Broken Nose

Emily brought Caleb in the house from playing yesterday.  He was screaming and she was yelling that he had a bloody nose (Emily and blood are not a good combination) and that he had fallen into Josh’s WINDOW WELL!!  His nose was indeed bloody, and I wondered if he had injured something in his mouth as well.  I got him cleaned up and was pinching his nose to get the bleeding to stop, and through his tears he kept telling me, “That hurts!”  His mouth was fine, but his nose definitely wasn’t.

 

I haven’t had much experience with broken bones – especially broken noses – but by the looks of it, I was pretty sure it was broken.  I called Jared at work – it was about 4:45 p.m. – to ask his opinion, as he’s at least seen a broken nose before.  We decided to call the pediatrician and see if we could get in to see him.  His nurse informed me that he was in California, and that we should call the ENT.  After a quick call to the ENT, we were on our way to the E.R.

Caleb fell asleep while we waited in the waiting room for over an hour!  We finally got back to a room and saw the nurse practitioner.  After a few questions – most about the possibility of a concussion – she said it sure looked like the nose was broken and that we could choose to have x-rays if we wanted.  (Until the swelling goes down, there’s nothing to be done, so the treatment for now is the same whether it is broken or not.)  I didn’t want to wonder in two days if it was really broken and if we should go see the doctor, so I opted for the sure thing.

And sure enough, it’s broken.  But they said it looks pretty straight…for now, at least.  The swelling can move things around, so we’ll see in a few days.

(A blurry picture, but a good shot of his nose.)

Caleb was a trooper and didn’t cry a single tear once we left the house.  He only asked when we could go home 329 times.  When we got home he was met with lots of hugs and questions about his well-being.

He went to bed looking like this:

And he woke up this morning looking like this:

 

We’re glad that everything turned out as well as it did.  My mind has conjured up all sorts of horrible scenarios that could have occurred, and I think we came out of it with almost the best outcome.  Tender mercy in our never-dull life!!

Sleep

I normally look forward to the end of the day when I can close my eyes, breathe deeply, and let thoughts of the day play through my mind as I drift off to sleep.  It usually takes me all of five minutes to be asleep once I lay my head on the pillow and snuggle into the covers.  I generally sleep like a rock until the alarm rings at 6 a.m. – though I have this crazy habit of talking in my sleep on occasion, and I usually wake myself up when I do.

Good deep sleep has been somewhat elusive for me lately.  In fact, I actually told Jared just tonight that I dread sleep these days.  He wondered who I was and what I had done with his wife.  My sleep talking has progressed to attempts at acting out my dreams.  Would you call that sleep acting??  I’m sure it would be quite comical to witness.  But for me, it’s terribly frustrating.  You see, the dreams I’m acting out are just a continuation of what I do all day long: PARENTING!!  I don’t even get to take a break to catch my breath.  I spend the night trying to figure out why in the world Josh left an entire brick of cheese on the counter – and then wake myself up as I’m actually getting out of bed to go take care of the stupid cheese!  Or I’m embarrassed and frustrated because Rachel has just knocked over a bunch of stuff in Grandma’s living room – and I sit straight up in bed expressing my frustration that she didn’t listen when I told her not to go in there!  And then I tell Caleb to not climb on that fence – and I jump out of bed to catch him because he’s falling.   I wake myself up multiple times a night, and it’s exhausting!!  And Jared sleeps through it all  Though somehow he manages to always grab me as I’m diving out of bed to save someone from being injured.  But he never remembers it in the morning.  I guess getting 4-5 hours of sleep for 10 weeks straight will do that to a person.

So here I sit.  It’s 10:45 p.m.  Jared has been sawing logs for the past 45 minutes, and I don’t want to go to my crazy world of pseudo-sleep.  I’m pretty sure I know what my problem is.  Stress.  Uh huh.  I know, I know.  I need to learn how to relax, let it go, turn it off, shut it down.  Believe me -  I would love to!  Not only is it exhausting, but I’m really worried that I’m going to injure myself one of these nights!

I’m just no good at single parenting – and I admit that freely.  And perhaps I’m a little too high strung…but just a smidge, not much.  I’m pretty sure things will calm back down after tax season is over.    And then it will all catch up to me, and I’ll be the one sawing logs by 10 p.m.  But until then, I might have to pad the walls and all the furniture!!

Young Writer’s Fest

There are FIVE kids in this family, and I am trying really hard for this blog to not be about just ONE of them!  Each of them is special and I want to make sure my kids – and everyone reading this – knows that.

Emily is our oldest.  She is quickly becoming a talented artist, writer, and musician.  She was recently chosen to attend a Young Writer’s Fest at the University.  She was one of 25 writers chosen from her school.  She was pretty excited, and got up early just to curl her hair!

 

I enjoyed getting to see her read her story for the panel of (adult) writers.  She was a bundle of nerves as she anticipated her turn to read.  She did a fabulous job, complete with inflection, enthusiasm and a smile on her face.  The writers had nice comments for her and she beamed as her turn ended.

Here is a video of her reading.  It’s really hard to hear her, though.  We were in a very large room, with no microphone, and the air conditioning (or maybe heater) was running the entire time.  I could hardly hear what she was saying and I was only 10 feet away!

Not to fret, though.  Here is the actual story if you care to read.

  

      

       

World Down Syndrome Day

March 21 (3-21) has become a special day for us.  Today we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day.  We celebrate Daniel and so many others who carry three copies of the 21st chromosome.

 

I remember learning about World Down Syndrome Day last year, wondering if our boy would be born with Down syndrome.  Wondering what life would be like for us if he were to be born with an extra chromosome.

It has certainly been an eventful year!  Our eyes have been opened to a whole new world of love, determination, triumph, and celebration.  I say this all the time, but it’s worth repeating: We are truly blessed!

My hope is for everyone to not just accept, but LOVE Daniel and all those who sport an extra chromosome.  I pray that the 90% of women who choose to terminate their pregnancies upon receiving a Down syndrome diagnosis will know that their child would not be suffering, nor would they be a burden.  Daniel alone is proof of that.  He has brought more joy to our family than we ever thought possible.

We love you, sweet sweet Daniel. From your wild-man hair, to your sparkling blue, almond-shaped eyes, to your bent pinkies, pudgy legs and sandal-gap toes…there’s an awful lot to love and be thankful for.

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

P.S. – there’s a blog hop going on.  Find more at My Stubborn Miss

The Mother of All Weeks (and it’s only Wednesday)

I think I’ve had enough of this week.  Can it be over now?  Please??

Daniel and I met with the audiologist on Monday to follow up on the ABR from last month.  (The ABR showed some hearing loss in both ears.)  Daniel was an angel and slept through the entire appointment, even while having probes stuck in his ears and manipulated around.  And that was after he’d already had at least two (but maybe three) naps!

What I heard was NOT what I was hoping for.  Daniel has mild hearing loss in both ears.  It’s permanent – not related at all to gunk in his middle ear.  His tubes are not working properly, as in…there’s fluid behind his eardrums.  Again.  So instead of a mild hearing loss, he has more like a moderate-severe loss in both ears.  Ugh.  (Let me just insert my petty and irrelevant complaint about all the money we spent to have those suckers put in his ears!!!)  And, the big kicker: he needs hearing aids, but his ear canals are too small for them.  Really.

I left the appointment practically in tears (which came when I started relaying all the information to Jared).  Daniel continued on with his nap, blissfully unaware of the sadness his mother was feeling about how much he is missing out on.  We have to start ear drops again, and go see the ENT again (shall we arrange for a standing appointment?), and some other stuff.

Speaking of drops…Daniel’s eyes have been gunky again.  Again?!?  They were good for about two weeks, and have now been gunky (though not as bad as before) for about 10 days.  Groan, moan, complain some more.  (Here’s another petty and irrelevant complaint about all the money we spent to get those suckers open!)  When I talked to the doctor (not a nurse or a tech…the doctor!), I heard what I never thought I’d hear (or ever wanted to hear) out of a doctor’s mouth: “Oh No!”  No, it’s not life-threatening, nor is it even eye-threatening.  But, in the words of the doctor, “Well, we may just have to go BACK in and put in stents.”  For now, we have to start eye drops again, and go see the ophthalmologist…again.

(Wash, rinse, repeat…right?)

And now for the new chapter in the saga that is this week.  I have had some concerns that Daniel may be having sleep apnea.  He is often a very restless sleeper, his breathing (especially at night) is noisy, I hear gasps and pauses, and he sleeps A LOT.  Remember the naps from up above?  Three or four (or more) naps is his status quo for daytime, along with 10-12 hours of sleep at night.  So yesterday Mama called the doctor and the doctor said…let’s check his oxygen saturation overnight for a week.  But after seeing his sats drop to 86 in the first 10 minutes of sleep, I thought I should call the doctor this morning, just to let him know.  Well, that put an end to the pulse-ox monitor and now Daniel is on oxygen at night.  What is our diagnosis?  Your guess is as good as mine!  I thought he’d want to get a sleep study scheduled, or have us come in to rule out anything heart-lung related.  I shall be calling in the morning.  I hate being THAT mom.

That’s it folks.  The week that I would like to end.

More

This is so much fun!  (I apologize for the length – I was too lazy to edit.)

Happy {Half} Heart Day!

Dear Daniel,

Six months ago, I handed you to the surgeons who would repair your heart.  I’ve never had to do anything so difficult before.  While we were waiting for them to come for you, I actually told Dad that I wanted to take you and run as fast as my legs could go!  As much as I had wanted to get to the day when your heart was repaired, I dreaded even the thought of what you would go through.  I worried that something may go wrong and I would never again get to see your smile or snuggle you close.  But deep down, I knew that what ever happened, you would be safe.  And that gave me the courage to let go when it was time.

{Scar free and ready to go.}

You fought so hard and worked your way back to the happy, smiling boy we love so much.

You (and the rest of us) persevered through medicine that gave you diarrhea, exhaustion just from drinking a bottle, and more than 2 months of a dang tube in your nose! And now you can roll, you can sit, you eat {almost} as much as a teenage boy, you laugh, you STAND, you army crawl, you babble, and you charm everyone you meet.

 

You’ve come a long way little Buddy!

I will forever be thankful for the amazing surgeons who saved your life.  And I will be eternally grateful to Heavenly Father for letting me be your mom. You are a wonderful blessing to me and I can’t imagine life without you…

 

…because you’ve got heart, and you do my heart good!

Love, Mom

Sunday Smiles

This is what three clicks of the camera brought me today.  Ok…I took more than three pictures, but these three were *almost* in succession.  How can you resist that face?  Even the “Aw, c’mon mom.  This is ridiculous!” face is adorable!

Daniel has a big milestone coming up in a couple of days: 6 months post open heart surgery.  6 MONTHS!!  More on that later.

And now for something completely different…

Caleb is my silly boy, and he makes me laugh A LOT (which is good, ‘cause something needs to break up the monotony of tax season).  The boy is N.U.T.S!!  He has no fear, he loves to fight (usually in a playful way), he has the most hilarious sense of humor, and he often uses big words that he doesn’t understand (but he uses them correctly, which makes it even more funny).  He loves to say, “Grandma (or mom, or some other grown-up) you do not make any sense!”  Oh, and he loves to vacuum.  Go figure!

Yesterday he took a bath after getting his hair cut.  When he was done, he curled up under his towel on the bathroom floor to dry off.  And then he fell asleep.  In a heap, on the floor.  But I didn’t take a picture because it would have just looked like a heap of a towel on the floor since he was completely underneath (which is probably good since he had no clothes on).

He came out this morning, all dressed for church, and this is what he looked like…

…and he came to me in the kitchen and said (in his most serious voice), “Mom, do I look cool?”  Stifling my giggles, I said, “Oh yeah, buddy.  You look TOTALLY cool.”  And he was patient enough to let me get my camera and take a picture. 

This one is for my mom, who wants a picture of my new hair.

 

Hehehe!!  Still got it in me, huh?!?

10 Months Old

I know…this post is like 2 weeks overdue.  But Daniel will be 10 months old for another 2 weeks, so I figure it still counts!

Look how he’s grown!!  (And I am dumbfounded that he will be one in six short weeks…yikes!!  How did that happen?!?!)

I love this most recent picture.  It really shows the love affair Daniel has with his hands. If you’ve never witnessed it, you’re really missing out!  He loves to watch them, fling them about, and suck on them, not to mention use them to touch, grab, pull and eat everything he can get them on.

(Rachel, Emily and Caleb are playing in R/C’s room right now and Emily is lecturing Caleb in their pretend game of ice cream shop.  Seriously?)

Daniel also loves to stand.  He would do it all day long if his little legs could take it.  He was sitting in his bassinet the other day and he PULLED TO STAND all by himself!!  (Yes, he’s STILL in a bassinet for sleeping.  He sleeps through the night and hasn’t been pulling up on it until just the other day.  And Jared was right there with him.  He’s safe.  I promise.)

Look, Ma…no hands!

He can do this for a few seconds before he chickens out and crumples to the floor.  Progress, progress!  (And that little dimple in his right cheek is about as cute as it gets.  Just sayin’…)

He now has two teeth, with two more close behind.  They are pretty sharp, so watch out if you dare to let him get ahold of your finger(s)!!

And just because I love this one…(sorry it’s blurry, but it’s just so cute)…

I think he has a pretty great story to tell.