Family Archives - Page 5 of 6

My Second Pregnancy

December 31, 2022January 28, 2023Karee RussellLeave a comment

I found out I was pregnant 4 days before my missed period. It was mid December and my super faint pink line was no cause for concern for me. I showed my pregnancy test to my husband who could not see the second line, saying I was not pregnant.

A few days after I took the test again and the line was darker. I went to the doctor and was about 7 weeks pregnant when I was seen! All you could see was the tiny little bulb where the baby was growing.

This pregnancy was a lot different than my first. I was convinced I was having a baby boy. My first pregnancy I was nauseous the first trimester. This pregnancy I had no nausea and was feeling amazing.

We lived in Germany and every visit I was able to see this little babe growing.

This little one kept growing and getting bigger. For my first and this pregnancy I stopped providing for the babies and they slowly gained weight the third part of my pregnancy.

I was 38 weeks pregnant when I went into the hospital for feeling unwell. I wasn’t sick but I just felt something was wrong. They immediately got me set up to monitor miss Hailey and at this point her heart rate was going down in the 90’s and they said I needed to be induced. We were having a baby!

They induced me around 5PM and I gave birth at 3 in the morning!

Moved Overseas

November 27, 2018November 17, 2020Karee RussellLeave a comment

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HEY!!! I’m back! I’ve been missing in action because I’ve been moving and trying to figure out life since I’m not employed at the moment.

Since October we’ve been living in Germany! I LOVE IT!! It is our second time here! There are so many opportunities we get while living in Europe.

From FALL to WINTER it has been a dramatic change. We saw leaves change and fall off the trees to SNOW already and it’s only the end of November.

We have been to the Zoo, where we re-created a memory from the last time we were here (see below)! The Zoo here is amazing. The cages are open, which to some is scary, but it’s so fun.

2011 2018

We’ve also been to Christmas Markets, which are HUGE here! The Christmas markets are amazing. I’ve been to several and am excited to get to more! ONE of the many things I enjoy about Christmas markets is the mugs they give out. They are adorable!

Now, about my job situation. It is hard to find a job at the moment. It’s not that I’m not working on it, it’s because there aren’t many jobs where I am, that will allow me to work around the school for the kids.

This also gives me more time to be able to go back to school for my MBA, I’ll get my degree in 2020!!! This gives me a change to get back into my BLOG and into fitness.

Now that I’m back… tell me what more you’d like to see??!?

When Life Changes Directions

September 8, 2018November 17, 2020Karee RussellLeave a comment

We were set to move in early August 2018. Our stuff was packed and shipped to Germany. It started on a Friday, my husband started to feel sick. I thought it was going to go away like any normal cold. However, it turned out to be much worse.

Tuesday, August 7th my husband started to feel worse. What’s worse, I was driving to Los Angeles to drop off one of our cars to ship it to Germany. Therefore, I was not able to be with my husband when he went to the ER again and was told he was having a heart attack. Fear filled my bones. How can this be possible? He is only 28!! He has many more years to live.

This cannot be possible!!! It was. He ended up getting surgery to see what was wrong with his heart and seeing how much damage was done. LUCKILY, it turned out to not be a heart attack. Still shocking and overwhelmed with what was going on, he had to be in the hospital for a week.

We did not get answers right away, his temperature was not going down until about the 5th day in the hospital. We were getting antsy, we wanted to know what caused this. It turned out to be a viral infection that caused a fluid collection in the pericardial sac around his heart.

Now that we knew the cause we were able to get him medication to feel better. Pericarditis is what the doctors said my husband had. This is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life.

Quick back story, this is the second time in 8 years of marriage my husband has been to the doctors, he doesn’t go very often. He doesn’t need to. Therefore, this has scared him. I don’t blame him for being scared. If you have had nurses and doctors tell you that you could have died, it is very serious.

But back to the story. “Pericarditis refers to inflammation of the pericardium, two thin layers of a sac-like tissue that surround the heart, hold it in place, and help it work. A small amount of fluid keeps the layers separate so that there’s no friction between them” (American Heart Association, 2018).

This experience has made me realize we cannot take things (family, loved ones, friends, careers… ext) for granted. I am and will from this day forward taking family days and breaks from social media. I want to spend time with my loved ones!

Thank you for reading this and I hope it has helped you be informed about Pericarditis. If you believe you may have Pericarditis please see your doctor or head to the ER right away.

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