think...) and then my sister-in-laws family is here through Friday (again, I think...) Erika is extremely excited because when Auntie Nana comes into town so does Megan....the only girl cousin she has on her Daddy's side of the family. She often feels left out with all the boy cousins around so this is a big deal for her to have Megan here! ANYWAYS....yeah, I'm rambling! Onto 5QF!!!




1. Have you ever had surgery?
Yes, four times. All c-sections. Well actually maybe 5. I know when I was little I had a chunk of metal in my eye and had to have it removed, but don't know if I actually had surgery or not. Why did I have a chunk of metal in my eye? You know those old metal trucks (like dump trucks, fire trucks, etc.) The bro & me were banging them together and a chunk flew off straight into my eye. Yikes. One of my eyes is worse than the other now, vision wise, but otherwise I've had no other effects from it.

2. Ever ride in an ambulance?
Not sure...Mom??? I never have in the years that I can remember. And probably not when I was little ever either. We lived 5 minutes from the hospital.

3. How are you in a medical emergency? Panicked? Calm?
Calm on the outside, but panicked on the inside. Don't even ask me to talk though....I just might loose it. When we had to take Jenna to the hospital in February I tried so hard to be calm, and have it all together but when I had to check in at the ER I totally started crying. Obviously I wasn't the first parent to ever do that, the guy was really good and not all that shocked that I was crying. (David was parking the van otherwise he would have done all the talking!)

4. Do you have a garden? Flowers or veggies?
Nope. Maybe someday! This year we do have a yard and I'm sure our landlords wouldn't mind if we planted stuff, but I don't know if I'm ready to try it yet. Maybe next year when Jenna isn't as needy and can run around & entertain herself, or help!

5. When did you move out of your parents house?
August 10, 1998. One month and three days after my 18th birthday. I didn't waste any time!!! The opportunity presented itself and I financially was able to do it, so I did!


Hope you have a great weekend!!!!

On a more positive note....

So yesterday's post was a little bit of a downer (at least for me...).
It was an honest & heartfelt post and this one will be too.

Today I had one of those days that I just could just sit & stare at my kids.
I'm just so in awe of them.

Not because of anything special that they did.
Not because Caleb brought home an awesome report card.
Not because Jenna gave me tons of kisses today.
Not because I get several "I love yous" out of the blue.
Not because Caleb tells me all the time that I am the best cook.
Not because Erika loves doing girly things with me.

Simply because they are mine.

All mine.  (Well I suppose I have to share with David)

God gave them to me!  This really is my life.  They really are mine.

Wow.  Such a special treasure I've been entrusted with.

Do you ever have days like this with your kids?

Thank you God for these special gifts you've given me.

May I never for one minute take them for granted.

Desires

I have this desire.

A desire I've had for a LONG time.

I long to have four kids.

I know that I already have four kids.

But I don't have four kids that I can love on and take care of on a daily basis.

This isn't how I wanted my four kids.

I want them all here.

The other day I randomly read someone's blog who is expecting baby #4.  She's suffered many miscarriages and knows the pain of loss.  And yet I was jealous.  She's going to have four babies to hold.

It's clear that I'm still essentially mourning the fact that we are done having biological children.

Please don't get me wrong....I am MORE than happy & blessed with the three beautiful children that I have.

It's just becoming more & more real feeling.

I'm starting to accept that 3 is my number.

(We are most definitely open to adoption, however it's not something we are pursuing at this time, I still kind of feel like I'm up to my eyeballs in poopy diapers & dirty bottles)

Five Question Friday!!!

It's FRIDAY!!!!  For this week that means spring break is almost over.  Hallelujah.  Just kidding.  I've had a great week with Caleb home, but I think he is ready to be back in his normal routine.  We have nothing terribly exciting planned for the weekend.  The kids are going to spend the night with Gma & Gpa tomorrow night and we're going to watch a movie with friends.  And I'm making carmel corn.  But don't tell the kids.  They will want some and I don't plan on sharing! 

Since I contributed to this weeks question list for Mama M's 5 Question Friday, I decided it would be good for me to participate.  Plus David is home right now and he's on baby duty.





1. Have you ever testified in court? For what?
Nope, never!!!  I hope it stays that way!!!!
2. Do you still have your wedding dress?
YES, I do.  I actually asked this question because I'm always wondering if a lot of other girls still have theirs and what they've done with it.  I never had it cleaned or anything.  It just hangs in my closet.  I should probably get it cleaned & then get a nice box to put it in, but I have heard too many horror stories of people bringing their dress to a cleaner, having it boxed & sealed and then YEARS later open it only to find it's NOT THEIR DRESS.  I would be devistated if that happened, so that likely is the reason I haven't done it!! 
3. Is there a special place you like to go when you're happy, sad, stressed, etc.?
Sad or stressed....far far away from people.  I am TOTALLY an introvert so being alone can completely revitalize me.
Happy...hmmm, like extra happy?  I'm a pretty happy person so I don't do anything daily when I'm happy.  If something special were to happen and I'm overjoyed....hmmmm.  Gosh, I should be able to answer this.  We like to go out to eat to celebrate stuff, but lately we've been eating out too much so that wouldn't even be a treat anymore. 

4. If you have kids, do they sleep with you? If you don't have kids...will you let your kids sleep with you when/if you have them?
Yes, I have kids.  No, they don't sleep with me.  My husband has said from day 1 that our kids would not be sleeping in our bed.  It's worked out quite well for us.  Our kids are excellent sleepers who love their beds.  I think the most important thing is that each family does what works best for them.
5. Do you watch late night TV?
Not usually.  The only time I'm really into late night tv is when I have a newborn.  If I have to be up anyways, then I watch tv.  But now?  Nope.  The olders two are in bed by 7:30 and the last few nights, Jenna has been following suit!!!!  It's been wonderful.  I have an hour or two by myself (or if David's not working, then with him) plus I get a full nights sleep!

Kid logic

I just love how the brain of a little kid works.

We were coloring when Caleb said "mom, I used up all these yellow markers."

Me: I guess we should throw them away then.

He replied with "but then we wouldn't have any yellow markers"

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Jenna's Hospital Stay

(Just so you know....this post will probably have more details than you care to know, but I want it all written down before I forget!!)

Sunday February 20th:  We had all had colds for a few days, but Jenna kept getting worse & worse.  That morning David stayed home with her from church.  She slept the majority of that day.  Only drank 10 ozs, didn't have any significant wet diapers and was just plain miserable.  Her breathing was shallow & fast and she had a fever of 102.1  After I figured how much she had eaten that day and counting her breaths (like 75-80 per minute) we decided she needed to be seen by a doc.

After being parents for over 7 years we had our first visit to the ER!  Can't believe we escaped it for that long!  Of course it would have to happen the night of a huge snow storm!!!  I think it snowed over a foot that night, I don't remember though, I just know it was a lot. 
They got us in to the ER pretty fast.  They don't mess around when it's a baby who isn't breathing well.  We checked in, sat down, started taking Jenna out of her carseat and we were called back! 
They checked her weight (fully clothed 16lbs 14ozs!!!!) and then asked all the normal questions about what was happening with her.  Then the nurse did her vitals.  Oxygen was 84% and heart rate was 205-215.  The nurse did really good at being calm, but when she called to get a doc in there right away I knew we were staying.  They did the nasal test for RSV and it came back positive.  Then they took us to xray so they could do a chest xray.  Have you ever seen the contraption they put little kids in for a chest xray??  If not, just look up "pigg-o-stat" and you'll see.  The technician said they actually want them to cry because they get a better picture of their lungs when they do.  Jenna cried for maybe 20 seconds.  She just didn't have it in her to cry or care.  My poor baby. 

 We were admitted shortly after the chest xray was done as her RSV test came back positive.  These pictures were all taken with my cell phone, so they aren't the greatest.  She was pretty pale and lethargic. 

Monday, she was still pretty miserable.  When the doc came around on Monday, they talked about possibly needing an IV for fluids since she wasn't drinking much.  After listening to her lungs she decided to take another look at her chest xray and she determined that she definitely had pneumonia!  After that there was no question....she was getting an IV.  They used it for fluids and meds.  By that evening her o2 needs were much less, but she still needed a little help!  At one point she ripped off her tube and was playing with it!  Little stinker!  She was able to keep her o2 level up, but her rate went up too which indicated she wasn't quite ready to be without the extra help. 

(the pic of me & Jenna is courtesy of my sister in law)

 On Tuesday she was still on oxygen, but was starting to eat!!!  We gave her pedialyte with one of her regular bottles, instead of the ones from the hospital and that seemed to help.  She's a smart cookie & knows what she wants.  I finally was able to get out of the hospital for a little bit on Tuesday!  I went home to shower and it was great.  Once I was back I decided Jenna needed a bath too.  Our wonderful NA helped us, and while we were doing it Jenna ripped off her oxygen tube.  We kept it off to see what would happen and she did perfect!!!  They wanted to keep an eye on her though while she slept to see if she would stay stable.  AND SHE DID!!!  I was so ecstatic!! I knew we'd be out of there if she stayed off the oxygen all night & we were!!!! 

You can see how she is doing now:

Playing and happy as can be!!!

A special thank you to Jolene for taking my kids overnight, visiting us & brining mama some food!  I won't mention that a nurse asked if she was Grandma.  That would just be mean of me.  Love you!

Thank you to Jodi, my sister in law, for bringing dinner for me!

Thank you to Liz for taking Erika on discharge day & for dinner.  You made our day so smooth and we are extremely greatful!!!

Thank you to our extremely thoughtful friends who brought Jenna flowers. 

Thank you to our church for providing us with a couple of meals & sending a few pastors to come pray over Jenna.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our sweet girl.  She recovered fairly quickly and none of us went crazy.....absolutely a result of all the prayers.  When I sit & think of all the people who prayed for her....I get completely overwhelmed.  Amazing.

Meet Carter!

If you follow me on twitter or facebook you may remember a few weeks ago when I had said I had the most amazing experience of being in the delivery room with my cousin.

What an honor it was to be there with her!  This is her first baby and she only pushed for 45 minutes!  All of my babies were born by c-section, so this was the first time I had been part of a natural delivery!!!
Amazing.  It almost makes me a little sad that I never had the opportunity to deliver naturally. 

Here he is!!

Look how HUGE Jenna looks next to him!

Jenna of course wasn't with me during the delivery, but we went back up to the hospital that night to visit again.  Carter & mommy are doing good.  Oh and he was born on his Grandma's birthday!!!  How cool is that!  A little while after he was born my cousin handed him to Grandma & said "Happy Birthday Grandma".  Precious memories for sure!!!

2011 Update!

I set some goals for myself this year, here they are again:

1. Give up pop.

2. Try one new recipe a week!
3. Learn to knit.
4. Take a family vacation! I'm praying it will be Disney, but we'll be happy with Wisconsin dells.
5. Blog more regularly!
6. Finish my year long Bible reading plan.

And now here's my update for each:

1.  Give up pop. Well....not so great.  I went 28 days without pop!  Which really is a HUGE accomplishment for me!!!  However the weekend we moved I just couldn't do it...I NEEDED a diet coke.  So I caved.  Now we are not drinking pop M-F and only letting ourselves have it on the weekend.  My dr. said it's a good idea to give it up over the course of a year to have the best results.  So I'm happy with our progress.  We don't drink NEARLY the amount of pop that we used to. 

2.  Try 1 new recipe a week.  Yeah...not so great.  I tried a recipe to season ground pork to sausage.  It was really good, except a little too salty.  I also tried a new chicken pot pie recipe.  So I technically have tried 2 new recipes.  Only 50 to go!!  I'm a little behind but now that we are settled in our new place & we are on the road to being healthy I'm ready to get going on this one!

3.  Learn to knit.  DONE!

4.  Family vacation....originally it was going to be Florida or Wisconsin Dells.  That has completely changed now!  We are going to CALIFORNIA!!!!!  A good family friend (who's more like a sister) is getting married on the beach in San Diego in May so we are all going!!!  I was the only one who was going to go originally but we decided to do our family vacation there!!!  I am SO excited!  We'll be booking everything within the next week or two.  We are going to spend a couple days in Los Angeles and then head down to San Diego!  Universal Studios, Legoland & Disney are all on the agenda!!!! 

5.  Blog more regularly!  I'm hoping to get better! We are getting a laptop next week which will help.  I can blog & watch tv at the same time.  Also, I have decided to do Project365.  Basically you make a point of taking a picture everyday and I am going to try & blog it everyday too.  Might end up being more of a weekly recap in pictures, we'll see.  Either way it will help me blog more often!

6.  Finish my year long Bible reading plan.  I am behind...quite a bit actually.  However I am getting back on track and should be caught up by the end of this month.  I have read nearly 20% of the Bible so far, and that is an accomplishment I am really proud of!!!


I am hoping by next months update I will be doing much better on all of my goals!!!