Just had to share my big woo hoo moment with everyone. I enjoyed my 1 week break from the vac. I had an appt at the Wound Clinic yesterday and the doctor said I've improved so much that I don't need the wound vac anymore! Woo Hoo! My depth is at 1.9 cm! It started out at 5 cm along with a 11 cm tunnel. The tunnel is completely healed and the other part is almost there! :-)

So now it's small enough I can pack it myself. This also means good bye to my awesome nurse Angie who has been there to help me through it all. Even talking me through freak outs with my machine to the joys of that first dressing change. :-) She was also my advocate when the wound was getting infected and got the wound clinic to get me a different doctor to get me on the vac. Thanks Angie for all you do! Nurses never get appreciated enough for all they do. I think the separation anxiety will set in shortly... :-)

So thanks everyone for the help, support and love the past few months. My poor husband has had to step up and pick up my slack. I know he's done it willingly and would do it all over again. Loves!

Katie and Kendall have grown up so much this summer! They've started doing all the things I always did for them that Dustin said they could do. I just couldn't let my babies grow up but then they went ahead and did it!

My awesome niece Michaela came in multiple times this summer to help with the baby and keep the girls out of my hair. She's truly a baby whisperer! I loved having all the time with her!

I also had so much help from my ward family. My awesome VT Mindi Wilford coordinated meals and play dates for the girls. Even calling just to check up on me. She did all this while pregnant herself! Thank you to everyone who helped.

This whole experience has taught me about humility. I'm always the one trying to do it myself. This has taught me it's okay to accept help and allow others the blessings that come with service. Nothing teaches humility like having to call my little sister to come babysit ME so Dustin could do all my running. :-)

But the journey is not completely over yet although I am THIS close! So please continue to pray for me and my family. I still have to learn patience with my body and with my family that would like to have their Mommy/wife back firing on all cylinders. Thank you again to everyone. I don't mean to exclude anyone so I'm sorry if I did. I don't know that there's room enough to thank everyone! Love you all and hope you all know that!

I got a 1 week break from the wound vac!!! My skin was so irritated because a nurse at the wound clinic got black foam on my skin. OUCH! Poor Angie had a heck of a time getting that off!

So now I get to okay nurse and pack the wound myself. It is definitely an experience! Thankfully Angie is coming over today to irrigate and check my wound for me. She helps to make sure I'm not screwing it up too bad. LOL!

There are 2 Woo Hoo moments in this: 1) without the vac, I can be so much more mobile, and 2) I can finally shower! Sponge baths just do not get a person clean enough! So Woo Hoo!!!

Woo Hoo!!! Dustin and I have been doing a new diet for a little over a week now. We weighed ourselves Thursday. Dustin is down 9 lbs!!! I am down 55 lbs from BEFORE I got pregnant with Kennedy!!! Granted that was not all in a week... I've lost 7 lbs with this diet! It's so awesome to go shopping in my closet and wear all the clothes that were way too small on me before. I have a collarbone and no extra chins! Big woo Hoo there!!!

On top of everything, Angie, my super nurse and partner in crime, was here yesterday for my vac change and did my wound measurements. My wound is at 2 cm!!!!! I am so unbelievably happy that I am finally seeing progress and only getting good news! This has been a long time coming and the end is in sight!

My next appt at the wound clinic is Monday. Say a few extra prayers that I get even better news that the vac can come off. :-) I could be the mom I want to be. When my baby cries I can jump up and take care of her instead of having to make sure I remember to loop the vac over my shoulder. Remember to unplug if I'm charging. No more catching my hose on everything. I'll be able to play with the girls, do more around the house. Now enough whining!!! Every cm that I improve is a big woo hoo moment! From where I started to where I am now has been a faith building journey and it can only get better from here!!!

Yesterday was such a fun day filled with insurance companies, vac change, and school supply shopping!

My day started off with a text from my home nurse (the oh so awesome Angie!) saying that now that I'm back to work, I'm no longer homebound so they won't cover her to do my vac changes. :-( We had our sniffles about not getting our Angie/Katena fixes but promised we'd get together soon. I called the Wound Clinic and the great nurses there whittled an appt for me.

I was bumming because Angie and I have literally gone through all this together. (yes I've had great support from family and friends too) We've been in the "trenches" together and she's been a fighter on my behalf from making sure the insurance lady gets visits approved to cheering me on after doctor visits (and helping me out with all the new baby advice and paraphernalia!). So she's become a bit of a security blanket. It was hard to think of her not being there when I'm finally healed. But then the Woo Hoo moment came! She called and said we got approved for the 2 vac changes this week! Woo Hoo!!! It was hilarious when I called the Wound Clinic to let them know I didn't need to come in after all because insurance did a turnabout, the receptionist did a Woo Hoo! I thought, you don't know how appropriate you are!

So my next Woo Hoo moment came in my measurements from my vac change. This last "pocket" (yeah there have been a few) started out at 5 cm when we "discovered" it. It was at 2.5 cm at my appt on Monday. Yesterday it was 2 cm!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!! There's a light at the end of this tunnel and I feel pretty confident it's not a train! Hoping I can get the vac off on Monday. Here's to keeping fingers crossed and praying constantly! :-)

I also took Katie and Kendall school shopping for all their supplies. What an experience! Shelves were literally bare! I found most of it but will have to grab odds & ends today or over the weekend. How are my babies in Kindergarten and First Grade! *sigh* it's going by so fast!!!

Today's Woo Hoo moment was a small one but still counts none the less! With all my weight loss after having Kennedy, I've been having to "shop" in the back of my closet for all my old "skinny" clothes. I grabbed a shirt and pants that I haven't worn in years because they were too tight. I put in the pants and they fit!!! On a side note I decided not to wear them because they were a little tight and showed my trac for the vac. A little anonymity is nice. I know everyone sees me carrying around my little "friend" but they don't need to see all the details. Anywho, sorry for the side tracking! I put the shirt on and it was HUGE on me! It's a tailored shirt that nips in to make a person look a little more hourglass as opposed to apple shape. So it's supposed to fit a little better. But alas, it was too big and I'm probably going to have to admit that it looks a little frumpy. But I think until I hit that bottom weight I'll just have to deal with loose and ill fitting clothes. What a difference almost 50 lbs can make!

So I'm off to find more Woo Hoo moments for the day. Looking for the positive instead of dwelling on the negative has vastly improved my outlook and how I look at everything! Woo Hoo!!!

Kendall said prayer last night. We've been trying to teach the girls about personalizing their prayers and not just saying the same one over and over. Kendall's tend to be rather long winded and consist of blessing everything AND the kitchen sink. :-) but every now and then She has a real moment of sweetness or a sign that she's really getting it.

Last night's prayer she asked Heavenly Father to "please bless Mama's wound vac so it can make her all better so we can travel again." Out of the mouths of babes! I love this girl! Even though it might be a little self serving on her part (she really wants to go to St Louis and Bartelso!), I love that she loves me enough to think of such a little thing!

So my woo Hoo moment is my sweet baby girl praying for me. I know it's not much, but I really had to leave the room and shed a few tears. Just the pure love of a child... And it's for me! Truly a humbling experience. Just a blurb for her, a learning experience for me. :-)

Have a great day all! Hoping to have a great woo Hoo moment for today!

Hi all! Some of you may or may not know what's been going on in my life since Kennedy came. It's been crazy and literally changed my sense of normal. So in trying to find a positive in my new crazy world, I've been attempting to make sure I have a "Woo Hoo Moment" each day. Sometimes I share them. Sometimes it's just for me. :-) So... I think my new game plan is to try to share my woo Hoo moments with everyone and have a place where everyone can share their woo Hoo moments too.