Our First Surgery

My little guy was the first of my kids to need a procedure done.

He had his adenoids out a few days ago, though we've been planning for this for a couple of months (delayed due to weather and pregnancy issues.)

Aside from his awful snoring, and possible sleep apnea, his speech and hearing was greatly affected by the 85% blockage his adenoids had caused.  We'd been slowly preparing him for this day, calling it a procedure, and not a surgery.  I don't know why, that just sounded better to us.  When we did use the word "surgery," it was our daughters who freaked out, not him.

The night before we let him stay up to hydrate and snack.  I think he outlasted daddy, who fell asleep on the couch at 10,  Steven went to bed shortly after.  The next morning, we let him stay in bed until we had to go, we didn't want to have to worry about him asking for breakfast.  But he didn't, thankfully.

He brought his favorite puppy with him, and when we were checking in, they even gave puppy a wrist band.  He hated having to put on the hospital pajamas, and when they said he couldn't wear his underwear, just incase he had an accident, he asked if he had to wear a baby diaper (so cute).

The nurses all adored him.  Anytime someone new came in the room, they'd ask "Can you tell me you're whole name?" and all giggled when he did… something about the way he said "The Third" I think.  The anesthesiologist came in to talk with us, again, he was quite impressed with how thorough the answers to his questions Steven gave him.

The anesthesiologist gave me some advice regarding the baby… he could see I was having contractions.  When I told him I was only 31 weeks he explained why the steroid shots are good, and that if I can make it past at least 32 weeks, baby will be perfectly fine.  He filled it with a lot of technical stuff, which I tried to look like I was listening to, but I was here for Steven today.

Steven started to freak out a bit after all the nurses left, and then he heard "Dr. Duck."  Dr. Merrill was absolutely fabulous, and made Steven feel so much better.  And me, for that matter.  I hated saying goodbye to my guy, but I knew he was in good hands.

And quick hands too.  The procedure was done in less than 20 minutes.  I was so anxious to see him.  I guess when it was over and they stopped the anesthesia, he woke up and freaked out.  So they gave him more "giggle gas" to calm him down.

When they brought me to him, he looked so sad.  The nurses were trying to feed him a mashed up popsicle, but he didn't want it.  He just wanted to go home.  And he was mad that there was no TV - the nurses told him in pre-op that he could watch TV.

He got sick as he was being wheeled out to the car, which I was afraid of.  But also kinda glad it didn't happen in the car.

He just relaxed and watched cartoons for a few hours, we both napped for a bit (stressful day for a pregnant mom).  When he woke up, with the exception of a raspy voice, he was almost normal.  I took the advice of friends and programed his Tylenol/Motrin doses for every 3 hours, on the dot, and that seemed to keep any pain away.  He wasn't 100%, but was playing with his toys, and looking at books and moving around just fine.

Two days later, not so much.  I really wanted to take my daughters to their JBQ tournament (Thank you Dillingham Family!), but due to my condition and Steven, hubby wouldn't let me take the almost 4 hour drive.  Which, as much as I hated it, ended up being a good thing.  Poor guy did not have a good morning, and refused to get out of bed for several hours.  I kept up with his meds, but it took a while to get him up and going.

Now, therapy foods:  Room temperature definitely worked best for him.  I had purchased PediaSure, pudding and Jell-o, as well as Go-Gurts and Ice-Pops.  He really only wanted the pudding, Jell-o and PediaSure.  Oh, and my Shakes from New-Trition (though I made him his own at home without ice).  He really wanted a grilled cheese sandwich, but I was told not to let him eat until day 4 or 5.  He didn't like that so much.

We went in to this procedure knowing that his adenoids were huge, and that was affecting the number, and severity, of his ear infections, which in turn affected hearing and speech.  Within the first day, we noticed improvements.  The first time I heard him say "Samantha" and not "Saman-ta" I almost cried.

Thanks again to Dr. Merrill for taking such amazing care of my son.

Snomageddon 2014

Well, 2014 has certainly been fun!

Living in the midwest, particularly our part of the midwest, snow can be hit or miss.  We always seem to be on the cusp of any snow storm that has potential to close the county.

Not this year!

Winter Storms Henry and Ion shut us in, even giving the kids a few extra days off of school from Christmas/Winter break.  The hardest part is dealing with the temperatures: The kids WANT to go play in the now, but it's -7 degrees at 1in the afternoon: not really happening.

All bundled up for 5 minutes of play

Snow has kept them in for the most of the past 2 weeks, and they're getting stir crazy in the house.  Wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago when we could go for a walk?  Now we can't even step outside the house.  

It was so cold today that we tried the whole "toss boiling water into the air to make snow" thing.  Yup, it totally worked.  And it was awesome!

The girls were able to get ahead on their bible quizzing verses, and our son is enjoying all the toys he got for Christmas. But they really miss their friends and having someone other than their sibling to play with.  School should be back in session tomorrow, right?  

AND with this snow emergency (making it illegal to be on the roads, thus businesses are closed), it only figures that I would get a random pregnancy craving...

The Germs Have Taken Over - And I've Waved The White Flag

My son has been sick of most of the last 4 weeks.  It's not been anything serious enough for the doctor to give him meds, but with a gross runny nose and fevers every other day, he's not been in preschool for almost a month.

When he finally got better, we sent him back.

And he brought home the flu.

And shared it with all of us.

So now is Day 5.  He got it first, then S, then me, then Steve, then E.

Now, 5 days later, Steve and I still aren't feeling well, while the kids are running around like maniacs!

We've Lysol, bleached, and steam cleaned EVERYTHING.  Which doesn't help my headache or nausea w/ the strong smells...

So I've embraced that I'm sick; I've used that time to focus on me.  I slept.  I watched movies.  I read 3 books on my Kindle.  (The Hunger Games Trilogy - I'll write a review later)


So here it is at day 5, and at least I'm out of bed and able to get some work done.  I suppose that's one of the benefits of working from home.

So while I sit writing, my hubby is resting on the couch, and my son is kicking butt on Wii Bowling.  Maybe tomorrow everything will go back to normal.  Today, I'll enjoy some quite time.

sick toddlers = no fun

J is sick...again.

He's puked on the carpet, the kitchen floor, both couches and of course my new suit. Everywhere but the bathroom...

We just got over him being sick for 2 weeks - contant fevers, nothing the doctors could do w/o any other symptoms.

He just went back to school, and now I have to keep him out again.

I have used all my towels and had to change the sheets I laid on the couch twice.

So just a few minutes ago, I could tell he was going to get sick again, I brought him into the bathroom.  And now he wants to stay there

Thankfully, due to couponing I have a stash of Lysol (almost out though after the last couple of weeks)

I hate when the kids are sick, especially like this.  Thankfully, I've never had more than 2 people sick at a time in my house.  (knock on wood).

I have to pull an all-nighter tonight anyway, but this is going to make getting my work done even harder.