ITP relapse

Sunday I was at my parents house in Arkansas enjoying our Christmas break.  On our way back to their house after church I was driving and noticed odd looking bruises on my hands and arms.  My first thought was "oh no! ITP!"  Then, I thought... "No.  It's probably the hustle and bustle of Christmas and traveling. "  

The next morning I noticed more bruises and by that evening I had small petechia (little red dots of blood) on my chest, and arms.  I knew something wasn't right.  I decided to pack us up and head home.  If something was wrong, I didn't want to be away from my doctors and home, and support network of friends where we live.

I dropped the kids off with tony at the house and went to the closest ER.  They checked my platelets and my lab results showed my count was 14,000. This is extremely low and very high risk for bleeding our, and other complications.  Platelets help your blood clot.  and without clotting, it's a bad thing.  ITP stands for Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Perpura. Google it, or look in my archives back to 2009.  That's when I was first diagnosed.

Ok, back to the story...

This little hospital I went to transported me by ambulance to a bigger hospital downtown Tulsa that has specialist for my disease.  I have a team of Hemotologist Oncologists working on my specific case.  My ITP is not like the typical cases.  My blood is different and they aren't sure why. They are doing a new experimental treatment on me over the next four days and will track progress closely. (More on that later)

Please pray for my platelets to increase.  Pray for Gods provision for this hospital stay.  Being in the hospital two different calendar years equals two different $3,000 deductibles.  Pray for my babies at home. They miss me and I am missing their time away from school at home for break.

We covet your prayers and are believing in miracles!

What a break!

Last week was fall break for our kiddos, from school.  We had a fun, restful, rejouvenating getaway to Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri.  We stayed for 2 nights, then went to my parents Farm in NW Arkansas and stayed a night there.  It was a great week!  Sometimes, you just need to "get away" from the every day to-do's of life. 

Big Cedar has a lot of things to do on the property.  We played mini-golf, canoed (the kids and tony did this one), swam in several pools, and hiked around in the gorgeous weather.  We will definitely be going back sometime in the near future!

I didn't take my real camera out much, but did take some photos of the kids.  Well, trying to get a photo with all three kids looking wasn't easy, and didn't really happen.  They sure are cute though! 

I will trust you, Lord

I just got back from urgent care with Caroline.  It seems she has some kind of weird rash.  It will go away, and isn't anything life threatening or crazy like chicken pox or measels. The rest of us most-likely will not get it.  "It's just something kids get."  said the doctor.

"What?" I thought...

Kids get numerous runny noses, colds, splinters, and (apparently) rashes in their little lives.  It's just something that happens.  As I was was driving home, the doctor's words kept resonating in my thoughts and I began to wonder.

Does God think this about us, His children?  When we sin, does God think, "Another one of my children stumbled, it's just what they do."  I'm not sure why I thought that.

The nurse took us to a room and after she took Caroline's vitals, we waited for the doctor to come in.  I was thinking... as Caroline's mother, all I wanted to do was take away her "itchies" and make her feel better.  I ached as I sat in the room waiting for the doctor to come in, watching sleepy-eyed Caroline tell me she was scared.  She gets scared easily these days, and is afraid of most things little girls are afraid of (like spiders and the dark), as well as things most little girls don't have to think about (another post on that later). As I rubbed her back, I prayed that this wasn't going to be a big deal.  I remember taking her to the doctor for a bruised foot last year and finding out she had kohler disease--that was a huge deal.  I was praying this wasn't going to be another big "to-do". 

It wasn't a big deal, but I was glad I took her just to be sure.  We stopped for an ice-cream cone on the way home.  I told her she was brave and that I was proud of her.  We talked about how there was nothing to be scared about.  She agreed that she had worried for "no reason at all".  I explained that God tells us that worrying is a sin, and it only hurts our heart.  I asked her how it made her feel to worry and she said she wanted to cry.

I wonder if God cries when we sin?  Does he look at us like I look at my precious Caroline? I think he probably does.

Lord, forgive me when I don't trust you.  Forgive me when I sin and worry about things I have no control over.

From rashes to worrying...

I promise to trust you, Lord.

Back to the Blog

Well, it's been 6 months.  Our sweet Hazel is rolling everywhere, sitting up, and trying her tastebuds at some table food.  The kiddos started in a new school this year.  Tobin is in 2nd grade and doing awesome.  Caroline is in Kindergarten and loving every second of it.  We bought a house and moved when Hazel was 6 weeks old so I put blogging on the back burner.  We have been planting roots deeply into the ground and are so thankful for God's continued blessings over our little family.


We bought a house on 3 acres in a little town outside of Tulsa and we are loving the country/small town feel. 

(Here are the kids in front of the new house, the day we closed)

We have lots of projects to do around here, but we are so excited to call another house OUR home.  Now that we are somewhat in a daily routine I thought it was about time I start blogging again.  The thought of catching up overwhelms me, so I will just take it day by day.  There will be new posts (about who knows what) and I'm sure there will be "catch-up" posts as well.

Thanks for keeping up with our family.  

Introducing:

Hazel Hope Cobb
8lbs 9oz  - 19 Inches
born 7:40 am April 3rd, 2014


We are so in Love...

8 days to go!

 I took this Prego-Selfie today. I am 38 weeks.  She feels lower today than she even did yesterday.  I'm starting to feel really tired, lots of pressure, but not completely miserable yet. I"m so thankful to be carrying this sweet girl and am just trying to enjoy every second I have left.  I'm not going to lie though, I'm ready to meet her!

Because I have gestational diabetes, my doctor has me doing kick counts twice a day.  Sunday, the baby's kicks were not measuring up and got everyone a little worried so we went to labor and delivery to be monitored.  The baby looked beautiful on the monitor! We are once again so thankful that God is taking care of me and this sweet baby.

 This picture was taken at 37 weeks.  I am pretty convinced I'll be having a 9lb + baby.  We will see.

 
Tony took this pic of me Sunday evening after we got home from church.  It's a more flattering position that the one I took today ;)

 Here I am at 36 weeks.

I've been busy making cute little things for my new girl.  Little spit-up bibs and burp cloths are my most recent projects.

 We are doing cloth diapers with this baby, after she gets out of the newborn diaper stage.  We have been working on our diaper stash and getting ready for her, all around!
 

 

We are all ready to see this baby.  The kids drew this on the sidewalk last week. That's Tony and me, holding hands, with hearts above our heads.  Can you tell which one is me?

 Please be praying for us as we await this baby's arrival.

My C-Section is scheduled for April 3rd at 7 am.  We appreciate your support and prayers. We will keep you all updated as the date gets closer!

Catch Up Post: Christmas, Winter, Snow, Birthday, and Baby Update

 It's been 3 months since I've blogged. A lot has happened. I debated about updating all of our Christmas pics, talking about how great it was and updating everyone on how our winter was.  To be honest, I can't make myself go there... all the way.  Here are some snippets and pics to sum it all up.  That's what everyone wants to see anyway, right? photos!

We had the Cobb Family Christmas at our house this year. 

 It was great to have Mimi and Mamaw here all the way from Oklahoma City. 

 After Christmas morning at our house, we headed to Arkansas for some good 'ol Allen Family Christmastime.  It was filled with tradition, yummy food and lots of laughter. I set up the tripod and we took some family pics.  Here we all are!

 Caroline and Zoe are at the age where they play wonderfully together, most of the time. They were such buddy-buddies this trip!

 My love, me, and the bump.

 The kids and I made our first "homemade" gingerbread house.  We were snowed in for several days and didn't have a kit, so I just used what we had (mostly leftover Halloween candy) and they had a ball! I think we started our own tradition. 

 We got LOTS AND LOTS of snow this winter. In fact, as I type this we are having a "snow day".  The kids have used all their snow days for this calendar year. I'm not sure what they do to start making them up now. I guess we will see won't we?!

Caroline turned 5 in February.  I am still in disbelief! We only had a family party this year. My parents came over for the party, and so did cousins Indie, Kinzi, Zoe and Ezra! We had so much fun!  She wanted a Hello Kitty party, so that's what she got.

 

 

I had two amazing showers.  One in Edmond, and one here in Tulsa.  God has gone above and beyond to provide for this baby.  We feel overwhelmed and so loved!

 

 
My mom came over for the Tulsa shower and I snapped this of her and the kiddos before she left.  She will be back when the baby arrives.

okay, here come the belly pics.  Part of the reason I decided to post today was because I was worried that one day this baby girl would get on this blog and find no updates of when I was pregnant with her, like I did Caroline.  Here are the catch-up belly pics.  (feel free to skip over them)

31 weeks

 32 weeks

 34

This was taken yesterday, one month till my C-section. 

Baby Update:

35 weeks, 1 day pregnant

29 days to go until my Scheduled C-section on April 3rd.

Baby Girl is measuring 3 weeks ahead of time. Yes, 3 weeks big. Ooops

Weight gained till now, only 3 lbs.

Gestational diabetes diet and exercise program going great!

Feeling good, except I'm having intense lower back pain. 

Spending every available second with my big kids, enjoying them.

We are in full "get ready for baby" mode around here!

Getting excited!  We cannot wait to meet her!

Still haven't decided 100% on a name yet.

That pretty much catches me up around here. I'll do my best to update as we get closer to baby--  especially now that I don't have the dreaded catch-up post to do. Ha!