Two Dollar Bills from Heaven.

What a day yesterday!  I figured I should fill you in on my kidneys, because I know they are exactly what you are thinking about when you wake up in the morning.  “Oh, I sure hope Abby has passed all of her stones, I just cannot go on with my day until I know.”

Well, here ya go 🙂

  So Dan and I woke up and hit the road (Papa came to the house to get the kiddos ready for school) and headed to the surgery center for me to be prepped to get a stent placed.  The stent is for the kidney stones, and the swelling of my kidneys (mainly my right one is the trouble maker).  Of course, if you can imagine, I was a hot mess for over a week trying to prepare myself for this procedure.  Let’s get real, if not pregnant, no big deal – knock me out, stick it in and let’s get the show on the road.  But, while with child, eeekk.

 I’d just rather not.

So the nurse comes in, chats about the plan and I asked when they were going to do the kidney ultrasound.  She said that one was not on the schedule, only the procedure.  I was told that there was going to be a scan done first, to check if anything has improved.  So I was a bit worried at this point, but did what I normally never do, insist….  This past week things had improved greatly for me on the pain scale and I felt like a normal, functioning human being.   So, I had great hopes that things were improving.

I would never second guess a procedure that needed to be done if it was guaranteed.  But I’ve heard stories of having stents while pregnant, and just the idea of it being uncomfortable to have in for the rest of the pregnancy bummed me out because finally I was capable of feeling good for most of my day now.

Thankfully, my urologist agreed to let me have the scan done, which I am sure did not tickle his fancy seeing as it put him behind schedule.  I was relieved, I just wanted one last confirmation on what to do –

Well well, what do you know, this mama has IMPROVED.  They cancelled the procedure and sent me to Starbucks, just kidding, I went there right after.

 My stones were no longer visible, and while my right kidney was still growing in size, it was nothing to raise an eyebrow too.  My urologist said that he’ll do a bigger work up after the baby is born and I was THRILLED.  To say I was lucky is an understatement.

But, I’ve gotta thank a $2 bill for that.

While packing Brody’s lunch before heading out, I was digging in our ziploc bag drawer only to find an envelope scrunched in the way far back.  Pulled it out, and it was a bunch of crisp fresh $2 bills that my aunt had given us over the holidays, from my grandparents.  Longest story short, my grandparents always gave every grandchild a two dollar bill for every holiday, big and small.  They continued it for all of their great-grandchildren, and it was just too sweet.

They passed away last year, and sadly enough we knew the two dollar tradition would stop – and that was okay, it’s a sweet tradition all of the cousins will always remember.  Little did we know that my Grandpa asked my Aunt to get a bunch of two dollar bills before he passed (which was an unexpected passing – he was just stashing up on them) and so this past Christmas my aunt handed them out to us all. I cried, of course.  It just brought back all the amazing memories they gave us.

That random envelope tucked away could not have come at better timing.

Oddly enough we’ve never left them in the envelope, they always go straight into the boys piggy banks.  Brody exclaimed “How did Grandpa do that?? He’s in heaven!” I smiled and suddenly just felt a sense of calm and knew in my heart of hearts that they were both looking over me and the baby yesterday.

Coincidence, I think not.  I definitely believe in those little signs.

So, with great hope – things keep improving and the pain diminishes.  And I can enjoy the last trimester of this pregnancy.   I am ready to shop, nest, clean, prep and every ounce in between. Feeling oh so fortunate today, and so grateful for those moments that bring you back down to earth and remind you that someone is always looking over us.

Two dollar bills from heaven, Thanks G +G.