Monster migraine from hell

So, I had my first trip to the ER during pregnancy on Wednesday.

It all started on Monday, when I could feel a dull pain starting in my head. If you suffer from migraines, you'll know that you can usually feel them coming on slowly. It got to the point where I couldn't focus anymore, and had to leave work a couple of hours early.

Tuesday I didn't even go to work. My head was hurting pretty bad and I felt very nauseous. Staying at home helped though, and I was able to sleep most of the day.

Wednesday I got up to go to work. My head felt like it was going to explode. Usually when I get a migraine, by the third day I've taken some kind of medicine to get rid of it. But the OB told me not to take medicine during the first trimester. So I thought I could tough it out at work, but by 11am I was worried I wouldn't be able to drive myself home if I stayed any longer.

I was able to get myself home and sleep for a couple of hours. But by 2pm I was wide awake and absolutely desperate. I had tried to eat some lunch, but ended up throwing everything up. My head hurt so bad, I was sick to my stomach, and I was all alone. So I did what any normal pregnant woman would do: started bawling. That does wonders for a migraine. Not.

Finally, I texted my sister and she was able to come over and take care of me. She calmed me down and I was feeling a little better. We called the OBGYN's office to see what they recommended, and they told me to go to the ER to get an IV because I was probably dehydrated.

By that time, Diego had gotten home, and so we all headed over to the hospital.

Now, I am very good with needles. I have had my blood drawn frequently for the great majority of my life, and therefore have no qualms when being stuck by a needle.

BUT, I've never had an IV. Which you would think wouldn't be that big of a deal. But it was. They put some medicine in it for my head, and I had a horrible reaction to it. I couldn't breath and I felt like my lungs had frozen up. After that passed, they put tubes up my nose to give me oxygen. It smelled awful. I think I may have had a panic attack, because all I could say was, "I don't like this. Make them take it out. Please make them take it out."

I finally convinced the nurse to take the IV out and let me go home. By then my migraine was virtually gone, and all I wanted to do was sleep. The nurse gave me a kind of "tsk tsk" look and said, "You know, when you have your baby, you are going to have an IV."

Great. About 7 more months to mentally prep myself for that.

Spilling the Beans

Well, we've final gone public. Diego and I are expecting our first child in May 2013. We are REALLY excited to be parents and to welcome this new little one into our family.

Last week I had my first ultrasound. We were able to see the baby move its arms and to hear its heartbeat. I still have a hard time believing that a little person is inside of me.

I haven't been too sick. I feel nauseous nearly all the time and I am absolutely EXHAUSTED, but besides that, I haven't been too bad.

Our little bean

 

 

As for our plans, future situation, well, we are really just playing it by ear for now. We finally were able to send off Diego's papers for his green card over a week ago. I've heard it takes about 4 months, and then Diego can start working.

 

I'm still working at the Church Office Building everyday, hoping they don't fire me for missing so much work due to morning sickness. ("Morning" sickness--that lasts all day!!) Once I found out I was pregnant, I made the decision to not take my deferral to Teach For America next year. The baby is due about 2 weeks before I'm supposed to start. It was a sad decision, but in my mind, there was absolutely no question. My family will always come first.

 

My internship with the Church ends in April of next year, and if I'm not hired on full-time, I'm out of a job. I would really like to stay home with my baby as much as I can, so I'm thinking I may try to revamp our Spanish classes and put more effort into getting (and retaining) students. That way I will be able to stay home and make an income.

 

Diego just started another 8 weeks of English classes here in Salt Lake. He's getting very good. He's finished all the levels of ESL and has now moved on to high school History of the US, World Civ, and English lit. Today is his first day; I hope everything goes well.

 

Thank you to everyone for all of the support and love we've felt since announcing our little Cabrera!!

Basic Principles Mormons Believe In--The Plan of Salvation

There have been a lot of thoughts floating around in my mind in the last several days. I considered writing a long Facebook post, but figured blogging might be a bit more appropriate.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was baptized in February of 1996 and I have been an active member my entire life. I have studied its teachings, tried hard to live the principles I have learned, and bring my life into harmony with what I have come to firmly believe. I served a mission for 18 months in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, teaching these same principles to anyone who would listen. Three months ago, I was married and sealed in the holy temple, to a wonderful man, whose story with the Church is very similar to mine. We are not perfect, not even close, but we strive to live the gospel of Jesus Christ each day of our lives together.

With that being said, I'd like to expound a little on a thought that I had as I was responding to a comment made by one of my friends on Facebook. It seems to me that in today's media, Mormons and the Mormon Church are the subject of much interest. There is a lot of talk about not drinking coffee, "magic underwear," and baptizing dead people. There also seems to be a lot of focus on ex-members who have become disillusioned with the faith, and the attitude of members towards those who do not believe the same way we do. That's all fine and good. I could try to explain and answer all those questions, but it would like trying to explain quantum physics to someone who doesn't even understand the first laws of motion (aka, someone like me, haha).

In order to understand the more complex doctrine of the gospel (that which everyone likes to focus on), you have to understand the most basic principles. So, I just wanted to try to explain a few of those basic principles, in the simplest way that I know how.

Everything that I'm going to explain can be found on the Church's official website, www.lds.org and also the Church's website for those who are interested in learning more www.mormon.org.

Okay, so, first things first.

The Plan of Salvation

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. We believe that they are three separate beings, but one in purpose. God is the Father of our souls. He loves each and everyone of us, regardless of choices that we may make.

Before this Earth life, we all lived with our Heavenly Father in something we call the Pre-Mortal Existence. At this time, we were only Spirits, we did not have physical bodies. However, God had a perfect and glorified body of flesh and bone, and wanted  us to become like Him. Most parents on this earth hope that their children will grow up to be like them. No different with God.

God created a Plan, the Plan of Salvation or Plan of Happiness. The purpose of this plan was for us to gain a physical body, be tested according to the commandments, be happy, and return to live with God, better than we were before.

So we were sent to this beautiful Earth with this purpose. Our mortal existence is really only a small sliver of God's eternal plan. It is a very important part. Here we are able to learn and make decisions using our God-given agency (our power to choose), We will be judged according to the knowledge that we obtain and the decisions that we make.

When we die, our physical body and our spirits separate for a time. Our bodies stay here on Earth and our spirits go to a temporal state called the Spirit World. It is divided into two states--Paradise and Prison. During this time, our spirits are able to continue growing and learning according to the opportunities that we were given here on Earth. For example, those who did not have the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ and His gospel in their mortal life, may learn about it then.

After a time, we will all be resurrected. This comes about because of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He affected here on Earth. The atonement embarks His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane for the pains and sins of the world, His crucifixion, and His resurrection on Easter Morning.

Once our physical bodies are once again reunited with our spirits, we will receive a final judgement. Depending on the covenants (pacts or promises) we have made with God, and our faithfulness to them, we will be sent to a degree of glory. Learn more about degrees of glory here.

This is a SUPER watered down version of the Plan of Salvation. But it is what we believe. You can study it more in depth if you want. I continue to study it, despite my 16 years as a member of the Church.

Now, here's the other thing I promised I'd cover.

Baptisms for the Dead

Sounds creepy, right? We do NOT dig up cadavers and dunk them in water.

We believe that every individual, every child of God, will have every opportunity they need to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and come unto Him, whether in this life, or the next. We also believe that baptism is an essential part of the gospel of Christ.

In the Bible it says, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). He CANNOT. Sounds pretty definite to me. So, we think baptism is pretty darn important.

Baptisms for the dead is an ordinance (an established rite or ceremony) performed vicariously for others. We are NOT forcing people to be Mormon, or to accept what we believe. It is not an "automatic ticket to Heaven." It is an opportunity for those who did not receive baptism by proper authority in this mortal life. They always have their agency, and can choose whether to accept of reject this ordinance.

Baptisms for the dead is not a new concept. It was practiced in the original Church of Christ, as written in the Holy Bible. Paul was explaining to some people about the idea of literal resurrection, because there were those who did not believe that we would live again. He answered, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15: 29)

Okay, I don't know if I did a very good job explaining, but if you have more questions, just ask. Or you can read more here.



Alright, so, if you are still reading at this point--CONGRATULATIONS!! I know I wrote a lot. But this is my point. In order to understand the gospel, there is A LOT to learn. You can't simply judge a religion without having a deeper understanding of their beliefs. Everything I do in life, everything I believe and all of my opinions, are based on the understanding I have of this gospel.

I have lived these principles; I have prayed to my Father in Heaven to know if they are true. I have taught them to others, with the firm conviction that they are true. People get mad when you say you know something is true, when they don't know it, or don't believe it. That's okay. It doesn't make it any less true. Don't get mad. Just find out for yourself. Or don't. Whatever you want to do. That's the greatest thing about agency. We won't force anyone to believe what we do. We won't look down on you if you don't (or we shouldn't, I guess there are those who do.) But I won't. And I'll answer any question you have, at least to my knowledge.

Okay, I'm done for now. :)

Making Ends Meet

Last night for Family Home Evening, Diego and I discussed our finances and tried to put together a budget. I had been thinking about money and finances all day, and everything came together last night when we saw the numbers.

Things aren't looking too good.

So we put our heads together and tried to figure out a way for us to make a little extra income (legally) while Diego is still not allowed (legally) by the government, to work.

We thought about what resources we have and decided that we are going to try to start teaching Spanish classes in our home (aka, in our basement, which is beginning to look more like a home).

We put together fliers and took them around our neighborhood last night, but I need help getting the word out.

We also started a blog to promote our classes. Check it out and share it with your friends!

 clasesdecabrera.blogspot.com

Trying out Parenthood

So, it definitely seems like the thing to do. Write about your kids on your blog. Unfortunately, Diego and I don't have any of those yet, but we embarked on some fun parenthood experiments this weekend.

First, we got a kitten. After some begging, wide-eyed yearning, and underlip trembling, Diego finally gave his patriarch of the family consent and we adopted a little grey and white kitten. She is four months old, and she basically begged us to take her home. So we did.

But before she could even get settled in...she jumped out of Diego's arms and ran out the front door. Never to be heard of again.

...

Just kidding. But she ran into our neighbor's garage and it took FOREVER to find her. There were about a million places she could have hidden, and after about a half hour of searching, our neighbor finally discovered her.

Parenting Lesson #1: Don't give your kids much leeway. If you do, they will run away and hide in your neighbor's garage.

Well, we finally got her kind of settled in. It took us a while to think of a good name. But we finally decided on "Cusi Kitty Paws Cabrera." Cusi is Quechua, the native language of Peru. It means happy. And it's pronounced [koo-see]. Kitty Paws was the name my 5-year-old niece, Leanna, thought of.

Parenting Lesson #2: Don't let five-year-olds name your children.

We bought Cusi a cute little house. She doesn't sleep in it. But I suppose it was a good thought. The first night she slept under our bed in Diego's empty suitcase. The second night she slept with us in bed. Or tried to anyway. Diego couldn't sleep very well with her purring and batting at his face with her paw. So I tried to keep her close to me on my side of the bed. She got up and changed sleeping positions at least 50 times. I think she didn't really want to sleep, but rather was waiting for Diego and I to finally give up trying to sleep ourselves and get out of bed to play with her.

Parenting Lesson #3: Don't count on getting much sleep, if any.

Cusi's first day, giving us the false hope that she would actually use the bed we bought her.



On Sunday, we had another unexpected parenting experiment. Diego and I took my 10 month old nephew, Daniel, to church. Saerra wasn't feeling well, so I volunteered us to take care of him for a while.

It's funny that even though everyone in our ward knows that we were married in the temple just a month and a half ago, so many people asked if he was our baby.

Because he looks so much like Diego. :)



Parenting Lesson #4: As much as I wanted to believe the contrary, you can't be as holdy-handsy, lovey-dovey in church with a baby. Because the baby is constantly needing something. Like a bottle, or his pants changed, or just a hand to hold on to. Or snacks.

Also,

Parenting Lesson #5: Don't let husband be in charge of feeding the baby snacks. Especially when church is right during lunch, from 11-2. He'll just eat them himself.

All and all, I think we had a very informative weekend.

Everything happens for a reason

Funny how things change quickly in life. Like, 2 days before my wedding deciding not to move to New Jersey. That happened pretty suddenly. And now my brother is moving away. That happened REALLY suddenly.

It will be very weird not to have Phillip nearby. Tomorrow, he and his wife Alyssa are moving to Texas. A week ago, I would never have even imagined that they wouldn't be here when their baby is born in October. Let alone next week for the Fourth of July. Even though we've been apart before, I am always the one who leaves. He's always here when I come back. Now he won't be. I don't know if it's quite hit me yet. I love moving around and going to new places, but I am always the leaving, never the left. I don't like being the "left."

In light of this new situation, a few things have happened. Diego and I will be "inheriting" Phillip's new used car, a 2007 Hyundai Sonata. That means our search for a car is finally at an end. Just think, if we had been approved for the loan, we wouldn't have been able to help Phillip out with his car. Interesting how things happen.

So much for double dates...maybe we'll move to Texas too :)

Diego and I are still in the basement of my parents' house. We might be there for a while. I mounted some framed pictures of our wedding and a mirror in our room, along with a nice wall decoration someone gave us as a gift. I'm proud of my self for mastering a power screwdriver. Haha. It feels a little more like a home now. Phillip and Alyssa left us their old DVD player, so now we can even watch movies together in our basement "apartment." We bought an awesome 3 compartment laundry basket, with an ironing table on top. Unfortunately for Diego, I am terrible with an iron. Fortunately for Diego, he served a mission and always ironed his own shirts. :)

Any suggestions on how to make our basement more "home-y"?

Peter Pan may have been on to something

When I was a little kid, I never had to worry too much about money, working 40 hours a week, health care insurance, car insurance, life insurance, and any other kind of insurances there are out there. I definitely didn't think about saving up for retirement. I didn't have to worry about being a good wife, or cooking or being constantly worried about another person.

I think I've had a prolonged childhood. I'm 24 years old and I've never had a car. Never. Which has always worked out fine for me, because I didn't have to shell out each month for a car payment, or insurance or even gas. I'm really good at navigating my way around public transportation, and when that fails, using the Route 11 (my legs). See, that works in other countries, but not so much here in the U.S., although I was doing pretty good up until now.

Nearly a month ago, my prolonged childhood ended, and I started my beautiful new little family. I guess I skipped whatever is supposed to go in between that. Don't get me wrong. I've been working since I was 15 years old. I've lived on my own since I was 18. I've lived in Hawaii, Mexico, Honduras, and Peru, and I've done pretty well at surviving. I'm nearly done with my bachelor's degree. I work a full-time job. But things just change when you get married. All the sudden it's like, you are forced to stop being a kid, because any day, you might be making room for new kids.

I'm not complaining. Being a married adult rocks. It definitely has its perks. Diego and I have a lot of fun together. Last night we stayed in and popped popcorn and watched a movie and ate Red Vines. And we can go to bed whenever we want! (Although I pay for it at 5:30 the next morning when I'm getting up for work...)

I'm not going to lie and say we have been having fun shopping for cars. It's horrible! We got a pre-approved loan through our bank. What I didn't realize is that even though WE are pre-approved, it doesn't mean the car we pick out is. So we finally found the car we wanted last week, and a price we were willing to pay for it. A super beautiful 2003 silver Honda Civic. Basically Diego's dream car. We put a down payment on it to hold the sale price and then took all the info to the bank. Unfortunately, the didn't think the car was worth that much because of the year, so...no loan for us. Which subsequently means no car for us.

I'm just going to invent a flying machine.