My family
Gabriella-6 months
Lottie-18 months
Emmaline- 4 years
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
January 2012
January 2012 started off with a Bang in our house. Sunday night Matt started feeling bad. His stomach hurt and he was just generally uncomfortable. He went to bed but couldn't sleep and ended up in the bathroom throwing up pretty much all night.
Monday morning Matt said he felt he needed to go to the ER because he was really dehydrated. I figured the doctors were going to tell him it was the flu, drink fluids and rest and then send us home. Thats pretty much what they did. But we were at the ER from about 9am to noon, and then add drive time (40 minutes each way). It was a long day.
Tuesday morning Matt went back to work but he was still hurting. A lot. So he went to the clinic where our family doctor said he was concerned because the pain was emanating from the area of Matt's appendix and his white blood cell count was up. So, off we go back to the ER for a CT scan. That took forever. I was already up at the naval hospital for one of Lottie's pre-surgery check ups but I'd only packed enough diapers, food and toys for a two hour trip. We ended up staying there from 8am until nearly 5pm. It sucked. Anyway, the scan showed there was indeed inflammation in Matt's appendix but it wasn't enough to be conclusive so they sent us to the ER for more blood work and to talk to another doctor. They decided that there was nothing they could do because nothing was conclusive enough. So, they sent Matt home and said if he was still in pain in 8-12 hours to come back .
So, at 3am we took Matt to the ER, again. This is now Wednesday and we've already spent most of Monday and Tuesday at the ER. I was luckily able to arrange for babysitting for the girls this time! We hung out in the ER for a few hours until they finally admitted him. They then gave him IV antibiotics and observed him for about 8 hours. When the pain was still not going away they decided it was time to take out his appendix.
Matt was wheeled back to surgery about 3pm. They cut him open in three small spots on the left side of his stomach and took the appendix out (its on the right side). This was called a Laproscopic Appendectomy. (I just like saying that!).
As a side note, I went home while Matt was in surgery and discovered that Gabriella had popped her first tooth!
Matt was then released from the hospital at noon on Thursday. So we spent pretty much all of Monday-Thursday in the hospital dealing with this surgery. It was brutal.
But then! Monday Lottie had tubes put in her ears. So I left the house at 5ish in the morning and left Matt with the girls. She was a super champ when it came to getting ready. She let the doctors do everything they needed to do without being shy or scared. They even carried her back in their arms and she didn't protest. That child has complete trust. Its amazing.
Coming out of the anaesthesia was hard on her. She really struggled and cried and thrashed about. They said that is really normal for kids because everything is so disorienting. It was hard to watch and even harder because I couldn't comfort her. I don't think she even really recognized me! But she came out of it after about 15 minutes and then fell asleep in my arms and I got to cuddle her for about a half hour.
When she came home she was so excited and so happy! It was like nothing happened. Actually, it was like the pressure on her ears was gone and she felt so much better.
And, as another side note, Gabriella's second tooth came in and I discovered it when I came home from Lottie's surgery. I hope she isn't waiting for any other surgeries before she pops the rest of her teeth!
Lets just say the beginning of January 2012 was rough. But I have every reason to expect a complete and full turn around and for 2012 to be a really good year.
Monday morning Matt said he felt he needed to go to the ER because he was really dehydrated. I figured the doctors were going to tell him it was the flu, drink fluids and rest and then send us home. Thats pretty much what they did. But we were at the ER from about 9am to noon, and then add drive time (40 minutes each way). It was a long day.
Tuesday morning Matt went back to work but he was still hurting. A lot. So he went to the clinic where our family doctor said he was concerned because the pain was emanating from the area of Matt's appendix and his white blood cell count was up. So, off we go back to the ER for a CT scan. That took forever. I was already up at the naval hospital for one of Lottie's pre-surgery check ups but I'd only packed enough diapers, food and toys for a two hour trip. We ended up staying there from 8am until nearly 5pm. It sucked. Anyway, the scan showed there was indeed inflammation in Matt's appendix but it wasn't enough to be conclusive so they sent us to the ER for more blood work and to talk to another doctor. They decided that there was nothing they could do because nothing was conclusive enough. So, they sent Matt home and said if he was still in pain in 8-12 hours to come back .
So, at 3am we took Matt to the ER, again. This is now Wednesday and we've already spent most of Monday and Tuesday at the ER. I was luckily able to arrange for babysitting for the girls this time! We hung out in the ER for a few hours until they finally admitted him. They then gave him IV antibiotics and observed him for about 8 hours. When the pain was still not going away they decided it was time to take out his appendix.
Matt was wheeled back to surgery about 3pm. They cut him open in three small spots on the left side of his stomach and took the appendix out (its on the right side). This was called a Laproscopic Appendectomy. (I just like saying that!).
As a side note, I went home while Matt was in surgery and discovered that Gabriella had popped her first tooth!
Matt was then released from the hospital at noon on Thursday. So we spent pretty much all of Monday-Thursday in the hospital dealing with this surgery. It was brutal.
But then! Monday Lottie had tubes put in her ears. So I left the house at 5ish in the morning and left Matt with the girls. She was a super champ when it came to getting ready. She let the doctors do everything they needed to do without being shy or scared. They even carried her back in their arms and she didn't protest. That child has complete trust. Its amazing.
Coming out of the anaesthesia was hard on her. She really struggled and cried and thrashed about. They said that is really normal for kids because everything is so disorienting. It was hard to watch and even harder because I couldn't comfort her. I don't think she even really recognized me! But she came out of it after about 15 minutes and then fell asleep in my arms and I got to cuddle her for about a half hour.
When she came home she was so excited and so happy! It was like nothing happened. Actually, it was like the pressure on her ears was gone and she felt so much better.
And, as another side note, Gabriella's second tooth came in and I discovered it when I came home from Lottie's surgery. I hope she isn't waiting for any other surgeries before she pops the rest of her teeth!
Lets just say the beginning of January 2012 was rough. But I have every reason to expect a complete and full turn around and for 2012 to be a really good year.
A little bit of Everything
I'm feeling much too lazy to make 15 different posts so pictures are all getting crammed into one post.
Like Mother Like Daughter
Swim Time!
We bought a cheap sprinkler and broke out our pool for the afternoon. The girls had a blast! Matt especially enjoyed running through the sprinkler with the girls .
This is Lottie's 'hide out'. Its a cupboard that we don't use but she fits in perfectly. Its hard not to want to close the door on her when she gets in sometimes. That would be a mean Mom thing to do! ;)
This is funny. Gabriella loves her broccoli- Lottie sure doesn't!
Gabriella is such a happy baby girl!
This is Gabriella's first pony tail. Neither picture is the best, but she wouldn't stop moving! It was fun to put in, but now I have to do all three girls' hair every day...hmmmm.
Self-portrait of me and my girls!
Matt thought this sunrise was worthy of a picture. It was much better in person.
Hair Cut
I keep saying I want to have long hair but then it gets long and I don't know what to do with it any more. So I got it cut. And I like it again.
Before
During
Matt's sister Crystal cuts hair and did a marvellous job. Love it Crystal!
After
Lottie had her first chance to sleep outside her crib when we went to visit Grandma. She struggled with it a bit but it was so cute to see her and Emmaline snuggling together!
The girls and I on Christmas morning at Grandma's house (I totally look good :)
Our Family Ginger Bread House. We had fun building it. But we didn't get to eat it :( There wasn't enough time and too many other good treats! It probably got thrown away. (I wrote "Beach Bunk" on the bottom corner :)
Christmas morning part II
We opened presents on New Years when we got home. Emmaline and Lottie got kitchen dishes and food. Gabriella got a baby toy. I got a crock pot, Matt got a remote control helicopter and a card game.
And there you have it. Our past month or so summed up in pictures.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Part 5, Surgery
I took my baby girl in to the hospital today to get tubes put in her ears. We had to get up at just past 5am for a show time of 6:15am. Lottie was tired but she was a great sport. She wasn't allowed to eat and I was worried about that because she is such a hungry girl all the time. But with all the craziness, she didn't start asking for food until a few minutes before they took her back.
They didn't have a gown that was small enough and by the time we were waiting for surgery she had pulled it off and refused to put it on. Luckily the drs didn't have a problem with that! I got to ride in the bed with her all the way until they took her back for the actual surgery. I thought she might get worried about someone else taking her back, but she did really well and didn't fuss at all.
They wheeled her back to me only about 15 minutes later. The procedure was super fast. She had a really hard time waking up from the anaesthesia, as they said she would. She was not able to stay still, thrashing about quite a bit, and was not wanting to be held. That was hard to see my baby struggling so much and not be able to rock her and calm her down. It took about 15 minutes for her to really get calmed down and open her eyes up.
They wheeled us back to the recovery room and she fell asleep on my lap on the way there. It was so sweet to hold her. They wanted to let her sleep for a little while so I got to cuddle her for about 20 minutes before I had to wake her up. She woke up easily, ate a popsicle and then got super excited when I pulled out my bag of treats, graham crackers, fishy crackers, raisins and MARSHMALLOWS!! She ate the marshmallows first and fast. Those are a rare treat in our house.
The doctor did meet with me for a moment. It was in the middle of the screaming and I was frazzled but I heard what I needed to. He said that the fluid in her ears was very thick (I don't know if that meant the fluid was dense, like syrupy or if he meant there was a thicker layer than he expected...) and instead of the originally thought 3-5 days of ear drops, he wants us to do 7 days! Otherwise he said she took the anaesthesia really well, didn't fuss, didn't move and the tubes went in easily. I was glad to hear that.
So we left with two prescriptions and the promise of my daughter hearing better almost immediately. And we have a gazillion follow up appointments too (okay, only 4 with ENT, EDIS, Audiology and the Pediatrician, but it seems like a gazillion...)
She took a really long nap- about 3.5 hours, and has been very happy all day. She usually is pretty cranky and fussy and will start crying at just about anything. So I suspect the fluid in her ears was causing more discomfort/pain than I understood.
Although I had my doubts that this would fix the problem entirely, I'm starting to hope that this is the end of the struggles and that soon she'll be talking up a storm with her sisters!
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