1.  The kids had a decent Easter.

Easter Eve (??) a neighbor brought his kids over and they all played and painted eggs together and ate pizza.  Izzy loved the attention, and my boys had fun chasing the 2 year old around the house.  Two year old loved to scream "baaaabeee!  baaaaabeee!" to Izzy.  At one point while I was nursing (with my Hooter Hider cover on), 2 year old became concerned when she couldn't locate the baby.  I told her the baby was eating and showed her Izzy's feet.  She was not satisfied with that, but I managed to quickly get my nursing cover back down. 

The Easter bunny hid Willy Wonka eggs in the boys' rooms...glow in the dark and eggs that stick to walls and can hang from things.  Fun surprise.  Easter bunny also brought the boys candy and toys.  The chocolate egg with a peep inside was a big hit.  Orian liked his bug vacuum (shaped like a gun, has a magnifying glass inside, for sucking up, looking at, and then releasing bugs) and Xavier was happy with his Monster House video game.  Izzy got a My First Easter bunny, a soft book inside a stuffed lamb, and 3 or 4 teething toys. 

Neighbor hid the eggs and our kids did the hunt together.  My boys had a good time, although Orian wasn't all that charitable and if he saw it, he grabbed it, without thought for the slow pace of a 2 year old just learning to hunt.

Pics: 

2.  School pictures turned out nice.

3.  I spent 2 pm - about 11 pm on Easter Sunday at the Acute Care Clinic and ER. 

I woke up with flank pain but went ahead with Easter plans.  By the time we were ready to hunt eggs I was hurting enough that I was snippy with a little girl who sweetly asked if Isabella could have a sucker.  The pain rapidly got worse.  I ended up crying and running back and forth between the bathroom, dry heaving, and the living room, looking for a place to lay down and die.

I took Tylenol and it didn't do a damn thing.  I tried to figure out what I could take that would be compatible with breastfeeding (AZO?  Flexeril?) and was hurting too badly to do much on the computer (big shock there).  I finally called my mommy although what my mommy was supposed to do to help me I don't really know.

She insisted that I go in since she was worried I was headed for imminent organ explosion.  I didn't want to bug anyone on Easter.  I finally caved and she called some of my FRG girls and one of them came to get me.

Just before she arrived I vomited my brunch of mini Nestle Crunch bars and sour gummy bunnies, and as nasty as it was, it took care of the nausea.

By the time we got to the ACC I was feeling much better, which sucks because then no one believes you, and I'm not very good at faking pain.  My symptoms were twisty knife pain in my right flank and shooty, stabby pain in my ovary-type-region, as well as nausea and one relieving episode of vomiting. 

I had experienced this exact same type of pain twice before: once when I was pregnant (hospitalized and given antibiotics; they were unsure if it was a kidney infection or kidney stones, but decided that I was not in enough pain to qualify for the kidney stone option), and then again at 5 weeks post partum (that time my urine didn't show any infection so I got treated like a hypochondriac moron and was given Macrobid). 

My urinalysis showed that my pee pee was full of blood.  The doctor asked if I was on my period...nope, haven't gotten it yet (a happy side effect of breastfeeding).  Whatever measurement they use for this (I can't remember) he said mine was 1,000 when it should be less than 5.  Definitely not normal.  He also said I had no sign of infection (white blood cells?).

The doctor decided to send me to the hospital for a renal CT scan.  My precious friend not only managed my 3 children in the waiting room that whole time, but then she drove me to the hospital for more of the same.

I endured a lot of BS and waiting since they couldn't just do like the doctor asked and do a CT scan. I had to be examined several times over.  I had been feeling better, and was given a shot of Tra*something*dol (Tradol?) in the butt so I was not hurting like before, so obviously I had never had any pain at all.  So I was treated like an idiot who must not have been in any pain. 

The first doctor I saw was a jerk and I had to force him to listen to my symptoms and my history.  He said it could either be a kidney infection or kidney stones, but not likely kidney stones since he had seen hard core Soldiers run on broken legs but vomit and cry in pain with kidney stones.  Ok, dude.  It's not like I *want* you to say I have kidney stones.  I just knew something wasn't right and I wanted him to take the time to figure out what it was.

Several hours, an old gray-haired hippy doctor, a breastfeeding session, and three attempts at inserting some piece of equipment into my veins later, I was wheeled off for my CT scan.  That was kind of fascinating as I got to pretend I was in an episode of House. Unfortunately, the SGT performing the CT scan got a major glimpse of the pink granny panties I was wearing (hospital gown).  At least I didn't decide to go commando.  Which was definitely an option, what with the current clean laundry deficit we're experiencing at my house. 

When my CT scan results came back Dr.SnippyMcAsshole changed his tune very quickly.  I suddenly found myself being offered Morphine and no longer being treated like I had all the reliability and communication skills of a four year old. 

I had a stone in my bladder.

Of course, this made all my previous episodes make sense.  I was told to drink lots of water to flush it out and that I would likely have more in the future and when I did, to come back in.  I was also told to see a urologist. 

I was finally sent on my way with some kidney stone hand-outs and a bottle of Roxicet for the pain that they apparently now believed I experienced. 

My friend watched my THREE children in the emergency waiting rooms for over EIGHT HOURS.  I don't yet know what I'm going to do for her, but something big.  Something really big.  And she was so sweet about the whole thing. 

4.  This morning I recovered my kidney stone (details available upon request).  Apparently I'm a sicko, because in addition to feeling vindicated about the whole thing (is there a certain way you MUST act in order to impress upon people that you do, indeed, experience pain?), I thought it was a pretty cool little thing.  I kept it because the lab can test it to see what it's made of, as some kidney stones can be avoided with changes in diet or other things.  Also I kept it because I'm a sicko.  I took a picture of it next to a ruler to show how big it is.  I would post it on here because I'm so proud of the little guy, but I guess that would be weird. 

5.  Tonight at the FRG meeting, some peon from ACS gave a little speech about coping with deployment.  She heartily advised against co-sleeping as if she is some sort of authority on the subject.  She insisted that people only co-sleep because of loneliness or emotional issues.  I couldn't hold my tongue and let her know that I CHOOSE to co-sleep because I practice Attachment Parenting, and it is all very intentional and very healthy. 

She was a know-it-all who seemed to think that none of us knew anything about our kids, our husbands, or deployment. 

She also said it was "good" for us to let babies cry in our attempt to get them comfortable with the daddy they are getting to know.  She basically, in all her wisdom, endorsed CIO for all purposes, but especially for introducing baby to daddy.  I didn't appreciate the way she presented her recommendations as steadfast rules when obviously there's a lot of other methods and research out there. 

6.  Here's a picture of me that I took with my webcam.  I like it since I tend to look better with more graininess and less focus. 

Happy Easter, everyone!