David - Our Little Helper

I just wanted to add to what Sarah has been saying about all the help the kids have been the past number of days. David has tried to be a helper too!

A couple days ago, our little man toddled over to the couch, got Sarah's dinner bowl and fork, walked them over to the sink, reached way up and pushed them into the sink! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture or video, since I had no idea what he was about to do - I thought he was just stealing her bowl. :)

Anytime he sees one of us loading the dryer, he scurries over to help. The other day, he actually came over and helped me load the washer - he stood in the laundry basket and handed me clothes one at a time. Took a while, but was much more fun! I have a video of David helping load the dryer:

Today, right about 5pm, David decided he was going to feed the dogs. It was uncanny - as 5pm is their usual dinner time, yet none of us had yet mentioned it. I could be wrong, but I don't think our 15 month old knows how to tell time! :) -- He came into the living room where I was working, and grabbed both dog bowls. Then he walked over to the laundry room to get some dog food - Sarah had one of the other kids help fill the bowls. Then, David came back to the living room with two bowls full of food and made the dogs sit (at least I think so - he had his pacifier in his mouth!). As a reward, he helped himself to some of Peanut's food.

This evening, I spent a while roto-tilling another area in our yard to plant grass. David came up a couple of times and held onto the handle, as if to help me. He looked up and smiled, with a very proud look on his face.

Sarah and I talked about it today - we cannot believe what a big boy our David is already! He certainly has a personality unlike any of the other kids. The way he nods his head or even his whole body when he
"approves" of something we do for him is a crack-up! I will try to get it on video one day soon.



- Paul

Ethan ER scare

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day!! It started out with Paul having a horrible migraine headache.  He really wanted to take the day off from work, but felt he needed to do some work this week. He figured today would be worse as migraines tend to get worse the 2nd day.

I was ok throughout the day yestesrday. I had to handle a bit more than I should have because of the events of the day. That has led to cramping and pain today because I did a lot more than I should ever have. Yesterday marked 1 week post-op! :)

A friend of ours bought us an awesome chicken pot pie from Costco. It is so big, and looks so good! When I went to preheat the oven yesterday, I got an error message. Turns out, a sensor went out on the oven so I can't use it. Thankfully, I had some leftovers in the refrigerator and I was able to make dinner for everyone that was home.


Our friend Lisa brought Ethan home from school. He came home and laid on the floor as he was not feeling well. Paul took his temperature and it was 102.6. Ethan has been having a lot of coughing issues so we had planned to take him to the dr to see about an asthma plan to get him back on track. A quick call to the dr and Paul was out the door within 10 minutes for the 25 minute drive to our pediatrician. By the time Paul got there, Ethan was pale, lethargic, and very dizzy. Paul said he could tell something was wrong. Turns out Ethan's had a pulse rate of 260!! Paul was told to drive Ethan to the ER right away and he would immediately be took back for observation. So they got into the van and a very scared Ethan made his way to the ER.

By the time Paul got to Children's Hospital in Parker (7 minute drive) Ethan's pulse was back down to 140. From what I understand Ethan was hooked up to an EKG and monitored for what the dr's believe Ethan has....SVT Supraventricular Tachycardia

  http://www.childheartassociates.com/PatientInfo/SVT.htm

The Dr was not able to recreate the high pulse rate. Ethan was then taken to x-ray to check for pneumonia. Paul said that Ethan told the x-ray techs all that he had learned this week about light and was excited to check out his x-rays with them. He was finally able to go back to his room and order some dinner while they waited. From what I understand, it was the best burger Ethan has ever had. :) Ethan stayed a little while longer so the Dr could administer a new asthma medication that would not raise his heart rate. After all of that, he was sent home with strict instructions to return to the ER if the high heart rate came back.

This morning Ethan has been fine. He was able to finish up his homework and even got some Wii time in before his Dr. visit. Hopefully we will receive some answers. While his regular pediatrician is not working on Friday, Ethan will see the same dr that sent him to the ER last night. We should get a new asthma action plan, and hopefully some direction with the SVT. It seems we cannot get a true diagnosis until it is caught on an EKG.

Hopefully this will not affect Ethan's swimming plans. He already has to miss this weekends big meet. It would have been Ethan's first long-course meet, and he was looking forward to it. I am grateful he did not have to stay in the hospital, and that he didn't need an IV or any shots. I hope the Drs are able to figure all of this out easily, and that it won't hinder Ethan's dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer.

We are so very grateful for everyone's prayers. They are much appreciated in what seems to be a very difficult trial period that we are going through. It was very hard for me as his mother to be at home when all of this was going on. I don't think I could even handle a car ride right now in the early stages of my recovery. I am so thankful that my friend Kelly dropped everything to come sit with me and help me with the younger children yesterday. When you can't have family nearby, it sure helps to have a few great friends. Great friends is what we have indeed. I know at any given moment, I have plenty of people to call that would be here in an instant. Thank you to those that are faithful friends that are by our side through all of these trials.

When things like this happen, all I can wonder is what God has in store next. It always seems that when God has BIG plans, Satan throws some curve balls. Well, this family is about to hit those curve balls right out of the park!! We've got the King on our side, and with the King nothing is impossible!!!!

Sarah

Sleep, sleep, and more sleep

I want to start off by saying thank you to those that have been there for us the past 6 days. It has been an exhausting week, and we really appreciate all of the prayers and help we have received.

Day 6 has been all about sleeping. I don't think I have been this tired since the night of surgery. Last night was a hard night filled with pain, so neither Paul nor I got much sleep. Paul had to take the day off from work because he has been so exhausted from wearing so many hats. I am so happy he took the day off because I was no help at all today with the kids. I have been asleep more than awake today. I was so out of it that the kids didn't wake me up, even though they were playing right next to me. I still haven't made the transition upstairs, and my bed is the couch.

For those that are wondering, the recovery time is usually 4-6 weeks. But can be 8 weeks. I can't drive for 2 weeks and won't be able to lift more than 5-10 lbs for 4-6 weeks. Even though my surgery was laparoscopic I had major surgery and if I do too much too soon I can tear the stitches that are inside of me. I had everything removed except for my left ovary and both tubes. I guess the recovery is similar to a c-section. I have never had a c-section before. After childbirth I am usually up and back to taking care of things in a matter of days. The most help I ever had with having a baby was when my mom was here and I had Elizabeth. I am pretty much use to being on my own and just having the support of Paul. I am not use to having so many restrictions on what I can and cannot do. There is not a whole lot that I am allowed to do besides sit on the couch. I thought it would be hard to be restricted from doing things, but the pain and exhaustion makes it very easy to follow the dr's orders.

I am grateful to have found a website/discussion board for women going through what I am right now. I have a group of ladies that I check-in with each day that all had their surgeries the same week as me. It is great to go through this with other women and have support from people that are experiencing this at the same time as me. I can also ask question of women that are further along in their recovery than me. I have also read stories from women that ended back in the hospital having surgery from tearing things inside from doing too much too soon. That is a major reason why I am taking things slow.

Tomorrow will be my first day outside. I plan to walk Elizabeth to the curb in front of our house to get Elizabeth on the school bus. Now for some fun info!!! Since I began sleeping on the couch, David has begun waking me up in the morning when he and Paul come downstairs. David comes right over to the couch and wakes me up by opening my glasses and sticking them on my head. He has done this every single day. Paul finally recorded David in action this morning after David's morning nap. It is too cute.

 Ethan has been learning how to play songs on his recorder at school. They are doing a program his music teacher calls recorder karate. Paul has a video of Ethan playing Mary had a Little Lamb. He really enjoys leaning to play, and he is dedicated to practicing. At the beginning of the school year, Ethan begged to join band, I think we will have to figure out how to put it into the schedule this next year. I don't know how it will work with swimming, but we will make it happen somehow. After all of this writing I think it is time to spend some snuggle time with the kiddos before bedtime. Ethan should be home any moment from practicing with the Jacks swim group!!

Elizabeth the big helper

I completly forgot that I wanted to brag about Elizabeth this evening. She surprised me today with wanting to help with so much!! The boys were not interested in helping mom out tonight while Paul gave David a bath, but Elizabeth did. She has done so much today. She brought me diapers and wipes when I needed to change David, but that is normal stuff. Elizabeth helped clean up dishes around the house to go into the dish washer tonight. She even went upstairs to check for sippy cups. Then she cleaned up all of David's toy messes in both the play room and the family room.

Elizabeth cleaning the bathroom mirror

She made the play room look spotless and put the little chairs where they belonged. I praised her so much she just beamed with joy. Elizabeth also helped with David a lot this evening and asked her daddy several times how she could help him. So, besides earning an extra $1.50 in her allowance today,she got a glass of milk and some Oreos before bed. The boys were not happy to see that, but neither one of them helped when asked today. I am so proud of my little girl!!

Day 5 much better......

Today was so much better than yesterday!!! Praise the Lord because I needed a good day after all that happened yesterday. Paul has kept me on a pretty strict schedule for the medication so that has helped tremendously. I slept a lot better last night, and skipped coffee so my body was much happier. Paul has been a huge help even though he is trying to work from home. Oh, and David took 2 naps today!! So other than making dinner tonight, I pretty much sat on the couch. Before anyone freaks out, I sat at the kitchen table while preparing everything to be cooked, and Paul was gone when I did it. If he had been home I would have been in trouble. So, while I helped Ethan with homework I made mini hamburgers and deviled eggs with a salad.

David and I played a lot today so that was fun. He enjoys bringing me items to put on my head. He then laughs as they fall off. We looked at some books, and snuggled on the couch. Ethan snuggled up to me for awhile while he played a wii game. This was a treat, as my 8 year old is too old for snuggle time with mom. I got to watch Isaac and Elizabeth play wii for awhile too today. Elizabeth and I also worked on writing her numbers.

It was a good day. I didn't take but one 20 minute nap all day and felt just fine. I can't believe I don't have cabin fever yet!! I have spent a lot of time thinking about all of the things I want to do with the kids when I am all healed up! After being in so much pain, I look forward to a summer filled with lots of fun. I hope tomorrow is another good day. It would be nice to sit outside a bit and watch the kids play if the weather is nice.

Kids are big helpers

I forgot that I wanted to share about how amazing the kids have been. I can't seem to edit my blog posts on the iPad so I am starting a new post. One of these days I will figure how to blog on an iPad properly.

Yesterday Isaac worked hard and vacuumed our downstairs. He did a great job considering he is 6 years old. He was very happy to help out. Today Isaac fed the dogs, he helped with David, and he helped with his and Ethan's laundry. He brought their basket downstairs, and Paul taught him how to put it in the washer properly. Then Isaac took stuff out of the dryer that was already in there, and loaded his clothes into the dryer. He was so proud to participate in all of the steps of doing laundry. Ethan helped by doing an amazing job vacuuming the downstairs and filling the dishwasher. I was amazed at how helpful they were, and at how much they can do even at a young age. They were pretty excited about receiving bigger allowances this week too. Elizabeth is a bit young to help out much, but she is great at feeding the dogs and wiping down things with disinfectant wipes. I am sure we will find some fun cleaning opportunities for her in the weeks to come.

I have some pretty amazing kids!! I wanted to share that with the world. I want my children to grow up and know how to clean a home and cook for themselves. My boys will be taught just as much as Elizabeth. I want my future daughter-in-laws to be blessed with a husband that can cook and clean like my husband does. :) I don't need Paul's help all of the time, but Paul can follow a recipe and makes some meals better than I do. Paul does laundry, cleans bathrooms, washes dishes, mops the floors.......he does it all. I am blessed beyond my dreams with a husband that will step up and help out when he is needed most. He is working, going to school for his Masters Degree, and now he is taking care of me and the kids AND the house while I recover. Add in the fact that he is on call for the next week, and I have a pretty amazing, hard working husband that is going to need a vacation when I finally recover and can return to duty. Thank you Paul for sacrificing so much for our family.

Sorry for the long post about my family. I just feel truly blessed right now with an amazing family. Even with all of my pre-term labors and after delivering my babies, I never stuck to bed rest. I was always right back on my feet doing my mother/wife job. This is the first time that I have stuck to dr's orders and stayed off of my feet. I am learning to let others take care of me, and it isn't easy to do. I have a strong desire to care for my family, but I know my job is to heal, and in order to heal, I must rest.

Sarah

Ethan Made the Team!

So yesterday our whole family went to support Ethan's time trials at ACES Swim Club. He was doing trials to prove he could make the cut-off time to move up from the Jokers practice group to the Jacks. He was required to swim the 100 yard freestyle in under 2:10 4 times and the 100 yard individual medley in under 2:25 4 times. Ethan came well below the cut-offs consistently with freestyle times averaging around 1:45 and IM times around 2:10!

We are so proud of Ethan for all his hard work and dedication week in and week out. We are also grateful for such a great coaching staff - Coach Morgan cheered for him and encouraged him the entire IM! It helps that he's been taking private lessons with Coach Morgan, and will continue to do so.




After swimming, the family went to Dairy Queen to celebrate Ethan's victory! Everyone enjoyed their ice cream treats, even David! :)

New Haircut!

After several weeks of rescheduling, I finally met with my amazing hair stylist to cut my hair. I cut it much shorter than I had originally planned to. The last thing I want to be worried about after surgery is long tangled and matted hair. So, I took in a picture of a cute style, and Jillyn did an amazing job! I always feel so special when she cuts and colors my hair. :) I love it!!