Surgery, blood pressure, and.....college?!

My oh my, what a week and a half its been at the casa de Soesbe! Per my last post my bp was skyrocketing out of control, but medication had be prescribed to help. Well at my doctors request I came back after a week of taking the medication and much to the surprise of the nurse practitioner my bp had dropped down to 120/78, much closer to my "normal" and well within the parameters of safe.

With the news of my improved bp, the ob/gyn's office called me back this morning with notes from the man himself that said to go ahead and schedule all the pre-op things and a set a date for surgery. EEEKK!! I'm looking forward to the surgery, but as I sit here I find that I am both nervous and sad as well. Nervous for several reasons. There's always a risk associated with surgery. Then there's the fact hubby has to take off 2 days of work because they don't operate on Fridays, we might be able to slim that down to one day if I can find someone to help me out on Friday. I'm sort of sad too because this is the end of the end of the end with kids. I mean I know we aren't having any more, but now its something about the fact that I can't anymore. Period. The End. Game over. It's a bit sad to me. But all of that is overshadowed by the fact that I will no longer have the yuckiness that surrounds my monthly flow. 3 weeks of the month of nothing but feeling sick, hormones, with a heaping side of pain and misery sandwiched in the middle just for fun. My uterus has been a dear frienemy to me for all of my life. It's also been an amazing giver of life, the protective powerhouse that nourished and supported of all 4 of my children. And so I am sad to see it go, but happy to finally feel good again.

And lastly, over the past 2 weeks the hubs and I have been talking about going back to school. I have about 2-2 1/2 years left to finish the degree I originally started out to achieve. Waaaay way back in the fall of 2003 I started college at Kansas State to get my degree in Agricultural Education. He is undecided what he wants to be when he grows up, but he knows that he doesn't want to continue doing what he's doing in the patch. His body is falling apart out there and we both know he won't make it to retirement age out there. So the plan is, at this moment, to have us both return at the same time. Me full time, him part time on the nights/computer based. Then when I graduate and get a job he will finish off his degree by going back full time. Hopefully at the end of 3-4 years we will both be working in careers we both really enjoy and can retire from.

Blood Pressure and a Hysterectomy

Last week I went to see my Ob/Gyn for my yearly womanly thing...well in this case it was like one every 2 years (my Ob is a really busy man I made that appointment 2 years ago at my last check!). I love my Ob, he's a terrific man with a huge heart. I've been having repro issues, well all my life really but I never knew it until a few years ago, so we started the conversation of a hysterectomy right after Wes was born. As the years have gone on the issues are getting worse and so at this meeting we decided that it was time for the surgery to happen sooner rather than later. One problem. I suddenly seem to have an issue with my blood pressure. All of my adult life it's never been an issue, even in pregnancy, but it is now. I've gone from a normal bp of 110/78 to 140/91...yikes! So, in order to have the surgery safely I have to get my bp down. He started me on a medication to help, and I am starting a new "diet" and work out program this Thursday. Couch to 5K is something I've done in the past with success, so I will be going back to it. I am trying to not see this different way of eating as a diet as that puts me in the mind frame of "can't have" or "don't eat" an that always leads me to feelings of resentment. So, this time I am just trying to just look at is as eating healthier.
In other news, my Pepper J. is now off of her IEP, or she will be in May when the school year ends. She no longer needs it for her speech. I'm not sure I am ready for her to start Kinder though. I'm not sure she's there, but I have time to decide.
Today I had my school tour for Weston as well. The preschool does this will all incoming kids regardless of other siblings that may have gone or are still in the school. So Wes will be in the same school and in the same class as Pepper, luckily for the classroom, Pepper won't be there this fall when Wes starts. Those two are like oil and water and fight...a lot! We started potty training Wes over the Easter break, he's getting there, we almost have it down- boys are definitely different than girl where potty training is concerned!
Baylie just had her IEP meeting as well. She's progressing so nicely, we are blown away. She is now loosing one of her therapies, which is amazing! She will no long have adaptive PE because she is now strong enough to not need it any more. However, the adaptive PE teacher is still on her IEP as a consult in the event she runs into something she needs help on. Amazing little girl. She will do Extended school year aka summer school, just to help solidify some of the areas that are rough for her.
Daisy is Daisy. She's great in school. We found out on Easter, thanks to my mom and step dad, that both Daisy and Baylie are both very good at softball. Very natural with the bat and good (surprisingly) with the hand eye coordination needed to hit the ball. So, we decided to go ahead and sign them both up for softball at our local recreation center, that will start April 27 and run to July 9th. 3 days a week and then games on the weekends...oh boy, what did I sign myself up for?! lol.
That's it for Soesbe household news!

 

And for accountability sake my dinner planner:

1) Chicken stir-fry Pitas

2) Turkey Burgers w/no sodium green beans & mashed sweet potatoes

3) Swai w/ Wild rice and Sautéed summer veggies (red peppers, summer squash, zucchini, onion)

4) Skinny chicken salad (via skinnymom.com) pitas & chips (chips for the kids and hubs not me)

5) Chicken Eggplant Parmesan w/veggie noodles and garlic bread (bread for kids not me)

6) Grilled chicken breast w/ side salad and berries

7) Oatmeal w/ eggs and turkey sausage