.jpg)
Yes, the very thing I was hoping with all my might wouldn't happen, did happen. Cullen got sick last night and it's already worse than Jack was. About 10 minutes after we put him to bed last night, he started crying. This usually means he wants more milk so Brandon went in there to refill his bottle. He came out and said, "I think somebody pooped, that room stinks!" I went in and sure enough, a very strong odor was coming from Cullen. I'll leave out the disgusting details but we ended up both completely covered in poop and he had to go straight into the bathtub. Brandon bathed him while I changed the sheets, took the garbage out, and changed my clothes.
He slept through most of the night, but this morning around 6 am he woke up crying and gagging. I had to will myself out of bed because I knew what I was going to find in the nursery... barf everywhere. I was right. He got another change of clothes, a diaper wipe "bath," and a bottle of Pedialyte. I rocked him for about a half hour while he drank his bottle and then he went back to bed. Even Jack, who had woken up and was excited by all the commotion, went back to bed for a while (which is a miracle, because once Jack's awake, he refuses to go back to sleep.)
They both woke up for good around 7:30 and have been playing all morning. But during breakfast, I started to smell something gross. I checked Cullen and once again, he had had a diaper blowout. It was all over his clothes, all over his entire body underneath his clothes and all over his high chair. He got another bath and then I spent the next half hour sanitizing his high chair and the floor underneath. They're napping now and I've got another load of laundry going that's entirely comprised of dirty sheets and clothes from the past 24 hours.
If you would have told me a year ago that I would now think it no big deal to be covered in vomit and diarrhea, I would have laughed in your face. I gagged the first few times I had to change their poopy diapers. But here I sit, having touched more poop this morning than I have in probably my entire life combined... oh well! I guess that's the life of a mom, right? I haven't lost all self-respect or regard for my hygiene though, I'm off to shower right now ;-)
But first, I'll leave you with a video of Jack walking all over the place last night. It's crazy how far he's come in just 48 hours! On Sunday afternoon, he took his first real steps and by Wednesday he's throwing balls and chasing after them. He spends all day practicing his new hobby, and he's getting better and better! At this rate, he may be running by next week!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Don't Know Where The Time Went
Ever have one of those days where you have been busy all day but still feel like you got nothing done? Lately, it seems like every day is like that but especially today. I haven't seen another soul today (with the exception of Jack and Cullen but they don't talk so I don't count them), have only left my apartment to do some laundry down the hallway, and my home is trashed. I straightened it up a few times today but it always ends up dirty again by the time the boys go to bed. But by that point, I usually just plop down on the couch, take a look around and my heart sinks because I no longer have the energy or even motivation to clean it all up again.
I did the dishes this afternoon - there's now a sink full of them again.
I cleaned up the boys' eating area during their morning nap- there's spaghetti covering every inch of it now.
I cleaned the bathroom this afternoon - there's now the clothes, diapers, and bath toys scattered around it, not to mention several enormous puddles made by the boys' splashing.
I straightened up the living room this afternoon too - I won't even get started on that disaster, suffice it to say that they don't usually obey when Mommy tells them to stay away from the bookcase.
I put away the boys' laundry last night - there's another pile on their floor from tonight's laundry and while I was getting Jack ready for bed, Cullen flung it all over the bedroom.
I haven't had time to clean our bedroom in a week and now there are no less than 4 separate piles of laundry (I'm not even sure which are clean and which are dirty anymore), several Target bags (don't remember what's in those either), Brandon's books (seriously, why does he need over 20 books for 1 semester of law school???), what seems like reams and reams of paper scattered everywhere, and a huge jumble of cords that the boys found behind the desk and pulled out.
There was a point today where every room except our bedroom was clean and tidy, what happened?? And now, instead of tackling it all, or even one small part of it, I'm sitting here writing about it.
If Brandon weren't coming home in 30 minutes, I would just forget about it all and go to bed. But I feel like I owe him a clean house when he gets home from working and studying all day. But I just can't will myself to get up and go clean it all up again for the 3rd time today. Especially when I know it's all going to be torn apart again tomorrow within 15 minutes of the boys waking up. *Sigh* I don't think it's going to happen tonight...
I did the dishes this afternoon - there's now a sink full of them again.
I cleaned up the boys' eating area during their morning nap- there's spaghetti covering every inch of it now.
I cleaned the bathroom this afternoon - there's now the clothes, diapers, and bath toys scattered around it, not to mention several enormous puddles made by the boys' splashing.
I straightened up the living room this afternoon too - I won't even get started on that disaster, suffice it to say that they don't usually obey when Mommy tells them to stay away from the bookcase.
I put away the boys' laundry last night - there's another pile on their floor from tonight's laundry and while I was getting Jack ready for bed, Cullen flung it all over the bedroom.
I haven't had time to clean our bedroom in a week and now there are no less than 4 separate piles of laundry (I'm not even sure which are clean and which are dirty anymore), several Target bags (don't remember what's in those either), Brandon's books (seriously, why does he need over 20 books for 1 semester of law school???), what seems like reams and reams of paper scattered everywhere, and a huge jumble of cords that the boys found behind the desk and pulled out.
There was a point today where every room except our bedroom was clean and tidy, what happened?? And now, instead of tackling it all, or even one small part of it, I'm sitting here writing about it.
If Brandon weren't coming home in 30 minutes, I would just forget about it all and go to bed. But I feel like I owe him a clean house when he gets home from working and studying all day. But I just can't will myself to get up and go clean it all up again for the 3rd time today. Especially when I know it's all going to be torn apart again tomorrow within 15 minutes of the boys waking up. *Sigh* I don't think it's going to happen tonight...
Monday, February 22, 2010
Walking (for real this time)
Jackson has totally turned a corner in the past 24 hours and made a lot of progress towards walking! Yesterday afternoon, he let go of the table and took his very first unassisted steps! He was beaming with pride!
Today, he tried again... and again... and again. He was at it all day, he kept letting go and walking a few steps at a time. This is it! I have a real toddler on my hands now!
Today, he tried again... and again... and again. He was at it all day, he kept letting go and walking a few steps at a time. This is it! I have a real toddler on my hands now!
The Weekend
We had a pretty low key weekend because somehow- incredibly- Jack was sick again! He had diarrhea on Thursday and Friday of last week but this was one of the side effects of their antibiotic so I didn't worry about it at all. But on Saturday morning Brandon found vomit all over his sheets and blanket. He was acting normally and wanted to eat, so I let him and then I let him drink a bottle of milk before his nap. I don't know why, I knew it was probably a bad idea, but I let him anyways. Bad move by Mommy...
He woke up from his nap and was fine for a while, a little fussy though and he kept laying his head down on the floor (which he NEVER does unless he's sick). A few minutes later, I was cleaning up the kitchen and he crawled over to the gate and started crying outside it. This is pretty normal because they're always upset that I don't let them in the kitchen so I ignored it. Then all of a sudden he stopped crying, and a HUGE amount of projectile vomit came spurting out of his mouth. I'm not kidding, it went through the bars of the gate and onto the kitchen floor. I have never seen that much vomit come out of something so tiny! My mouth was hanging open in disbelief! "Did that really just happen?" Then the smell reached me, yep it really happened.
Thankfully, it was Saturday and Brandon was home studying. He helped me strip Jack down and get him into the bathtub. The rest of the day, he seemed to be feeling a little better but was still extra tired and wanted extra cuddle time (fine by me). We had a babysitter all lined up for Saturday night and had planned an ice skating date but had to cancel of course. Oh well, that's the life of a parent right? We ended up having a nice, quiet night at home with a movie and popcorn.
He had diarrhea again all day yesterday too. Massive, explodes-out-of-the-diaper diarrhea. But that's another story in itself. So all in all, we had a really exciting weekend filled with lots of extra laundry, lots of extra baths, and (my personal favorite) some really fun carpet scrubbing ;-)
Today, he seems all better though. No diarrhea, no vomiting and full of energy. And I'm so extremely thankful that Cullen never got sick this time. They've had 3 big illnesses in just over a month, I hope that now we can move onto a really long healthy streak!
Just for fun, here are some pictures of my sick boy. After he barfed all over his clothes, I just put him into a long sleeved t-shirt. But it was annoying him, so he tried to take it off. He got a little stuck on the sleeves though and then just gave up.
He woke up from his nap and was fine for a while, a little fussy though and he kept laying his head down on the floor (which he NEVER does unless he's sick). A few minutes later, I was cleaning up the kitchen and he crawled over to the gate and started crying outside it. This is pretty normal because they're always upset that I don't let them in the kitchen so I ignored it. Then all of a sudden he stopped crying, and a HUGE amount of projectile vomit came spurting out of his mouth. I'm not kidding, it went through the bars of the gate and onto the kitchen floor. I have never seen that much vomit come out of something so tiny! My mouth was hanging open in disbelief! "Did that really just happen?" Then the smell reached me, yep it really happened.
Thankfully, it was Saturday and Brandon was home studying. He helped me strip Jack down and get him into the bathtub. The rest of the day, he seemed to be feeling a little better but was still extra tired and wanted extra cuddle time (fine by me). We had a babysitter all lined up for Saturday night and had planned an ice skating date but had to cancel of course. Oh well, that's the life of a parent right? We ended up having a nice, quiet night at home with a movie and popcorn.
He had diarrhea again all day yesterday too. Massive, explodes-out-of-the-diaper diarrhea. But that's another story in itself. So all in all, we had a really exciting weekend filled with lots of extra laundry, lots of extra baths, and (my personal favorite) some really fun carpet scrubbing ;-)
Today, he seems all better though. No diarrhea, no vomiting and full of energy. And I'm so extremely thankful that Cullen never got sick this time. They've had 3 big illnesses in just over a month, I hope that now we can move onto a really long healthy streak!
Just for fun, here are some pictures of my sick boy. After he barfed all over his clothes, I just put him into a long sleeved t-shirt. But it was annoying him, so he tried to take it off. He got a little stuck on the sleeves though and then just gave up.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Perspective
I have a friend from college who moved to Haiti a couple of years ago to work in an orphanage. Since the earthquake, she and the other orphanage workers have traveled to Port-au-Prince to bring new orphans home with them. She often posts photos and stories on Facebook of kids who they've found who need medical care and who have lost their parents or entire families in the earthquake.
Today she posted a photo of a very young baby, who looks about the same age as Jack and Cullen, who also has pneumonia... and is severely malnourished... and has no parents. As miserable as last week was for us, my kids will probably never be that sick and if they ever were, they live in a country where they can be hospitalized even with a slight case of pneumonia. Their lives were never in danger, they had the best care money could buy and they got the medicine they needed quickly. Things like this really put into perspective exactly how needless most of my worries over Jack and Cullen really are.
God has provided for our every need. We are blessed beyond measure. I need to remember that and pray for and give much more to others in need.
Today she posted a photo of a very young baby, who looks about the same age as Jack and Cullen, who also has pneumonia... and is severely malnourished... and has no parents. As miserable as last week was for us, my kids will probably never be that sick and if they ever were, they live in a country where they can be hospitalized even with a slight case of pneumonia. Their lives were never in danger, they had the best care money could buy and they got the medicine they needed quickly. Things like this really put into perspective exactly how needless most of my worries over Jack and Cullen really are.
God has provided for our every need. We are blessed beyond measure. I need to remember that and pray for and give much more to others in need.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Life Skills
They may not know how to wave bye-bye, but they sure know what to with a remote control. The first thing they do once they get their hands on one is point it at the television. Good to know they're learning the important things in life first, right? ;-)
Some Good Things
*Rachel may be gone now, but we had the best time! Look at these adorable cookies we made!
Jackson and Cullen with their Auntie Rachel
*The boys are definitely feeling much better, their antibiotics are working wonders. It is like night and day from last week, they are soooo much happier and more playful!
*Brandon told me he got the high grade on his most recent writing assignment! There are 12 or 13 other students in his writing section and he nearly always scores just above the median grade, but this time, he was the high grade! I'm so proud of him!
*Jack and Cullen are now giving great big bear hugs and I have to say, they're the best hugs I've ever gotten! They also like to feed us their food or give us sips from their cups, how sweet! They learned how to point about a month ago and now point at anything and everything, one of their favorite things to do is to point to my mouth and I pretend to eat their fingers, complete with growling noises and everything, they fall to pieces laughing!
*I think there may be an owl living outside my window, something keeps hooting out there. Are there any owls native to Alexandria, VA? And come to think of it, aren't owls nocturnal? Are there any other animals that hoot outside apartment windows at 10 am?
*We got a new antenna last week so we now get 3 whole channels! The best part? We get NBC so I can finally watch Ellen again!
*I lost 3.5 pounds last week on my diet of hospital food which officially brings me back to (drumroll please!) my pre-pregnancy weight!! Ok, so why are my pants still so tight?
Jackson and Cullen with their Auntie Rachel
*The boys are definitely feeling much better, their antibiotics are working wonders. It is like night and day from last week, they are soooo much happier and more playful!
*Brandon told me he got the high grade on his most recent writing assignment! There are 12 or 13 other students in his writing section and he nearly always scores just above the median grade, but this time, he was the high grade! I'm so proud of him!
*Jack and Cullen are now giving great big bear hugs and I have to say, they're the best hugs I've ever gotten! They also like to feed us their food or give us sips from their cups, how sweet! They learned how to point about a month ago and now point at anything and everything, one of their favorite things to do is to point to my mouth and I pretend to eat their fingers, complete with growling noises and everything, they fall to pieces laughing!
*I think there may be an owl living outside my window, something keeps hooting out there. Are there any owls native to Alexandria, VA? And come to think of it, aren't owls nocturnal? Are there any other animals that hoot outside apartment windows at 10 am?
*We got a new antenna last week so we now get 3 whole channels! The best part? We get NBC so I can finally watch Ellen again!
*I lost 3.5 pounds last week on my diet of hospital food which officially brings me back to (drumroll please!) my pre-pregnancy weight!! Ok, so why are my pants still so tight?
Friday, February 12, 2010
Cullen's First Hospital Stay
Some of you have probably heard by now that Cullen and I have been in the hospital this past week. He and Jack both came down with pneumonia this week, but Cullen's was affecting his breathing and oxygen levels in his blood, so he had to be admitted to the hospital for 4 days and 3 nights. Thankfully, both boys are recovering now and are feeling much better! This post is very long, but for those of you who want to know exactly what happened and how we ended up in the hospital, here's the story:
It all started last weekend, right before the big blizzard started. On Friday morning, I noticed that Cullen had a fever of 103. I wasn't too alarmed since the boys often get high temperatures for a day or two when they're teething. He also had had a small cough for a couple of weeks that he couldn't seem to shake but he'd been to the doctor at the end of January and it wasn't anything serious. I noticed that it had gotten slightly worse and that he also had a runny nose so I thought he was probably coming down with a cold. But kids seem to constantly have runny noses during the winter so I wasn't sure about any of this. I called the doctor and checked to see if any of the symptoms sounded bad enough that he should come in but they said to just give him some Tylenol for the fever, keep an eye on him and call back if anything got worse.
Well, Saturday came and brought the blizzard with it. On Saturday morning, we took the boys out into the snow for about 10 minutes but, like I mentioned in my last post, they didn't seem like themselves. By Saturday afternoon, I noticed that some of Cullen's symptoms were getting worse, especially his cough and he had started making small moans throughout the night. Jack seemed to be getting sick as well. But there was 2 1/2 feet of snow outside and it was a Saturday so there was nothing we could do.
On Sunday morning, both boys took a turn for the worse. Cullen was now wheezing while breathing, he seemed miserable, he was ultra clingy and cried if I put him down for even a second, his fever was back, and he was coughing constantly. My pediatrician followed up with me that afternoon and when I told her about the wheezing and the grunts/groans he was constantly making, she told me that we should go to the ER and have him looked at. We decided to bring Jack too and have him looked at just in case. So, Brandon went downstairs to dig the car out of the snow. 4 hours later (I'm not exaggerating one bit, it literally took him 4 hours to get the car out to the street), he came back up with numb hands and feet, changed his clothes and we left for the ER. I have never, ever driven in snow like that and I hope to never do it again. Even after being plowed, there was still over a foot of snow on all the major roads and freeways. It was so bad that we actually considered walking the 3 miles to the hospital but decided that wasn't a good idea with two sick kids. While he had been digging the car out, an ambulance had gotten stuck in our parking lot so even that wasn't really an option!
We got to the ER around 6:30 at night, they took us right back, we hardly had to wait at all. They put the boys into the cutest little baby hospital gown and then did all sorts of tests on the boys but they both tested negative for RSV, the flu and H1N1. They also took some chest x-rays and that's where they discovered that Cullen had pneumonia. They diagnosed Jack with bronchiolitis which is a viral infection but not quite as serious as pneumonia. They gave both the boys a nebulizer breathing treatment and some antibiotics for Cullen and 3 hours later, we went home.
We followed up with our pediatrician on Monday morning. At first she told us to come in in 2 days, but once she heard Jack coughing in the background she said come in as soon as possible. Brandon went downstairs and spent another hour digging and pushing the car out of another icy parking spot. At one point, I had to leave the boys in their cribs and go help him. It was so bad that I was on hold with the doctor's office telling them there was no way we could get there because our car was stuck when Brandon somehow miraculously got it moving again. So we went upstairs, grabbed both boys and braved the roads again to get to the pediatrician's office.
Once we got there, they listened to their labored breathing and checked their heart rates and oxygen saturation levels in their blood. Cullen's was quite low, in the high 70's. A normal and safe oxygen level would be around 95-100%. They gave him another nebulizer treatment but his levels still didn't improve. At that point, both of our doctors left the room for a few minutes. I thought they were going to send us home with a nebulizer or something, I guess I didn't realize how serious pneumonia is in children. I was a little confused and shocked when they came back and said they'd like us to check Cullen in to the hospital. I didn't really understand at first and I didn't know what questions to ask. Our pediatrician also said she thought Jack had a slight case of pneumonia as well but that his oxygen saturation levels weren't alarming so he just needed some antibiotics. They gave us a prescription and sent us next door to the pediatrics ward of the hospital (this was a different hospital than we had been at the night before, this one was the Virginia Hospital Center, where the boys were born at).
They got us straight into a room and went to work right away checking all of his vital signs. They hooked him up to a few monitors stuck onto his chest and one onto his toe that measured his heart rate and oxygen saturation level. It was still hovering around 80% so they told me he needed to be hooked up to oxygen. By this time, it was around 2 pm and the boys hadn't had a nap or lunch yet. Both of them were cranky and tired so Brandon took Jack home and I told him I'd call him later with a list of things to bring for Cullen and I from home. I was still under the impression that we'd only be there one night or maybe even get to leave that evening. Later that afternoon, though, I spoke with the resident pediatrician and she told me that we'd probably be there for a couple of days, so I had Brandon bring some toiletries and clothes for me.
They inserted a nasal cannula into Cullen's nose so they could get oxygen to him. I'm sure you can imagine how well a 13 month old tolerated a tube around his face and up his nose. I had to physically restrain him for the first 12 hours of our hospital stay and even then he still managed to rip it (and the rest of his monitors) off numerous times. The poor baby was so tired and miserable though that he eventually just gave in and spent the next day or so laying on me and sleeping. He completely refused all food and even most liquids for a couple of days too. I had to coax him into drinking anything at all but I kept trying because I didn't want him to have to be hooked up to an IV too. Some friends of ours from church watched Jack so Brandon could bring our things to the hospital (they have a policy of no visitors under the age of 18) and I don't know what we would have done without them! We are so thankful for good friends!
On Monday and Tuesday, Cullen didn't improve much. He had to stay on the oxygen 24 hours a day because as soon as he took it off, his oxygen saturation levels plummeted. A respiratory therapist came every two hours to give him a nebulizer treatment and they also used this little rubber disk to tap him on the back and chest to loosen whatever was in his lungs and help him to breathe better. On Tuesday night, another blizzard came and lasted throughout Wednesday. I watched it from the hospital room and I guess it wouldn't have mattered if they had released Cullen that day because there was no way Brandon could drive in that to come get us. The hospital staff told me they were all staying at the hospital and that they had to use volunteers with 4-wheel drive to even get there.
Cullen slept soooo much, the poor thing was exhausted from trying to fight off his pneumonia for so long. By Wednesday afternoon, he was finally starting to improve. I had hoped we'd get out then, but he still needed the oxygen when he was sleeping. When he was awake, they were able to turn down his oxygen to .5 liter (I know I'm right about the decimals, but I'm not entirely sure about the measurement, I think it was liters?). But when he was sleeping, his oxygen saturation levels dropped and they had to turn it up to 1 liter. On Wednesday afternoon, the resident extended his breathing treatments to every 3 hours which was a good sign and then late Wednesday evening, they extended them to every 4 hours. Cullen drank a full bottle that night and his oxygen saturation level was at nearly 100% all night, with oxygen of course.
On Thursday morning, the nurse came in and said he had done so well throughout the night that she wanted to see if he could keep his levels up without oxygen for a while. So she turned his oxygen off completely. It had to remain above 92% (even while sleeping or resting) in order for us to be discharged. He had gotten alot of his energy back and spent the morning crawling around the hospital bed and playing (this was a HUGE challenge for me to keep him from getting tangled up in his wires and contained in a 3 foot radius). While he was awake, his oxygen saturation levels hovered around 95-96%. Then he took a nap on my chest and I was so worried that they'd drop. I kept listening for the telltale beeps to let me know he had dropped into the danger zone, but they were really infrequent. He stayed right at 92% most of the time. After his nap, I called the nurse and had her page the resident. Our pediatrician also visited us and said that he had improved enough to go home that day. So a couple of hours later, they unhooked him from all the monitors and oxygen lines and Brandon came to pick us up. We were both sooo excited to be going home!
I had developed a terrible sinus infection while in the hospital (ironically, although I was in a hospital I wasn't able to get treated or get any medication for it since I wasn't a patient) so as soon as we got home, Brandon stayed with the boys while they napped so I could go straight to the nearest urgent care clinic to get some antibiotics. And that night, Brandon's parents ordered some pizzas for us so I didn't even have to cook dinner. You never would have guessed that Jack and Cullen were still sick judging by how quickly they devoured an entire piece of pizza each! Thanks Gary and Sari!
Thankfully, both boys have improved immensely over the past few days. Brandon took good care of Jack while I was in the hospital, I was very impressed since it was the first time Brandon had taken care of one of them for more than a few hours. I knew he could do it, of course, but I was surprised that I didn't get any phone calls asking what to feed him or where the extra diaper wipes were. And some friends of ours from church were so kind to watch Jack a couple of times so that Brandon could visit us at the hospital, what a blessing! And the blizzard turned out to be a blessing in disguise because Brandon's classes were canceled Monday-Thursday and he was able to work from home all week and take care of Jack.
On Saturday, my sister flew out and has been helping me get caught up around the house and has been taking care of the boys while I run errands and go grocery shopping. She has been a tremendous help because my house looked like a tornado had blown through it when I got home from the hospital on Thursday and I was too sick and tired to tackle it. But within hours of her arrival, she had the place looking great! And it was a relief to be able to go shopping and run errands without leaving Brandon to watch the boys. He has a ton of stuff to get caught up on between work and school and he's been able to get a lot done this weekend. Plus I love just getting to bake cookies and talk for hours with her :-)
She leaves tonight, but my house is clean and my pantry is restocked and we are all back on our feet, so we should be fine. But we are so grateful to our parents and my sisters for taking such good care of us this past week- even from across the country! It has been a huge help! God watched over us, healed our boys, and he used friends and family to bless us during this difficult time. Praise the Lord for the way he protects and provides!
It all started last weekend, right before the big blizzard started. On Friday morning, I noticed that Cullen had a fever of 103. I wasn't too alarmed since the boys often get high temperatures for a day or two when they're teething. He also had had a small cough for a couple of weeks that he couldn't seem to shake but he'd been to the doctor at the end of January and it wasn't anything serious. I noticed that it had gotten slightly worse and that he also had a runny nose so I thought he was probably coming down with a cold. But kids seem to constantly have runny noses during the winter so I wasn't sure about any of this. I called the doctor and checked to see if any of the symptoms sounded bad enough that he should come in but they said to just give him some Tylenol for the fever, keep an eye on him and call back if anything got worse.
Well, Saturday came and brought the blizzard with it. On Saturday morning, we took the boys out into the snow for about 10 minutes but, like I mentioned in my last post, they didn't seem like themselves. By Saturday afternoon, I noticed that some of Cullen's symptoms were getting worse, especially his cough and he had started making small moans throughout the night. Jack seemed to be getting sick as well. But there was 2 1/2 feet of snow outside and it was a Saturday so there was nothing we could do.
On Sunday morning, both boys took a turn for the worse. Cullen was now wheezing while breathing, he seemed miserable, he was ultra clingy and cried if I put him down for even a second, his fever was back, and he was coughing constantly. My pediatrician followed up with me that afternoon and when I told her about the wheezing and the grunts/groans he was constantly making, she told me that we should go to the ER and have him looked at. We decided to bring Jack too and have him looked at just in case. So, Brandon went downstairs to dig the car out of the snow. 4 hours later (I'm not exaggerating one bit, it literally took him 4 hours to get the car out to the street), he came back up with numb hands and feet, changed his clothes and we left for the ER. I have never, ever driven in snow like that and I hope to never do it again. Even after being plowed, there was still over a foot of snow on all the major roads and freeways. It was so bad that we actually considered walking the 3 miles to the hospital but decided that wasn't a good idea with two sick kids. While he had been digging the car out, an ambulance had gotten stuck in our parking lot so even that wasn't really an option!
We got to the ER around 6:30 at night, they took us right back, we hardly had to wait at all. They put the boys into the cutest little baby hospital gown and then did all sorts of tests on the boys but they both tested negative for RSV, the flu and H1N1. They also took some chest x-rays and that's where they discovered that Cullen had pneumonia. They diagnosed Jack with bronchiolitis which is a viral infection but not quite as serious as pneumonia. They gave both the boys a nebulizer breathing treatment and some antibiotics for Cullen and 3 hours later, we went home.
We followed up with our pediatrician on Monday morning. At first she told us to come in in 2 days, but once she heard Jack coughing in the background she said come in as soon as possible. Brandon went downstairs and spent another hour digging and pushing the car out of another icy parking spot. At one point, I had to leave the boys in their cribs and go help him. It was so bad that I was on hold with the doctor's office telling them there was no way we could get there because our car was stuck when Brandon somehow miraculously got it moving again. So we went upstairs, grabbed both boys and braved the roads again to get to the pediatrician's office.
Once we got there, they listened to their labored breathing and checked their heart rates and oxygen saturation levels in their blood. Cullen's was quite low, in the high 70's. A normal and safe oxygen level would be around 95-100%. They gave him another nebulizer treatment but his levels still didn't improve. At that point, both of our doctors left the room for a few minutes. I thought they were going to send us home with a nebulizer or something, I guess I didn't realize how serious pneumonia is in children. I was a little confused and shocked when they came back and said they'd like us to check Cullen in to the hospital. I didn't really understand at first and I didn't know what questions to ask. Our pediatrician also said she thought Jack had a slight case of pneumonia as well but that his oxygen saturation levels weren't alarming so he just needed some antibiotics. They gave us a prescription and sent us next door to the pediatrics ward of the hospital (this was a different hospital than we had been at the night before, this one was the Virginia Hospital Center, where the boys were born at).
They got us straight into a room and went to work right away checking all of his vital signs. They hooked him up to a few monitors stuck onto his chest and one onto his toe that measured his heart rate and oxygen saturation level. It was still hovering around 80% so they told me he needed to be hooked up to oxygen. By this time, it was around 2 pm and the boys hadn't had a nap or lunch yet. Both of them were cranky and tired so Brandon took Jack home and I told him I'd call him later with a list of things to bring for Cullen and I from home. I was still under the impression that we'd only be there one night or maybe even get to leave that evening. Later that afternoon, though, I spoke with the resident pediatrician and she told me that we'd probably be there for a couple of days, so I had Brandon bring some toiletries and clothes for me.
They inserted a nasal cannula into Cullen's nose so they could get oxygen to him. I'm sure you can imagine how well a 13 month old tolerated a tube around his face and up his nose. I had to physically restrain him for the first 12 hours of our hospital stay and even then he still managed to rip it (and the rest of his monitors) off numerous times. The poor baby was so tired and miserable though that he eventually just gave in and spent the next day or so laying on me and sleeping. He completely refused all food and even most liquids for a couple of days too. I had to coax him into drinking anything at all but I kept trying because I didn't want him to have to be hooked up to an IV too. Some friends of ours from church watched Jack so Brandon could bring our things to the hospital (they have a policy of no visitors under the age of 18) and I don't know what we would have done without them! We are so thankful for good friends!
On Monday and Tuesday, Cullen didn't improve much. He had to stay on the oxygen 24 hours a day because as soon as he took it off, his oxygen saturation levels plummeted. A respiratory therapist came every two hours to give him a nebulizer treatment and they also used this little rubber disk to tap him on the back and chest to loosen whatever was in his lungs and help him to breathe better. On Tuesday night, another blizzard came and lasted throughout Wednesday. I watched it from the hospital room and I guess it wouldn't have mattered if they had released Cullen that day because there was no way Brandon could drive in that to come get us. The hospital staff told me they were all staying at the hospital and that they had to use volunteers with 4-wheel drive to even get there.
Cullen slept soooo much, the poor thing was exhausted from trying to fight off his pneumonia for so long. By Wednesday afternoon, he was finally starting to improve. I had hoped we'd get out then, but he still needed the oxygen when he was sleeping. When he was awake, they were able to turn down his oxygen to .5 liter (I know I'm right about the decimals, but I'm not entirely sure about the measurement, I think it was liters?). But when he was sleeping, his oxygen saturation levels dropped and they had to turn it up to 1 liter. On Wednesday afternoon, the resident extended his breathing treatments to every 3 hours which was a good sign and then late Wednesday evening, they extended them to every 4 hours. Cullen drank a full bottle that night and his oxygen saturation level was at nearly 100% all night, with oxygen of course.
On Thursday morning, the nurse came in and said he had done so well throughout the night that she wanted to see if he could keep his levels up without oxygen for a while. So she turned his oxygen off completely. It had to remain above 92% (even while sleeping or resting) in order for us to be discharged. He had gotten alot of his energy back and spent the morning crawling around the hospital bed and playing (this was a HUGE challenge for me to keep him from getting tangled up in his wires and contained in a 3 foot radius). While he was awake, his oxygen saturation levels hovered around 95-96%. Then he took a nap on my chest and I was so worried that they'd drop. I kept listening for the telltale beeps to let me know he had dropped into the danger zone, but they were really infrequent. He stayed right at 92% most of the time. After his nap, I called the nurse and had her page the resident. Our pediatrician also visited us and said that he had improved enough to go home that day. So a couple of hours later, they unhooked him from all the monitors and oxygen lines and Brandon came to pick us up. We were both sooo excited to be going home!
I had developed a terrible sinus infection while in the hospital (ironically, although I was in a hospital I wasn't able to get treated or get any medication for it since I wasn't a patient) so as soon as we got home, Brandon stayed with the boys while they napped so I could go straight to the nearest urgent care clinic to get some antibiotics. And that night, Brandon's parents ordered some pizzas for us so I didn't even have to cook dinner. You never would have guessed that Jack and Cullen were still sick judging by how quickly they devoured an entire piece of pizza each! Thanks Gary and Sari!
Thankfully, both boys have improved immensely over the past few days. Brandon took good care of Jack while I was in the hospital, I was very impressed since it was the first time Brandon had taken care of one of them for more than a few hours. I knew he could do it, of course, but I was surprised that I didn't get any phone calls asking what to feed him or where the extra diaper wipes were. And some friends of ours from church were so kind to watch Jack a couple of times so that Brandon could visit us at the hospital, what a blessing! And the blizzard turned out to be a blessing in disguise because Brandon's classes were canceled Monday-Thursday and he was able to work from home all week and take care of Jack.
On Saturday, my sister flew out and has been helping me get caught up around the house and has been taking care of the boys while I run errands and go grocery shopping. She has been a tremendous help because my house looked like a tornado had blown through it when I got home from the hospital on Thursday and I was too sick and tired to tackle it. But within hours of her arrival, she had the place looking great! And it was a relief to be able to go shopping and run errands without leaving Brandon to watch the boys. He has a ton of stuff to get caught up on between work and school and he's been able to get a lot done this weekend. Plus I love just getting to bake cookies and talk for hours with her :-)
She leaves tonight, but my house is clean and my pantry is restocked and we are all back on our feet, so we should be fine. But we are so grateful to our parents and my sisters for taking such good care of us this past week- even from across the country! It has been a huge help! God watched over us, healed our boys, and he used friends and family to bless us during this difficult time. Praise the Lord for the way he protects and provides!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Snowed In!
They're calling it The Blizzard of 2010. I think that about sums it up. I have never, ever seen this much snow in my life! There was zero snow on the ground a week ago, we had two smaller snowstorms since last weekend and then, last night, the blizzard rolled in. It has been snowing for over 24 hours straight, and most of that time has been "heavy snow" which I now know means over 2 inches per hour. I ran to the grocery store yesterday morning when the snow had just begun and wasn't yet sticking, thank goodness because it's looking like we'll be snowed in for a couple of days at least! We have about 18-20 inches outside right now!
We bundled the boys up and took them outside for a few minutes so they could see the snow. They were pretty grumpy about having so many layers of clothes on, they absolutely hated the hats and mittens, and by the time we got outside, they looked really grouchy. They only slightly perked up once we got into the snow, most of the time they just sat there lethargically looking around. Oh well, I'm sure they'll love it next year! We couldn't carry them through all that snow, so we put them in their stroller which wasn't much better. Brandon got quite the workout pushing it around the parking lot. Those big bumps to the left of Brandon are actually cars, they're completely buried!
It's almost to the top of the fire hydrant
Lots and lots of snow plows out... and hardly anybody else. The few people that have dared try to get out have gotten stuck immediately. We've seen several cars stuck in the parking lot for over an hour trying to dig their way out. Brandon has been working on a paper all day but keeps taking "breaks" to go to the window and laugh at one of our "idiot" neighbors who are stuck in the lot. I have to admit, it is pretty funny, but I feel bad for anybody who absolutely has to drive in this.
We walked up to the street and saw this semi spinning its wheels. One of our neighbors said he'd been stuck there for over 2 hours and the street we live on is a hill so I don't think this guy is getting out of there anytime soon.
This guy had the right idea. I wish I had a pair of cross country skis! That brings back so many funny memories of Leavenworth and getting lost on the ski path when I was 16.
Brandon pushing the boys along the sidewalk.
Two little grouches
They were a little happier when we took them out of the stroller. This is me and Cullen:
Daddy and Jack:
And right before we headed back in we plopped them down in the snow. Good thing they don't weigh more or else they probably would have been buried!
We didn't stay out long because it was still coming down pretty hard and it was really windy too. We plan on going out again to play in the snow tomorrow when it's supposed to be sunny. Supposedly the storm is going to stop in the next few hours but it won't warm up for a few days so who knows how long we'll be snowed in for?
We bundled the boys up and took them outside for a few minutes so they could see the snow. They were pretty grumpy about having so many layers of clothes on, they absolutely hated the hats and mittens, and by the time we got outside, they looked really grouchy. They only slightly perked up once we got into the snow, most of the time they just sat there lethargically looking around. Oh well, I'm sure they'll love it next year! We couldn't carry them through all that snow, so we put them in their stroller which wasn't much better. Brandon got quite the workout pushing it around the parking lot. Those big bumps to the left of Brandon are actually cars, they're completely buried!
It's almost to the top of the fire hydrant
Lots and lots of snow plows out... and hardly anybody else. The few people that have dared try to get out have gotten stuck immediately. We've seen several cars stuck in the parking lot for over an hour trying to dig their way out. Brandon has been working on a paper all day but keeps taking "breaks" to go to the window and laugh at one of our "idiot" neighbors who are stuck in the lot. I have to admit, it is pretty funny, but I feel bad for anybody who absolutely has to drive in this.
We walked up to the street and saw this semi spinning its wheels. One of our neighbors said he'd been stuck there for over 2 hours and the street we live on is a hill so I don't think this guy is getting out of there anytime soon.
This guy had the right idea. I wish I had a pair of cross country skis! That brings back so many funny memories of Leavenworth and getting lost on the ski path when I was 16.
Brandon pushing the boys along the sidewalk.
Two little grouches
They were a little happier when we took them out of the stroller. This is me and Cullen:
Daddy and Jack:
And right before we headed back in we plopped them down in the snow. Good thing they don't weigh more or else they probably would have been buried!
We didn't stay out long because it was still coming down pretty hard and it was really windy too. We plan on going out again to play in the snow tomorrow when it's supposed to be sunny. Supposedly the storm is going to stop in the next few hours but it won't warm up for a few days so who knows how long we'll be snowed in for?
First Haircuts
Alright, all you haters (especially my sisters), I finally did it! I cut Jack and Cullen's hair! It was bittersweet for me, I think they look so handsome with their new haircuts but I also think they look more like little boys and less like my little babies :-(
Brandon had had enough of their long hair though, so we cut it last Tuesday night. We only needed to trim the back and behind their ears where it was long and curly. We left the rest of their heads alone. I cut a lock of hair off of each side of the back of their neck and taped them to notecards for their scrapbooks (that I will make someday in the far off future). Here are my handsome boys, post haircut:
I was sooo nervous with the scissors in my hand! I kept hoping and praying that I wouldn't cut an ear off! Brandon did a pretty good job of distracting them and holding them still, but they were still quite squirmy.
Daddy and Cullen, look he's trying to share his car with me, how sweet!
Side shot
See, no mullets here. It's a little choppy but I've never cut anybody's hair with scissors before, especially two little boys trying to jump around the entire time. I'm pretty proud of myself!
Brandon had had enough of their long hair though, so we cut it last Tuesday night. We only needed to trim the back and behind their ears where it was long and curly. We left the rest of their heads alone. I cut a lock of hair off of each side of the back of their neck and taped them to notecards for their scrapbooks (that I will make someday in the far off future). Here are my handsome boys, post haircut:
Daddy and Jack
I was sooo nervous with the scissors in my hand! I kept hoping and praying that I wouldn't cut an ear off! Brandon did a pretty good job of distracting them and holding them still, but they were still quite squirmy.
Daddy and Cullen, look he's trying to share his car with me, how sweet!
Side shot
See, no mullets here. It's a little choppy but I've never cut anybody's hair with scissors before, especially two little boys trying to jump around the entire time. I'm pretty proud of myself!
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Week
Being the good mother that I am, I completely forgot to schedule their 12 month appointment until way too late. So the earliest appointment I could get was January 28th, closer to their 13 month birthday, but oh well! So, last Thursday, we trekked down to the doctor's office at 8:30 am (which was a miracle in itself) for their 12 month check up. As usual, they are healthy and growing right on track. Jack weighs 20 pounds, 8 ounces (25th percentile) and is 29 1/2 inches tall (50th percentile). Cullen is 21 pounds, 11 ounces (35th percentile) and is 30 inches tall (55th percentile). Of course, those percentiles are for 12 months and they're 13 months now, so they're still a little small for their age but I can hardly believe this because they seem to grow every day! Cullen is so big and goes so rigid whenever I try to carry him that my arms start aching. People always ask me if I carry them at the same time a lot and the answer is NO! I have only done it a handful of times. They are so heavy, squirmy and unpredictable that I don't dare try. Even if they sat perfectly still and clung on, they are still getting too big and heavy. Would you want to carry a 20 pound sack of potatoes in each arm??? Of course, I do spend a few hours each day holding one or the other and my arms are slowly getting more toned as a result. Give me another year and my arms will look like Michelle Obama's!
Anyways, back to the doctor's visit... they got some more shots and took them better than ever before, and they've always taken them well. They were actually angrier about having to be held down than they were about the actual shots. They also had to have blood drawn but didn't cry one bit during that. They enjoyed exploring a new room too. Here they are waiting for the doctor:
This is what the table looked like after they were finished with it.
And here they are waiting for the nurse to bring in their shots. They were both trying to launch themselves off the table, so I decided that I'd rather take my chances with a few germs on the doctor's floor than with broken necks. Cullen was banging on the chair and Jack was laughing so hard below. Cullen would keep peeking under the chair to laugh with Jack then he'd stand up and bang again.
On Saturday we got a snow storm, about 5 or 6 inches! It was nothing compared to the blizzard we missed in December but it was still a lot of snow. I hadn't seen any yet this year, or really ever since I've lived in DC. It's snowed once or twice over the past few years but I always seem to miss it. I am completely disconnected with the outside world and had no clue this was coming so I let our fridge get pretty bare and had to go to the grocery store while it was snowing. I haven't driven in snow in years and it was coming down pretty heavily. I drove like an old lady and thankfully didn't have any close calls though. On Sunday, the main roads were fine and today everything but the parking lots are cleared. I've heard another storm is expected this week though, I won't mind as long as I get to stay inside :-) This was the view out of our window on Saturday morning:
Tonight, Brandon was playing/wrestling with the boys and, as usual, I had to throw out a few "be carefuls" to them:
Me: "Brandon, be careful please, they're still babies."
Brandon: (Rolls eyes) "Oh right, I forgot we're trying to raise them to be sissies. Hey, Little Jackie and Little Collette, come on girls!"
Anyways, back to the doctor's visit... they got some more shots and took them better than ever before, and they've always taken them well. They were actually angrier about having to be held down than they were about the actual shots. They also had to have blood drawn but didn't cry one bit during that. They enjoyed exploring a new room too. Here they are waiting for the doctor:
This is what the table looked like after they were finished with it.
And here they are waiting for the nurse to bring in their shots. They were both trying to launch themselves off the table, so I decided that I'd rather take my chances with a few germs on the doctor's floor than with broken necks. Cullen was banging on the chair and Jack was laughing so hard below. Cullen would keep peeking under the chair to laugh with Jack then he'd stand up and bang again.
Here's my little daredevil trying to leap from the basket onto the entertainment center. He's fallen out of that basket numerous times this week. I am constantly thankful that we have carpeted floors!
On Saturday we got a snow storm, about 5 or 6 inches! It was nothing compared to the blizzard we missed in December but it was still a lot of snow. I hadn't seen any yet this year, or really ever since I've lived in DC. It's snowed once or twice over the past few years but I always seem to miss it. I am completely disconnected with the outside world and had no clue this was coming so I let our fridge get pretty bare and had to go to the grocery store while it was snowing. I haven't driven in snow in years and it was coming down pretty heavily. I drove like an old lady and thankfully didn't have any close calls though. On Sunday, the main roads were fine and today everything but the parking lots are cleared. I've heard another storm is expected this week though, I won't mind as long as I get to stay inside :-) This was the view out of our window on Saturday morning:
Tonight, Brandon was playing/wrestling with the boys and, as usual, I had to throw out a few "be carefuls" to them:
Me: "Brandon, be careful please, they're still babies."
Brandon: (Rolls eyes) "Oh right, I forgot we're trying to raise them to be sissies. Hey, Little Jackie and Little Collette, come on girls!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
