Moving Day! January 2016

As I sat in the hospital, Doug and the best moving crew ever packed up the condo. I had lived in the condo since 2007. Doug moved in with me after we got married. The last time I saw the condo was on December 31, 2015. I went to see the doctor and was hospitalized.

I had packed about 15 boxes before I left for the hospital. I had grand plans of packing up the house. I had a spreadsheet and all ready to go. Ashley and Andrew had helped me pack those boxes. Then it was all up to Doug, Ashley and Andrew. Thank God for them!

Ashley had spent the previous week packing up our stuff. She is amazing.

The day had finally come to move all our stuff to Browntown. Doug got up and picked up a moving truck. He went back and the moving crew arrived. I had only two jobs that day. 1. Get a crew together to move our stuff with Doug and 2. Order the pizza. Done!

Once the guys got there the furniture started pouring out of the house.

Ashley had been designated the “Moving Day Captain” and was put in charge of all the movers. 

There were only a few accidents. Thankfully Bret is ok…

Back to work! The guys moved all the stuff into the truck. Was it done differently than I would have liked? of course. Was is surprising to some of the guys how I was not somehow controlling the move from my hospital bed? yes! ha. BUT…was it all moved? YES! and am I upset about how it was moved? NO WAY. Just very thankful for our friends and family.

After loading the truck, they all headed to Browntown…

and unloaded the truck.

Finally, after all the furniture was moved, they were fed.

Thank you so much guys! We really could not have done it that well or at all without you!

After they left, this is what some of the house looked like…

I never saw it like this. Doug worked like a dog over the next few weeks. He unpacked boxes after boxes.

I also want to give special thank you to Erica G. Not only did she let us borrow her hubby for the move, but she also hung out with me all day in the hospital to keep me distracted and to prevent me from being sad. Thank you Erica. You did a great job. I was sad to miss our move, but I had no choice in the matter. You twins better appreciate all this one day! ha.

I could not wait to get into my new home. Little did I know it would still be months away.

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Moving in to Browntown and Hog Wild!

The night we closed on the house, Doug, Ashley and Andrew headed to the house with the first load of our stuff.

Sidenote – Ashley and Andrew have been more than amazing. Ashley had packed our kitchen, they had helped Doug empty the attic, and pack the whole house. They really went above and beyond. I am more than grateful for them both. Thank you Ashley and Andrew!

They got there and started to unload the cars…

We had some notes from the previous owners and they left us flowers. Very sweet of them.

Doug was checking out a shower for some reason? Crazy guy.

While they were there, the doorbell rang. Ashley got all excited and decided to video “our first visitor at the new house“. Doug answered the door to a police officer. Ashley immediately stopped videoing. hah! Ashley and Andrew listened as the officer informed Doug that the night before (when we did not own the house) there had been an incident. Evidently, around 3 am the levee police were trying to catch at 200 lb wild boar behind the house. The officer lost control of the car and hit our fence.

Here is the damage in the daylight:

The damage was really not that bad. It was just funny. As soon as we get the house, our first visitor was the police and a hog was running wild behind our house. Never a dull moment!

We had to call our real estate agent, Jeri, and tell her as we giggled and giggled. Seriously? A wild hog! (This was when the Mississippi River was so high they had to open the spillway so there was lots of wildlife coming into back yards.)

All is well. The fence has been long fixed and they did a great job. They even painted the outside of the fence to match.

Beware of the hogs when you visit.

Love and hugs, Lizzie

Officially Homeowners! My first visit outside in 2016 and surprise visitors! Jan 12

January 12 was a HUGE day for Doug and I! We had placed on offer on a house in River Ridge back in November and the things were moving along for us to close on January 12.

Once I was hospitalized, I knew it was hopeless for me to attend the actual closing. I was pretty sad. I know it just signing papers and not a sexy process, but it is/was my FIRST HOUSE. It was a big deal. I was pretty bummed overall. It was the first big thing I was bummed to miss.

So that morning as I sat in my pity party there was a knock on the door. (There are about 20 knocks every day so it was not a big shocker.) I invited the knocker in the room and the face that peered at me from around the door was a complete shock! It was Amanda! and then it was Ms. Liz (her mom)! I was completely shocked. See, Amanda lives in Houston and her parents live outside of Lafayette. Talk about brighten my day!

I am so pumped and excited to see them. They showed up on the best day possible. I was so bummed about missing the closing and then they showed up and made it an awesome day. We visited and hung out for a while. Then I got a video call from Doug at the house closing. Here is our official “house closing” photo!

Here is Doug signing all the papers x2+so much extra.

After the signing, Doug came to the hospital to be present for my first visit to the outdoors in 2016. I had finally been cleared to go outside in a wheelchair. Doug came to the room and we got my chariot ready. It was a chilly day.

Outside we went! It was a beautiful day! They let me sit in the sun and soak up the lovely weather. What a big day!! I had not been outside in 13 days. That does not seem bad, but it really was not great either. Fresh air! It was so amazing.

Sadly, when you are on bedrest you lost all your core muscles and after 15 minutes we had to go back inside as I could no longer hold myself up. SO sad, but its the truth.

Before we went inside, I wanted a photo with my surprise guests!

Thank you so much for surprising me! It really meant the world to me.

I also wanted a photo with our new keys! We officially owned a house together! Here we are as homeowners!

What a huge day! I still wish I could have been at the signing, but oh well. At least I had amazing surprise guests, got to go outside AND became a homeowner. Lots of great things happened. We are super lucky, blessed and honored!

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Hospital Visit by the Sirens! (January 2016)

While in the hospital I was visited by an amazing group of women. I knew I was being visited by Erin, but when she walked in I did not expect the parade that followed her! They just keep walking in the door. It was so amazing. I loved every second!

They brought beads, a muses shoe, a decorated mermaid bottle, dancing and fun. I can only imagine the scene they made in the hallway with those short skirts and corset tops!

I was so surprised! Thank you to Cynthia for taking these photos!

Check out these hotties!

Thank you ladies for coming to visit me!

Even the nurses came in to check out my krewe!

It was a wonderful day full of surprises. They stayed a while and visited.

I am one blessed kid!

Thank you Sirens for your visit! It made my week/month!

Love and hugs, Lizzie

Hospitalized Again…..Dec 31, 2015

At the end of December, I went in for my weekly exam. I had been on bed rest since December 3 and was moving right along.

We got there and Dr. P saw an issue during my ultrasound. My cervix was opening to the stitch every 30 seconds. EVERY 30 SECONDS. She told me I was not leaving and was being sent to Labor and Delivery. She checked and my waters were not breaking through, but she wanted to stop the “irritibility”.

I was admitted around 1 pm and have no left the hospital since then. They sent me to Labor and Delivery and put me on Mag (the worst), but it was not making a huge impact so after a day they swapped me to a different drug.

We made the best of it. Sarah, Sabrina, and Amber visited before going to dinner. My entire family (sans the Boston kids) were there and we did out best to make it fun while I was on a terrible med.

Everyone headed out around 10:30 pm to let me rest. I was not awake for midnight, but did wake up at 12:30 with some terrible side effects. Happy New Year. Ha.

The next day my exam showed no changes internally which was good news. I was put on a new med, but then started getting fluid in my lungs a day or two later. Then I was put on lasix. Oh man. Thank God for Doug and my family. I really could not have done this without such support or love.

As the days went on my meds (injections) changed daily depending on contractoins. I was being monitored every moment except when I went to the ladies room. I made the best of it.

After 5 days of being in L&D, I was moved to the floor. My new room had 2 beds in it and we brought in so much gear! I was getting the shots 3 times a day (6 am, 2 pm and 10 pm) and being monitored 3 times a day after the shot for 45 minutes.

I moved to the new room on January 5 and have been in the same room as you read this post (February 12). It has been a long road with many touch and go moments. Again, my family and friends have been amazing.

At first, we wanted someone with me 24/7, but as I stablized we just make sure there is a “Lizzie sitter” with me when I get my injections. The injections make my heart race and it makes me feel kinda bad. All my family and friends have stepped up to babysit me around the clock.

I have had some amazing support:

Some of my first visitors in my new room were Jamie and Shawn. She decorated my whole room!

This came from Doug’s work!

My view of dawn:

Lizzie sitting in full action:

This is me and the brownies being monitored…

When I was moved to my room on Jan 5 I was 25 weeks along. We all really wanted to get me to 28 weeks. That was a big goal for the brownies. We needed them to get big and older.

January ended up being a pretty exciting month. More to come.

Love and Hugs, Lizzie