This past Sunday and Monday our little Mason spent some time in the hospital battling RSV and dehydration. Thursday afternoon I noticed that he was starting to get a runny nose and by that night he had a cough so bad that Jeff and I held him down and gave him a breathing treatment. I was up most of that night with him either rocking him or giving him a breathing treatment. By Friday I was sure that he had contracted RSV again, but didn't take him to the doctor because when he had had it in January they had told me to do breathing treatments. So every 4 or so hours throughout Friday I was giving my little man treatments. Saturday morning rolled around and he was only getting worse, so we took him into the doctor's office. The diagnosis was RSV and an ear infection. The nurse practitioner had seen him and I was surprised that she hadn't given us a prescription to go to the Bronchiolitis Clinic at the hospital. (It is an outpatient clinic where you can go and have deep suctioning done and oxygen levels checked.)
By midnight that night, Mason had gotten pretty severe so Jeff and I decided to run him into the ER at Riverton to see if they would suction him out. My mom was in town visiting and was willing to stay home with our other boys. We got to the hospital about 1:30 Sunday morning and around 4:00 AM he was admitted for hypoxia. Last year we were at Riverton when they couldn't get his oxygen up and they sent us to Primary Children's. I figured they were going to send us there again, but they informed me that in November they had opened the fourth floor of the hospital up as an extension of Primary Children's. So I guess technically he was in Primary Children's...but at the Riverton location. It was nice to be in a brand new facility!
Once in his room, Mason's oxygen levels stabilized. We thought we were going to get to come home about 2:00 the next day. Throughout Sunday Mason refused to eat or drink anything. It became so bad that about 7:00 that night the doctors decided to insert a feeding tube. After they got the tube into him, he reached up and pulled it out. So they inserted it a second time and taped it well to his face and back. After we settled him down, I sat down to rock him. They had decided to feed him milk and the first time it hit his tummy, he threw up all over me. While I was cleaning up, Jeff was rocking him and he seemed to take the milk well for about five minutes. Then he started gagging and coughing and threw up so hard that the feeding tube came out his mouth. After that the doctor decided to remove the tube and try an IV. It took them about 45 minutes and several tries to get the IV to go in. My poor little baby was so drained from all of this, plus the deep suctioning they had done to him that he slept very well that night. Monday morning he started eating again and we were able to go home about 1:00 yesterday. Ironically, he was released from the hospital on the same day he was released last year. My poor little man! Within the last year he's had RSV three times and two of those times its put him in the hospital. I am hoping he is finally on the mend and that this is our last stay in the hospital!
(Sorry, no pictures. My camera is officially broken, but the good news is that by the end of the week I should have a brand new SLR in my hands!)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Getting There
The boys room is getting close to being done! I cannot tell you how fun this has been for me to redo their room. Jeff wondered why I had to go through all of the trouble of painting and redecorating just because they got bunk beds. The simple answer is this: I needed something to do to take my mind off of things.
Two new bedspreads (and sheets!), one new picture, a new bookcase, new lamp, new clock, new curtains, and two new bins (for toys/books) later and it is starting to come together! Simplicity is my motto in their room. I want it simple and uncluttered. If I had taken a before picture you would know why! Up next are two new throw size Kaliedoscope quilts for their beds made in Moda's new Robotics. We're going with a modern spaceship/robot theme. To me the transportation theme we had before was way overbaked.
Two new bedspreads (and sheets!), one new picture, a new bookcase, new lamp, new clock, new curtains, and two new bins (for toys/books) later and it is starting to come together! Simplicity is my motto in their room. I want it simple and uncluttered. If I had taken a before picture you would know why! Up next are two new throw size Kaliedoscope quilts for their beds made in Moda's new Robotics. We're going with a modern spaceship/robot theme. To me the transportation theme we had before was way overbaked.Good for Laughs
I was going through Carson's homework tonight and found this...
According to Carson it says, "I love my Grandpa."
Here are the boys at the aquarium. Carson is asking about the frogs and if they are the ones that "give you bumps" (he is thinking they are the poisonous ones in the Amazon display). So he asks us if he they are the ones you can touch. Jeff sarcastically replies that he can't because there is glass there.
According to Carson it says, "I love my Grandpa."Here are the boys at the aquarium. Carson is asking about the frogs and if they are the ones that "give you bumps" (he is thinking they are the poisonous ones in the Amazon display). So he asks us if he they are the ones you can touch. Jeff sarcastically replies that he can't because there is glass there.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
{Listening}
This post is something that has been on my mind for quite some time. I've struggled with putting it into writing because of the personal nature of it, but I finally decided that it is something I need to record for my family. I need to write of the promptings I have had, the tender mercies of the Lord, and the tough lesson I had to learn.
The first ten days of 2011 were, bluntly put, horrible. All three of my children became sick and within the course of a few days they were diagnosed with Strep, Influenza, Croup, and RSV. Mason was the one who contracted RSV and I cannot tell you the fear that struck my heart when the doctor told me. When he was hospitalized with it last year, it was one of the lowest points of my life and my fear was having to go through that again.
Over the course of those first few days, there were several times when I felt promptings to take my children to the doctor. Jonas was the first to become sick and had woken up one morning with a horrible fever and barking cough. I was determined to wait it out and not rack up more medical bills. By the afternoon his cough had become severe and I remember coming up the stairs from the basement with some laundry and hearing his horrible cough and wheezing. I had the thought come to me, "You need to take your child to the doctor right now." I called and we got in right away. The diagnosis was croup. The doctor warned us that Jonas didn't sound too well and he wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in the ER that night. He sent us home with a prescription for a steroid and breathing treatments. On the way home it started to snow. By the time I got into Saratoga Springs I was at almost zero visibility and by the time I waited for them to fill his prescription the storm had only worsened. I'd never been more thankful for a 4 wheel drive vehicle as I was then.
Over the next few days we were back at the doctor's office with both Carson and Mason for the other illnesses. A few days after Mason's RSV diagnosis we were supposed to go back in for a follow up. Mason had done quite well with breathing treatments and that morning I decided that I would just cancel the appointment. I called up the pediatrician office, and was put on hold. While on hold, I had the distinct thought come to me, "Just hang up, he needs to go in." So I hung up the phone and took him in. Upon examination the doctor informed me that Mason's right ear was badly infected and full of puss. This happened on a Thursday.
Over the next few days the boys all seemed to be on the mend and life started to return to normal. That Saturday I was busy doing chores and taking care of some business I had put off while the boys were sick. I remember walking by our computer, which was just sitting there turned on, and had the distinct impression that I needed to sit down and message my cousin Ben on Facebook and let him know that I was thinking about him and loved him. I thought to myself, "Oh, I'll do that later, I'm busy now." As you can already guess, later never came, and I never did it.
Sunday came and went and Mason kept tugging at his ear. About 6 o'clock Monday morning I woke up abruptly. I remember suddenly sitting up in bed as I awoke from a very weird dream I was having about my Grandma and Grandpa Carson. I was standing with them in some trees out behind my Grandma & Grandpa Butler's house and we were waiting for someone. I had a really heavy, depressing feeling in my heart and all day I lacked the motivation to do anything. I remember being on my couch and feeling frustrated with myself because I was just sitting there, feeling depressed, instead of doing all of the chores on my to do list. That day, I had made another appointment for Mason at the doctor because he wouldn't leave his ear alone. I left early for the appointment to go run some other errands and about 3:30 Jeff called me to say they had let him off work early and he would meet me at the doctor's office and take the two older boys home. I remember thinking, "What a blessing! He never gets off early and now I won't have to try to wrestle with Carson and Jonas at the doctor's office."
We all arrived at the doctor's office around 4 o'clock. I had just checked Mason in and we were sitting down when my phone rang. I was tempted to ignore it, but noticed that it was my mom so I answered it. I knew something was terribly wrong because she sounded very upset. I motioned for Jeff to take Mason and I took Carson and Jonas out to the car. Then she told me that Ben had passed away earlier that day. It immediately became clear to me why Jeff was randomly off work early and able to meet me at the doctor's office. Then, just as suddenly as I knew why Jeff had been there, I also remembered that I hadn't messaged Ben. I had been warned, given one last chance to talk to him, and I hadn't listened. I had supposed I would have more time. I'd had every intention of doing it, but I had let life get in the way. I then remembered something Elder Bednar had said when he had spoken in our married student ward at BYU-Idaho the week after he had been put in as an apostle,"Brothers and Sisters, the time has come when the speed with which we listen to promptings of the Spirit will matter more than if we just listen."
I started off this year with a list of goals, but they don't seem to matter so much any more.
The Lord has taught me in a very real way that I need to focus on listening.
Listening to that still, small voice, and then acting as quickly as possible.
It breaks my heart that I didn't just sit down at the computer and do what I had been told to do. Its something I can never change. All I can do is try to move forward, and try ever more so to listen and then immediately act.
The first ten days of 2011 were, bluntly put, horrible. All three of my children became sick and within the course of a few days they were diagnosed with Strep, Influenza, Croup, and RSV. Mason was the one who contracted RSV and I cannot tell you the fear that struck my heart when the doctor told me. When he was hospitalized with it last year, it was one of the lowest points of my life and my fear was having to go through that again.
Over the course of those first few days, there were several times when I felt promptings to take my children to the doctor. Jonas was the first to become sick and had woken up one morning with a horrible fever and barking cough. I was determined to wait it out and not rack up more medical bills. By the afternoon his cough had become severe and I remember coming up the stairs from the basement with some laundry and hearing his horrible cough and wheezing. I had the thought come to me, "You need to take your child to the doctor right now." I called and we got in right away. The diagnosis was croup. The doctor warned us that Jonas didn't sound too well and he wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in the ER that night. He sent us home with a prescription for a steroid and breathing treatments. On the way home it started to snow. By the time I got into Saratoga Springs I was at almost zero visibility and by the time I waited for them to fill his prescription the storm had only worsened. I'd never been more thankful for a 4 wheel drive vehicle as I was then.
Over the next few days we were back at the doctor's office with both Carson and Mason for the other illnesses. A few days after Mason's RSV diagnosis we were supposed to go back in for a follow up. Mason had done quite well with breathing treatments and that morning I decided that I would just cancel the appointment. I called up the pediatrician office, and was put on hold. While on hold, I had the distinct thought come to me, "Just hang up, he needs to go in." So I hung up the phone and took him in. Upon examination the doctor informed me that Mason's right ear was badly infected and full of puss. This happened on a Thursday.
Over the next few days the boys all seemed to be on the mend and life started to return to normal. That Saturday I was busy doing chores and taking care of some business I had put off while the boys were sick. I remember walking by our computer, which was just sitting there turned on, and had the distinct impression that I needed to sit down and message my cousin Ben on Facebook and let him know that I was thinking about him and loved him. I thought to myself, "Oh, I'll do that later, I'm busy now." As you can already guess, later never came, and I never did it.
Sunday came and went and Mason kept tugging at his ear. About 6 o'clock Monday morning I woke up abruptly. I remember suddenly sitting up in bed as I awoke from a very weird dream I was having about my Grandma and Grandpa Carson. I was standing with them in some trees out behind my Grandma & Grandpa Butler's house and we were waiting for someone. I had a really heavy, depressing feeling in my heart and all day I lacked the motivation to do anything. I remember being on my couch and feeling frustrated with myself because I was just sitting there, feeling depressed, instead of doing all of the chores on my to do list. That day, I had made another appointment for Mason at the doctor because he wouldn't leave his ear alone. I left early for the appointment to go run some other errands and about 3:30 Jeff called me to say they had let him off work early and he would meet me at the doctor's office and take the two older boys home. I remember thinking, "What a blessing! He never gets off early and now I won't have to try to wrestle with Carson and Jonas at the doctor's office."
We all arrived at the doctor's office around 4 o'clock. I had just checked Mason in and we were sitting down when my phone rang. I was tempted to ignore it, but noticed that it was my mom so I answered it. I knew something was terribly wrong because she sounded very upset. I motioned for Jeff to take Mason and I took Carson and Jonas out to the car. Then she told me that Ben had passed away earlier that day. It immediately became clear to me why Jeff was randomly off work early and able to meet me at the doctor's office. Then, just as suddenly as I knew why Jeff had been there, I also remembered that I hadn't messaged Ben. I had been warned, given one last chance to talk to him, and I hadn't listened. I had supposed I would have more time. I'd had every intention of doing it, but I had let life get in the way. I then remembered something Elder Bednar had said when he had spoken in our married student ward at BYU-Idaho the week after he had been put in as an apostle,"Brothers and Sisters, the time has come when the speed with which we listen to promptings of the Spirit will matter more than if we just listen."
I started off this year with a list of goals, but they don't seem to matter so much any more.
The Lord has taught me in a very real way that I need to focus on listening.
Listening to that still, small voice, and then acting as quickly as possible.
It breaks my heart that I didn't just sit down at the computer and do what I had been told to do. Its something I can never change. All I can do is try to move forward, and try ever more so to listen and then immediately act.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Molli's Fitness Tips
My good friend, Molli, has started a blog about her weight loss journey. She shares her wonderful insights into the process and also give you helpful tips. Check it out at http://mollisfitnesstips.blogspot.com.
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