6 weeks and finally gone!

I'm done with crutches...sort of :) On Monday I started limping around the house without them. Everyday I've used them less and less, and today I haven't used them at all! I'm able to limp around with some slight soreness, but am very sore by the end of the day. I'm actually going to ice my hip when I'm done typing this!

My goal is to be back at work on the 12th. I haven't tried driving yet, and am honestly nervous to try. Yesterday when I was in the passenger seat I tried to lift my leg and move it suddenly as to simulate sudden breaking, and was surprised at how difficult it was! I need to practice around the neighborhood all next week!

Sophie Jayne's Finally Here!

We are so excited to finally meet our niece Sophie Jayne! She was born yesterday! She weighs 7 lbs 7 oz, is 20" long, and is BEAUTIFUL! We were so happy to visit with Tina, Jay, and Sophie yesterday at the hospital! It's so fun having another little one in the family! Lisa, Nick, and Joy were also visiting, and we all shared dinner together while watching the OSU b-ball game!

Here Comes Santa Claus

We took Caleb to see Santa on Sunday. I've been pointing out Santa in some Christmas books we have, so Caleb seemed to recognize him. When he sat on his lap, he kind of just stared at us, like, "what am I supposed to do again?" For a second it looked like he might cry, but then he did his cheesy smile, and then this real smile :) Now Santa on the other hand, I'm not sure why he's so glum! I mean for all the criers he gets, you'd think he'd smile when a non-crier is on his lap!


I'm going to have to try really hard not to blow this Santa thing! I think I figured it out when I was about 8 or so, and it was no huge disappointment. I saw my Mom get out of bed to fill our stockings, and I remember thinking, "I knew it!"

Also, Christmas for us growing up wasn't about how many presents we'd get, whether or not we were good or bad (being bad was not an option!), or going to see Santa. For us it was getting together with family, going to church, having the same traditional food, decorating the tree, and playing in the snow! Sure we got lots of presents, but that wasn't the focus of Christmas. My parents always stressed the importance of Jesus' birth!

Last year I remember asking Erik if he wanted to start the tradition of taking Caleb to see Santa. I told him I only remembered going twice as a kid, and wanted to see what his thoughts and traditions were. He and I agreed that we don't want to be Santa crazy, but that it would be cute to get a picture each year...until Caleb figures it out!

So I will continue the magic of Santa, and we'll keep reading about him in Caleb's Christmas books. However, we'll also keep playing with Caleb's Little People Nativity, and teaching him the real meaning of Christmas! It's the sweetest thing watching him kiss baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as he puts them in the manager! It's so fun starting our own family traditions with our little guy!

20 months old

Caleb is the sweetest, funniest kid I know! And I'm not just saying that because he's mine! We seriously have so much fun with him every day! Here are a few things he's been up to lately!

If he's a good shopper, which he almost always is, he gets to ride the horse at Meijer!


Caleb nods his head to the beat when we listen to music, just like his Mom does!

He loves to color with his crayons and markers, and has just discovered stickers!

He's been talking a lot more! Some new words include: go, ohhh, wow, girls, clock, kids, baby, bye, Bel (Bella), and Lu (Lulu)

He loves chase even more than before! He’ll run around for a half hour screaming “go, go, go!”

Riley jumps up onto Caleb’s highchair to get leftovers, and Caleb shakes his finger at him and says, “no, no, no!”

He takes his job of feeding the dogs very seriously!

Caleb took out his golf clubs and was walking around the house simultaneously banging them on the floor…we realized he was imitating me with my crutches!!

Caleb has pancakes pretty much every morning. On the days he eats pancakes, no matter how many times I wash his hands, they smell like syrup all day long!

So Cute!

Caleb is so cute! Erik brought up the Christmas decorations so I can try to put a few of them out throughout the week. Well Caleb went and opened up one of the boxes, looked inside, and "ohhhhed!" He was amazed by each and every single decoration! I cannot wait til we get to put the tree up!

So Very Thankful

We hope everyone has a really great Thanksgiving! We have so many things to be thankful for this year! First and foremost, we are blessed to have our little Caleb! He brings us so much happiness every single day! We are also thankful to have each other! I feel so lucky to be sharing my life with my best friend! He has really stepped up with helping around the house these past few weeks, and I can't thank him enough! Even though I'm dealing with this bum hip, I'm very grateful that our family has been healthy this year.

We had some health scares with 2 of our puppies this year, so I am especially thankful that all three of them are currently healthy! They are so sweet and loyal!

We are so thankful for our families! They have been more than helpful during my entire recovery process! There's no way I could have had this surgery without their help! I'm also very blessed to have such great friends who have been checking on me during my recovery! It would have been very difficult to go through all of this alone!

1 more week!

I have to use my crutches for 1 more week! Whoo Hoo! I can't believe it's already been 5 weeks! My hip is feeling OK. It's been a lot more achy this week, but I think that's because I'm trying to put a little bit more weight on it, and stretching it as far as I can tolerate. I'm so nervous that it's going to be really sore when I'm able to walk on it. I'm going to go back to work on the 12th, so I really hope it won't be too painful to be up and on it for my 10 hour work days.

Best Feeling in the World...

Whenever Caleb does something cute, hysterical, ridiculous, or amazing, and Erik and I just look at each other and smile :o)

2 weeks to go!

The last week has flown by, and I think it's because I've been able to do more at PT! My hip isn't as sore when I try to get on the floor to play with Caleb. It isn't pretty seeing me maneuver myself on to my butt, but at least I can do it! While I'm down there I usually end up doing my PT exercises! I also thought of a solution to my bony butt problem when I ride the bike! I set up a kitchen chair behind the stationary bike, so now I can ride it in a more recumbent position! I'll be glad when I can get rid of this bike for 2 reasons! 1) The family room will look less cluttered. 2) Caleb will stop trying to climb on to it! Haha! Hey, at least he's learned the word bike!

Half way done!

3 weeks down, and 3 more to go on my crutches! Aside from my one bad day, it hasn't been all that bad. I'm really trying to utilize all this laying around time to hangout with Caleb, snuggle with my dogs, and get things organized with my laptop. I had PT on Monday, and can tell that my hip is feeling better. My left hip seems to behave if I don't put all my weight on it for too long. In other words, I'm really doing nothing aside from bike riding and PT exercises.

I have PT again tomorrow and am excited to start stretching and adding more exercises. I know I'll probably be more sore, but I'll feel like I'm finally progressing!

My Mom, Dad, and Joy have been very helpful with things around the house, helping me with every little thing, and taking care of Caleb. And no I didn't forget about Erik! He has been so very helpful! He has not snapped at me or been annoyed with me at all (at least he hasn't showed it!), and I have to ask him to help me all the time!

He makes my meals, clears the table, cleans the kitchen, cleans up Caleb, feeds the dogs, lets the dogs out, and has been picking up Caleb's toys and vacuuming! I love how he's being more hands on with Caleb!! It'll be nice when I am able to walk, and for us to share more household and Caleb responsibilities, now that I can see he's fully capable :o) and great at them!!! Now don't get me wrong. He's always been pretty good with helping me with all of those things, but because I can't do any of them now, he's been awesome!! I think it also helps that because I can't do anything, I have been a lot more lenient with how I usually do things! Any help is much appreciated! Wouldn't it be amazing if this helpfulness lasted FOREVER!? LOL! I'm sure Erik will have his own ideas about all that!

Go, Go, Go

This is a shaky (sorry!) video of Caleb and Nicky playing chase after Tina's Baby Shower. This went on for a half hour, and Caleb kept running around screaming, "go, go, go!" They were so cute and had all of us cracking up!!

password is: grimmerfam

seriously?

This was my horoscope today:

It's easier than you think to turn bad energy into good energy! So if you have been feeling down in the dumps, remember that you have so much to be happy about in your life. Ask a friend or family member to remind you about how far you've come. They'll be glad to -- after all, who wouldn't want to be the person responsible for putting a bright smile on your face? And if you see someone in your life who could use a lift, brighten their day with a simple hello. It won't take much.

Seriously?? How ironic, huh?

Frustrated

I'm so frustrated and down today. My left hip is starting to hurt in the same place where my right hip hurt before surgery. I can't do anything around the house! It's beautiful outside and I am stuck on the couch again. 3 1/2 more weeks, and I'm really having a hard time staying positive. The what-ifs are winning today. What if my right hip won't be pain free? What if my left hip will need surgery too? What if I'll never be able to run around without pain everyday? That's the one that's really upsetting me...I don't want to be in pain and unable to be active. I love sports. "Playing outside" has been a part of me my whole life. No I've never been on sports teams life softball, basketball, or volleyball, but I like playing all those for fun!! I'm just so frustrated.

My Post-Op Appointment

I saw Dr. Domb's PA today for my post-op visit. My op hip is feeling better after my little incident, so that makes me feel a lot better! As for my left (non-op) hip, that's another story! I'm not doing anything at home besides riding the bike and my PT exercises. I pray that it's just soreness in the left hip from over compensating, and not a tear starting. When I'm going up and down the stairs, the left hip is clicking with each step, and then it's clunked twice on me. Clunking and clicking are bad!!

When I explained all this to the PA, she thought I was talking about the post op hip and said everything was normal. When I pointed out I was talking about the non op hip she goes, "Oh no, that's no supposed to happen! You're supposed to be one and done." NO KIDDING!! That's what I'm hoping for too!! LOL!

She went through my op pictures with me, and it's evident how much work they did! I'm surprised I didn't have more pain with the size of my tear! With everything they repaired, she reiterated 4 more weeks of crutches and the brace, which I completely understand. I also have to wait another weeks before I can start stretching in PT. The PA said that because of the lengthening that did to my hip flexor, my recovery and PT progress will be slower and more sore. GRRREAT!!

She then checked my range of motion. With being limited by the brace, I feel like my hip is really stiff, but she said I'm actually moving a lot more than most post-op patients at this point. That of course made me worried, but she said it wasn't a bad thing.

So that's the scoop. My next PT appointment is on Monday, so I'm laying low until then so hopefully my left (non-op) hip will feel a lot better!

Minor Setback

2 weeks down, 4 weeks to go on my crutches. I have my post-op appointment tomorrow, so hopefully I'm on track. My hip was feeling great, with hardly any pain at all. My Mom has been staying over to help us out. Well on Monday night she has a horrible nightmare and let out a blood curdling scream. It seriously sounded like she discovered a murder. I have no other way to describe it. I thought she was either having a heart attack or something happened to Caleb.

Erik and I both jumped out of bed screaming and ran into the hallway. Yes, I ran on my operated leg! Ugh!! I took about 5 steps before I even realized that it hurt and that I shouldn't be standing, let alone running on it! Once we realized that both she and Caleb were all right, Erik got my crutches and I hobbled back to bed.

She had a nightmare that someone was crawling in through Caleb's window. After we got into bed I made Erik go and check that all the upstairs windows were locked :)

I've literally been wasting away on the couch all day yesterday and today. The good thing is that my digital scrapbook is looking good! I've also done some online Christmas "window" shopping and created some new injury evals for work.

I'm hoping for good news at my appointment tomorrow! I pray they let me start stretching my leg, because I feel like I'm getting nowhere in my PT!