24 Weeks

Two posts in one day! Is that allowed? I'm still learning the ins and outs of blog etiquette. Technically, the surgery update was all about yesterday, so we'll just say I'm good to go.

A lot of people have been asking, so here it is- the official 24-week "Baby Bump" photo:

I get weekly email updates from a parenting website comparing our baby's size to various fruits and vegetables. This week, she's as long as a banana ( assuming that particular banana is 8-10 inches) and weighs about a pound. I feel a whole lot bigger than an 8-inch, 1-pound banana! I guess this is nothing compared to the months ahead, though (watermelon... yikes!), so I'll be happy with my little banana for now.

Speaking of photos, I need to give credit to my incredible sister-in-law, Michelle Davidson Argyle, for her beautiful photography. She took all of our engagement pictures, some of our wedding portraits, and my graduation pictures- all of which I love to show off. Because I post them just about everywhere, everyone should know who the talented photographer is! You can visit her website here: http://davidson-photos.com, or just click on the picture of us at the top of the sidebar. Thanks, Michelle!

Link to all Wedding Photos.........Link to all Graduation Photos

Micah's Surgery

For the last several months, Micah has said he felt "uncomfortable" in his side and groin. He chalked it up to a strained muscle- we even joked about sympathy pregnancy pains- but a visit to the doctor confirmed that he actually had a hernia. I'll spare you the gory details, but basically part of his intestine had pushed through the tissues that are supposed to contain it and ended up on the wrong side of the abdominal wall (still pretty gory, sorry!). No wonder he felt uncomfortable.

Turns out the only way to get rid of a hernia is to have a surgeon push everything back into place and patch up the hole in the abdominal wall... so we got to spend our Friday at the hospital. We checked in at 7:00 a.m., Micah was in the O.R. by 8:30, and back out in Post Op. by 11:00. When the doctor came to find me in the waiting room after 2 hours of surgery, he sat down in front of me and slapped his hands on his knees with an exasperated, "Well!" One look at my face told him that probably wasn't the best way to start, so he quickly said, "First of all, everything went perfectly smooth. But your husband had two of the biggest hernias I've seen!" Not one. Two. Poor guy- I don't know how he put up with the pain for so long. I'll never complain about pregnancy discomfort again.

After about an hour in recovery, I got to bring Micah home, feed him soup, put him to bed and drug him up with pain killers. I'm sure he hurts a whole lot more than he lets on, but he's still his happy, smiley self- just with a raspy voice and a cute little waddle when he tries to walk. All in all, he says he feels good, and should be up and around within the week.

Micah specifically asked me to thank all of our family and friends for your support and prayers throughout the week- he said he has felt much less pain and discomfort over the last several days leading up to the surgery, and realized that was probably a result of your prayers on his behalf. He wanted everyone to know how much he appreciates you! I know that your calls, texts, and emails have been a huge comfort and support to him this week. We have been so blessed, and are very grateful everything went so well!

Blogging... and Math

Well, we finally did it! We jumped on the blog-wagon... uh, bandwagon. And although we both tend to keep ourselves too busy to spend much time on things like this, we figured it really is the best way to stay updated with our family and friends. Besides, I've become a dedicated reader of almost all of your blogs, so I guess it's time I start doing my part. :)

Really, the thing that finally motivated me was this realization:

• If the average university student spends one hour studying outside of class for every hour in class, with a minimum of 12 credits per semester, for eight semesters (give or take)- then the average university student spends approximately 3,072 hours on schoolwork alone. Not to mention employment, extra-curriculars, socializing, and (occasionally) eating and sleeping.

• Some students are average. And then some are crazy. Like me- who consistently invested three hours into every one hour expected on assignments, took far too many credits per semester, and who probably holds the world record for longest uninterrupted cramming session before a test. I figure I spent an estimate of 8,192 hours either in class or studying during my 3.5 years at BYU.

• And then I graduated. Which means I now theoretically have 2,340 hours a year, 45 hours a week, or six hours a day to do things like post on our blog. Theoretically.

So why not?

I'll do my best at keeping this up to date with all the goings-on of our lives, and hopefully be better at staying in touch with all of our family and friends along the way. Honestly, what else am I going to do with all my extra time? :) (Just do me a favor and don't check my math- another side effect of graduating seems to be my brain turning to mush...)