Home Sweet Home

I did get to come home Friday night. I did a few things this weekend but overall was pretty lazy. We did take the girls to birthday party on Saturday evening at Chuck E Cheese. Man is that place a rip off! I spent $40 and got 1 large pizza, 4 drinks, and 100 tokens. This was one of their "bargain" deals. And the pizza- well, if you ever need diarrhea then that is the place to go! The kids had fun though and I was able to chill and just let them play so I guess it was worth it. When we walked in the door there was a teenager at the door stamping hands and checking numbers as people left. He had a huge dog beside him. As usual, I had to be nosey so I asked what the dog was for. He said it was a seizure dog. We had a nice talk about the dog. The kid said he was in an accident 4 years ago and has had seizures since. He has had the dog for about a year and so far the dog has detected 9 out of 9 seizures. The dog alerts him by whimpering and if the boy doesn't respond then the dog will basically gently knock him to the ground where he is safe to have a seizure. I did some reading when we got home and am amazed at how these dogs work. They basically can smell a chemical change that happens before a seizure and can alert the person about 30 minutes prior to the seizure. They are not cheap though- most come with a price tag of about $18,000. I really hope to gain control of Anna's seizures with meds but it was nice to see that options exist to allow her more independence in the future even if the seizures never get better. Anna is still eating like a pig and finally graduated to size 5 diapers after being in size 4 for at least 18 months now. She ate almost a whole can of Pringles in one sitting the other day- I was amazed. Her vocabulary continues to increase also although we are really unsure what she is saying much of the time. She is going to have some testing done with our school district in the coming months to see if she needs to be back in speech. I am not ready to face the whole IEP thing but it will be before I know it so I might as well suck it up and get ready. Carly is doing well also. We had to go up on her Zoloft dose and it has made a huge difference in her. She continues to do well in school and is getting more and more excited about the baby. I had another ultrasound while in the hospital and everything is still going fine. We refer to the baby as a "he" and will continue to do so until proven otherwise. If it's a girl she should have a complex from the get go, no need to waste any time...

Still Here

Even as an ICU nurse, I never really realized how bad pneumonia could get in a healthy person. We always get the patients with chronic health problems and I just kind of always figured pneumonia was in the cards for them. I am here to tell you, pneumonia in healthy people sucks too! I have not ever been this sick before and hope to never be this sick again. The pulmonologist thinks I may also have a PE due to my labs and my clotting disorder but he is afraid to give the contrast to find out for sure because of the baby. I totally understand but also feel a bit scared to go home with a possible clot. He should decide tonight wether to do the CT scan, just go ahead and start lovenox, or just pray this is only pneumonia. My OB says I can go home tomorrow if the pulmonologist is ok with it. I am so ready to be back at home in my bed with my family. Kenneth has been an awesome Mr Mom but I know he is exhausted! It has been so amazing to see how I am surrounded by such wonderful people in my life- from the visits and prayers to the flowers, cookies, cards, visits, and everything else I want to thank everyone for their kindness. I'll keep you posted.

Update: The pulmonologist came by and said they decided against the CT. I might get to go home tonight. Fingers crossed...

Why I Suck At Being Pregnant

As you well know, my last pregnancy started going downhill at 24 weeks and just never got better. This time it isn't looking any better. My pneumonia got worse and I am now in the hospital. I am not happy about it but I am ready to get well so if this is what it takes then this is what I'll do. It is hard to be away from my kids and since this hospital is almost an hour from home they cannot be here as much as I wish they could. So if you see them running around looking like orphans please just give them a big hug and know Kenneth is doing the best he can. God bless him though, he doesn't do hair and he thinks pink and red go together. Please keep us in your prayers as separation is just not that easy, especially given Carly's memories of my last hospitalization.

Listening

I am finally back to the land of the living (I think). I learned a very important lesson this past week. I learned to listen to my body and don't keep pushing it when it clearly is begging for a break. I started feeling bad last week and had a horrid cough. I occasionally had a low grade fever but nothing too worrisome. But I felt awful and could not seem to shake it. I got that steroid hot on Friday and was a tad better Saturday. But the wheezing was not going away. When I would lay down you could hear me breathing across the room and Carly kept telling me to quit making that crackling noise. I was using albuterol around the clock but it seemed all it was doing was making me jittery as hell. Finally on Sunday, I could not take a deep breath and could not walk from the couch to the bathroom without getting short of breath. I reluctantly finally had Kenneth take me to the ER. My chest x-ray showed a nasty pneumonia. I got some IV antibiotics and was sent home with more antibiotics and was to continue the breathing treatments. Yesterday I was feeling a little better early in the day but by the evening I was barely able to speak 2-3 words without getting short of breath again. I tried to take a shower and ended up puking and barely able to get my clothes back on afterwards. Kenneth had come home to take care of the kids from after school until bed and then he was going to go back to work. I started crying because I knew I couldn't even take care of the kids. I can't stand the feeling of not being bale to care for my own children. It makes me feel so helpless. I was afraid they would wake up and need something and I wouldn't be able to help them. Kenneth's mom ended up keeping them last night so he could go back to work. (It isn't that he wouldn't stay with me, it is that he couldn't. When emergency services are already down to minimum staffing, leaving isn't a choice no matter what is going on at home.) I was half afraid to go to sleep last night because I was having so much trouble breathing. I made it through the night though and am feeling so much better today. I took a shower this afternoon and still got short of breath but recovered quickly with another breathing treatment. My point to all of this is not to whine about how sick I was. Instead, it is just another example of how we must listen to our bodies. They are pretty smart and when they say enough is enough, we should listen!

Footloose and Tube Free!!!!!!!

The last button picture

(Check out that tummy. Grow, Anna, Grow!)

The death grip on the glove afterwards

(refer to blog entry)

What the button looks like outside of the kid for those who are curious

I apologize for my delay in posting today but I have was stricken by some plague a couple of days ago and have found it difficult to keep my eyes open. I am taking breathing treatments around the clock, antibiotics, cough medicine, and today I got a steroid shot. (Don't fret, these are all ok's by my OB) I am hoping the shot will help me turn the corner. Being pregnant on top of all that is not helping. I have been sleeping in the recliner because when I lay down I cannot catch my breath. Sorry for the whining! Anyway, Kenneth took off work today because it was clear I would not be able to drive to Ft. Worth or take care of the kids. I wanted to go though so I went with and just slept the whole way there and back. I tried not to breathe or cough on anybody while we were in the office. So I had been told we had to go back to the surgeon because they had some certain tool with which to remove the button. Let me explain the tool- it consists of a strong arm with 5 strong fingers attached. Basically, he just applied pressure to her stomach with one hand and pulled with the other and "POP" it was out. She cried for a few seconds. He asked her if she wanted to keep it and she said yes. He put it in a glove for her and she has had a death grip on the glove since. This was a such a huge milestone for us but I honestly feel too crappy to be very excited right now. I know the excitement will change when the plague has left my body. I can't take a picture of what her belly looks like now because we cannot remove the bandage until Sunday. I'll get a picture then. The doctor said most of the holes (about 90%) heal on their own in 3-4 weeks but the others have to come back for an outpatient surgery to have it fixed. Hopefully we will be fortunate and hers will heal on its own. I am out of steam again and headed back to my recliner. Nighty night.

Introducing...

The newest member of the Watson family. It is still way too early to know the gender but so far at 10.5 weeks everything is on target. I decided today to update my emotional state to cautiously optimistic. I didn't realize how much I needed to see the baby until I saw it. The sonographer was so sweet and was asking about my other kids. I told her about them and how she would probably be seeing me a lot because I was going to be followed closely. She asked why and I explained that my last pregnancy brought early onset preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and growth restriction. She said, "Say no more" and turned on the 3d images and let me get a really good look. I thanked her and told her she had no idea how much I needed that. I came home and took a nap and then I completed the impossible task. I got the house clean! I have pretty much neglected everything except the dishes since I found out I was pregnant. I am very OCD so this is very unlike me. It was really starting to get to me so today I decided to suck it up and use the energy I had to get the house clean. I feel so much better now. The only thing I did not clean is Carly's room- she is going to have to find the floor first before I even attempt to vacuum and clean in there. Oh well, I can't have it all...

Snaggletooth

After what seems like months of wiggling, Carly finally lost her first tooth today (with a little help from her Nana). I can do some of the grossest of things at work but for some reason I cannot deal with teeth and eyes. So I didn't. She is so proud of the tooth and is showing both the tooth and the hole it left to everyone. The girls are spending the night with my mother in law tonight so the tooth fairy will not make her appearance until tomorrow night when Carly is at home. She had a great first week of first grade. I am amazed at how much work they do. It is quite a transition from kindergarten! She has homework every night plus her reading. She is loving it though so I guess that alright. I made Anna's appointment and her button will be coming out on Friday. They will do it in the surgeon's office and said it only takes a few minutes. They said that occasionally the hole does not close up and continues to leak and requires stitches but I hope Anna's closes nicely on its own. Somehow given our luck though I am not holding my breath. My first OB appointment went well I suppose, all except for my hormotional breakdown. The Dr came in and sat down and asked how I was doing and I just went to crying and said, "I am just so scared." He said he knows and understands. He said he does not fully expect me to be able to relax until the baby is over a year old. He said he knows I will be terrified throughout the pregnancy and then after I will be watching so closely for milestones. I told him how I just need to know that somebody is paying attention. He assured me he will take good care of us and that I will get whatever it is that I need. He then said the best thing ever- he said he believes firmly in prayer and will be praying for me and the baby. I had stopped the blood pressure medicine because it was dropping me too low but he put me back on it at half the dose. I hate the way it makes me feel but I will deal with it. I have an ultrasound on Tuesday and hope to see just one baby in there. I have this looming fear that there are 2. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. I work tomorrow but look forward to spending Monday at home with the family!