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The Night from Hell – 1 week later with many thanks

Posted on February 23, 2008 11:12 pm by TheAngelForever

Tonight I am counting my blessing that both of my boys are tucked into their room sleeping soundly. Both are now on antibiotics, and one is just back from from a four day stay in the hospital.

A week ago now I was just coming back home. I went out to meet Laura to get some fabric for flannel blankets and pillow cases. I was gone for an hour and a half in a night that never wanted to end. When I arrived home both of the boys were in bed. I was getting ready to sit down to knit when I heard the little guy fussing.

JL went in to try to get him to settle with his pacifier. It worked for a little while. At about 9:30 I heard some strange coughing coming from the baby monitor and went in. I scooped JSL out of his crib and noticed he was VERY hot and having a hard time breathing. We took his temperature and it was 102.8. I quickly got the motrin and bulb syringe to clean out his nose. Ugh, what a mess.

Minutes later JSL was really laboring to breathe. His temperature was soaring and causing his heart to beat wildly. A quick call was made to my parents. I asked them to please come over quick. I just had a feeling (if you ask my friend earlier in the week I made a horrifyingly accurate prediction that this was not going to go well and we would end up in the ER – Mother’s intuition perhaps?). I called our doctor’s emergency number and when he called back asked what to do. He was very alarmed with JSL’s breathing and told us to stabilize JSL’s temperature and then take him to the ER for hydration.

My parents arrived and we put JSL into the tub. He played happily and then WHAM – the nightmare that I never hope to repeat began. Please see previous posts about this here and here.

Now I sit here crying. I am afraid to go to sleep tonight on this week after. I know I will relive those shades of gray flashbacks that a parent should never see on their child. I keep wondering about items and going through what if’s.

What if this had happened when I was out?
What if my mother was not there to administer rescue breaths to my baby to make him breathe again?
What IF? I can not even fully type this one out . . . you all will know what I mean.

There are other thoughts on my mind too, but I just can not get typed out. Just having them on my mind is painful enough, reading them back would be too much.

I am so thankful that my baby is slowly getting back to himself. JSL is gaining his strength day by day and at the same time learning new tricks to show us. I am also so thankful that my mother was there that horrible day. How painful it must be for her to relive what she did. Still I cherish how my baby kissed her over and over the next day. I think somehow he knew that Nana had saved his precious life.

We also need to thank my father for staying here to man the fort while NHL slept. Big brother still does not know the horrid details of what happened while he was sleeping in his room. I knew that had he gotten up and seen Papa there he would have been comforted. Papa also stayed with NHL most of Sunday and Monday night so JL could be at the hospital with me.

My Aunt S and Mimi also helped us so much. The two of them were able to watch NHL so JL and I did not have to worry about him when everyone else went back to work. NHL had two fun days with Aunt S and her girls (cats). Then the day after JSL came home Mimi had NHL spend the day with her. He loved every minute of it. We truly are so lucky to have family here that our kids are so close to.

I would also like to thank my friends:

Laura – thank you for chatting with me into the night while I could not sleep at the hospital. We also love the amazing flannel blankets and pillow cases that were all ready for us when we got home from the hospital.
H & J – thank you both for coming to the hospital. JSL loved his puppy puppet and seeing familiar faces. You were able to make us all laugh when we needed it. I will forever remember JL and J putting together my pathetic hospital breast pump and the thunderous laughter that followed. That one nurse never looked at us the same again! H – thank you for taking me home Sunday to shower and get things to stay overnight. I never would have been able to drive myself and while I cleaned myself up, you cleaned up our clutter.
Sandy – thank you for your beautiful notes. I will definitely be talking to you soon about things. Sorry that I scared you with that text message, but it was the only way I could let you know.
To all of my internet friends – thank you for all of the comments of prayer and speedy recovery for my little guy. I am still catching up getting back to people, so please understand how much I did appreciate it.

Here are some more photos of JSL in the hospital, just back home, and today. Be sure to hover over the photos for the captions.

Now I am off. JSL is fussing and I will likely watch him sleep most of the night. I need to see his snuggly little body sleep peacefully. I have to make sure his chest goes up and down . . . I need to hear his soft breathing noises.

Categories:
family friends jl jsl looking back nhl photos sick kid

Lunar Eclipse February 2008

Posted on February 21, 2008 1:31 am by TheAngelForever

Tonight there was a full lunar eclipse. I had wanted to head out to view it, but a migraine got me and I fell asleep at the start. I woke up and did not know where JL was. Eventually I looked outside and saw him standing out in the cold with his tripod and camera. I called him on the cell phone (I was in PJ’s and not going out at that point). He reminded me about the eclipse. I eventually sucked it up and went outside with a coat over my PJ’s. It was amazing to see how clear it was and the red glow in the sky.

Here are eight of the sixty plus photos that JL took. They were my favorites when looking at them quickly.

The next full lunar eclipse will not be until December 2010. I can not wait to see all of the other photos of this event that other people have to share.

Categories:
interesting jl photos real world news

4 Year old Ramblings

Posted on February 16, 2008 5:31 pm by TheAngelForever

As we battle keeping the nine month old’s temperature down it is time to pause and note some 4 year old funnies!

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Earlier today while at Nana and Papa’s house playing, NHL had the following conversation with Daddy. Set up – his kitchen playset was out and all of the food from it was spilled out on the floor.

Thinking that he was being clever JL told NHL –> You better put the food away before it spoils

NHL then asked –> What is spoiled

JL –> That is when food goes bad and you have to throw it out.

NHL –> But Daddy, this isn’t real food it’s stuffed food!

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Fast forward to potty time just a few minutes ago. The two boys had yet another intelectual conversation.

NHL –> Daddy what do you need a penis for?

JL –> Mommy do you want to field this one?

Me –> What one?

JL –> NHL asked why he needs a penis.

Me (half asleep, but still the science teacher at heart, simply said) –> Boys need it to pee.

That satisfied the quest for more information . . . at least for now. Mind you since he is a boy, and boys are always fascinated with their parts I am sure more "fun" questions will be coming soon.

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More of an update about the little guy and our latest visit to the doctor later. Plus fun photos from our visit with Cousin S and Aunt M!!!

Categories:
jl kid talk laughs nhl

A LONG icy day

Posted on February 14, 2008 10:11 am by TheAngelForever

Yesterday morning every single school in the area was closed thanks to the 3-4 inches of snow that we received topped off with an icy mess. During the morning commute freezing rain was making for an even more treacherous drive in to work for hubby. NHL was home from school, so it was going to be an interesting day with both of the kids trapped inside thanks to the freezing rain and ice.

To make things even more "fun" JSL woke up and his eye was completely glued shut. Not a good sign after using antibiotic drops for almost two days. In addition to this I mentioned to JL that his face was puffy. Sure enough, not only were his upper and lower eyelids red and puffy, but his cheeks that are already big, was horribly distorted on that side of his face. The picture below shows how he can not open his right eye entirely and you can see the puffy cheek. At this point the redness was not as intense as it eventually got and the flash washed it out a lot.

I freaked out and immediately called the doctor’s office at 8:00. After that I called the pharmacy to see about an allergic reaction response to the drops. I was curious about this since I am allergic to that family of medicines. They told me to stop and wait until I heard back from the doctor. At 11:00 (yes, you read that right) the nurse from the doctor’s office called me. She basically said that JSL had to be seen. Ice or not they were very concerned. I took a 3:00 appointment and called hubby with the news. There was no way I could clean off my icy car, and the house with a clingy 9 month old and 4 year old in the house with me.

This is what the hockey rink outside of my house looked like.

Ice Prints

I nearly fell just trying to stick my nose out the door to take the photos. This is the tree right outside the door. Many other trees came down thanks to the icy . . . along with power lines galore.

Another look at the walkway an hour or so after JL left for work.

NHL enjoyed lounging on the couch in the morning, but was jealous that Mommy was with the baby most of the time.

JL took a half day off and met me home at about 1:00. We left our house at 2:00 after I broke my car out from under the ice. When we got to the doctor’s office his eye was performing nicely. I have NEVER in my life seen an eye ooze so much green nastiness. Mind you as a mommy of a 4 year old and a teacher, I have seen a lot of pinkeye. While there we also noticed that tooth #7 has officially cut and is moving up in the world rather nicely. When the PA came in and said he had a really nasty case of pinkeye and thankfully he did not believe it was anything worse. He told us that the eye is draining into his cheek and causing the swelling. Basically JSL gets a beautiful first case of pinkeye at 9 months old. He changed the prescription to a different antibiotic, only this time I have to pry open his eye for an ointment four times a day for the next week. We also canceled his well baby visit for today and rescheduled for two weeks from now.

After picking up the baby’s new medicine we went home. As we were on the street before ours we saw that a firetruck was blocking the road. We went around another way and saw there were a lot of people there. Then we saw that the traffic light was out. Ugh, not a good sign at all.

Sure enough when I went inside to check we had no power. I grabbed a few things and checked in with my parents. They had power, so we went to crash there. Our sweet neighbor was kind enough to agree to call us when we got power back so we could try to avoid darkness, cold and candles with the boys. At 7:20 she finally called and we were on our way home with two very tired boys.

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After the boys were in bed JL and I exchanged Valentine’s Day gifts early. Tonight we are going to my parent’s house for dinner since Aunt M, Cousin S, and M’s mother are in town (someone always has something when we see Aunt M and Uncle I).

JL gave me a Whirley Pop and a great knitting bag (thanks to Laura for helping him with that). I can not wait to use both of them. Hmmm. . . popcorn when knitting sounds yummy!

I bought JL some dark chocolate and Cooking Mama Cook Off for the Wii. He enjoyed it when we rented it, so I thought it would be nice for our chef to have.

JL played his game and I started knitting a Peek-A-Blue (basically Blues Clues) wash cloth.

Later the boys will get their gifts, as will Cousin S.

Categories:
doctor holidays jl jsl knitting nhl sick kid teething winter

Super Baby goes THUD

Posted on January 27, 2008 1:32 am by TheAngelForever

Friday night was rough. As previously mentioned the little guy is teething ~~constantly~~ again. JSL was fussing a lot during the night and I was in pain. I think I may have dislocated my shoulder. After getting up several time, JSL wound up in our bed. NHL woke up too early for us (his usual time though). I asked JL to take NHL to the other room to play or rest on the couch so I could nurse the baby and maybe he would go back to sleep.

The little guy was really miserable. He nursed a little and then wanted to settle. We were both in my queen sized bed and I forgot to move pillows on the other side since he was right next to me

Can you see where I am going here?

*sigh* (BAD Mommy)

I must have fallen asleep and a certain 8 month old clearly did not. Next thing I know I heard a horrible THUD.

I shot up out of bed and immediately freaked out. I saw the baby was NOT with me in bed. Then instantly I heard him screaming from the floor. I screamed for JL who was sleeping on the couch. He came flying to the room and we picked JSL up to assess him.

I think he was more scared than anything about what had happened – all of the fuss and what not. Within 10-15 minutes he was not crying. Nope, the little monkey was creeping all over the bed after our remote, chatting with Daddy and sitting up to play.

I felt so guilty and like a horrible mommy. I called my mother who is out visiting my brother and his family. I flipped her out to the point that she had to put my niece down and was in tears (sorry Mom). This was obviously not the intention of my call and made me feel worse.Thankfully JSL seemed fine the rest of the day. He wanted to play, try cruising on the side of the couch (and he fell again), and chat up a storm.

With all of the excitement this morning we took naps this afternoon (Mommy forced NHL into his bed and stayed with him until we both conked out). Meanwhile JL cleaned up some as JSL slept in his highchair. He started to fuss some so they went to the couch together. A while later NHL woke up and went to the couch to find the other boys asleep. This is what happened next:

For a little boy that was not tired he wanted to cuddle right back up with Daddy and JSL.

The following is the look I received after a few too many flashes of my camera.

Soon everyone was up and much happier than before.

Soon after this Mommy went out for a girls night with my friend H. Her husband J went with JL and the boys out. More on this later :) Now I must sleep since it is very late and no doubt one of the children will be up way too early.