September 25, 2010, pre-hospital

I have decided I need to start writing down my hand experience even though typing with one hand takes forever. I don't know how long it will be 'till I can type with two hands, so I am going to do this in segments. Here I go. . .

I planned on pressure bottling some dry beans on Saturday morning. I got up early, saw Ryan off to work, got the kids fed and ready for the day, then started pulling things out to start bottling. Then I realized I had a question about the process of bottling these beans. I thought, "It's only 8 AM, I can't call my friend this early on a Saturday to ask her a bottling question. It is a beautiful day. I will just take the boys outside and start on a woodworking project I wanted to get done.

I proceeded outside with my two little boys. I wanted to make some toy train pieces with my scroll saw (which I love and plan to use when I am better). All the pieces of wood that I could use for my project had a routered edge. So I thought, "No biggie I'll just square up a piece on our table saw, then be on my way. I proceeded to cut the 22' piece of wood. About half way through cutting, there was a knot (knots are more difficult to cut, for those of y'all who don't cut wood very often.). I put my left hand toward the back of the wood, then the whole piece split and jumped. I blinked, heard a loud noise, then looked down and my fingers were gone. There was blood everywhere. I thought "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! can I pause then rewind my life a second then fix that?!? My fingers are gone! Wow, That is a lot of blood. Is that my bone? Yes, I think it is. Should I call someone? Yeah, I probably better."

I wrapped my hand in my shirt then told my boys I would be back. I ran in the house and grabbed the phone. I started to call Ryan, then I decided I was really bleeding a lot and I better just call 911. So I did. I told the woman on the other end of the call that I had cut off my fingers and I needed some help. Oh yeah, and I am pregnant. How pregnant? Uh, uh, I could not seem to remember how pregnant I was. . . (I think I told her 27 weeks, because that is what the paramedics and police thought when they got there.) While on the phone I grabbed a package of steaks from my freezer to put ice on my hand, it was a little awkward, so I scrapped that idea. The woman asked if I was keeping it elevated and I realized my hand was sitting at lower chest level. I needed it to be at least above my heart. I dropped my shirt and grabbed a kitchen towel so I could keep compression on it while elevating it. Then I realized I could not keep very much compression on it. I thought, "I am losing strength. Oh no! That must be because I have lost so much blood!?!" I proceeded to tell the 911 lady that I felt like I was starting to go into shock, so I had better just sit by my side door and wait for the ambulance. I sat, my hand really started throbbing. I waited, and tried to take slow, deep breaths.

Then, my sweet little four year old came over to me and with his big blue eyes, asked, "Mom, are you okay?" I replied, "Yes dear, mommy just has a big owie." When the police and paramedics got there, I think I was trying to have my four year old be my breathing coach and explaining to the 911 lady that I had my two kids with me.

Hooray! The paramedics arrived, I am not going to bleed to death/die in front of my kids! They asked me if I was 27 weeks pregnant, and I said, "No I am further along than that. . . 36 or 37 weeks I think. . . I can't seem to remember for sure. Just look at my middle--I am really pregnant." Once we got the prego info squared away, I told them about my kids and asked them to please take my children to my neighbors house. The police took care of my kids while the first responders gathered my two missing digits (they were distressed when they could only find two, they came back to report, so we checked and--phew! One was still hanging by a little piece of skin. Thankfully!). I was strapped to the bed, loaded, and we were on our way.

Okay, by this point I am totally ready for some pain medicine! I asked and was told "No, sorry, you are pregnant. We have to wait until we get to the hospital." My thought, "What?! (followed by several deep breaths of oxygen--I can't wait to get to the hospital )."

I am going to stop there for now, because I have been typing for ages. I'll type the rest in my next post. (sorry if this is too long, just don't read any more posts if they are too long).

P. S I am so thankful for friendly and efficient police and all EMS workers. (Especially Deward Stout for keeping me company on the ambulance ride. It was nice to have a familiar face to talk to.)

Just an annoyance...or Drive me Crazy?!

I think I have discovered the most annoying thing in the world. . . I just hope it does not drive me crazy. My fingers have started occassionally itching on the inside. I cannot scratch for relief when they do that. I can hold, rub, and squeeze, but it does not relieve. i just tell myself I need to be grateful for this sensation--it means something is healing.

I have read several blog posts of gratefulness, for the month of November. I have decided to join the club and post something I am grateful for with each post I make.

I am grateful for life experiences that teach us lessons. I am grateful I worked at scout camp and taught various merit badges, one of which was Wilderness Survival. The most important thing to remember in a survival situation is to have a positive mental attitude. That thought went through my head a lot after I cut off my fingers. (I should be getting my pins out in a few more weeks. When that happens I will work on typing faster, then I will type the whole story of my fingers...according to me.) So, I am thankful for lessons we learn in life to help prepare us to handle other experiences and lessons. :)

First Walk

The boys and I took Eliza for her first walk outside today. (our first walk since before I went to the hospital). I did not think to take a picture until we were back home and unloaded. Tucker and Eliza both fell asleep. I only snapped a picture of Eliza. . .
I love the fact that she fell asleep with Binky in grasp. Our walk was fun, I can't wait to go for another one! It's funny what simple things we can take for granted until the privilege is taken away (only for a small time, thankfully, in my case). I am even getting better at one handed typing. I think I will wait to type the whole story until my pins are removed (hopefully in three weeks or so).

Happy Halloween! Hopefully I remember to snap a picture of my kidlins costumes. Then I'll post them. :)

Hands

Before September 25, 2010, this is what my left hand looked like:
Wasn't it beautiful?!
After a split second with a table saw, a long ambulance ride, a life flight ride, several hours (21-22 hours) of surgery (including an emergency C-section), the safe arrival of our precious little girl, and a week in the hospital, I have this left:
It doesn't look that great right now, but it will. I am so lucky to still have my fingers. The first surgeon I saw in Southern Utah thought he could maybe save my ring finger, but my pointer and middle fingers were not salvageable (if he did the surgery). I ended up going to Salt Lake and Dr. Richard Fryer is my new hero! He worked all afternoon Saturday, all night to Sunday morning. I came out of surgery, he looked at my pointer finger, decided the color was not good, so he turned around and performed a few more hours of surgery to save my hand.
This whole experience has been really hard for me to endure, whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, I just look at this:

Eliza Kristine Nay
Born: September 26, 2010; 7:26 AM
7 lbs. 1 oz. (yes, four weeks early)

Isn't she darling?! This is the first dress she has ever worn. She is almost three weeks old in this picture. She will be four weeks old tomorrow.

Home made Ginger Snap Predicament

I made some home made ginger snap cookies last week. They were so Yummy! I can't remember where I read the recipe. It was on some sort of bottle in my pantry. . .oil, molasses, or something like that.
They were really good, and now I can't seem to find the recipe again. I finished using the contents of several bottles in my pantry last week, then I threw them away. If anyone has a wonderful Ginger snap recipe, please share!

Also, does anyone else lose their mind/memory during pregnancy?!? I can search all over for a pen that I put in my hair a minute before I started looking for it. It is driving me crazy. I am just glad I have still been able to bottle peaches and bake food for my family, as well as continue to function somewhat normally.

The Elk Hunt

We went Elk hunting for 4 days over Labor Day weekend. It was a lot of fun. The trip started out slow. Our 3 1/2 hour drive turned into a 5 hour drive because we ended up stopping a little more than we planned. We also had a tire blow out. Luckily it was 5 to 10 miles south of the Cove Fort Chevron. We ended up getting two new tires because our spare had some big cracks in it. We were just grateful it got us to the Chevron tire shop.
Brycen had lots of fun helping set up the trailer and our beds. We also went on lots of hikes, picked flowers and kept a little camp journal about what we learned about. He practiced writing some of his letters and the kids and I colored a LOT.
The boys both loved riding the four wheeler. Sadly, Brycen has grown out of his helmet, and we have not purchased a new one for him, yet. Therefore, we did not get to take the kids for as many rides as we would have liked to.
I was quite proud of myself too. In my pregnant state, I awakened before everyone else the first morning to set up the rest of camp and make breakfast. We all had a lot of fun!
Saturday night a big mama moose walked along the mountain side right by our camp. My little boys were SUPER excited to see a real animal so closely. I was glad they got to see the moose, because they didn't really get to see any other animals other than other campers dogs.

We left the mountain empty-handed after this hunt, because all Ryan and his family (the ones who were hunting) saw were cow elk with their little calves (who can shoot a mom with a baby?!?). I think he may have seen a spike or two, but it was too windy to take a shot.
Anyway, it was okay because my dad took Ryan hunting a few weeks ago, and Ryan shot this beast.
We have lots of meat now, but most of it is sliced for jerky because the elk he shot was pretty old, so the meat will be pretty tough. I think I am going to try bottling some of it too. We'll have to see how that goes. :)