A long journey and a big surprise

So – it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post. A real, from the heart, down to earth, blog post. I think it’s finally time to let everyone know what is going on with me. To be perfectly honest, 2014 and 2015 were not kind to myself and my family.

Here’s a quick little rundown:

2014 – My dad had a stroke, our daughter was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that attacks her eyes, my step-dad got cancer, we accidentally got pregnant, I lost the baby, my daughter had surgery, my step-dad died.

2015 – I developed SERIOUS health issues. What started as a rash on my hands, quickly progressed to dermatologists, allergists, rheumatologists, and more. Remember when I looked like this:

In October of 2015, I was finally diagnosed as “ANA+ with a steroid responsive rash; also, Hashimoto’s disease”. What does this mean for me? A lot of meds. A lot of diet changes. A lot of restrictions on my normal clean eating staples!

Add to all of 2015, I got pregnant again!!! We thought we lost the baby twice. Turns out it was a subchorionic hemorrhage. The doctors gave me a 50% chance of keeping this pregnancy as of Dec. 24^th. Yes. Christmas Eve. Closer to New Year’s Eve, we thought we lost it. It was bad and my mental state was not in a good place.

I went in for a “confirmation of loss” ultrasound on January 6^th. Imagine my surprise (and tears) when we saw a little baby with a heartbeat waving at us! I hadn’t lost the baby. BUT, the high risk doctor did not give me good odds of the baby surviving with my “extremely large” hemorrhage. I think he said “don’t get your hopes up”.

So, on Feb. 3, I had another ultrasound. And there was the baby! Waving at us again! This time, my hemorrhage had almost completely gone away. We were in the clear and I was almost 12 weeks along! Almost out of the first trimester!!! WOO HOO!

Then, on the afternoon of Feb. 11, I got another call from my midwife. She left a message and asked me to call her back on her CELL phone. Then, she texted me when I hadn’t called her right away. I figured that couldn’t be too good.

When we talked, she told me that I had tested positive for the anit-E antibody. Turns out it’s another AUTOIMMUNE thing. It can be bad for the baby if my titer gets too high. Today on my lunch break, I am headed to get my blood drawn AGAIN. We need this titer ASAP.

What does this mean for me and my baby? I know that I will be getting monitored a LOT during this pregnancy. I know that I will get blood drawn every 1-2 weeks. I will get ultrasounds every 2-4 weeks. My titer needs to stay in check – 1:4 is the highest they want it go, and that's where it is now. There is a possibility that I will have to get an IUT – intrauterine transfusion – which is where they give the baby a blood transfusion in-utero. The chance of this is small, but it’s still a very real possibility. There is also a good possibility that I will have to deliver the baby early. Probably somewhere from 34-38 weeks. 

As of right now, I’m trying my best to do what I do. Get up, go to work, take care of my family, take care of myself, and be better today than I was yesterday. The more normal I stay with my routine and food, the more control I feel like I have. In a situation where there is NOTHING I can do to control my anti-E, having control over SOMETHING is nice.

So - I'm trying to just do my thing. I'm trying to stay true to myself. I'm trying to be positive. We have another ultrasound on March 3 and an appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) doctors. This should result in a LOT more answers and some calmed fears.

If you got this far, thanks for listening. If you were thinking you were gonna see a workout/fitness/heath/recipe post - sorry to disappoint. This is what is consuming me right now, so it's what I'm writing about :)

<3,

Kell

What a Spring!

Wow. I can't believe that I haven't written a blog post since April!!! It's now June 1!

I should know by now that April and May are going to be crazy busy in the Levere household. It's nearing the end of the school year and concert season is quickly upon me and my students.

April and May 2014 were no exception. Well, actually, they were the exception. There were a few other extra circumstances that made these two months even rougher.

Let's start with the ongoing battle with my daughter Piper. She was officially diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in March. Luckily for her, it's contained to her left ankle right now, so it's called Oglioarticular JIA. Oglio-JIA is when the arthritis affects less than 4 joints. A steroid injection into her ankle has helped bring the swelling down but we are still on Aleve twice a day to get the swelling completely gone.

Then there's Piper's eye issue. Along with JIA comes eye inflammation. Our rhumatologist said that Piper was at a low risk for this inflammation. Only 20% of kids with her type of JIA get Uveitis. Turns out, she's got it! Her right eye was inflamed. Prescription to fix the inflammation? 4 steroid drops a day in her right eye for 2 weeks and then 2 drops a day for 3 weeks. After a follow up visit to the pediatric opthamologist in early May, her inflammation was gone. So we are doing a steroid taper. 2 drops a day for 1 more week, one drop a day for 2 weeks, a week without drops, and then get checked again. We take her back in on her 2nd birthday - June 12th. Then it's a minimum of 4 times a year to check for inflammation.



In the grand scheme of things JIA isn't a big deal. Yes, she will deal with it her entire life. Or maybe it will go away. All we know right now is that she is happy, healthy, and pain free.

My family was also hit with the bomb in April that my step-dad has stage 4 esophageal cancer that has spread to his liver and also a mass in his ribs. He is undergoing 3 different types of chemo right now to help shrink the tumors. Chemo has brought lots of sickness and a 50 pound weight loss. My 6 foot 6 inch step-dad, who usually hangs around 256 pounds, is trying his best to stay above the 200 mark right now. When he gets past the after effects of the 2 different types of chemo in his port, he is able to eat again, which we are hopeful that that means that the tumor is shrinking. We won't know until another round of chemo on the 6th of June and then a scan on the 20th of June.

So, yeah. There's that.

Then, out of the blue, my husband and I found out we were expecting the day after Easter. It came as a COMPLETE shock to us. We weren't trying nor were/are we even sure we want a third child. We weren't sure when our due date was, but we estimated sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 25. Since I am still nursing Piper, my cycles were off and we hadn't seen our Midwife yet.

Well, we had the good news (ok - shocking news - I cried a LOT) for about a week before I began to have a miscarriage. A miscarriage is not something I would wish on my worst enemy. We've now had two of them. Our first pregnancy and then this last pregnancy. It hit me VERY hard. I had just gotten used to the idea of a third baby. A Christmas baby. Our surprise third baby. Then it was ripped away as quickly as it was given to us.

Luckily I have a new found relationship with God. I know that everything happens for a reason. I know that this baby was just not meant to be. For the most part, I'm at peace with our loss now. I still have my moments. I still mourn the baby I will never get to hold. But, you know what? I have two beautiful children right here that love me and need me each and every day. So, I pick myself up off the ground and put a smile on my face. I tell people about my loss because people need to know that it affects more women that we let on.

Last - the month of May is deemed "mom's crazy month" in our house. As a beginning band director, May is my biggest month. I have 4 evening concerts, 4 daytime concerts, two days of presentations to the 3rd graders, a parent information meeting night, two days of tryouts, and two evenings of tryouts. I miss more bedtimes in May that I miss the rest of the year combined. BUT - it's part of my job. It's a part of the job that I LOVE because it's such a big deal for my students. Their concerts are the time when they get to shine. Those butterflies you get before going on stage are not well known to a lot of people. But if you are lucky enough to have experienced them in your lifetime, you know what I'm talking about. I love my students. I love seeing my students succeed. I love igniting the fire inside of them for performing and for music.

So - all in all - it's been a REALLY busy Spring. My goal for the summer is to blog consistently. Get back to my roots. Go to Summit. Grow my team. Help more people. Become a 5 star diamond coach. <--- yeah - I just put that out there. I have 4 stars to go. My team will do it. They are amazing.

Thanks for listening to my crazy ramblings on this Sunday night. I have #5morewakeups with kids. I can do this. Summer break is so close I can taste it. Success is just around the corner. I'm ready to make the Summer of 2014 into MY SUMMER!

<3,
Kell