Hannah and Molly
Zach and Max - They don't get to see eachother everyday anymore, so I think they miss eachother
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Halloween!!
The kids had a blast dressing up this year. Max and Molly's grandmother offered to make their costumes and they came out better than I ever could have imagined. Hannah wanted to be Tinkerbell and Zachary was Woody from Toy Story. Zach already had the hat and holster, but other than that, everything was hand made. They were beautiful.
Hannah and Molly
Zach and Max - They don't get to see eachother everyday anymore, so I think they miss eachother
Hannah and Molly
Zach and Max - They don't get to see eachother everyday anymore, so I think they miss eachother
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hannah's hospital stay
Last Thursday night I was changing Hannah before bed and her... girl parts... seemed swollen, red, and hard on one side and she was very uncomfortable when I wiped her. Having seen way too many staph infections with Zach, I of course instantly panicked. Although I couldn't see any starting point, a pimple or scratch, I had her take a soak in a hot bath so I could try to drain it. I was unable to get anything to drain. She goes to bed.
The next morning it was about the same. I called the pediatricians office as soon as they opened and got their earliest appointment. Which was in the afternoon. So she hangs out with me at home for the day. She took a short nap and when she got up she was very clingy and just laid on me for awhile. She felt very warm so I gave her some ibuprofen. Before it had a chance to work I took her temp so I had an idea of where she was without meds. Her temp was 102. We went to the doctor. Her normal pediatrician was on vacation but we saw an equally as wonderful doctor. He took one look at it and said "This is more than I can do here. You need to take her to the ER so they can lance it, drain it, and pack it." We have been through that process with Zach and it is not pleasant and the healing process is just as bad. Because of our insurance, we normally go to a certain ER in town. The one that doesn't have a childrens unit. He told me "Go to Sierra Vista, just in case she has to be admitted." He must have seen the panic all over my face because he then says "There is about a 1 in 200 chance she will need to be admitted."
I called Chris when I left there and he came home from work to drive us over the hill. I went and picked up Zach from daycare knowing that we would be there later than daycare is open. We got to the ER and waited for a bit. Still thinking it would be a quick procedure and we would be on our way home, I was frustrated with the wait time. We never had to wait at the other ER. I went and asked them for our paperwork so that we could leave and go to the other ER but they said we needed to talk to a nurse before we could leave. The nurse came out and he was very friendly, they said that there had been a car accident and that all involved were leaving so it freed up several beds, and we were taken right back. Chris and Zach had left and taken a walk to the park. After telling the story to nurses and the doctor, the doctor comes back and says that because her fever had spiked so high, and her young age, they were admitting her for IV antibiotics and observation. I called Chris and told him to go home but before he left, to bring me the DVD player from the van. Him and Zach come back and stay in the room with us for awhile.
They needed to get blood from Hannah to run labs/cultures so they were going to do it at the same time they started the IV. The nurse and the phlebotomist came back to get it going. The nurse tried, couldn't find a vein. The phlebotomist tried, couldn't find a vein. And they don't just try, they put the needle in her arm, and then go fishing for a vein. Each of them did that for about 10 minutes. All the while Hannah is screaming and fighting and we are trying to hold her still. Zach sat off to the side of the room saying really sweet words to his sister. "I know baby". "It's ok baby". He is so good to his sister. So they let Hannah rest for awhile and then tell us that they are getting another nurse who used to work at a Childrens hospital. He came in and tried twice and could not get it going either. They decided to let her rest and try again when they got her in her room. A little while later they came in with an ultrasound machine and did an ultrasound on the area to check if there was any kind of lump inside or some sort of puss pocket. They didn't see anything, only fluid, causing the swelling. Chris and Zach leave for the night. After probably 2 hours, right after Hannah falls asleep on my lap in the ER room, they finally take us upstairs to our room. I have learned that whenever shift change is for a hospital, that is when our family needs to be admitted or have something done because we always run into shift change. Always.
We get upstairs at about 8pm. Get all checked in and learn the rules of the ward. Hannah is still sleeping a bit. My mom came up at shortly after and brought me some dinner since I hadn't eaten anything since about 7am.
The plan is to have her on IV antibiotics all night and then they would try and drain the infection the next day. The nurse in the peds unit gets all set up to attempt to put in the IV. She explained that they would try once and if she was unsuccessful she would stop and get a NICU nurse, that they didn't want to torture her if at all possible. Hannah had woken up, but was exhausted. The nurse tries with no luck. She brings in the NICU nurse who starts looking over all the obvious places for veins. Then she starts looking at her head and I said "why are you looking there?" and she said "well, sometimes that is the best place for it." I panicked. I could not bear to see them shave my baby's head and put an IV in it. I was hoping and praying they would find another spot for it. Since they could not locate their papoose, they got a blanket and swaddled her. My mom and I tried to comfort her and keep the top half of her body still while they poked around in her feet for a vein. After about 4 tries, they got one! That was the last attempt before they were going for the head. I was so relieved, yet so worried she would move around and end up blowing it so I was watching her very close to make sure she didn't move too much.
At that point they started the antibiotics and Hannah was able to go to sleep. My mom left around 10:30 or so and I pulled out the roll away cot. Hannah rolled over in her sleep and I jumped up to untangle her IV tubes and I figured I would be better off sleeping in her bed with her. Needless to say I didn't sleep too much, but I was right next to her if she needed anything, which was all that mattered. The next morning when she woke up and saw me next to her she was so happy. She squealed "Mama" and put her arms around my neck. That was great. Then she dozed off for another hour and woke up very unhappy. I think she realized we were still there. She slapped her bed a couple times. She does this sometimes when she is angry.
The next day (Saturday) they applied warm compresses to the infection several times to try and bring it to head. It never looked like it was something they could drain, they felt it was a deeper infection, not something on the surface like the kids had in the past. And hers had spread a bit. The swollen area didn't, but the red surface area had grown quite a bit by that time. They continued with the IV antibiotics and Motrin every 6 hours. Hannah spent the day playing with toys and watching DVDs. Nana took Zach for the day and for a sleepover so that Chris was able to come spend the day at the hospital with us. With H1N1 so bad right now, they don't even allow siblings to come visit. We took Hannah for a walk in a wagon, she enjoyed being out of her room. She loved drinking chocolate milk. It is not something she ever gets, so she liked that. They told us in the early afternoon to expect to be there one more night since the infection wasn't improving. The pediatrician that saw her on Friday came by to check on a patient of his and was surprised to see us there. He came in and checked on her and looked at the infection. He told the nurse to make a note for the doctor treating her that "it does not just look worse... it looks significantly worse". That wasn't pleasant to hear. He told them he wanted another ultrasound done to see if they could see puss. The rest of the day was about the same. Hannah was such a trooper. She did a lot of coloring, playing with a doll house that they had there, and watching movies.
The next morning the doctor came in and said she would be going home that day. I asked about the ultrasound and he didn't seem like he wanted to have it done and I said her pediatrician wanted it, so he went ahead and ordered it. The results were the same, just fluid. About 1 or so my brother showed up to visit. We started chatting with him and packing our stuff up. I asked the doctor what to do if it looks like it comes to a head. Do I drain it? He said that would not happen, there was no puss in there, but no, not to drain it. She would be on an oral antibiotic and to follow up with her pediatrician in 2 days. We finally got out of there around 2pm. We were so happy to get home. Hannah was tired, so we lounged around the house and took a little nap. Nana brought Zach home. That night I gave Hannah a bath and the thing looked like it needed to drain, it had a white head to it (so much for no puss). I didn't touch it though. The next morning I stayed home from work and I called the peds office when they opened and talked to the doctor who had been seeing her. I explained what was going on and asked if they wanted to see her. They said no, just take her to the ER. She would need to be sedated and have it cut open, drained and packed. We start getting ready to head to the hospital and Hannah said she needed to go potty. There was some drainage in her diaper and as she is going potty, it literally starts dripping into the toilet (having dealt with this before, I know that if it is draining, it doesn't need to be cut open and drained). I laid her down and just kept wiping the puss away as it came, I didn't force anything. I would guess probably 3 tablespoons came out of that poor baby girl. I called the ped back and explained again. Telling them that I really thought maybe they could look at her before I put her through the ordeal of the ER. They agreed and we went in. They cultured it and it did end up being MRSA . They had me just continue with hot baths a couple times a day and to keep draining it. There wasn't much left at that point and it healed really quickly. She is still pretty traumatized and when she needs to be changed she says "No touch my owie", but she is healed.
The next morning it was about the same. I called the pediatricians office as soon as they opened and got their earliest appointment. Which was in the afternoon. So she hangs out with me at home for the day. She took a short nap and when she got up she was very clingy and just laid on me for awhile. She felt very warm so I gave her some ibuprofen. Before it had a chance to work I took her temp so I had an idea of where she was without meds. Her temp was 102. We went to the doctor. Her normal pediatrician was on vacation but we saw an equally as wonderful doctor. He took one look at it and said "This is more than I can do here. You need to take her to the ER so they can lance it, drain it, and pack it." We have been through that process with Zach and it is not pleasant and the healing process is just as bad. Because of our insurance, we normally go to a certain ER in town. The one that doesn't have a childrens unit. He told me "Go to Sierra Vista, just in case she has to be admitted." He must have seen the panic all over my face because he then says "There is about a 1 in 200 chance she will need to be admitted."
I called Chris when I left there and he came home from work to drive us over the hill. I went and picked up Zach from daycare knowing that we would be there later than daycare is open. We got to the ER and waited for a bit. Still thinking it would be a quick procedure and we would be on our way home, I was frustrated with the wait time. We never had to wait at the other ER. I went and asked them for our paperwork so that we could leave and go to the other ER but they said we needed to talk to a nurse before we could leave. The nurse came out and he was very friendly, they said that there had been a car accident and that all involved were leaving so it freed up several beds, and we were taken right back. Chris and Zach had left and taken a walk to the park. After telling the story to nurses and the doctor, the doctor comes back and says that because her fever had spiked so high, and her young age, they were admitting her for IV antibiotics and observation. I called Chris and told him to go home but before he left, to bring me the DVD player from the van. Him and Zach come back and stay in the room with us for awhile.
They needed to get blood from Hannah to run labs/cultures so they were going to do it at the same time they started the IV. The nurse and the phlebotomist came back to get it going. The nurse tried, couldn't find a vein. The phlebotomist tried, couldn't find a vein. And they don't just try, they put the needle in her arm, and then go fishing for a vein. Each of them did that for about 10 minutes. All the while Hannah is screaming and fighting and we are trying to hold her still. Zach sat off to the side of the room saying really sweet words to his sister. "I know baby". "It's ok baby". He is so good to his sister. So they let Hannah rest for awhile and then tell us that they are getting another nurse who used to work at a Childrens hospital. He came in and tried twice and could not get it going either. They decided to let her rest and try again when they got her in her room. A little while later they came in with an ultrasound machine and did an ultrasound on the area to check if there was any kind of lump inside or some sort of puss pocket. They didn't see anything, only fluid, causing the swelling. Chris and Zach leave for the night. After probably 2 hours, right after Hannah falls asleep on my lap in the ER room, they finally take us upstairs to our room. I have learned that whenever shift change is for a hospital, that is when our family needs to be admitted or have something done because we always run into shift change. Always.
We get upstairs at about 8pm. Get all checked in and learn the rules of the ward. Hannah is still sleeping a bit. My mom came up at shortly after and brought me some dinner since I hadn't eaten anything since about 7am.
The plan is to have her on IV antibiotics all night and then they would try and drain the infection the next day. The nurse in the peds unit gets all set up to attempt to put in the IV. She explained that they would try once and if she was unsuccessful she would stop and get a NICU nurse, that they didn't want to torture her if at all possible. Hannah had woken up, but was exhausted. The nurse tries with no luck. She brings in the NICU nurse who starts looking over all the obvious places for veins. Then she starts looking at her head and I said "why are you looking there?" and she said "well, sometimes that is the best place for it." I panicked. I could not bear to see them shave my baby's head and put an IV in it. I was hoping and praying they would find another spot for it. Since they could not locate their papoose, they got a blanket and swaddled her. My mom and I tried to comfort her and keep the top half of her body still while they poked around in her feet for a vein. After about 4 tries, they got one! That was the last attempt before they were going for the head. I was so relieved, yet so worried she would move around and end up blowing it so I was watching her very close to make sure she didn't move too much.
At that point they started the antibiotics and Hannah was able to go to sleep. My mom left around 10:30 or so and I pulled out the roll away cot. Hannah rolled over in her sleep and I jumped up to untangle her IV tubes and I figured I would be better off sleeping in her bed with her. Needless to say I didn't sleep too much, but I was right next to her if she needed anything, which was all that mattered. The next morning when she woke up and saw me next to her she was so happy. She squealed "Mama" and put her arms around my neck. That was great. Then she dozed off for another hour and woke up very unhappy. I think she realized we were still there. She slapped her bed a couple times. She does this sometimes when she is angry.
The next day (Saturday) they applied warm compresses to the infection several times to try and bring it to head. It never looked like it was something they could drain, they felt it was a deeper infection, not something on the surface like the kids had in the past. And hers had spread a bit. The swollen area didn't, but the red surface area had grown quite a bit by that time. They continued with the IV antibiotics and Motrin every 6 hours. Hannah spent the day playing with toys and watching DVDs. Nana took Zach for the day and for a sleepover so that Chris was able to come spend the day at the hospital with us. With H1N1 so bad right now, they don't even allow siblings to come visit. We took Hannah for a walk in a wagon, she enjoyed being out of her room. She loved drinking chocolate milk. It is not something she ever gets, so she liked that. They told us in the early afternoon to expect to be there one more night since the infection wasn't improving. The pediatrician that saw her on Friday came by to check on a patient of his and was surprised to see us there. He came in and checked on her and looked at the infection. He told the nurse to make a note for the doctor treating her that "it does not just look worse... it looks significantly worse". That wasn't pleasant to hear. He told them he wanted another ultrasound done to see if they could see puss. The rest of the day was about the same. Hannah was such a trooper. She did a lot of coloring, playing with a doll house that they had there, and watching movies.
The next morning the doctor came in and said she would be going home that day. I asked about the ultrasound and he didn't seem like he wanted to have it done and I said her pediatrician wanted it, so he went ahead and ordered it. The results were the same, just fluid. About 1 or so my brother showed up to visit. We started chatting with him and packing our stuff up. I asked the doctor what to do if it looks like it comes to a head. Do I drain it? He said that would not happen, there was no puss in there, but no, not to drain it. She would be on an oral antibiotic and to follow up with her pediatrician in 2 days. We finally got out of there around 2pm. We were so happy to get home. Hannah was tired, so we lounged around the house and took a little nap. Nana brought Zach home. That night I gave Hannah a bath and the thing looked like it needed to drain, it had a white head to it (so much for no puss). I didn't touch it though. The next morning I stayed home from work and I called the peds office when they opened and talked to the doctor who had been seeing her. I explained what was going on and asked if they wanted to see her. They said no, just take her to the ER. She would need to be sedated and have it cut open, drained and packed. We start getting ready to head to the hospital and Hannah said she needed to go potty. There was some drainage in her diaper and as she is going potty, it literally starts dripping into the toilet (having dealt with this before, I know that if it is draining, it doesn't need to be cut open and drained). I laid her down and just kept wiping the puss away as it came, I didn't force anything. I would guess probably 3 tablespoons came out of that poor baby girl. I called the ped back and explained again. Telling them that I really thought maybe they could look at her before I put her through the ordeal of the ER. They agreed and we went in. They cultured it and it did end up being MRSA . They had me just continue with hot baths a couple times a day and to keep draining it. There wasn't much left at that point and it healed really quickly. She is still pretty traumatized and when she needs to be changed she says "No touch my owie", but she is healed.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Soccer - Season 2
Soccer season is upon us again. This year we decided to go a different route. We thought Zach would do better with peers his own age, rather than a big group of kids all the way up to their late teens. We got him all signed up earlier in the summer. We asked the league if they would let him play in the U5 league. He was only about a month too old but they refused. They said he could only play in U6. No biggie. We went ahead with it. Zach was very excited to start playing again.
We went out to the first practice last week. Zach was excited and ran up to the group of kids. He turned and said "Hi, I Zach!". No one responded. I think they were all concentrating, but still. Zach did well for about 10 minutes, then lost interest. He participated somewhat for the practice but not too much. He didn't quite get the drills they were doing. The majority of the kids on the team played last year so they all kind of knew the ropes, so to speak. After practice there was a kick off party for the season where we picked up jerseys. We pulled the coach aside and told him that we didn't think it was a good fit and maybe Zach wasn't ready. He encouraged us to stick with it and that Zach not listening and his minimum participation didn't bother him. That made me happy. We got his jersey. That weekend was the first game. He did great the first quarter. Just kind of chased the group. I felt really good about it and thought maybe he would fit in. He would be happy just chasing everyone around. He sat out the 2nd (there was a sub). He loved snack time. The 2nd half he wanted nothing to with it anymore. He refused to participate and kept taking off. Chris and I left very frustrated. Not because he didn't play, but because he was so defiant when we tried to encourage him. After thinking about it a lot that day and shedding a few tears, I was convinced that he should finish the season and lots of kids act that way in that age group. I did not want to be a quitter and be the parent of the "special" kid that pulled him out as soon as it didn't work. Zach said he did not want to play soccer anymore.
Practice this week was good for about 10 minutes. He followed the drills well. Then he just refused to do anything again and kept taking off running so one of the coaches was constantly chasing him. It was really frustrating and embarrassing. No other child was doing this and I felt very judged by the other parents. I am sure it was all in my head, but it just didn't feel right. I felt like we were forcing Zach into something he didn't want. The experience wasn't positive and just had me and Chris in a funk the whole evening. I think it also hurt me to hear one of the kids asking their parents "why does that kid keep doing that?". I decided that this is not a good fit. This is not how it should be. It should not be forced. It should not be something that causes us to be frustrated and short tempered for the rest of the evening. I emailed his coach from last season and asked if she would have us back. We got a very excited email back saying to please come back. They have gotten more young kids this year and they are able to split them up into a younger group and older group.
Today we went to practice. It was so refreshing. One of the new players was a boy from Zach's preschool class that Zach just adores. Zach did so much better. And when he didn't want to participate, it was ok. The other kids didn't care. The parents didn't care. Zach got hugs from other players. Several hugs. He never got so much as a "Hi" from a player on the other team. It just felt right. I still feel slightly... guilty is not the right word... but in the back of my mind I feel like we bailed when it didn't go right. But it just didn't seem worth the frustration we were feeling every time we dealt with it. The first game with his old team is tomorrow. I will be sure to update and post pictures.
We went out to the first practice last week. Zach was excited and ran up to the group of kids. He turned and said "Hi, I Zach!". No one responded. I think they were all concentrating, but still. Zach did well for about 10 minutes, then lost interest. He participated somewhat for the practice but not too much. He didn't quite get the drills they were doing. The majority of the kids on the team played last year so they all kind of knew the ropes, so to speak. After practice there was a kick off party for the season where we picked up jerseys. We pulled the coach aside and told him that we didn't think it was a good fit and maybe Zach wasn't ready. He encouraged us to stick with it and that Zach not listening and his minimum participation didn't bother him. That made me happy. We got his jersey. That weekend was the first game. He did great the first quarter. Just kind of chased the group. I felt really good about it and thought maybe he would fit in. He would be happy just chasing everyone around. He sat out the 2nd (there was a sub). He loved snack time. The 2nd half he wanted nothing to with it anymore. He refused to participate and kept taking off. Chris and I left very frustrated. Not because he didn't play, but because he was so defiant when we tried to encourage him. After thinking about it a lot that day and shedding a few tears, I was convinced that he should finish the season and lots of kids act that way in that age group. I did not want to be a quitter and be the parent of the "special" kid that pulled him out as soon as it didn't work. Zach said he did not want to play soccer anymore.
Practice this week was good for about 10 minutes. He followed the drills well. Then he just refused to do anything again and kept taking off running so one of the coaches was constantly chasing him. It was really frustrating and embarrassing. No other child was doing this and I felt very judged by the other parents. I am sure it was all in my head, but it just didn't feel right. I felt like we were forcing Zach into something he didn't want. The experience wasn't positive and just had me and Chris in a funk the whole evening. I think it also hurt me to hear one of the kids asking their parents "why does that kid keep doing that?". I decided that this is not a good fit. This is not how it should be. It should not be forced. It should not be something that causes us to be frustrated and short tempered for the rest of the evening. I emailed his coach from last season and asked if she would have us back. We got a very excited email back saying to please come back. They have gotten more young kids this year and they are able to split them up into a younger group and older group.
Today we went to practice. It was so refreshing. One of the new players was a boy from Zach's preschool class that Zach just adores. Zach did so much better. And when he didn't want to participate, it was ok. The other kids didn't care. The parents didn't care. Zach got hugs from other players. Several hugs. He never got so much as a "Hi" from a player on the other team. It just felt right. I still feel slightly... guilty is not the right word... but in the back of my mind I feel like we bailed when it didn't go right. But it just didn't seem worth the frustration we were feeling every time we dealt with it. The first game with his old team is tomorrow. I will be sure to update and post pictures.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
As heard...
The other night Hannah was taking a shower with me. I called Chris to come in so I could tell him to close our bedroom window. I didn't want to walk in our room, in a towel, and frighten the neighbors. A few moments later Hannah starts calling...
H: "Chris, Chris"
Me: He is your daddy, you don't call him Chris, you call him Daddy
H: "Daddy! Daddy!"
....A few minutes later....
H: "Zach! Zach! No... Big Brother! Big Brother!"
I thought it was brilliant that she put together that I had told her to call her daddy not by his name, but by relation and she did the same with Zach.
H: "Chris, Chris"
Me: He is your daddy, you don't call him Chris, you call him Daddy
H: "Daddy! Daddy!"
....A few minutes later....
H: "Zach! Zach! No... Big Brother! Big Brother!"
I thought it was brilliant that she put together that I had told her to call her daddy not by his name, but by relation and she did the same with Zach.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Happy 2nd Birthday Hannah !!
Hannah Rose,
I can't believe 2 years has gone by since you came into my world. It seems like just yesterday, although I can't remember what life was like without you. You have such a wild spirit and loving soul. You are so much fun and I love the bond we share.
Happy Birthday my sweet girl. I love you so much!
I can't believe 2 years has gone by since you came into my world. It seems like just yesterday, although I can't remember what life was like without you. You have such a wild spirit and loving soul. You are so much fun and I love the bond we share.
Happy Birthday my sweet girl. I love you so much!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Kindergarten!!!
Today was the first day of kindergarten for Zachary. He did wonderful. His teacher emailed me and told me that he did really well. Here are some pictures from the big day...
He made this hat at school, it says "I was a star on my first day of kindergarten"
He made this hat at school, it says "I was a star on my first day of kindergarten"
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Like father like son....
Zach got a really cool big boy skateboard for his birthday. He bugs us constantly to ride it. He doesn't quite have the stability to do much on it but it doesn't stop him from trying and giving me a heart attack. Doesn't he look so grown up?!? He had fun trying and did best when he sat on his bottom and rolled around on it.
Ta Da!
Ta Da!
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