Finally!

So I finally have an appointment with Vanderbilt! But...it's May 10th...and that's not even for a procedure. It's just a visit with a gastroenterologist that specializes in my issue. I guess that means lots of trips to the ER until then...pretty ridiculous but there's not much else I can do, besides wait. If I don't eat, I'm usually ok but I've got to eat. I guess worse comes to worse, they'll just have to admit me somewhere...I don't know. Anyways, I've been getting a few emails and texts from people asking how I'm feeling and when my appointment is, so I thought I'd share. I still feel about the same but some days are better than others. Thanks for all your nice comments and concern.

3 months old!

Today, Barrett is officially 3 months old! He's changing and growing so fast lately. He LOVES his pacifier, which he didn't care much about in the beginning. I'm actually pretty glad he likes it now. When he decides to fight going to sleep, we can pop a paci in his mouth and he's usually out quick! He is sleeping VERY well at night and I'm ecstatic! He usually goes to bed between 8 and 10 and sleeps around 6 hours. Last night, he slept 8 hours, which isn't common. He'll get up for a bottle and go back to sleep for 3-5 hours. During the day, he takes a bottle around every 3 hours, I guess making up for the missed formula at night. I LOVE it, to say the least. It's nice to finally get some sleep. He can hold his head up for the most part now so he's used his Bumbo, walker, and johnny jump-up a few times lately. He's just started to bear his own weight on his legs. You can hold him under his arms and he'll stand for a few seconds. He chews on his fists alot, trying to get his thumb. He drools a ton lately and we're pretty sure there's a tooth or two already coming in, or atleast that's what it looks/seems like. He hasn't shown ANY interest in rolling over. He's pretty content sitting up and laying on his back. His favorite thing is for people to just talk to him :) ... such a sweet boy. He laughs and smiles and tries to talk, every time someone gives him attention. He goes back to the doctor exactly one month from today so of course, I'll update on his growth then.

On another subject, I'm STILL waiting on Vanderbilt to get me an appointment. So...if anyone out there works at Vanderbilt, let me know if you can help me! Basically, my doctor sent the referral to Vanderbilt and said they should call me to setup the appointment. It's been 2.5 weeks. I've called Vanderbilt and they keep saying they have no paperwork on me. My doctor just tells me that there's nothing they can do...that I'll just have to wait on Vanderbilt. I still throw up sometimes and have alot of pain, especially after eating. On a good note, I'm still losing weight, which is great but too bad it's not the right way to lose it. I weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant...yesss! Anyways, hopefully I'll get in Vanderbilt ASAP! Nothing's worse than hurting all the time and not being able to eat good food!

Well, B's waking up so I gotta get him. Everyone have a good day.

B's 12 weeks old

Barrett is getting so big! He's 12 weeks old today and I just can't believe it. Time has flown by! He's a starving little boy so we tried cereal a week ago. Unfortunately, he cried the entire next day, because his stomach hurt. So, we're going to wait another month and try again. I just don't think he's ready yet. Luckily though, he's gotten so much better at sleeping at night. For the most part, he sleeps 5-6 hours at a time at night. He usually goes to bed between 9 and 10 pm and gets up between 8 and 9 am. Of course, he wakes up to eat once or twice between those times but it's still so much better! He stayed with my sister last night, so me and Ty were able to go to a movie and sleep in. I'm enjoying getting to spend as much time as I can with Barrett and Ty. I love them so much! I'm so thankful that I have good family, that wants to keep Barrett so often! He used his Bumbo for the first time Friday. He enjoyed it for about 5 minutes and then wanted out. But, he was hungry so maybe the next time we use the Bumbo, he can stay in it longer. He's finally at the perfect age for toys that make noises or entertain him visually. I've decked out his pack n' play in the living room, with his activity gym and a thing that looks like a piano, that makes noises when he kicks it. He's just started to get interested in it. He's got all kinds of other toys in there too, that we like to play with. He likes watching cartoons as well. Honestly, anything on TV amazes this child. I'm so lucky to have such a happy baby. I must say, he's pretty darn cute too! He'll be 3 months old on Feb. 21st. He goes back to the doctor on March 21st, when he'll be 4 months old and get his next round of shots. Ugh...I dread it. As long as I have baby Tylenol and his swing, we should be good though. Those are the only 2 things that got us through it last time.

In other news, I still don't have an appointment at Vanderbilt, to unblock my bile duct. I'm getting pretty frustrated to say the least. I'm in pain, hungry, and nauseous, all day, every day. It's been almost 2 weeks since we found out what was wrong and I still don't even have an appointment to fix the problem. I woke up last night with legitimate hunger pains. I want real food so bad. I'm tired of eating stuff that's equivalent to baby food. My GI's office isn't doing anything to help me anymore so I'm going to try and get in with my regular doctor tomorrow to see if there's anything she can do. I'm going to try calling Vanderbilt too, but they're so big, I figure I won't be able to get any information. My GI's office claims that it's all in Vandy's hands at this point and they're supposed to be calling me. I'm not sure how much longer I can tolerate feeling like this. Not to mention, it's not good to have a blocked bile duct this long. Hopefully, I'll get some good news this week.

So Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I doubt we're doing anything special. Going to the movies last night was good enough for me ;). I'm sure everybody and their mother will be out tomorrow night anyways, so we'll probably just chill at home. I do have Ty a present and hopefully he has me one too (hint, hint) but that's about our extent of celebrating Valentine's Day. Anyways, I better hit the sack so I can get a few hours of sleep before little man wakes up! Everyone have a great week!

I'm home!

It is so nice to be home and not couped up in that depressing hospital room. I will say though, I didn't realize how much pain I was in until I got home and moving around. The pain meds there were MUCH more effective than what I have at home. I'm definitely missing my Barrett. When I was in the hospital from Tuesday to Thursday, he stayed with mine and Ty's parents. I'm still pretty sore so I can't pick him up alot. So, I figured Ty's mom needed to keep him again today, even though I hated seeing him leave. I know I'll be with him all weekend, so that's what I'm looking forward to.

So, since the procedures they did on me at the hospital were unsuccessful, I have to go to Vanderbilt. My doctor said they're just waiting on Vandy to call him back and tell him the date and time. He said it will be within the next month so that's good. I LOVE eating and that's what I miss the most about all of this. I was told yesterday that when I get another pancreatitis attack, just stop eating...I have a feeling it won't be that easy. All I've had in the past 4 days is 2 milkshakes and some yogurt. I've had some water and Sprite in between all of that but that's not NEAR enough to make me feel normal. I did find out that the procedure they did on me is called
Percutaneous Transhepatic Cholangiogram-or atleast that's what they told me. I've googled it and it "seems" that's what they did. I woke up a couple of times during it and it didn't feel too great, that's what I DO know. But anyways, once I get in with Vanderbilt, I'm hoping they can fix me up. I just hate that I had these procedures here and in the end, they were semi-pointless. The guy that did the PTC told me before I had it done that he was 50/50 on doing it. He said he felt like he wasn't going to be able to do it but that my doctor asked him to try it before going to Vanderbilt. I'm disappointed that I didn't listen to him and proceeded with the procedure. I just remember him talking about how painful it is and how many risks were involved, which is why he wasn't 100% on doing it. Of course, he said if I was in immediate danger, then he'd be 100% on it but my condition can hopefully hold off for a couple of months before causing permanent damage. I think Vanderbilt may be the best choice for me.

Anyways, I guess I'll get off here so I can catch up on Teen Mom. I watched it at the hospital Tuesday night but wasn't really all there...haha. I'll be so glad to pick up my baby tonight! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

An Update...

Yes, it's 2 am but I can't sleep so I figured I'd give an update, since I've had a few people asking what's going on. I had some tests ran last week to figure out why I'm vomiting and having alot of abdominal pain. An ultrasound and gallbladder function test showed that my gallbladder is in perfect condition. Tuesday afternoon, I came to the hospital to get endoscopy and ERCP done. I've had endoscopy done before but this time, I woke up a few times during the procedure. Needless to say, it was extremely uncomfortable and I actually threw up once, while the tube was still down my throat. Once the procedure was over and I woke up, they told me that I was going to be admitted overnight because they were unable to do the ERCP. The doctor told me that I had chronic pancreatitis and a blocked bile duct, not to be confused with "bowel"-haha. Bile helps you digest your food. When your bile duct is blocked, your body basically isn't digesting any food which also means I'm not getting any of the nutrients I need. Since the bile duct was blocked, my GI doctor couldn't get into it, to unblock it. Yesterday, they did a separate procedure to try and get in the bile duct. I was shocked to learn they don't even put you to sleep for it. They just sedated me. They make a small incision in your side and go in with something like a wire and go through the liver and some other organs, trying to open up the duct. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful as well. I remember waking up a couple of times during that procedure too. So now, I have to go to Vanderbilt and get them to remove the obstruction. They're still not sure what is blocking it either. My doctor said he feels like it's probably scar tissue but he said it could be a number of other things. He said it does have to be treated because if it's not, it can lead to liver problems and a few other things. Hopefully Vanderbilt can fit me in within the next two weeks. He said if they can't, I may have to go to a clinic in Indiana. He actually said the Indiana clinic is the best place to have this procedure done, so that's why it's our next choice. Dealing with the pancreatitis is a whole separate issue. I've been on fluids since I got here on Tuesday and was put on an antibiotic earlier. Hopefully, I can go home tomorrow. I'm strictly on a liquid diet for a while though and it's taking a toll on me! I am so hungry.

I REALLY miss Barrett through all of this. He stayed at my mom's Tuesday night and is staying with Ty's parents tonight. He came up here to visit for a couple hours earlier though, so I was glad to see him. He's such a sweet boy! I don't know what we'll do when we have to go to Nashville. He could go with us but that would be hard on Ty b/c he'll have to be taking care of both of us. Oh well, we have tons of family that would love to babysit!

Anyways, I guess I better try to get some sleep. For some reason, I just can't ever sleep when I'm at the hospital. I figured since I was awake, I'd just update my blog, since that's easier to do than to tell every person that's asked, what's going on.