This week has been one of the longest of my life.

I know that an appendectomy — a laparoscopic appendectomy, no less — is considered a fairly common and simple procedure in modern medicine. But with the pregnancy having slowed my healing time in addition to lowering my threshold for pain (both very common pregnancy symptoms), I am still in quite a bit of discomfort.

Perhaps the biggest complication that the pregnancy brought to the procedure was that due to my enlarged uterus, the incisions had to be made a lot further away from each other. So for the first few days after surgery, I could feel — by way of pain — the path where the laparoscope (the camera) had made its way from about 4″ above my belly button to the actual surgical site, about 8″ away on my lower right abdomen.

My OB tells me that he and the surgeon had debated whether to give me a traditional appendectomy instead given the complications that the pregnancy would provide, and that they had chosen to go the laparoscopic route mostly because the surgeon is one who specializes in laparoscopic surgery.

The good news is that I am healing, albeit slowly. My entire stomach no longer feels like it’s on fire. And as of today, the only pain I feel is from the three incisions, and only when I move.

The hardest part of this ordeal has been watching my family suffer. When they first informed me of my diagnosis, I immediately asked if the condition had resulted from something I had done — in other words, was it my fault?

The answer, obviously, was no. “There was nothing you could have done to prevent it,” the doctors assured me. But you can’t deny that technically, my family just went through a week of hell because of me.

So thank you to my wonderful husband for working from home the entire week, taking care of me and Claire and Comang. I know that this week could not have been easy, being cooped up inside, missing events at the office, and trying to juggle everything that was going on. But despite the overwhelming fatigue that shadows his eyes, he remains in good spirits while ensuring I am as comfortable as possible and keeping our increasingly-high maintenance baby happy (and teaching her to high-five!). My mother has told me numerous times this week how lucky I am to have such a supportive husband…as if I needed reminding!

Thank you to my mother who stopped by on Sunday night and Wednesday afternoon to help. And a huge thanks to my sister who visited on Monday, in addition to yesterday and today. We couldn’t have done it without you guys.

(To those who may be wondering, our nanny only came for her regular hours this week as she had prearranged plans.)

And to my Claire Bear, mommy is very sorry that she was not (and is still not) able to pick you up. It breaks my heart to see you reaching your arms up to me and not being able to immediately scoop you up in my arms, to only be able to embrace you if someone else is supporting you too. I know that you will understand when you get older, and I promise that things will get better soon!

When a package arrived for me earlier this week, J placed it at the edge of our bed so
that I could easily get to it when I woke up. Later, Claire came to “visit” me and
proceeded to steal the package off the bed! J took this snapshot of her with his phone
as she was making the escape, package in tow.

Lastly, a great thank you to my dear readers. All the comments, emails, and messages meant a great deal to me, and helped put a smile on my face on more than a few occasions.

I am currently writing this on my phone while lying in bed at the hospital.

Early yesterday morning I woke up to excruciating abdominal pain, similar to the severe round ligament pain I had experienced during my pregnancy with Claire. With this pregnancy being so similar to the last, I had believed myself to have been lucky to have been spared such dramatic afflictions, but I was wrong.

When the pain level reached that of labor pains, J called his brother to come watch Claire so that we could head to the hospital. Being 25 weeks pregnant, I was admitted to Labor & Delivery right away. The pain continued to grow worse, but BebeDeux seemed to be in good condition.

Soon, the pain became almost unbearable. I could not walk or talk, only rock back and forth with tears streaming down my face. I began to vomit and shake uncontrollably. My OB prescribed me some morphine, but that would only provide me about an hour of relief and then the vicious cycle would begin all over again.

It was the worst physical pain of my life.

This was not round ligament pain, like last time. Neither was I in premature labor (and with labor pains, I would at least get some relief between contractions while this pain was continuous).

The doctors were perplexed. All my bloodwork, abdominal ultrasounds, and other pregnancy-safe tests came back normal. But after about the 9th hour of this agony, they decided that an MRI was needed. There were some risks to the baby, sure, but they just could not figure out what was wrong with me.

I fervently prayed that the MRI would show what the other tests did not, and it did…

Accute appendicitis.

I needed surgery asap, before my appendix burst.

My OB, surgeon, and anestheseologist all assured me that the procedure would be safe for BebeDeux. And that the small risks involved with the surgery were nothing compared to the risks I would be taking by not getting my appendix removed and quite possibly have it burst.

A couple of hours later, I gave J a kiss and told him I loved him while getting wheeled into the OR. And an hour after that, I woke up to my surgeon informing me that the surgery was a success, and that my inflamed appendix was now no more.

So here I am now, back in the maternity ward, recovering from surgery while they monitor BebeDeux. She seems to be handling it a lot better than her mama, and I am forever grateful for that.

Depending on my progress, I may be discharged as early as today. Be that as it may, I can’t help but be worried about the upcoming week or two as I continue to recover and have little Claire to take care of…J will most likely need to work from home many days, and/or our nanny will need to come in for extra hours.

Please keep our family in your prayers as we recover from yesterday’s surgery. I hope that you’re all having better weekends than me.

I’ve been battling a slight cold the past couple of days. Like my sister said to me over an email, “Only YOU would get a cold in the middle of this heat wave.” 

Seeing as I’m still not feeling 100%, and that it is a Friday — in addition to being perhaps the hottest and most humid day of the year here in the northeast — let’s forgo the deep topics and stick to lighthearted subjects instead.

Like movies.

Last Sunday, my mother insisted on getting some time with Claire so J and I were able to catch the last Harry Potter film on opening weekend.   I had been looking forward to this movie for over a year, and had been hearing fantastic things about the flick from reviews and from friends who had been able to watch it earlier than us.

Perhaps my expectations were too high? Because I didn’t think it was that great. 

Most people I know cite this last movie as their favorite of the Harry Potter series. I disagree. I think that film 5, or Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was the best movie of the eight.

(My opinion also differs from the majority of my friends’ in that I believe Prisoner of Azkaban or Deathly Hallows was the best book, while others predominantly favor Goblet of Fire.)

Have you watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 yet? What did you think of the movie?

Which is your favorite movie of the series? Favorite book?

J agrees with me in that our friends have probably set the expectations too high, because he was disappointed too.

Thanks to my mother who insists on watching Claire practically every other Sunday — and because there isn’t much to do near my parents’ house aside from the second largest mall by area in the nation — J and I have been very lucky in that we, as new parents, have been able to watch almost all the big movies of 2011 in theaters as they are released.

So naturally, a discussion about the best movie of the year began almost as soon as the last Harry Potter movie ended, and we both agreed: the best movie we had seen this year was Fast Five.

Maybe it’s because we both walked into the theater without much of an expectation? Perhaps it’s because the series had taken a turn from street-racing to the theme of an elaborate heist? Nonetheless, the combination of The Rock + Vin Diesel made for a killer movie.

What was the best movie you’ve watched this year?

I have never been the type of person who proclaims “Genius!” whenever a child learns or picks up new skills. While I would smile warmly at the parents who had just bragged about how their kid is already reading at the age of 3, I would think inside my head, “Pssh. Lots of people know how to read.”

I have found myself holding Claire to similar standards as well. Yes, I am happy whenever she reaches new milestones, and praise her greatly for them. But unless I see her doing something so extraordinary — something I know only a very few other kids can do — I will continue in thinking that she is a perfectly normal and ordinary baby. A baby I love more than life itself, yes, but an ordinary baby all the same.

Besides, one can’t really measure the success or accomplishments of a person until said person is at least mature enough to hold a basic conversation, no? 

With all that being said, I am only just starting to realize how much babies learn just by observing the world around them. How sponge-like their minds are, and how much smarter they are than the world — as well as I, even as a mother — give them credit for.

I have already mentioned how Claire has learned to shake her head “no,” wave “hi” and “bye,” and even associate the words that go along with those actions without any of our assisting or prompting. Yesterday, she added a new physical gesture to her arsenal: clapping her hands when I clap or say “Yay!!!”

While I do read to Claire quite often, I do not actively seek to teach her anything, at least not yet. I try my best to try to get her to pick things up at her own pace and just usually let her do her own thing…but now I am starting to realize that I should start to consciously make an effort to teach my daughter all the little things that will (hopefully) stay with her for the rest of her life.

That includes manners and common courtesy. For example, using the proper greeting and bowing whenever an elder enters or leaves the room (I will start doing this to J whenever he leaves for work in the morning too, so that she can learn by example). Even praying before she eats.

Yesterday was also the moment when I realized that we really need to start watching what we say around her too. J and I do not cuss much, but we have been known to let out expletives here and there. But, from now on, we will need to enforce a “no swearing” rule if our children may be listening. Even if that means enacting “Earmuffs!” in the manner of Old School. 

Final Fantasy 7 has always been, and probably will remain, my favorite of all the FF video games. I still remember being awed by Sephiroth (I even had a small crush on him  ), crying when Aerith died, and becoming utterly consumed by the mystery surrounding Jenova.

There have always been an abundance of fan-made art, fanfics, tributes, and so forth with all Final Fantasy titles. Cloud Strife’s legendary 6-piece sword has always been a favorite among weapons and props, but I have never seen a diagram as comprehensive as the one below, which visually describes the mechanism and assembly of the sword as referenced in FFVII: Advent Children:

I couldn’t help but feel some geek pride to see that the labels are written in Korean. 

Head on over to Liquid Endeavor for a more detailed explanation and analysis of the sword!

(Personally, I was not too impressed with Advent Children…but then again, how can you compete with a video game that is credited as “the game that sold the PlayStation”?)