We Survived May

Oh my goodness. There was so much going on this past month. We started with a wedding, then we had the school's Mother's Day breakfast (hosted at my house for space reasons) then actual Mother's Day. There was Bring Your Pet to School day immediately followed by Eden's cardio appointment in Plano and then Miss Saigon in Dallas. Then was the Father's Day breakfast at the school, the school talent show at Beltway North, and Kindergarten graduation and awards ceremony at the Alliance for Women and Children, plus I've been keeping some extra boys this week and I AM TIRED.

I cooked for the MDO one week and two days later cooked for my mom's Christ Care group. I took a tour of the second MDO the girls will be at this summer. We had our standing game night and played a new game and made waffles and bacon that we forgot about. (I found it in the oven this morning and we made it Saturday...oops).

I think I'm taking the next few days "off" as much as I can.

Next week is CALF and I'm already exhausted just thinking about it. Herding our group through crowds for two days is stressful and fills me with anxiety. And the kids really don't seem to care. I'm starting to debate even doing it in future years. (I'm in a down mood currently, so that could all change. Maybe this year will be so amazing I'll wonder why I ever thought that.)

Eden's cardio appointment went as well as usual. We were given a questionnaire to see how she's developing, a standard thing they do with cardio patients when they're 4. She tested normal in everything but gross motor skills and Personal/Social, where she shows some delays. I agree with the gross, because she couldn't do the things in the questionnaire, but the social....like, anyone who's met her looks at me like I'm crazy.

Anyway, she has another doctor's appointment with a psychologist in Dallas in mid-June.

Because this girl needs a sixth doctor. Good lord, she's a full time job by herself.

It'll be a 3-4 hour long appointment and starts at 830, so I get to have another hotel stay with Eden. Woo. The purpose is to have the doctor really assess her in person and give us guidance on how to help her catch up and make sure she's ready for school. She can read a little and she's already writing her name fairly well, so I think intellectually, she's pretty ready for Pre-K, but her ability to obey and sit still are still at the level of a 4 yo. I worry about Pre-K vs MDO because they are pretty different. And if we send her to Pre-K, I'll have 2 drop offs and 3 pick ups twice a week and 1 and 2 three times a week. I'm not interested in becoming a taxi service, so that's actually a huge factor in what we do with her. Plus, only having a few hours a week to do doctor's appointments and whatever else I need to do without kids is really difficult. Granted, Rebekah is so easy going, taking her along by herself wouldn't be a huge deal. But I couldn't take her to a hair appointment or really to a doctor's appointment.

I say Rebekah is easy- going, but she's starting to develop some real PERSONALITY. She LOVES 'mingos, and insists on wearing her mingo dress whenever she can. She cried when I put it in the laundry after she'd worn it for about a week straight. She's got a toddler bed now and I couldn't find mingo sheets and blankets, but I found rainbows and unicorns and flowers, so that's pretty good. She puts herself down for naps a couple times a day and that is the best thing in my life at the moment. Bedtime is a different story.

Asher and Elijah finished school yesterday and had their awards ceremony. They both got awards for diligence and Asher was given an award for following written instructions (not a given with a 2nd/3rd grader) and was on the A honor roll all year! None of us realized this. The report cards have a mix of letter grades, checks, and numbers, so its a little tricky to understand sometimes. He was surprised, too. Especially since the last semester he's been doing 3rd grade work instead of 2nd.

Elijah came home from school a while ago with a Brain Quest summer workbook for K-1 and Asher requested one as well, so I got it. Yesterday, about 3 hours after he got home from school and after he'd read a book I had saved until the end of school, he came and asked if he could do some learning. So he's got the workbook and is diligently working his way through it. I was hoping it would last all summer, but if he finishes it before too long, I'll ask if he wants the next level up workbook and have him work through that. We'll have him in sixth grade by September! lol

There's not much to report about Elijah. He's just plugging along, doing his thing. He's still got his anger outbursts occasionally, but it feels like they're farther apart now. At TLCA, the teachers and principal told us there's something magical about the summer between Kindergarten and 1st grade because they come back so different. So I'm hoping for that for him. Let him grow up a little more this summer, but not too much. He's a sweet kid 99% of the time and so enthusiastic about his favorite things. Asher is so much a little adult I sometimes forget that Elijah isn't and find myself adjusting my approach to him mid-sentence. He got a Math award at school yesterday, which I caught a glimpse of and thought it said Mario and figured "yeah, that makes sense."

The boys were blessed at the awards ceremony and Elijah was blessed with continued diligence and Asher with the ability to find answers in scripture. Something like that. She talked about how scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching.

Overall, all is well. We're healthy, we're happy, we're busy. So busy. But hopefully, the summer will slow things down for the most part. I think there's only one week where everyone has something, so that will be fun. Today, it's a day of being lazy and zoning out in front of screens. Let their minds rot a little bit.

Except for Asher who's probably halfway through his workbook.

Check facebook for photos and videos.

It's May!

Hey-o!

I haven't written in a while because I've been busy. Lots of things seemed to happen all at once towards the end of March and I felt like I was doing good to keep my head above water, so blogging was way down low on the priority list.

Since I last wrote, we have:

1. Started up a semi-regular game night with some friends. It started as us trying to work our way through a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery game, but the first time out, we ran out of time and the second, we forgot some of the people we're supposed to "interview" so were nowhere close to solving the case. The other two times we've gotten together, we've played other games and every time we've had a blast. Lots of laughing and good food and it's become one of my favorite parts of the month.

2. We called someone out to check on the insulation in the attic, knowing that we needed to put in about $1000 worth. Well, that snowballed VERY quickly and we ended up having soffit (sp) vents installed as well. Those are vents in the eaves of your house to let air circulate through. We thought we didn't have any but when the workman started working, he discovered we had trapdoors rigged to a pulley system so that they could be opened in summer and closed in winter. They had not been used in likely 30+ years, so the ropes were dried out and the hinges rusted. And OF COURSE the vents in place were custom sized, so if we wanted to get newer, prettier vents, it was going to cost something like $250 a vent. For twenty-five vents. Needless to say, we put the old ugly ones back up. In the process of that, we also had a roofer come out to make sure we had the appropriate number of turbines on the buildings and we do, but the carriage house needs soffits, too. So maybe this coming fall we'll get those.

3. We discovered that the bills on the Mulberry house had shot through the roof, not because of anything the renters are doing, but because we neglected to renew our electricity contract so we were paying THREE TIMES the rate we had been. Plus there was a toilet that ran off and on. So fixing the contract and the toilet issues and that's been much better.

4. We somehow forgot to pay property taxes on Orange street, so that bill was racking up late fees and then we accidentally paid it TWICE. Late March/early April was super expensive.

5. I had my first mammogram and that was super duper. My mom's younger sister had breast cancer twice, and I think she was 28 the first time she was diagnosed, so I need to start screening early. Everything is great and I go back in a year. It wasn't that bad, just super awkward positions and a little uncomfortable. That plus a well woman check happening in the two weeks that everything above was going on made me feel very poked and prodded and squeezed.

6. We went to the Brother's Keeper movie premiere. We thought we were getting steak, but it was bbq. It was good, but when you're expecting steak, it's a bit of a letdown. We had a good time, though, and we were all dressed to the nines. The movie itself was awful. There's been a lot of talk about it online and apparently the producers are taking some of the comments into consideration and reworking the movie. What we weren't told at the time was that there was about 40 minutes still to be put in, so when none of the story lines were resolved and there was literally no football in a football movie, we were confused. And then when the main character was a white savior for the minority disadvantaged youth, it felt wrong. I'm not saying that Abilene doesn't have issues with drugs and gangs, but it felt like they were saying our city is a cesspool of crime. And I really don't think we are. I'm not even sure we're more dangerous and crime-riddled now than we were 10 years ago, when the movie is set. We may just be way more aware of the crime because of social media. I wasn't in Abilene 10 years ago, but 20 years ago, when I was 15, I would regularly leave my house at 2 am and walk around downtown Abilene when I couldn't sleep. Bare foot. And I never felt unsafe. Granted, I was 15 and stupid and I'd ground my kids forever if I found out they were doing the same thing, but my point is, I grew up downtown and on the edge of a not great neighborhood (where I now live) and never felt unsafe. Hell, a convenience store literally 3 blocks from me was robbed at gunpoint a few days ago and I still feel ok about where I live. Abilene is not a terrible place.

Anyway. Off the soapbox.

7. I helped my in-laws look at at least a dozen houses in Abilene for their impending move and found one that is perfect for them. The kids are excited about BB and Papa being in town and are making some plans. Mostly they involve watching tv and playing with trains or going to the park or to get pancakes every single Saturday. We'll see how long the magic lasts. For both grandchildren and grandparents. Austin's grandmother was moved to a nursing home in Arlington last summer and she'll move to one here in Abilene with his parents, so she may actually get to meet her great-grandchildren. Apparently, the one she's most interested in and delighted by is Rebekah. I find this amusing because every time we called to tell her about another child, she was surprised. I think she said "Really?!" to Eden and Rebekah. She had one and her son had one, so her grandson having four seems ludicrous to her.

It'll be good for the kids to have more grandparents in town. And supposedly grandkids keep you young, so it'll be good for the grandparents, too.

8. Austin and I finally got to see Hamilton and it. was. amazing. Like, the music is so so good, but you miss how funny it is, how touching, how visually stunning it is when you're not watching it with a crowd. We saw it opening night and the theater was packed. The woman next to me and I were both singing along under our breaths (that's really hard for me not to do when I know the music). I laughed, I cried, I was blown away, I want to see it again. And again and again and again.

Upcoming is a family wedding this Saturday and another doctor's appointment for Eden and another play for Austin and me. Then school ends and summer begins. We've got lots planned but also lots of "nothing" planned. Camps and trips and friends in town and downtime. The kids have lots of ideas of things to do and places to go and we'll see if any of them happen. For now, we're going to try to get through the next month of school.

Insulation getting blown into the attic

Vents! That function as such!

The trapdoors they removed.

Hamilton stage.

Adventures with Eden part 4

Eden's eye surgery was nine weeks ago and her eye looks fantastic. She literally sleeps with one eye open and if you don't realize that, it's a bit jarring.

Since her surgical records didn't get sent to the local ophthalmologist and we had questions he couldn't answer, he recommended we set up an additional appointment with the surgeon. When I called in January, the soonest they could get us in was this morning at 730 am. So off we went.

We left around 330 yesterday and we weren't even as far as the Convention Center before Eden heaved a huge sigh and said "I just miss Daddy." We hadn't been gone 30 seconds. This girl.

We met my sister at a surprisingly good pizza place just off 30 in Fort Worth and sat and chatted for a while before heading to the hotel. We got there around 8 and Eden recognized it as the hotel we swam at back in September and asked if we were going to swim. I shut that down fast.

I was tired and sore after driving (I felt a little tense driving in the fog and mist after dark on the highway in Dallas) so I was asleep by around 930 or 10. I woke up at 130 am for no discernible reason and couldn't sleep for about an hour. Austin said at home, that might have been around the time Rebekah woke up.

Sounds about right: she's waking me up even when I'm 3 hours away.

Since the appointment was at 730 in the morning and we needed breakfast before, the alarm went off at 530. I snoozed until 545, then we got up and got dressed. She wakes up fairly easily, so that was nice. She ate most of the pancakes and drank most of her chocolate milk before dropping the cup upside down on the floor.

We watched some PBS kids then headed out at 7 for the office, which is hospital adjacent but not in the actual hospital. We were doing so good on time, we got there 15 minutes before our appointment (my usual goal) and the office wasn't even open.

Once we were in, it went pretty quickly. We checked in, watched a few minutes of Disney, then got called to a room. The nurse/tech checked her vision (looked like about 20/40 and 20/35 for left and right respectively. A female doctor came in and checked it again and answered some questions, then she left and we waited to see the surgeon, something I specifically requested.

His first words in the door were "She looks beautiful!" which, duh. It's Eden. Confidence all the way. She just asked him to move so she could keep watching the movie they were playing on the tv.

The eye being open when she sleeps is normal. The muscles are kind of messed up, even after surgery, so that's ok. She hasn't complained about dry eyes or anything but if she does we can do drops if needed.

Everything healed wonderfully and as expected, so we feel good that we didn't mess something up.

As for the big question, the repeat surgeries, we got some final peace of mind on that one. Eden will need multiple eyelid surgeries, but not annually. She'll need maybe three surgeries total between birth and around 15, when she'll be about done growing. We'll notice when it needs to be done again because her eyelid will start to droop again. She will definitely need to be seen by an ophthalmologist annually the rest of her life, but that's not a huge deal since Austin and I do already.

He said that in the future, if we need to see him, he has an office in Fort Worth and he doesn't normally see children there, but he might see Eden if needed. Which is nice, since that's a little closer than Children's, plus an office will be easier to navigate than the hospital.

We were done with the appointment and out the door by 8 am. Which is amazing. We were home by 1130 after a stop for a bathroom break on Ranger Hill and gas in Clyde. Eden and I were hungry (what happens when you eat breakfast at 630 in the morning) so we grabbed Schlotzsky's on the way home. Then I fell asleep around 1, one of those naps where you wake up not sure what year it is. I got overheated so I haven't been feeling great this evening. I'll be able to bum around tomorrow since I don't have to go anywhere until school pick up at 330.

I keep thinking maybe the boys are old enough to walk home...lol

Eden is so great on these doctor trips. She's obedient and (mostly) polite to everyone. This time I took the stroller so I didn't have to worry about her keeping up and that was fantastic. Especially since it was cold and wet everywhere. She's having some issues now with tiredness and just being 4, but she'll be back to normal by tomorrow, I'm sure.

Overall, a great visit. She loved her time with Aunt Cari and loves staying in the hotel (even without swimming). Next doctor's appointment in Plano is in May. *sigh*

Diving In

When I was a kid, I took swimming lessons at the Abilene Swim Club. I don't remember much about it except it was early in the morning, so the water was cool, and the last couple of lessons were diving.

We started with diving off the side of the pool, which was pretty easy. Then we went to the low dive. Scary, but not too terrible. Then the high dive. Since I'd mastered the low dive and pool side, I figured this would be easier. The main thing to remember was to tuck my chin down so I didn't face plant on the water.

At the end of one lesson, my mom was there to watch (or maybe she was there the whole time? I don't remember) and I was going to dive off the high dive. I was excited because I'd done it a couple of times and it was easy. I felt like I was kind of a badass. I climbed up, took my stance, and dove off. And then at the last second, looked up to see if Mom was watching and smacked my face into the water.

That hurt. A LOT. It knocked the wind out of me and I feel like I remember the instructor getting in the water to pull me out because I was stunned. I remember crying and my face being numb and getting three gummy worms from the snack bar. I haven't really been able to dive since then, but that could be because after four babies, my body SHOCKINGLY doesn't in any way resemble a 7 year old's. Which is probably for the best.

A few years ago, my feelings got hurt. I won't go into a lot of detail because some of the people who hurt my feelings read this and I seriously don't want them to feel bad. I've gotten over it and it's completely fine now. But at the time, I felt like I'd gotten the wind knocked out of me again.

After I calmed down and saw their sides and realized why what happened happened, I realized I'd let myself believe I had more of a community than I actually did.

I know this is hard to follow in its vagueness but bear with me.

I decided that rather than let people around me unintentionally hurt my feelings and make me feel bad about myself, I'd take that hurt and turn it around and become the kind of friend I wanted to have. I think this past year showed me that I've managed it, with varying levels of success.

I hate going out to new places and talking to people I don't know well or sometimes even leaving the house. I get a panicky feeling in my stomach and if it's a big overwhelming situation, I've cried about it. It's hard for me to put myself out there, so joining big groups is very difficult for me. So I started with something small.

When Eden was born, our community of helpers was virtually non-existent, and I believe most of that was because of her health. People just didn't know what to do. But one woman from MOPS did the MOST amazing thing for us. She brought us dinner. Every week. For a month.

To know that once a week for a month dinner was taken care of was such a relief. We were trying to juggle three kids, one with crazy heart issues that needed lots of doctor appointments, and adjusting to life as a family of five. Realizing how amazing that was, when my best friend had a baby two and a half months after Eden, I jumped on it and did the same for them. And when Eden turned one and a friend at church had her fourth baby, I did the same for them.

The great thing about being so recently the recipient of such an amazing gift was I knew what a new mom wants: no dishes, snacks, tasty food, dessert. So I brought disposable plates and containers, a bag of just snacks FOR HER ONLY, my favorite foods and always, always a delicious dessert.

I think one of them cried once, but I may be making it out to be more than it was. I know they were tremendously grateful.

I started trying to say yes more when people asked us to hang out or go to the park or Chik-fil-A with them. When a friend invited me to Starbucks last January, at first I hesitated because I don't drink coffee and that felt weird, but then I went anyway. And now it's a weekly thing that I miss when I don't go. And it's not just the two of us, there's a third regular who I've known for less than a year but already count as one of my favorite people and she's coming fast into the "best friends" club. I mean, she's probably already there, but I don't want to freak her out.

I was really given the test in the last year and a half when my friends started coming to me with hard things, asking me to keep them company in not as fun places like tiny houses with children sleeping ten feet away, or hospital rooms, or way too silent living rooms. We had sad conversations in all those places, but we also laughed in all those places. Rebekah went along sometimes when she was a newborn and a tiny baby who nursed every 15 minutes.

When Eden was born, I felt alone in Abilene because I had one or two friends, and they were busy with their own families and their own lives and I felt like I had to fight to be a part of them. And so, person by person, bit by bit, I've expanded my tiny community. It's not huge by any means, but I feel more comfortable with some of the people who were vague acquaintances before and I have new close friends who I didn't even know existed in 2016 and I'm closer to some of my friends than I ever thought I would be. Some of the things we went through this year together were not just bonding, they felt like cementing.

I hope I've become the friend people feel like they can rely on and call on, someone who will be there for them when they need it. Whether it's bringing you a meal after your family grew (or didn't) or going to get coffee and catch up on soaps or just sitting around chatting while the kids fight in the next room over who's feet are bigger (spoiler alert, they wore the same size). Maybe these relationships won't last forever. Maybe in a few years time, we'll drift apart like I have with some of my friends. And if that happens, it's ok. Because now I know I can do it. I can take a deep breath and dive into the deep end and come to the surface and swim. And I will remember to tuck my chin.

Hallelujah! Holy crap! Where's the Tylenol?

This week has not been great. Grab some popcorn and get comfortable: I'm about to tell you why I almost killed Eden yesterday.

Monday was the last day of CCF and even though Eden wasn't technically cleared by her doctor, we wrote up a release and sent her to MDO so I could get a little break before the holidays. I spent part of it with a friend taking blankets to the hospital for NICU and lost babies in Colt's honor. He would have been 4 months old on Sunday.

Eden's first post-op check up was Monday at 230. Our local doctor didn't get the surgeon's records so he couldn't tell us anything or answer any questions we had. He couldn't tell what her sutures are made of so we don't know if they need to come out or will dissolve. He recommended we take her to the second post-op in Dallas, instead of doing it here in town. When I called Children's, the chart had no details and the soonest they can get us in is February 11. At 730am. So there's another overnight stay in Dallas. I left a message with the surgical people to ask about the sutures and still haven't heard back, so that's on my to-do list for today.

Tuesday was the boys' Christmas program at school. Asher was to "make" and bring a dish from his country. He chose Israel, so we made challah. It's not super difficult, the braiding is the tricky part. I did a trial run last week and it turned out well, so we made a second batch, starting Monday and finishing after school so that Asher could actually participate in creating his dish. I forgot how long it takes to rise so we were looking at being about 45 minutes late. Then I noticed I have a bread proof setting on my oven and used that. It cut the rising time in half. So we had three beautiful braided challah loaves and were on time.

Rebekah didn't nap at all on Tuesday so she passed out about 3 minutes before we got to the church and then was a crabby pants the rest of the evening. We got home around 730 and she was passed out by 745.

During the day, Eden had an accident in her underwear that resulted in a bath. She filled the tub almost to the brim, the put about four times as much shampoo in her hair as was necessary, meaning she couldn't rinse it out. I was helping her climb out of the tub but she still managed to do a flip and land on her back on the floor. She immediately sat up and said "I'm ok!"

Claw foot tubs definitely have their draw backs.

She landed in the spot where she'd managed to pee on the floor earlier. I'd tossed a towel down to soak it up, so she wasn't in a puddle of pee, but still. I decided "eh, clean enough" and got her up. As I was getting her dressed, I realized she still had a ton of shampoo in her hair, so I had to hold her screaming under the shower to get it out.

Kids are great.

We bought a bidet add-on to help kids with bottom wiping issues but our toilets are so weird we can't attach it. But in the process of discovering this, Austin didn't get everything hooked back together the right way the first time so there was leaking all over the floor. For a couple days. I'm pretty sure that's (mostly) fixed now.

Wednesday the house got cleaned, which always makes me feel better, especially since some of my favorite people are the people who clean my house (not because they clean my house, but that definitely helps). The day had several mild annoyances, including a migraine, but nothing too major.

Then it was Thursday. I woke up and it was already not a great day. Feminine things happened resulting in soaking things in the sink and stripping the bed to the mattress to do laundry. Things were going ok and the grocery delivery arrived and I headed downstairs to get it, scan it in, and put it away. Part way through that process, Eden wandered in to talk to me. After a couple minutes I heard trickling.

My first thought was the toilet in the bathroom and that the leaking had gotten worse. I walked into the hallway and looked and saw water dripping from the door frame. I thought "Oh man, the toilet is spraying out the top!"

Nope.

Eden had decided to wash her hands upstairs, so had turned the tap on full blast and walked away. The sink was stopped up to soak, and it doesn't drain fantastically to begin with, so it just....overflowed. All over the floor. And into the hallway. Halfway to the playroom. And down through the crack in the floor where the tile meets the wood.

There may or may not have been shouting and swearing. Because I still had a dining table full of food to put away and now I had a small swimming pool to clean up.

Other moms probably would not have sworn. I'm not those moms. Jesus...well, he never had an almost four year old flood an upstairs sink to the point that water was dripping into a large puddle in the downstairs bathroom, so we can't REALLY say what he would have done. Probably not sworn, though. Cause, you know. Jesus.

To my credit, I did not knock her back down the stairs or spank her or any of the other ten thousand things that sprang to mind. I sent her to her room and told her to stay there until I told her she could come out. I threw all the towels on the water (that I JUST WASHED THE DAY BEFORE) and headed downstairs to do what I could there.

After all the towels were down, all I could do was wait for the dripping to stop so I went back to my groceries. And texted my friends and husband because they could at the very least commiserate, if not get a chuckle out of the schadenfreude.

School got out at 1 yesterday and after I got the boys I called the insurance company to see what their advice was. He said call a water restoration company and see if they could come look and give me an idea of what to do.

The place I called was crazy busy. The guy couldn't get out for a couple of hours and when he finally did, he kept getting calls. He said they're working on the Abilene Reporter News building and another office building that had a flood, so it's just him right now to do pretty much all other calls.

He checked the floors and door frames and the meter lit up yellow around the top of the downstairs door frame. It was red at the crack upstairs and green or yellow everywhere else, so he decided we don't actually need to have full power machines doing water extraction or drying. He suggested a fan left to blow on the area for a couple of days, shook my hand, and headed out. No charge.

I recommend A-Town Hi-Tech. When they're not busy saving professional buildings.

Luckily, we have two box fans that didn't make the move, so Austin grabbed one after dinner and used his engineering skills to set it up with a book and a foot stool so that it is blowing directly on the crack. Luckily we have no expected company until either late Saturday or early Sunday, so we'll just leave it be. About dinner time I realized with all the insanity I hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day so I had a major migraine and low blood sugar that made me feel awful. So I drank some juice, ate some dinner, and went to rest. I'd taken some migraine meds with caffeine in them, so I couldn't sleep, but it wore off and the migraine returned, so I was asleep around 1130.

I have no idea when the boys went to bed, I told them to keep their activities quiet and not to raid the kitchen. They're still asleep at 945, so they were probably up until like, 2.

I still have a headache, and I'm still not feeling fantastic, but I did get up and go to Bogie's to try out the new breakfast sandwiches. I'm a fan. But then, it's hard to go wrong with a bagel, bacon, eggs, and cheese in my book.

Here's hoping Christmas is a good one. Excuse me while I go back to bed.

Adventures with Eden part 3

I think I've mostly recovered from the trip now, though there's still stuff we're dealing with. I'll just start at the beginning.

Thursday, I got a phone call with pre-op instructions. Basically, your child is a gremlin: no food or liquids (beyond clear liquids) after midnight. We were instructed to give her a bath and wash her hair and dress her in clean pajamas. The woman also mentioned that we were scheduled to stay Monday night, which really threw me for a loop. After calling the doctor's office, we were told we weren't supposed to stay, but we went ahead and made some back up plans just in case.

We'd made arrangements with Mom and Bob to come stay with the boys and Rebekah while we were gone. They got here about 3 on Sunday afternoon and we passed on some information, kissed the kids goodbye, and were on the road by about 345 or so. It was an uneventful drive, with Eden sleeping most of it, and we got to the hotel about 630. Beth and Allen met us there and we had dinner at the hotel, then around 730, I took Eden upstairs for her bath. She splashed around happily, then let me wash her hair and wash her body with Hibicleanse. Afterwards, she sat with me on the bed so I could comb out her hair and braid it. She was extremely pleased with her braids and kept checking herself out in the mirror.

We tried to go to bed early, but after such a long nap in the car, Eden wasn't tired. She finally dropped off sometime around 10 and Austin wasn't too far behind her (he may have been ahead of her. She insisted he sleep in her bed so I don't know). I couldn't sleep, so I was awake until nearly midnight reading, then woke up at 120am when Eden loudly slurped down the milk in her cup we'd forgotten to take away. I know the time because I looked so I could tell the staff at the hospital.

She woke up thirsty again about 345. I couldn't get back to sleep, especially since it wouldn't have been for very long, so I just got up and got dressed. We were checked out of the hotel, parked, checked in at the hospital, and at the admitting area of the hospital by 5am, 30 minutes earlier than necessary. So we sat and watched the early morning news anchors banter about coffee and music.

We got up to the surgery area about 545 and about 6 they took us back to the pre-op area. Eden was distracted by tv while nurses, anesthesiologists, doctors, and surgeons all came in to talk to us and ask questions. They tried to give her some pre-op medications to preemptively help with pain and to help her relax but it didn't taste good so she spit it out all over the bed.

Just after 7, they wheeled her out and we went looking for breakfast. We found that the cafeteria didn't have much, but they did have a guy making omelets. Which we both enjoyed.

We ate our breakfast in the family room area of the surgical waiting area and kept tabs on Eden by the monitors on the walls. We had a little buzzer like a restaurant gives you, but we kept getting ones that didn't work so they'd have to call me on my phone. It seemed to take forever to update from Pre-Op to OR, but then only read OR for about 5 minutes before we got a call she was out. We waited a couple more minutes then went to a small consultation room where the surgeon came in and told us everything went great and she was already waking up.

By 845, we were waiting for her in the PACU. It took a little while for her to show up, so the nurse gave us the post-op instructions. She also warned us that Eden would be grumpy (and boy was she right...lol) and some sore but that she'd be back to normal in about 24 hours.

I could hear Eden's angry screaming from wherever she was for several minutes before she actually showed up. Her eyelid was swollen and wouldn't close at all, so she was literally sleeping with one eye open. She was in and out of sleep for a while and when she was first brought in, she cried that she wanted Mommy and calmed down significantly when I put my hands on her and told her I was there. She had her good eye closed so I don't think she saw me, but she heard me. They kept trying to get her to drink apple juice but that made her mad, so they got her some milk, but Austin had taken all our stuff to the car while we waited so we didn't have HER cup, which resulted in more crying. So he went all the way back to get it. She fell asleep after drinking a couple ounces.

She was really drowsy and groggy but about 1015, they gave us the go ahead to go home, if we felt comfortable with it. We did.

So, Austin carried this nearly 40 pound little girl who was basically limp all the way back to the car and got her buckled in and we headed home.

She slept most of the way home, wearing her sunglasses to protect her eyes since the one still doesn't close great. She cried a lot yesterday because she didn't know what she wanted but we weren't offering it to her. She ate a plate and a half of mac and cheese before curling up in our bed and alternately napping and watching tv the rest of the afternoon. She ate some Chik-fil-A (yeah, no way was I cooking yesterday) for dinner and after that, seemed back to her normal self, demanding that Austin read her stories and play with her.

We have to put ointment on her eyelid 4 times a day (and she hates it) and she can take Tylenol and Motrin as needed for pain. She doesn't like those either and usually spits them out, so we quit on that. She doesn't seem to be in much pain this morning, though she is more subdued than usual. She's a little clingy but not too bad. Rebekah, though, is as much in my business as she can be. You would think I'd left her for several days, not 22 hours.

Eden has a follow up on Monday, the 17th, and again in January for wound care. Luckily, we can see the local ophthalmologist for those and save me driving to Dallas and back two more times.

A fun fact that blindsided us at the hospital yesterday was the casual mention that she'll have to have this redone ANNUALLY for a while. And then periodically after that. It makes sense, they put in a small cable in a triangle pattern to help her eyelid lift and lower and it's not going to grow with her, but we just hadn't thought about that and no one had actually told us. So we get to go through all this mess every year for a while. I'm super excited about the next time. (meaning...not at all excited) At least I'll know what to expect and that'll make it easier to prepare for, but she'll also know what's coming. We had talked about getting her eye fixed but were careful not to say "cut" and accidentally said it yesterday morning at the hospital and she got a little freaked out.

She still needs to wear an eye patch on her good eye to help the bad one strengthen, but that won't be a life long thing. I'm going to give her a few days to recover then we'll work on patching a couple hours a day. It seems a little silly since her last exam indicated they were almost the same, but whatever. Doctor's orders.

I am worn out from all this. I spent last week running around getting Christmas as done as I could so that this week can be quiet and low key and all about Eden. I'm doing some trial baking today for Asher's contribution to his school's international potluck and bottling up the homemade vanilla I periodically give as gifts, along with a few other regular chores. I need to go put the ointment on her but it's so quiet and relaxed I hate to ruin that.

Ready to go to the hospital

In the elevator. Sometimes she looks so grown up to me. 

Walking in carrying her Wonder Woman shield blanket

Showing me her hospital bracelet, which she later removed. 

Curled up in admitting waiting to go upstairs

Our first buzzer that didn't work

Getting her stats checked.

Watching tv while we waited for more medical people

She got bored so was climbing all over her crib

Grinning at me between the bars

She insisted this was how she take the picture

Being wheeled out

Sign in the bathroom in the cafeteria. I have some questions. I feel like there's a story here.

She was 120, this shows still pre-op

In OR

In PACU

No 13th bed. We were bed 22

After surgery. She's asleep and her mouth is red from some medicine they gave her that she spit out.

Austin carrying her to the car

Trying to sleep in the car but the sun was bright

Sunglasses helped her sleep better. The hospital gave her that little teddy bear. We kept telling her not to touch her eye so at one point she pressed his foot against her eye. I chided her again and she said "I didn't touch my eye, my bear touched my eye." I couldn't argue too much. 

She spent from about 1pm until around 8ish on our bed with us. Then got up, ate some dinner, and got back to bossing everyone around. 

Adventures with Eden part 2

We all say we want to raise strong, independent women. But. The actuality of raising those women? Lordy.

Eden has an echocardiogram every year just to keep an eye on her development and growth and how her heart is functioning. Until last year, we've always had them in Abilene, but apparently the machines in Abilene just don't give great images, so last year she had her first echo in Plano, where our doctor is based. It was a couple of days after Christmas so we were already in the area and it wasn't that big of a deal. This year, with her surgery happening December 10, they wanted to check it before and make sure she's good and strong. That appointment was yesterday afternoon in Dallas.

Since her appointment wasn't until noon, we decided to just drive up and back in one day and save the money on a hotel. We have family in DFW, but everyone lives at least an hour or more from the hospital, so it's just easier for us to stay at the hotel 2 minutes from the hospital. We were up early, Dad got Eden dressed, and she and I were out of the house before 8. A pitstop at AM Donuts for fortifications, and we were on the road. She ate her donut, drank some milk, chattered about nonsense, and was passed out by 845.

She's a pretty good road tripper, for the most part.

We got to the hospital around 1030 and parked, then hiked the seemingly half a mile in to the cardiology wing. I discovered at hospital check in that I don't know where my driver's license is. It turned out ok, but that's an alarming thing to discover three hours from home. We got up to the cardio check in desk and discovered that we were early. An hour and a half early. And they couldn't check us in for an hour. I don't get the why of that, but whatever. Luckily, Eden has a healthy imagination and I'd brought my kindle to read so we were relatively ok for that hour. We went downstairs to grab some food at one point and ended up both eating just a bag of chips. Though Eden managed to drag out a small bag of chips for three hours.

Eventually, they handed me some paperwork, pointed me down a hall and told me to go to the next waiting room. In gathering up stuff and Eden, I missed exact directions and ended up in a waiting room labeled "Echo Waiting" which was the wrong room. After five or so minutes there, the woman who directed us came looking and told me where we were supposed to be. The benefit of sitting in the wrong place meant that when we got to the right place, we were taken right back to a room where they took Eden's vitals.

She's big for her age, but overall healthy and there were no concerns over weight or size or anything. Her blood pressure was good, too.

After that check, we were sent back to the echo waiting room, this time for real. We were there for about 5 or 10 mintues, and that's where Eden made friends with a little girl named Aster who was there for her heart surgery. Her mom was nervous and chatty so I learned she was air lifted at birth to Children's and diagnosed with (I think) a problem with her tricuspid valve and as a result, she was there for about 6 weeks after birth before she was allowed home. And now at 3, one side of her heart is bigger than the other, so she was there for her surgery yesterday. She was petite and quiet, especially compared to Eden who's just a big ole ball of sass and personality.

We went back for the echo before they were called and spent the next hour in a dark room while the tech did the echo of Eden's heart. They have a cool set up with a pad so Eden was watching Alice in Wonderland through the whole thing. After, they took us back to the area where she'd had her vitals and waited for the doctor to come discuss the results with us.

Everything looked good and she had no concerns and Eden is cleared for surgery as far as her heart is concerned. We talked about a small incident that happened at a birthday party a few weeks ago where Eden likely experienced vasovagal syncope (basically she got overexcited and nearly fainted). Eden hasn't had any other issues before or since but the doctor told us if it happens again to call Children's. Vasovagal isn't typically anything to worry about and a lot of people experience it. But for Eden, it's a little more concerning.

So yay, one more thing to watch out for. Because there wasn't enough already.

After all that, we realized we hadn't gotten a pulse/ox, so they did that and then she got a 24 hour EKG holter. Which I discovered yesterday is spelled "holter" and not "halter." Because sure.

She was finished then so we checked out and discovered there was no payment required, which was a pleasant surprise. Then we started the half hour trek back to the car.

Eden was wearing shoes that were too big, so she couldn't and wouldn't walk faster than a snail's pace. I think babies learning to crawl move faster than she did all day yesterday. I slowed my pace down considerably, but if I'd walked with her I'd have been basically stationary. So I'd walk a few paces, then stop and wait for a minute (not kidding) then continue on. Everytime I slowed or stopped, she slowed. A few times people thought she was wandering through the hospital on her own, she was so far behind me. I finally lost my temper on the way from the echo to the exam room and grabbed her hand and made her walk faster. And on the way to the car, she was practically crawling across the driveway, so I grabbed her hand none too gently and basically dragged her to the car. I was carrying her backpack, my purse, the return envelope for the EKG machine, the paperwork, her cup, and Roby, her robot, while also dragging her crying through the parking garage. I was pretty well done.

She got a chocolate chip cookie as her reward for good behavior through the day while I filled up with gas, then we hit the road a little after 3. A stop in Ranger to text Austin some info and another 15 minutes from home because she had to pee RIGHT NOW and we finally made it home around 6. When she promptly threw a temper tantrum because she wanted to ride her bike and it was too dark. In bringing her in, Austin inadvertently unhooked two of the leads, so we had to get those reattached and note it on the diary. I was wiped out so went to bed to rest and Austin put on a tv show for her until bedtime. And at some point she took the EKG stuff off.

I just lost it. Austin lost it. We managed to get it back on her and upset her enough that she actually stayed in bed the rest of the night and this morning, she still has it on. I need to call the hospital and explain what happened and see what they want to do. They need the results before her surgery, so we've got about a month to get it done, but still. This is hugely annoying.

She's a good kid, if a spoiled one. She CAN behave, she just chooses not to a lot of the time. Luckily yesterday she chose to most of the time. She saved the misbehaving for home.

Ten hours of just us was a lot. She talks practically non-stop and she's very very 3. Luckily, the next several appointments are just regular ones here in town and Austin will be with us for her surgery so I won't have to deal with her alone.

Introvert mom traveling with extrovert toddler is EXHAUSTING.