Our first two weeks in July began with fun and fireworks.
We drove up to Huntington Beach to be with Matt and Johanna for the day. On the way, we bought me a new bike to replace the one that was stolen in Chicago when we went there back in Oct 2018. Dallin took a nap in the car in this odd position.
We got our bikes all suited up for a ride to the beach!! It was really neat to take this bike ride because it was the exact same path Jeremy and I took back in the day when we lived in HB. JoMatta actually live in the same apartment complex that we lived in, so it was a big trip down memory lane for us.
The newlyweds! Funny to think this was just a few days after their big wedding bash in Sacramento!!
We had a picnic dinner on the beach. (We were hoping it would be our lunch, but everything took extra long, so it ended up being our dinner). All four boys played in the water while Johanna and I visited. It was a chilly evening while the sun went down. For dessert, we managed to continue our fruit pizza tradition. And this was an extra big deal because the stores I shopped at didn’t have sugar cookies. So in a last ditch effort, we tried the gas station and bought individually packaged cookies. I was so excited that we could each make our own mini fruit pizzas with the cookies. Mine was so yummy.
Then we got back on our bikes and rode closer to the HB pier to watch the fireworks. It was a fun bike ride down the busy path. Everyone was out cheering and blowing up fireworks and dancing and eating. I love being surrounded by this during the holiday. It is very heartwarming to me that everyone puts a day on hold to celebrate our freedom.
We laid down in the sand right as the firework show began. There were some really big ones!! It was a beautiful show. But the best part was after the show ended. We knew a lot of people would leave, but I didn’t think that even the families gathered around the big bonfires would leave, too! The place went from packed to empty in a matter of minutes, leaving the sand and glittering bonfires abondoned in the windy, night air. We weren’t in any hurry to leave. So we set up camp at one of the fire pits and had fun visiting while the boys dug in the sand. It was so beautiful to be surrounded by dozens of bonfires, all by ourselves! Well, okay. There were a couple of other people walking around, including a few dynamic characters that said hi to us. But for the most part, we had the beach to ourselves for over an hour. As an added bonus, the pier shot off another round of fireworks that must have not worked during the real show. So it was all pretty magical!
When the beach patrol kicked us out, we got back on our bikes and rode past all the cars that were still congested in the parking lots trying to get home. Then we drove home. Late night, but so much fun.
Dallin took this picture because he stole my phone.
Tanner learned how to clip his own fingernails.
The Saturday after 4th of July, we took a big trip to Walmart to get more things for our house. Remember, we had just barely moved into our new place a few weeks prior to this time.
The boys learned how to work the self check out line more independently.
Dallin got in a good habit of reading in the library throughout the day. Here, he is reading to his teddy bear 🐻, named Junior, on Sunday morning.
On Sunday July 8, the boys looked so cute for church! But things for me took a turn for the worse. My sciatic nerve went absolutely bazzurk and I ended up going to the hospital. I wish I could say that it just came out of nowhere, but it was an issue that got worse and worse over the two weeks of our wedding travels. Sitting for long drives and airplane rides will do that!
I tried to mitigate the pain during our travels with essential oils, hot and cold rubs, ice packs, heating pads, massage stick, and lots of rests. I avoided taking pain killers at all costs because it makes me forget how vulnerable my body is, and then I end up on my back for a week.
In Sacramento, it actually got painful enough for me to give up and take some IB profin. The pain killers helped me get through the festivities with a smile on my face. The pain seemed to let up when we got home. But after our 4th of July bike ride, everything flared up again. The bike ride wasn’t anything to brag about, but it was a lot more physcial activity than I normally do.
I succomed to pain pills again Saturday the 7th.
On Sunday morning, we were out of pain pills, but I thought church would be doable before getting more. I didn’t want to miss church just to get some pills. But sitting on the church pew was much more difficult than I anticipated. It took an amazing amount of self control to wait until the bread and water was passed to me. I had tears streaming down my cheek, but not because I was thinking about Jesus! As soon as the sacrament was passed, I left for Walgreens, thinking I could get back before the service was over.
Well, by the time I got to Walgreens (12 min drive), I could barely move because the pain was so intense. With each step I took, I felt like my leg was ripping apart, and the pain was growing exponentially. In the store aisles, I could not see or think straight. I had to ask two people for help to find the IB profin. The ripping pain was now more like knives stabbing deep into my left hip and leg socket. The cashier rung me up very slowly and asked if I wanted a bag. I was dizzy and frustrated. I almost yelled at him, “just give me the pills!!” But I managed to constrain myself.
There was a drug addict in the stoor doorway frantically opening her pill bottle and scarfing down a handful of capsuls. It was me. I could not get the pills in my mouth fast enough!
When I got to the car, I discovered that my body was not going to sit down. The sitting position felt like electric drills blasting through me. I stood up and started balling. There was no way that I could endure pain like this in order to get myself back to the church. I would not be making it back in time for Sunday school. I waited for 20 minutes for the pills to take effect, since that’s how long it usually takes for me to feel relief. But the pain got worse and worse. I was trapped. After texting Jeremy, a lady in the parking lot saw me balling and asked if I needed help. I said my husband was coming in an uber to get me.
I hoped that when Jeremy and the boys arrived, I would feel the pain meds kick in. But now, it felt like a chainsaw was digging into every tendon and vein and nerve in my hip all the way to my toes. I was in an orange daze; the color enveloped and throbbed around my whole body.
Jeremy helped me lay down in the trunk of the car. The pain was taking my breath away and I began to hyperventilate. Even though I was not in a real carseat with a seat belt, we drove to the hospital. As we checked in to the ER, I let all self control go. My hysterical cries are probably the reason they admitted me immediately!
They gave me lots of different pain killers. Tylenol, lydocane, morphine, etc. None of it was working- AT ALL. They made me wait for a couple hours to see if I would feel better. I had to beg and beg for them to give me other kinds of pain meds. Finally, when I told the doctor that I delivered both of my babies without an epideral and that I clearly have a high tolerance for pain and that this was twice as painful as childbirth, they gave me something else. I felt relief within 20 minutes. I was really exausted, but glad that my pain level went from a 10+ to a 5 or 6. I wanted Jeremy to take some pictures so we could remember how crazy this all was.
They did a CT scan to see what was going on in my spine. Which was dumb. I really wish they had done an MRI or ultra sound. The docs thought I was dumb for requesting those things.
The rest of this story is best told by sharing what I wrote on Facebook a few days later:
So I’ve been bed-ridden since Sunday. Sciatica pain like crazy. I actually LEFT church in the middle of the service to get more pain killer from the store, and eventually spent 8 hours in the hospital as a science experiment for the doctors to figure out what pain meds work on me. It was twice as painful as childbirth.😢😖
Yes, it really sucks for me, but laying here has been a neat opportunity to reflect a little. Despite the big disappointments, I can see that God’s care over me and my family has been constant, and I’m feeling nothing short of overwhelmed.
The miracles that have happened over the past 4 days seem small, but were game changing. I made it to the store, a lady stopped and got out of her car to comfort me, when I couldn’t drive back to church there was an Uber driver for Jeremy and the boys to come to my rescue, the hospital was close and they admitted me immediately. In the moment, I knew these were blessings, but I just didn’t have the energy to properly praise them. My best foot forward (literally) was all the thanks I could give for making it to the store, my tears were all I could give the kind lady in the parking lot, a half-hug was all I could give Jeremy, and covering up my screams was all I could manage at the ER.
The nurse brought me warm blankets and socks, I wasn’t cold during the entire ordeal, Tanner and Dallin didn’t fight amid all the waiting time, a member of our church whom we didn’t even know came to help administer a blessing to me, and then he and his wife entertained our kids while we were at the hospital. A grunt and thumbs up was all I could muster for the nurse, a smile after the blessing was all I could conjure up for Jeremy and our new friend, and a text of smiley faces and thank yous was all we had time to send our new babysitters as we tried to manage my pain and save our phones from completely dieing.
Our mom was available to answer our text questions right away while we were in the hospital and give words of support and pray for us. The pharmacy was open long enough to fill all the drugs before we got home. The boys actually slept in the next day, my prescriptions have worked, two different ladies from church who we barely know have watched the kids so I can rest 🙂🙂, my sister doctor has given me tons of great ideas to relieve the pain, Amazon delivered a tens unit to me in ONE day, I’ve been able to manage the pain without the narcotics👏, I found out our new health insurance is way better than before 🎉, I found an accupuncturist all with the help of a health advocate that Jeremy’s new job provides, and all the kind words and prayers from family and friends have uplifted me a lot.
Im grateful for this time on my bed to see more clearly the miracles I couldn’t properly appreciate in the moments of my pain and exhaustion. Even when I wasn’t able to see how much my Heavenly Father was with me, He STAYED with me!
In case you are ever being God’s hands in a miracle for someone else, just know that you are so VERY appreciated, especially if all the person can do is stare or cry at you like I’ve done. 😂 Words can’t express how much your kindness means!
Needless to say, I was on my back for about 2 weeks. Here’s pictures of some things the boys did while I rested and recovered. They began basketball practice at the YMCA. It was a great beginning to a great season.
Dallin doing drills.
Tanner doing drills.
Jeremy’s work, Bumble Bea Seafood, had a family picnic at Sea World. Our family got free admission and a yummy lunch. I had to stay home though, still recovering.
Another Padres game!!
His 2nd tooth gone!
As I got better, I ventured out a little with the kids. We tested out the summer school lunch program. Not impressed. We were spoiled in Austin.
Yuck on our front door!!
I took the boys to our neighborhood pool so that I could have hot water and jets on my back in the hot tub. The boys had fun trying new ways to jump in the pool.
On July 19, JoMatta came to see our place and spend the night with us. I was feeling much better at this point. And their arrival gave me a lot of motivation to get the house more unpacked. Almost back to my “normal.”
While they were with us, we all went to see Dallin and Tanner play in their basketball games. The boys had practice twice a week and a game every Saturday morning for about 10 weeks. This was their first game (I think?) and it was my first time to the YMCA. I was really impressed with the staff, parents and kids. The facility is brand new and very welcoming and organzied. The staff are well trained and have age-appropriate expectations for the kids. They also have great behavior management skills over each team. My boys learned many skills, drills, and rules about basketball by being in this league. They also made new friends! Giving our kids these kind of experiences is exactly one of the resons we moved here. I loved seeing how proud Tanner and Dallin were after their games!!
Next, we headed over to Balboa Park for a picnic lunch and visit. Then, we spent the afternoon at the Fleet Science Center. We had fun exploring science exibits and watching an IMAX movie about looking at earth from space.
This merry-go-round featured a ball tossing game so you can see how the path of a ball thrown in the air seems to curve and change as you ride on the merry-go- around, but it doesn’t. And then we experienced how our brain can learn the new trejectory and adjust the pass so it goes where you want it to. First Johanna and I tried. Then all four of the boys tried.
It felt really great to do this outing with the family!!
We had dinner at the Taco Stand. YUMMY.
We found Dallin hanging out with his aunt and uncle that evening…touching his own nipples. It’s a soothing habit that he’s had ever since he was two years old. Dallin doesn’t do it as much these days, but it’s always kind of sweet for me to see that he is still little enough to need his calming measures. Kind of like how kids still love and need their teddy bears when they get bigger.
Im really grateful Johanna and Matt came to visit us for a couple days. I just realized that they sent us our first piece of mail to this home in San Diego and they were our first guests to spend the night in our home in San Diego. Pretty Cool!!
