Ear tubes are out!

The ear tubes are out. 

 

 

Remember putting them in? 

 

Well, they were irritating her ears.   After being in for almost 2 years and they were ready (they were supposed to fall out on their own!).  She got an ear infection where blood was coming out of her ears instead of puss.  Although, this is a bit shocking, it’s not as horrible as it sounds.  She wasn’t complaining about her ears hurting, or even feverish, just saying that her ears were popping.  When we were coming over the mountains in August, at the top she was crying a bit.  Which is weird, since ear tubes are supposed to prevent that, unless they aren’t working properly…

 

duh duh duhhhhhhh

 

Ding ding ding!

 

So, with the first round of antibotics down, which actually cleared it up nicely from the outside, a few days later ---- blood in her ears again…

 

I wasn’t going to the pediatricians again…  They would just refer me back to ENT or give her another antibiotic.  So, I called ENT myself and with the symptoms, they had us come in within a few days. 

 

The diagnosis:  They were irritating her ears and needed to come out.  The left one was plugged, which was why her ears weren’t clearing over the mountains. 

 

Unfortunately, the ENT doc put “easier to fall out tubes” than Alex’s, which were easily removed in clinic with tiny little tweezers and some serious bribing to stay still.  Sara’s were supposed to fall out within a year or so, but since they hadn’t and were a different shape and material, they would rip her eardrum if he pulled them out.  So, going under anesthesia was the only way.  Seriously?

 

Well,  Children’s is the BEST!  We got a fast appointment right in Bellevue.  We had been to the Bellevue clinic before, but had always had the surgeries to place the tubes in Seattle.  The quickest surgery was in Bellevue, so we were lucky.  It’s a new facility and designed so smart for the little ones. 

 

First, the elevator is always the coolest part.  We had packed her a backpack with all sorts of distractions and toys (new).  She was so excited to find out what was in there.   Since it’s surgery, you have to have no food past a certain time, and for Alex (who’s HUNGRY in the morning) this was challenging.  But, for Sara, it wasn’t too bad.  She doesn’t seem like a wake up and eat as fast as she can kind of gal.  Not a problem at all, but the distractions are nice. 

 

 

 

But, the waiting room was so cool – that we didn’t really need it!  Painting!!!!  One of Sara’s favorite things.  She painted many rainbows and had so much fun and this was just the waiting room.  They really think of the kids here. 

 

 

 

Then we got called back to her pre-op room.  In Seattle, it was a room where they prepped her, but then would take your child from you to go to the OR.  Or, if you’re me – they you beg/borrow/steal and swear you’ll be OK – and beg them to let you gown up and carry your child back to the OR so they won’t be so scared.  I did this with both kids and it was great.

 

But, this was EVEN BETTER!  The room where she would be put to sleep was right there!  They had the moving Brave going, very kid friendly, and we did all the pre-op in this room.  There was a bed there and we would be able to stay right there with her. 

 

I must say this was genius!!!!

 

She peacefully went to sleep to the sleeping gas they gave her – flavored with strawberry scent.  Her favorite fruit.  We held her hand and she was so peaceful.  They took her to the OR on the bed and we were escorted to another room to wait the 10-15 minutes.

 

At Seattle, there was a recovery room where we couldn’t go.  So, not only do you not be there when your kid goes to sleep (although I did and was so glad I did), but you are definitely not there when they wake up.  Even though I tried to beg/borrow/steal my way in.  Promising that I wont’ touch or do anything that they didn’t want me to.

 

At Bellevue Children’s, they wheel her back into the room with her still asleep  - genius!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She stayed asleep for ~5 minutes more, and the nurse assured us she was good.  The longer it took her to wake up, the better.  She was getting all the sleepy meds out of her system.

 

Then, with one big breath – she was up and awake.  She sat up groggily and I was able to be right there. 

 

 

 

We snuggled for a bit, with a precautionary barf thingie. 

 

 

 

But, she knew what she was after.  The nurse didn’t even have time to start naming the colors before she answered “green” to the question of what popsicle color she wanted.  She scarfed it down. 

 

The ENT doctor came in to let us know how it went.  He said that the ear drums had grown behind the ear tubes, so that was what it was causing the problems.  He said removal was easy and she was good to go.  We will be back in ~ 2 months to check to make sure the hole has closed and everything looks normal. 

 

 

 

Then, I also brought some muffins and other things to eat and she ate those too, with some help from Dad who was “starving” since he hadn’t ate since 7:30 am. 

 

 

 

 

She was quickly back to our normal “Brave” girl.  It’s funny that the movie Brave was showing in the first room, because I had bought her a Brave barbie with red hair and all.  It was one of her “new” toys that day. 

 

 

 

 

We went home and Lance went back to work.  Sara and I watched movies, played with stickers and snuggled.  I tried to get her to nap (I was tired) but with no luck. 

 

Overall – it was a great experience.  I’m glad those ear tubes are out, we loved them while they were in and working – but hasta la vista baby – when they are not. 

How do I even start…

How do I even start…  ER trip for kid #2… The first ER trip for kid #2

Last Saturday afternoon, May 18, after a day filled with a baseball game a shopping trip to REI (my kids call it REI-EI) and Grandpa T over to play, Sara was supposed to be taking a nap.  It was late, but better late than never. 

It was an accident.  It was horrible.  It was one of the most scary moments of a parents life. 

Sara fell from her window, two stories up and landed forehead first on to our deck. 

She had recently learned how to unlock our windows, they are easy new windows to open, her bed is against the window and the roller shade was opened. 

I was tired too and trying to get her to sleep with me in my bed, but she’s 3+ and isn’t needing naps much anymore.  So, after ~20 minutes she said she was going to her room.  I let her.  She was playing around for about 15-20 minutes when I heard what sounded like a screen hitting our deck and a second later a big thump.  I knew exactly what had happened, jumped out of bed and started running down the stairs and telling Lance to call 911. 

Lance didn’t know what had happened.  He thought it was her bookshelf or something else that had fallen over in her room.  I opened the back sliding glass door and there she was.  She was not laying flat, but up half way on her hands and knees.  I don’t have any way to explain it other than Mother’s intuition – but I picked her up.  I know you’re not supposed to move someone injured like this, but how could I NOT pick her up?  There must have been something in me that just knew that was the right thing to do.  I scooped her up (she likes to recount this detail a lot after the fall) and told Grandpa T to get me a towel. 

Lance was calling 911 and Alex was screaming because he was so scared.  Grandpa T took Alex and was re-assuring him and talking with him – it was really a wonderful help to have him there.  He was asking questions and I could tell he was so scared.  Did she crack her skull? Is she going to die?  Is her brain going to be OK? 

By this point – she was going into shock.  She was pale and although she was crying the first minute or so, she was now very quiet.  This part scared the snot out of me. 

Two ambulances arrived and quickly starting checking her out.   She could move her hands & her feet. Nothing obviously broken, but from the 12-15 foot drop and landing on the deck  - we were definitely going to the ER in the ambulance.  They were so nice – they gave her a bunny which she later named “rabbit” but it really sounded like “wabbit”.  She wasn’t doing much at this point except for looking around and doing what the technicians were telling us and her to do. 

There is no real words to describe how it feels to see your child strapped to a board.  All I can tell you was that I was in full blown Mama mode. 






notice in this picture below that she’s itching her face/eye – so she definitely could move. 




They told us we were going to Evergreen, as long as her stats and condition stayed the same.  If she worsened, then they were going to turn on the lights and head to Harborview.  They told Lance that if the lights were to turn on, don’t try to stay up with them.  Just drive safely to Harborview.   It scared the snot out of us again. 

In the ambulance, the trauma and the tiredness of this girl (!) and the motion of the truck moving was just putting her to sleep.  It was a bit scary for me since I didn’t REALLY know if it was just tiredness, but it doesn’t really matter I guess, since the ambulance guy wouldn’t let her close her eyes for too long.  He kept her away by talking to her and I held her hand and talked to her too. 

At one point she started crying, saying she didn’t want to go to Evergreen – when I asked why she said she didn’t want to be a baby.  She knows that she was born at Evergreen and she thought she was going to go back there for that.  We assured her she was not going to be a baby again and she was going to the big girl Emergency Room.  

Thankfully, although probably the longest ride to Evergreen ever – we arrived and she was escorted in to a staff of about 10 people waiting for her.  We quickly explained what happened and they took vitals, hooked her up to monitors and then we started off to CT scan. 

We escorted her there, but had to leave due to the radiation.  This was really hard.  She was so little and all these strange people were around her.  In a funny room, strapped down.  It must have been so scary for us to leave.  We heard her cry a bit through the door and they were done within a few minutes.  Thank goodness CT scans are fast.  They scanned her skull and her abdomen and chest. 

Lance broke down at this point when we were outside the CT scan room.  He started crying and we hugged.  I was still in full trauma mode and just staring at the door, waiting for it to open.  I was a bit surprised, but glad that he was telling me what he was thinking.  He told me he was having a hard time looking at her, he was scared and feeling guilty, etc and I just told him exactly what he needed to do: When we go back in the room, you hold one hand and I’ll hold the other and you look her in the eye and you tell her that you love her.  That is what she needs right now.  She needs to hear this from you.  (At this point we had no idea what condition she was in at all).  We had no idea if she was seriously hurt or not.  We both needed to say this to her and we did. 



They wheeled us back to Xray next to try to get her neck.  They tried a couple of different things, but because her neck had shifted, they asked the doctor to come back in and readjust it.  We ended up back in Xray again for another try, then back to CT scan since it didn’t work. 


We ended up wrapping a blanket around her head to keep it straight and tape it down.  This worked great.  We think she kept moving since I was always on one side and holding her hand and also the strap was right on her forehead where her big cut was.  Anyways, we got the CT scan that showed there was nothing broken in her neck. 



She even had a little smile at this point. 



During the whole thing at the ER – we kept talking about Doc McStuffins (a Disney Junior cartoon about a little girl who is a toy doctor and she gives her toys check-ups and makes them feel better and fixes their boo-boos).  Sara was here for her check up and they needed to take pictures of Sara to make sure she was OK.  Well, the last time we were in Xray, she asked to see the picture (being used to seeing it on my camera or iPhone).  So, I took a picture of it and was able to show her where her neck and throat were, her sholders, her ribs and her head.    It was one of the first times I think I could tell she was feeling a bit better and not so much in shock. 

The other time was when we were waiting for the radiologists to read the Xrays and CT scans and she was getting somewhat agitated at being completely strapped down.  That was a good sign.





Everything came back OK, so she was released from the binds.  The doctors wanted to see if she could stand and she was heavily favoring her left leg.  So, she could move her toes, but not as much on that right leg/foot.  So off to Xray again to check out her leg, but everything turned out OK. 

At this point, Alex came back with Grandpa T (I think this is right) and saw her and saw that she was OK.  Alex got to watch cartoons a bit, but then it was time for him to go home.  Grandpa T took him home and put him to bed and did all the chores (fed the dogs).  Alex was very glad to see that his sister was OK. 

We turned on some cartoons and she just watched for a while.  She was getting thirsty at this point (another good sign) and we asked if she could have anything.  They said no, but I sneaked her a few drinks of water which she loved.  Finally, after being cleared from any surgeries, we got the go-ahead to give her something to eat and drink and she scarfed applesauce and apple juice down.  She was still having quite a fast heart beat (around 140 bpm) but was laying so still.  The doctor kept saying something like, but not really asking, is she acting normally?  I would answer yes, but her heart was just pounding out of her chest.  After the apple juice it calmed right down and then she was my normal girl again.  I asked what she think happened and she said that she probably had low blood sugar and after the juice she felt much better, hence the lower heart rate. 

A little girl in a big room. 

We couldn’t really find anything good on Saturday night ER television, so we turned on Dad’s netfliks and watched a little toons. 

We had called for a plastic surgeon and were waiting for him to show up.  He was very nice and gave me good hope that this wouldn’t be a huge scar.  Of course, after all her major bones and organs were cleared, I felt guilty for even thinking about a scar, but we wanted the best for her.  I’m sure we’ll be paying for it, so no worries there!    I was just trying to grow out her bangs too, and I was thinking she would have to have bangs for the rest of her life (dramatic!?!). 


The plastic surgeon cleaned her up and we took a look at the cut for the first time in many hours.  About a 1 inch cut in the shape of an slight S.  When he was cleaning it out, I noticed it was quite deep in the middle of the cut and there was no tissue there.  I asked him about it and he said it was deep.  My thoughts were that she fell directly on this spot and just obliterated the tissue at this point.  There was nothing really underneath the middle of the cut.  No tissue to stitch together. 

He put in 3 internal stitches and 13 external. 

He told me a few things that really helped me.  First, she has very young skin and therefore had got a lot of time for this scar to fade.  Second, we will be putting a silicon gel on her scar twice a day for ~3 months.  This really reduces the scar dramatically.  Third, and not to be underestimated, sunblock, everyday.  Also, she is still growing and the scar won’t grow with her.  So, it will get relatively smaller on her. 

All stitched up.

We feel so bad that this accident happened, words cannot express how much.  It was an accident that could’ve been prevented.  We should’ve moved her bed away from the window once she knew how to open them up.  We should’ve had a lock on them that she couldn't open.  We should’ve, but we didn’t.  We could’ve paid the ultimate price, but thankfully we didn’t.  Trust me, it keeps replaying in my mind with all the different scenarios that could’ve happened.  We are all figuring out how to deal with this.  Sara must have had angels carrying her down that Saturday afternoon.  You can justify or reason or tell yourself all the things that you do differently so that accidents don’t happen to your kids (I watch my kids where ever they go/always, they don’t like windows, they don’t know how to open them, my kids don’t have accidents, my kids don't take naps in the thier rooms, or anything that makes it seem unlikely that one of their kids would have had this accident, I’ve heard all of these…trust me) but ultimately it was an accident. If we could predict accidents, we would be living in a different dimension. 

What I did appreciate was the outpouring of support and love we got.  From our friends, family and neighbors.  It was truly great and we were so grateful.  Many people just listened to me and validated how scary that must have been.  This was exactly what I needed. This really helped.  No judgements (trust me - I'm judging myself enough). 

She slept with us that first night and I don’t think I got any sleep at all.  6 hours in the ER and my adrenaline was still fresh and pumping.  It was almost like the first night you bring home your newborn baby.  You watch them sleep.  I had to have her right next to me all night long. 


Sara the next day – wearing her Tinkerbell (angel, I think) wings. 


And here she is after her stitches were removed about a week after the accident, with just a piece of surgical tape (and some good ol’ 3 year old attitude). 



And at the beach, happy as a clam in 50 degree water wearing her winter coat.

4 staples (or ER visit #4 for kid #1)

You were jumping/wrestling on your bed with a friend last Saturday and you fell back (were pushed back hard?) and hit your head on the head of your bed. You must have hit hard and just the right (wrong) spot. It probably hurt pretty badly and you instinctively reached back.

 

And that's when the freak out started. Blood, and lots of it.  Head wounds bleed A LOT. 

 

We heard a blood curdling scream, and you ran to us downstairs.

 

I quickly asked Daddy for one… no… two towels

 

One for you to put your forehead on the counter (softer that way) and one for the back of your head. I pushed your head down and put the other towel on the back of your head.  I asked your Daddy to hold it after I got you all set up.  Your Dad held then held towel for a minute and I took a couple of peeks. It wasn't that big of a gash, maybe 1+ inch. But, we know from experience that head wounds go to the ER.  And it was going to need something to close it up….

 

So a call the friend’s Mom to pick him up, grab a few snacks. (You never know how long it will take at the ER, if it’s not an “emergency”, then I highly recommend grabbing something to snack on to bring with you.  If it’s an emergency – call 911 or just grab the car keys.  Snacks are the last thing you should think about).  And we are out the door.  (of course with my camera too).

 

We arrive at the ER and walk right in (not busy at all this particular Saturday afternoon at ~4pm). The staff and nurses & Docs are amazingly nice and so great, some of them even say what happened to them when jumping on their bed when they were 5 (broken arms, broken fingers, gashes in other places, etc).  I think this makes you feel better, your not the only one. 

 

They put some numbing liquid on it for a while. They ask the usual questions about loss of consciousness and nausea, no and no. Mental state, normal. They rinse it off and we all take a good look (well, the Doc, me and your Dad did – not you).  I ask the Doctor – Is it deeper that you thought?  (all the while thinking please please please - don’t say that it was down to his skull in front of my 5 year old, pretty please?)  It was deeper than we all thought.  Thankful he didn’t use the “s” (skull) word. 

 

It was down to your connective tissue covering your skull. Yikes!!!!!

 

That is what you were worried about on the way to the ER. That “bad” bugs would get into your skull and/or that your skull was broken and you were going to die.  In fact, you kept asking me those questions over and over.  I had to hold you and calm you down for the whole car ride (in the back seat of the car with me holding the towel against your head unbuckled the whole way – gasp!).

 

We had the choice of stitches (have to shave your hair around the wound) or staples.  We chose staples.   Way quicker and no shaving, no real benefit over stitches on the back of your head. 

 

You were brave, but it did hurt a bit even with numbing injections. Four staples and some discharge papers later and we were outta there in ~ 1 hour.

 

Super fast and friendly staff and everyone at the ER. Thankful for good healthcare and snuggles.

 

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

 

WARNING: If you get queasy about wound pictures – this would be the time to not scroll down. 

 

 

P.S.  The staples have now been taken out and he has a little scab back there, but the wound looks great and healed perfectly.  All to be covered up by his hair, no scar in sight. 

 

 

Putting the iodine on it.

 

 

 

After the stapes were put in, they pulled some of the hair out of the staples so it didn’t get stuck in the scab/staples.

 

The freshly stapled “wound” with the staples and Neosporin.  He was very interested in seeing what it looked like and wanted me to take this picture so he could see it. 

 

Sara was the usual fantastic helper.  Very supportive of her big brother (I mean…. Monkey). 

 

surgery day, a day in pictures

What would a baker do without flour?  What would a painter be without paint?

What would a photographer do without her trusty camera? 

Well, we don’t have to answer that question because, of course, I brought my camera!

Arrival and check-in, playing with toys in the lobby

Comfy chair and Alex’s quilt, Daddy and Sara keeping Alex entertained, Alex and his teddy bear “Marshmallow” 

NOTE: Alex has on an ID bracelet, so does Marshmallow (Children’s Hospital is WONDERFUL with kids!) (obviously)

Some good ol’ ‘Don’t smile’ pictures – they work wonders on Alex!

They gave Alex some relaxing meds (think valium) and he sure got a little loopy.

Playing with the throw up thing, I don’t know what it’s called…

For those of you with any doubt, Sara has some eyelashes!  Just like her big brother.

I asked, and the doctors allowed me to come back to the OR with Alex when it was time.  I had to wear a special clothing covering as well as a hairnet and mask.  I carried him, Marshmallow and his quilt and laid him on the table, they gave me a chair to sit right next to the bed and hold his hand.    Alex chose “root beer” flavored gas and was a little non-compliant with the doctors and nurses.  He didn’t want to keep still enough to keep the mask on.  He kept on moving and saying that I looked like a doctor.  The doctors tried to distract him with asking him questions, and I ended up having to ask him if he “wanted to do it the hard way or the easy way – it was his choice, he is a big boy”.  He decided to do it the easy  way, but said he wanted his Mommy to do it – so I took the mask and held it over his nose and mouth.  (I think the doctors were really impressed!)  He fell asleep after maybe 30-45 seconds, very peacefully.  I was shown were to go back to the waiting room and so I left the OR.  I thanked the doctors for letting me come back to the OR with him.  Although, I’m sure he would’ve been fine, I hope my presence there comforted him.

Mama and Sara waiting in the cafeteria after Alex was taken back to surgery.   Daddy and Sara waiting, waiting, waiting…

Alex after surgery, Alex was not feeling well at all, he was crying, cold, shivering and wanted to be held immediately.  He snuggled with me a while, then snuggled with Daddy and got to eat popsicles and graham crackers.  He slowly got better and better and we changed him into his favorite “warm” fleece pjs to go home.  Alex in a wheel chair going out to the car.  He wanted to do the wheel chair “by myself!”.  Although Lance did most of it, he did do a little bit by himself.  Anesthesia and surgery are no match for the stubbornness of a 3 1/2 year old.

At home – watching a movie with Dad on his iPad, eating a lollypop (Alex’s special request)

I got many activities for Alex while home recuperating this weekend, beads, stickers, clay and many other things.  So, later on this evening, when he just didn’t want to sit and watch another cartoon, we did clay and made bead candy canes for our Christmas tree this year.  Alex’s favorite color is blue, so he made and all blue candy cane. 

I think he will be feeling much better Friday.

Here’s to our strong, brave, wonderful little boy.

inguinal hernia – surgery here we come!

After the whole intussusception thing – I was super sensitive about Alex’s tummy area.  Did it hurt here?  I would press on it an feel.  Does it hurt here?  I would press on it there.  I was super vigilant.  So, not long after the event – I noticed one side of his groin was puffy, and when I pushed on it he would say it hurt a little bit.  I was sure I was being overly cautious, but had Lance check it out just to make sure.  Sure enough, he saw that it was puffy on one side and a little bit painful when he pushed on the area. 

 

The next day, we took a peek again, nothing there.  And over the course of about a week.  In and out, in and out – literally!  So, we scheduled a visit with the pediatrician and sure enough – all the signs and symptoms of a hernia.  Not the kind of hernia adults get from lifting too much, but one he was born with and one that wouldn’t go away without … surgery. 

 

He has an inguinal hernia – common in boys and preemies apparently.  It happens when the lining around the abdominal organs does not close all the way, the inguinal canal.  It seems he only has it on this right side.  Although not life threating right now, it could be in the future and there is no “wait and see” for this type of issue.  It won’t go away and has to be fixed surgically.  I didn’t realize the issues until visiting with the surgeon this past week – not only could something go through that hole, get infected, etc.  But there are blood vessels that go through there that go to his testicles, as well other tubes and vessels that would all loose blood supply if that got cut off from circulation. 

 

The crazy thing is – this is so much easier to schedule than ear tubes.  Ear/Nose/Throat surgery took ~2 months to get done, with one month to get the first available appointment (trust me – we wanted it as soon as possible!) and ~ one month to schedule the surgery at Children’s.  Now, general surgery is a snap.  They saw with in less than 7 days, and scheduled surgery for this Thursday. 

 

So, Alex is getting surgery on Thursday at Children’s Hospital in Seattle – please keep him in your thoughts that day.  So far, he doesn’t think much of it when we talk about it.  But, we’ll see as the days go by…  Probably Lance and I are having more of a tough time right now than he is. 

 

We talked about him getting surgery and all he really had to say was “So I don’t get to wrestle for a little while, like Daddy?”.  We say yep, no wrestling for a while.  (Lance had Lasik surgery in September and couldn’t wrestle for a week or two, apparently quite a big impact on Alex). 

Let’s discuss a little intussusception

A funny thing happened while Lance was out of town on business last week…

 

It started as a normal day, except that Lance was traveling for his job to San Francisco.  Alex woke up at ~6:45 am and we went downstairs to get him some breakfast and start a cartoon, so that I could go upstairs and take a shower to get ready for work.  Sara was, thankfully, still sleeping.  Not long after his breakfast and his second or third (!?!) cartoon, he said his tummy hurt.  I suggested that he go to the bathroom, but he said he didn’t need to go.  He’s had little moments of complaining about tummy hurts now and again, I just thought it was one of these episodes.  When this has happened in the past, we have suggested that he probably ate too much and should just go poop.  The tummy hurts subside, they’re really not that bad, and life moves on. 

 

Well, this was different.

 

Alex at the pediatrician’s office

 

He kept complaining his tummy hurt, more than he’d ever done before.  He was moaning and groaning, and holding his stomach.  It hurt him so much that I told him to lay down and it would probably go away.  It was hurting him so much that I noticed he didn’t want to walk, move or bend his knees up towards his chest.  I had him laying back in his bed, on the couch, but nothing helped.  He kept calling for Daddy, but Daddy was not there.  He would call for me and I would come to him, rub his tummy for a bit, but then continue getting ready for work. 

 

We decided to call Daddy on the telephone, me thinking that he was just missing him and talking to him on the phone would make him feel better and get ready to go to preschool.  We called, he talked to him and told him that his tummy hurt, but it didn’t help. 

 

After a while, it was clear that I probably wasn’t going to work, for sure that morning.  By the time our Nanny arrived at ~9 AM he was full on laying on the couch, pale as a sheet, moaning in pain.  I called into work, saying I wasn’t going to be there that day, Alex was sick.  I called preschool and said Alex wasn’t going to be there, he was sick and asked if there were any tummy bugs going around.  They said there were no tummy bugs in preschool.  After trying to get a few things done, Alex was in so much pain that he wanted me by his side constantly.  We tried to get him to watch a movie, but it didn’t last long.  I knew I had to call the Doctor, something just wasn’t right.  My boy in so much pain that he couldn’t move?

 

My Mom was coming up that evening, to help since Lance was gone, so I wrote her an email saying that Alex was sick and I was taking him to he doctor, so come up early if she wanted.   I called the Doctor and made a sick child appointment for about 1 hour from then.  In the time waiting for the doctor appointment, my Mom called the house and said she was on her way.  She said that it wasn’t like Alex to not moving, she was sure something was not right either. 

 

We waited what seemed like a long time to get ready to go to the doctor, and by the time it was ready to go, he didn’t want to move.  I had to pick him up and carry him with straight legs since it hurt so much.  He didn’t want to change his clothes, he was still wearing pjs, it hurt so much.  So I carried him out to the car and carefully put him in the car seat.  I packed a couple of things and *thankfully* remembered his teddy bear, named “marshmallow”. 

 

I made sure to nurse Sara before I left, I didn’t know how long this day was going to be.  On the way out, he made a funny swallow.  I asked him if he needed to throw up.  He probably didn’t know what that was, he’d never done it before.  I took him quickly to the bathroom and he proceeded to throw up a few times and then it was over.  Our wonderful Nanny suggested we take a bag or a bowl in case he threw up in the car, good suggestion I thought.  Good thing we didn’t need it. 

 

On the way there he would shut his eyes and almost fall asleep, saying how tired he was.  He was so pale and not like his usual self.  While he would have his eyes shut, he would make a grimacing face every minute or so, in pain.  How horrible this was!

 

We got to the doctor and didn’t have to wait long.  We got him checked out by one of the doctors, and she agreed that he seemed pretty sick.  We could go home and just observe, maybe it was just a tummy bug.  But, I told her that my husband was out of town on business and I had a Nanny taking care of my other child at the moment – I would rather see what was going on during the day, instead of an emergency this evening or tonight.  She agreed and understood, thank goodness!  It could be appendicitis, that is what we were thinking.

 

We were on our way to an urgent ultrasound place, right near the hospital.  She had called ahead and we were expected.  I packed Alex up again, carrying him to the car.  He was SO tired.  So pale.  Again, he would almost fall asleep, but wince in pain.  It was getting worse and worse on the drive, and when I took the exit for the imaging center (take a right) and the hospital (to the left), I really considered going left to the hospital.  But, I chose right and went to the imaging center, they were expecting us and would get right in. 

 

I carried him into the place and he would be crying and screaming sometimes because he was scared and in so much pain.  We were taken back after 5-10 minutes and by this time Alex was in the most pain.  We tried to do the – “see – Mom gets an ultrasound on her tummy and it’s not scary” thing, but it wasn’t working.  I just told the technician to start.  It was just hurting him too much.  She did an OK job, Alex was screaming in pain and she had to put the wand thing on his tummy.  She wasn’t pressing hard, it’s just anything at that point was too much for him.  She did a quick exam of the region, lower right tummy area, and was out to “talk to the doctor”.   At this point, I knew it wasn’t good.  She came back about 5-10 minutes later with the Radiologist and did another exam with him there.  Again, I didn’t hear a thing since Alex was screaming, but I knew it wasn’t good.  The Radiologist talked with the original Pediatrician and told us to go to the ER.  His appendix was enlarged, ~6mm, which is (apparently?) above the cutoff for adult appendicitis. 

 

My Mom had picked up Sara from our house, with the help of our Nanny getting the car seat in her car, brought her to me and met us a the imaging center.  I didn’t have my pump as it was at work, and at some point, I would need to pump or nurse her.  Thank goodness for my Mom!

 

I could choose Children’s Hospital, which obviously specializes in pediatrics.  Or Evergreen Hospital, only ~ one mile away, but if it was appendicitis, some surgeons operate on children and some do not and I might be sent to Children’s anyways.  I chose Evergreen – my kid was in extreme pain and I needed help now.  I second guessed myself, and thought I should’ve taken a left to the ER instead of the right to the imaging center.  Darn it!

 

We got to the ER and I once again carried Alex.  They got us right into triage, but had to wait for a room in the ER.  Another 5-10 minutes.  I texted Lance, while holding Alex in the waiting room.  He said he was busy between 2-3pm, so I didn’t call.  I’m not a good “text”er so I just wrote “appendicitis, ER, call when you can”.  Not long after that, they took us back to a room.  Little did I know, when in the ER they shut off all cell phone service, none, nada, zip.  Lance was not able to get a hold of me.

 

I explained what was happening to the nurse, they were getting ready to start an IV, and the ER doc was in quickly.  He had been laying down for about 5 minutes and by the time the ER doc was there, he wasn’t screaming in pain much anymore.  He was feeling a little better.  I thought, this is crazy!  What is happening?  She talked to me and felt his tummy.  She asked him to stand up and stand on one foot, jump around.  He did it!  Without much problem?!?  What is going on?

 

All this while, my mind is going ALL the way.  Alex is going to have emergency appendix surgery, Lance is out of town, I’m going to have to make life-and-death decisions by myself and on and on… 

 

Things calmed down a bit from there, since he wasn’t in the extreme pain.  They started the IV, he was pretty dehydrated from throwing up and not eating/drinking anything since that morning.  They were going to take some blood to see if they could tell what was going on. It was now 2:30ish.  I was able to nurse Sara, she was hungry and I was ready to nurse her.   After making sure Alex was doing OK, nursing Sara, I finally went out of the ER quickly to call Lance and tell him what was going on.  It was almost 3 pm.  At that point, I realized that he had been trying to call me but the calls wouldn’t go through, I had no reception.  Uh Oh!  

 

He asked – do you want me to come home right now (as in – go to the airport, take the next flight home and be there at some unknown hour)?  I told him to wait, we were waiting for blood results first, he was seeming to get better. Let’s just wait for the blood results and go from there.  I told him I would call when they came in and we would decide what to do. 

 

The results came back after a bit and showed no infection signs, increased white blood cells (or something like that).  It probably wasn’t appendicitis, since the blood results didn’t show an infection and with appendicitis – the pain doesn’t just go away, like his did. 

 

We waited a bit more, I was so confused by what was happening.  Was Alex just pretending, was I going crazy, would his tummy hurt if he forgot the doctors were there?  I would be talking to him about something and casually ask about his tummy.  Does it hurt now?  Did it stop hurting really bad, but still hurt a little bit?  All signs showed his tummy was feeling much better. 

 

Alex started to get a *tiny* fever, so they gave him so tylenol.  They started with some anti-nausea medication, perhaps since he might have to have surgery, I’m assuming.

 

The ER doc told us that the on-call pediatrician and on-call surgeon would be by later, but if we wanted him to stay, if my instincts were telling me that he needed to stay (she also knew that Lance was out of town because I told her), then she would admit him to the hospital.  But, if my instincts were telling me that he was fine, then we could go home later.  We decided to have the on-call pediatrician visit before we made a decision. 

 

He was great – the on-call Pediatrician.  We started by explaining what was happening that day and he did an exam.  He told me that it wasn’t appendicitis, since the blood work didn’t show it and the pain from appendicitis doesn’t go away.  He thought it was intussusception – a telescoping of the small intestine into the large intestine.  It causes all the symptoms that Alex had, pain, vomiting, and then can subside when the intestines get straight again. 

 

This diagnosis seemed to really fit what we had experienced.  I, for sure, didn’t want anyone to cut into my boy Alex if they didn’t have to!

 

He was getting better and better, and was soon into everything in the ER room.  He put on a mask and “glubes”.  He wanted to use the stethoscope that the doctor was wearing, he wanted Sara to lay on the bed with him.  He wanted to listen to my heart and be “the doctor”.

 

It was clear – he was better.  We decided to go home.  By the time we got home, it was around 7 pm and I was so tired.  What a day!  I started the day off thinking I was going to work, getting both kids ready by myself.  It ended up in the ER, thankfully with no surgeries. 

 

ER visit for Alex # 3, check.

 

Baby Chiropractic

 

Throughout my pregnancy with Sara, I saw a chiropractor and I had never seen one before in my entire life.  My pregnancy with Alex I had pain in my ribs as I got bigger and bigger.  It felt like my rib bones were rubbing together and it hurt.  A friend of mine recommended seeing a chiropractor, she said it did wonders for her.  So, when I was pregnant and the aching back started hurting so bad at only 2-3 months along (way earlier than with Alex) I decided to see a chiropractor.  She told me that it would help with the high blood pressure, the headaches, the back aches and the rib pain.  I loved it!  At first, I didn’t feel much difference.  I think my second treatment – I fainted (due to low blood pressure from the first trimester of pregnancy and the chiropractic treatment lowering my BP even further).  After that – I was a true believer.  It really did help.  I went 3x/week for a while, then 2x, then just 1x a week.  She also did the Webster's Technique on me.  Sara was often transverse – or sideways.  She would push on tight spots on the round ligaments of my uterus and would just push on them to release the tension.  Within ~2 hours – Sara would turn head down.  It was amazing. 

 

She told me that all we had to do is get this baby lined up and she would come out.  And that is what happened.  I remember picking her out of a handful of potential doctors because she said in her profile that she has 4 kids.  I thought to myself – there is many things I can learn from her and I definitely have.  She’s almost like a chiropractor/therapist to our whole family.

 

The amazing thing is that Sara gets chiropractic, too!  My chiropractor recommended her coming as soon as we could after she was born.  We took her in when she was 3 days old.  The picture below was taken in May, so maybe she was 6 weeks old.  Sara loves it!  She just relaxes and often poops while being adjusted.  Here she is getting her neck adjusted and she just stretches out her legs and arms and just has a look of Ahhhh on her face. 

 

Alex also goes and sees her when needed.  She is so wonderful with him and often asks – do you have popcorn in your back?  He giggles and loves it.  Turns out his neck is just like mine and is our problem area.  He especially needs to go when he’s sick to prevent ear infections. 

 

Lance also goes to see her!  Lance has had many years of chiropractic – he is experienced, let’s just say that.  His back always hurts him, sometimes more, sometimes less.  With the birth of Sara and with the way he holds her – he has returned to get adjusted and has started doing the exercises recommended by the rehab people.  He is strengthening his core by doing all sorts of exercises and is strengthening all the muscles that support the spine to decrease the adjustments needed.  He has seen some remarkable changes – like going from a lot of pain to being relatively pain free.  He continues to go and do the exercises which will help him maintain his pain free lifestyle in the long run. 

 

Overall – we  couldn’t be happier with it and I would totally recommend it to anyone. 

 

 

Sara stats

We had our first pediatrician visit today and here are Sara’s stats (hmmm… tall and skinny – I wonder where she gets this from):

Height: 21 inches (75th%)
Weight: 7 lbs 2 oz (20th%)
Head: 14 inches (45th%)

She is doing everything just normally – just a healthy happy baby.  She has her days and nights mixed up right now and her tummy/gas bothers her at night.  Last few nights have been feedings at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1 and then she finally lets me sleep for a bit.  Of course, she is a growing machine right now and that is exactly the way it works – demand increases supply.  But, we are going to be trying to get her outside today and *TRY* to keep her up a bit during the day, instead of being so awake at night.  I would sure appreciate it – instead of staying up all night! 

For fun we took a look at what Alex’s stats – since we were looking at hers:
Alex at 3 years (a big boy – no wonder people mistake him for being 4 years old!)
Height: ~40 inches (95th%)
Weight: ~36 lbs (85th%)


And now for some cute baby pictures!

Sara’s hand – such long fingers

One of Sara’s favorite spots to sleep – in the chair Sara’s feet – such long toes and long feet 

Snuggling with Daddy on another favorite spot – on Daddy’s chest (Daddy’s super top secret weapon to get baby to sleep)

 

And Big Brother Alex – wearing his firefighter (fighter-fighter) hat while watching a firefighter cartoon – a must!